Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

243 reviews

katiemcgregor's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I waited years to read this so I wouldn't have to wait for the sequel to release only to find out that it's actually a series (not a duology?!) and I'm still going to have to wait for more books 🤡

Anyway, I was an Avalon High girlie growing up so I had high expectations for Legendborn. I love all of the historical and fantastical aspects Deonn is weaving into the story but take some issue with execution. While I think that the showing not telling was successful in conveying that Bree is a quick thinker, I feel like I, as the reader, was left behind in the dust. It took so long for me to grasp this world, it's hierarchies, and magic system, and I don't feel like I usually struggle with this in fantasy novels? There was a lot of information in the first half of the book and not enough time to process it. I would really love a chart to get a visual of all of these key pieces.

The big twist wasn't entirely surprising to me, but it was just mysterious enough that I needed the book to fill in the gaps of what I hadn't already figured out. Despite the convolution, I do think that important information was delved out reasonably.

As for the love triangle...
I'm not opposed to love triangles but the issue I usually have with them is that one party is far more appealing or interesting than the other contender vying for our protagonist's affections. This issue is present in Legendborn. The Nick x Bree thing felt instalovey and Nick didn't have must personality outside of the lineage that makes up his whole identity. I get that he's supposed to be a charismatic golden boy but he's boring. Based on the ending of book 1, I'm excited to get into book 2 simply because of the dynamic shift in the love triangle.

I'm definitely intrigued and hope that Bloodmarked will be easier to grasp now that I have some understanding of the world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Body horror, Death of parent, Grief, Death, Violence, and Racism

Moderate: Car accident, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer and Vomit

hayreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It's great, for what it is. An easy read and cleanser. A bit too young for me, but it has important messaging. Minus points for the sort of love triangle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Colonisation, Car accident, Misogyny, Sexism, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

piprigsby's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia and Car accident

alexiconic's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

legendborn manages to be a great action-filled book that made me turn the pages as fast as i could and have a main character that struggles, has feelings she is processing, and side characters that were fun and (mostly) different. it has a serious message and bree is struggling with the real questions of coming of age, but she is also in love, and she does badass magical things. it was great fun all the way through. 

i don’t know if this is a perfect book.

i am on the fence about the sel/nick/bree relationships, for example, and was afraid for a long portion that it would be a typical “she falls for the blond good guy but now here is a dark mysterious hottie and she will go for him” situation. buuuut it feels like that is a misread of the situation - the three have complicated relationships with each other (and really each other person). sel is bound to nick, has loved nick, nick and bree are in love, but bree is also in a unique relationship with sel because of their ancestors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Death of parent, Confinement, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, Medical content, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, Animal death, Car accident, Classism, and Gaslighting

samellecooke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was touch and go for me until about 70-75%. I came very close to a DNF on this one, but decided to power through and, boy, am I glad I did! The difficulties for me laid in the foundation of the magic system and construct of the fantasy world. I didn't understand a lot of things, haha! I didn't get how the power worked, how the order was formed, King Arthur fit in. I was confused by Bree's mom's death and how children were allowed to basically run the roost at UNC (crazy, I know, being a fervent Harry Potter fan where literal children were fighting off murders, but that's neither here nor there!). 

Getting to the real meat of the story and understanding the magic felt like a slog I couldn't overcome what with all the hype this book got. I felt lied to. I'll explain more, but...spoilers. All this said, the writing was good, characters well-developed, and the topics explored resonated with me personally. I especially loved how Tracy Deonn approached different topics of prejudice. I thought this was incredibly well done and I don't think we see enough of this in fantasy. Sure, we see a lot of underdog stories or female empowerment, but this is different.

What initially turned me off with Legendborn was the magic system...or maybe more accurately, systems. You have people with magic with roots in the myths of King Arthur and the Round Table that are referred to as Legendborn, as well as something called Root Craft. It took my awhile, but my perception is that the Legendborn Cycle series explores the social constructs of race and sex. King Arthur is a white man's tale and historically those who are Legendborn are white and male. While females seem to be more prevalent in recent times, it's very rare for other race to become Legendborn. Meanwhile, Root Crafters are not only exclusively female, but to my knowledge are all of Black decent as well with deep roots in slavery. While I love how Tracy has developed these themes, I just found the building of this world and converging of the different systems, lines, magic whatever you want to call it, incredibly distracting and confusing. Once I understood where we were going, it got easier and more enjoyable for me. 

I also was not at all expecting the twist at the end of this book, the true identity of King Arthur's line in Bree and Nick actually being of Lancelot's line.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Sexism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

risaleel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Racism, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, and Murder

Minor: Slavery, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and War

danysgirl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Sexism, Cursing, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Murder, Racism, Car accident, Grief, Rape, Death of parent, Mental illness, Violence, and Vomit

shaynicole's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Forced institutionalization, and Slavery

bzliz's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I waited a long time to read this because people spoke so highly of it and I was worried it couldn’t possibly live up to the hype. I’m so delighted to say I had nothing to worry about because it exceeded my expectations in every way. 

I immediately fell in love with Bree and I wanted nothing but good things for her. I’ve never been hugely into Arthurian legend but I enjoyed the dip into that world in a modern context and I was completely engrossed in every twist she encountered. The beautiful balance between aether and root was so cool and Bree’s journey to learn both paths was so fun. 

The biggest compliment I can give is that I want to immediately dive into Bloodmarked but I need to give it a few days so I don’t get them confused with each other. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Sexism, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Kidnapping and Slavery

Minor: Car accident, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

Child abuse (off page):

mentions of the way Nick and Sel were raised involving physical abuse under the guise of being part of training for their duty.

Rape (off page): Mention toward the end of the book of one of Bree’s enslaved ancestors being raped by the master of the house, then threatened after she became pregnant. It’s not explicitly called by that name but it’s definitely what happened. Racism (on page):

Bree faces multiple instances of micro aggressions and overt racism. Nobody outright calls her any slurs but it’s pretty unrelenting because just like in real life even people who don’t mean harm can still cause harm.

nicole6653's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Death of parent, Grief, and Slavery