Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider

6 reviews

abby_can_read's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted 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

4.0

📖
While I thought this was cute and I had a good time reading it, I did struggle at times. Part of those struggles were ADHD brain and another part was the writing style. I know this book was fantasy and it was sat in a historic England, but the writing style included several slang terms. I loved Lance, he was by far my favorite character. I liked the development of Emmett. Arthur and Emry were cute. The plot was decent though I thought it was predictable. 

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thaliareads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

As far as Arthurian retellings go, this has got to be one of my favorites. I love a good "disguises self as twin sibling to get to do a job I always wanted". I also can't get enough of poor disgruntled Arthur not understanding why he might have feelings for this new "boy" mage when he's never felt that way before. Overall, I couldn't have asked for a cuter adventure and romance and I can't wait to read the next book!

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emilywrayburn's review

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

3.5

From the blurb, I thought this was going to be a modern-day Arthurian retelling. The blurb literally says that Arthur and Merlin need to get over their "thirst for one another... or act on it." 

Alas not. 

This is set in some kind of alternate London/Camelot... around the 18th century? St Pauls Cathedral exists (it opened in 1710), but England/the UK is still split up into kingdoms such as Camelot and Lothia. But the language is completely modern, which jarred at times.

The plot is actually pretty decent, though it did often feel like things went wrong only to be easily solved in a chapter or two. The exception to that is the conflict with Yuriel and Morgana, which will clearly continue into future books. 

I enjoyed Arthur's character development and how he started standing up to Uther, and I liked that he isn't a warrior by any means. 

I liked Emry Merlin as a character but a lot of her development was basically mooning over Arthur. Also I couldn't figure out the relationship she'd had with her father. Half the time it sounded like he'd been pretty jerky towards her when she'd been growing up, but then it seemed to suggest that he was actually protecting her and they'd actually had a really loving relationship and she misses him greatly. It's clear that finding out for certain whether or not Dad is still alive is a plot point for the series gong forward. 

spoilers for the various romances: 
The main romance suffered from the Moonlight Curse... I liked the lingering looks and the tension and then they got together and then it was all a bit boring. Also I appreciate that since Lancelot in this version of things is gay, and Arthur is obviously ending up with Merlin, the author had to find someone else for Guinevere to end up with... and of all people, she chose Emry's useless brother?

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maple_dove's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? No

4.0

Under ordinary circumstances, she would have been quite pleased at the girl's interest, and would have flirted back. A person's gender made no difference to her. (pg. 81)

While bisexuality means two or more genders, I believe it's important to repeat that there are more than two genders.


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sweaterweather_inmymind's review

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adventurous funny 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

4.5


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foreverinastory's review

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adventurous funny 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

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rep: Pansexual female MC (possibly demisexual as well), bisexual male side character, gay male side character, questioning love interest, BIPOC side character.

CWs: Abandonment/suspected death of parent, alcohol consumption, blood, misogyny, outing, sexism, violence, sexual content (not graphic).

 

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