Reviews with content warning for Violence - Legends & Lattes

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

271 reviews

theeoldbear's review

hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

5.0

After finishing up a really tough read previously, I chose to listen to this story as an audiobook while also reading another fantasy graphic novel (though not at the same time), and this was a perfect pallet cleanser. Low-stakes storytelling with likable and relatable characters the story is a really great way to brighten your mood!

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ashylibrarian's review

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lighthearted relaxing 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? No

5.0

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clovetra's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing slow-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

3.0

this book was very out of my comfort zone! a book whose sole goal is to be warm & cozy? a foreign concept to me, seeing as my favourite book is battle royale by koushun takami, but this was quite nice to dip my toes into the relaxing genre.
i will say, my major "issue" with this book is the amount of exposition needed that doesn't exist. im sorry because i had no idea what was going on lore-wise, i had no idea how to envision certain characters such as amity, cal, or thimble. granted, this could be a skill issue on my end! but it did still affect my reading experience negatively :(
i will also say viv felt incredibly one-dimensional, as did most other characters. i understand a book can have many minor characters and not suffer, but i felt like in this book it did. every time i was introduced to a recurring character i hadn't read about in a while i either had to flip back throughout the book or use good ol trusty google. my brain is too small to comprehend the vast amount of characters.
i will say tho this book was quite nice! i did enjoy not shitting my pants because the stakes werent so ridiculously high! i also loved that the

complete minuscule of conflict present was so anticlimactic!!!! lowkey i got a bit mad when some drama was starting because i was like 'wtf this is a cozy book'.... but then! the conflict! went nowhere! /pos

i will also say the pleasant edition of tandri & viv's relationship was enjoyed on my end!!!

also the random yet understandable sapphic relationship???? SIGN MY ASS UP!

honestly tho i think the main reasons i couldn't get into this book were because i had no idea wtf was going on! i had no idea about the universe! like i was wondering quite often if this was like. a sequel. like you cant tell me this book is a stand alone (if this book did have required supplemental reading that i didn't do i will kick myself so bad im so serious)
also i know i praised the book above for its relaxing atmosphere but. i got bored. like sure i would want to read it when i picked it up but.... because there were no stakes i wasn't prompted to pick up the book that often. like ok when the only stakes are if they get customers....... i got bored. this sounds so incredibly dismissive of baldree's writing and i don't mean it to be! i think this is just me learning that i need my books to have tension or else my little rat brain starts begging to read an incredibly fast-paced adventure story.
um i think i will defo read the little short story "pages to fill" as my edition has that at the end but.... i don't know if ill be reading the prequel sadly :/ only time will tell though!

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aurora4847's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

4.5

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iane_reads's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-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

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shottel's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing 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

4.75

A delightfully down-to-earth story set in a world most of us recognize as the backdrop for epic adventures of high magic and dangerous beasts, Legends & Lattes has us follow the main character as she opens a coffee shop in an unfamiliar city which has no knowledge of what coffee even is. She deals with some very mundane issues of corruption, business, and old friends, while a romance blooms in the background. My sole problem with this book is that it seems that romance stays a bit in the background; maybe the author is trying to riff on the whole "oblivious lesbians" stereotype, but I don't feel like there was a satisfying conclusion to that line, even as every other thread gets tied up in a neat knot by the end. Nevertheless, the book is generally quite lighthearted, very well-written, and a wonderful break from the "big" stories most fantasy novels trade in. I strongly recommend it, with the sole caveat to not expect much from the romance part of the story.

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monicalaurette's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

This book was fun and gave me exactly what I expected from it. I wanted a fantasy book that didn’t have a lot of high stakes, and that’s what I got. I also got a little bit of a found family (after the family of Viv’s prior crew) and enjoyed how everything came together.

I’ve seen some people complain about how often Viv had to explain coffee to someone, but I honestly didn’t think it happened much and each time Thimble came up with a new food item I was so happy for him. I think he might be my favorite character out of all of them.

“Things don’t have to stay as what they started out as.”

Not much else I can really say about it without spoiling anything but I’m glad I finally picked this up and interested to see if the prequel story is equally as fun to read.

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.25

So I absolutely adored the characters, especially kind and determined and orcish fish out of water Viv. I also loved the community of odd ducks that gather around her, the little corner of the city we see, the retired DND character settling down and starting over vibes, and the low stakes fantasy atmosphere where pressing issues include generating word-of-mouth-advertising. I read it all in one sitting and can't remember the last time I had such a relaxed and easy time with a book.

... But (and I hate that there's a but). The plot. What took me out of the story was how most of the plot beats are just recreating the elements of a Hip Modern Coffee Shop. Which was cute at first in a wink-wink nudge-nudge way, but when it became the entire plot it just felt... boring. These characters are deeply amazed by modern things like *checks notes*

a range hood

, but when it happens for the nth time with no fantasy veneer it starts to feel a little hard to care. I really think the story could've hinged on one of the mysterious, easily hand-waved B plots and felt much more cohesive.

Honestly, I think the plotting might have fallen victim to the low stakes promise - or at least one interpretation of it. Here, that meant the characters were facing molehill instead of mountain challenges with the same weight and payoff. And I think that can work, if woven into a bigger story. But here it's like the bigger story wasn't allowed any airtime because that would be too many stakes. And yet a mountain of consequences fall on the characters from that bigger story anyway, but now it feels like the characters had no agency to deal with it beforehand.

So I'd argue the story doesn't even stick to its low stakes claim in the first place. It's more like 90% 'low stakes' and 10% 'consequences from the interesting, higher stakes plot happening invisibly in the background that we decided not to use but still have its consequences air-dropped out of nowhere.'

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abby_can_read's review

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

This was an adorable read. I can understand why it's popular and I can see the appeal of the cozy fantasy genre. I liked how simple the plot was -- there weren't any big plot twists like I'm used to. The characters were fun and I loved reading about their relationship develop. The pacing was good. While I liked the ending, I would love to read more about these characters and their futures together.

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