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hauntedhexgirll's review against another edition
5.0
Arthurian legend is one of my longest and most loved special interests and I loved this as a new addition and perspective to the legend. This book had so many levels of dealing with grief, generational trauma/issues, racism, etc. it was the roots of a coming of age story and since of self discovery for multiple characters and I really loved it. It was interesting, deep and emotional, and yet still fun as well. Amazing book.
tsandifer127's review
4.0
This book has been sitting unread on a shelf for a long time. I remember that I really wanted to read it when I read the summary, but then for some reason I never got to it. My loss. It is really a good book. Even though I have read the Legend of King Arthur in many incarnations, this was certainly a new take on it but it was only the setting for an entirely different story.
The main character, Bree, suffers from the loss of her mother and cannot reconcile events as they unfolded the night she died. LSS, she ends up at a university in North Carolina as part of an accelerated high school student program with her best friend Alice. From there, all manner of things go right and very wrong, as she becomes involved in a secret student society (cue the King Arthur theme).
The worst thing about the story is that characters seemed to switch from good to bad and back again so often it was hard to keep track. The best thing was that the characters were well done, well described and you really didn't care if they were good or bad - at least I didn't. The exception was Alice, who I liked but couldn't figure out why she was there except as a foil to Bree, but who came into her own at the end.
The world was hard for me. I got the overall idea but the different roles were confusing. I couldn't remember for the life of me who in the general cast ranked where - and what that meant in general in the world. It made some parts of the book slow going but didn't ruin it. The story moved quickly and the end was like an out of control toboggan careening down a mountain (not a hill). I liked the bad boy hero better then the good(ish) one so I hope that resolves in a way that I can live with.
I will not delay the sequel as much because I think if I forget the characters I will have to re-read the first book and that always feels like such a waste of reading time.
In the midst of the adventure and excitement and confusion is a pretty good, not too subtle, look at what it means to feel different and be treated differently for a myriad of reasons, for being different. It is well done and a theme that is carried straight through the book without fanfare or apology. It just is. I like that.
The main character, Bree, suffers from the loss of her mother and cannot reconcile events as they unfolded the night she died. LSS, she ends up at a university in North Carolina as part of an accelerated high school student program with her best friend Alice. From there, all manner of things go right and very wrong, as she becomes involved in a secret student society (cue the King Arthur theme).
The worst thing about the story is that characters seemed to switch from good to bad and back again so often it was hard to keep track. The best thing was that the characters were well done, well described and you really didn't care if they were good or bad - at least I didn't. The exception was Alice, who I liked but couldn't figure out why she was there except as a foil to Bree, but who came into her own at the end.
The world was hard for me. I got the overall idea but the different roles were confusing. I couldn't remember for the life of me who in the general cast ranked where - and what that meant in general in the world. It made some parts of the book slow going but didn't ruin it. The story moved quickly and the end was like an out of control toboggan careening down a mountain (not a hill). I liked the bad boy hero better then the good(ish) one so I hope that resolves in a way that I can live with.
I will not delay the sequel as much because I think if I forget the characters I will have to re-read the first book and that always feels like such a waste of reading time.
In the midst of the adventure and excitement and confusion is a pretty good, not too subtle, look at what it means to feel different and be treated differently for a myriad of reasons, for being different. It is well done and a theme that is carried straight through the book without fanfare or apology. It just is. I like that.
beeaddy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
this will probably be the best book i read all year.
bookdustfaerie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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? No
4.0
laureloreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Rape
chelseacounsell's review against another edition
3.0
DNF—library snatched back the audiobook. I got 7 hours and 10 minutes into the audiobook (38%). The pacing felt slow to me. Bree can see magic, but she doesn’t display magic (like the cover evokes) until about five hours into the audiobook. Legendborn felt evocative of City of Bones (or Buffy the Vampire Slayer—since that’s what Cassandra Claire was inspired by) but I didn’t like the writing style or plotting of City of Bones, so that didn’t help. The Arthurian worldbuilding felt complicated to me—I went in unknowledgeable on that. I don’t know much about Arthurian legend. This may have been a mismatch for me in both genre and length—I find it difficult to click in to YA stories and I also prefer audiobooks around the 8-13 hour length rather than this which is 19 hours. Honestly I’m not sure if I liked Legendborn enough to finish it but I did put it back on my holds list in case I feel inspired.
skylar_blue's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.0
applemagnet's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.25
rusha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I had high hopes for this book, the story had so much potential but it fell flat on so many ways.
It started off with her relationship with her best friend at the forefront. But then she just disappeared. She could have played a role to flesh out Bree’s character/personality.
And then there’s the touch on racism I say touched because all the instances of racism depicted in the story is so forced and cliched. It’s not talked about deeply or enough. This is a black FMC who becomes part of an (almost) all white secret society her navigating her race and what it lends to the plot could have been so much more
The romance: what was that? She was in love before I realised what was happening and with someone who I thought was boring AF.
I don’t know whether I will pick up the second book, maybe I will just to see if it gets any better.
It started off with her relationship with her best friend at the forefront. But then she just disappeared. She could have played a role to flesh out Bree’s character/personality.
And then there’s the touch on racism I say touched because all the instances of racism depicted in the story is so forced and cliched. It’s not talked about deeply or enough. This is a black FMC who becomes part of an (almost) all white secret society her navigating her race and what it lends to the plot could have been so much more
The romance: what was that? She was in love before I realised what was happening and with someone who I thought was boring AF.
I don’t know whether I will pick up the second book, maybe I will just to see if it gets any better.