Scan barcode
boba_nbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.25
Spice Rating: 🌶️ / 5
The Other Merlin is such a fun twist on the original King Arthur story that lovers of retellings, YA novels, banter, and magic won't want to miss.
Emry and Emmett are the legendary court wizard Merlin's twin children. When Merlin passes away, the court summons Emmett to come train as an apprentice wizard for Prince Arthur (yes, that Arthur). However, Emmett becomes indisposed, so Emry decides to go in her twin's place, disguised as Emmett, until he is able to go to court himself. Emry has always been the twin with a better knack for magic, but in a world ridden with misogyny, no one would ever accept a female wizard--especially in the king's court. Atop of keeping her disguise intact, Emry has to deal with the lies, scandals, and betrayals that come with living in the court. And, she may or may not be falling for Prince Arthur.
This book was so much fun! The tension and banter between Emry and Arthur is second to none, and I adored the large cast of side characters. The Other Merlin combines the King Arthur story with the movie She's the Man, and the outcome is fantastic.
The Other Merlin is such a fun twist on the original King Arthur story that lovers of retellings, YA novels, banter, and magic won't want to miss.
Emry and Emmett are the legendary court wizard Merlin's twin children. When Merlin passes away, the court summons Emmett to come train as an apprentice wizard for Prince Arthur (yes, that Arthur). However, Emmett becomes indisposed, so Emry decides to go in her twin's place, disguised as Emmett, until he is able to go to court himself. Emry has always been the twin with a better knack for magic, but in a world ridden with misogyny, no one would ever accept a female wizard--especially in the king's court. Atop of keeping her disguise intact, Emry has to deal with the lies, scandals, and betrayals that come with living in the court. And, she may or may not be falling for Prince Arthur.
This book was so much fun! The tension and banter between Emry and Arthur is second to none, and I adored the large cast of side characters. The Other Merlin combines the King Arthur story with the movie She's the Man, and the outcome is fantastic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Outing
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
abby_can_read's review against another edition
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
đź“–
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Abandonment
just_one_more_paige's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
As should be well established by now, I am a sucker for a King Arthur retelling. And oh my goodness some of my favs ever are of this *very* sub-genre (The Lost Queen, Legendborn, and in pre-blogging years, The Mists of Avalon and The Once and Future King). I'm pretty flexible on the style of these retellings, I just love them. And when I'm in the mood for one...they're like a warm and cozy blanket. Enter this queer YA variation, which turned out to be everything I was hoping for and more.
Just as Emmett Merlin is summoned to court to train as the wizard for the young King Arthur (who has done very little of renown since pulling the famous sword from the stone a year or so ago), he becomes indisposed after a spell-gone-wrong encounter... His twin sister, Emry (who just happens to be chafing at the small town life she's living and has always been way better at magic than her brother anyways), figures to save their family reputation she will head to court disguised as her brother. It's just for a week, til he gets better and they can switch out. But a week turns into...indefinitely...and Emry has honestly never been happier: learning magic, becoming friends with the nerdy prince, his dishonored best friend Lancelot, the snooty Lord Gawain, and generally being annoyed by the ladylike Guinevere. As with all secrets though, Emry's imitation game is eventually uncovered...and the consequences might mean the end of what had been shaping up to be a very good thing, for everyone.
Look, this was just absolutely delightful. I haven't had this much straight-up fun reading a book in...a while. The writing was great - smooth and well-paced and the dialogue was *chef's kiss.* There was actually a lot in the writing style that reminded me of My Lady Jane (and that whole series of historical fiction spoofs); just really light and easy, but still smart. The voices of each character were unique, fitting both their characterization historically and for this individual story, and they each interacted with each other in ways and tones that genuinely fit within that. I was also really appreciative of how all these characters and their stories started in slightly different places than their “historically accurate” counterparts, and yet the relationships and connections are developed into something as close to and strong as they’re traditional representations. Honestly it was really nicely done. Plus, I enjoyed lots of the little Easter eggs from the "original" mythology that were sprinkled in, even if they weren't main parts/characters (or at least not yet).
The plot itself, like I said, was well-paced. Close enough (ish) to the source material to be very much recognizable, but with lots of new aspects and original inclusions that made it feel fresh as well as familiar. Like I said, it was well-paced too, so I was invested throughout and turning pages as fast as my eyes and brain could make it happen. And oh my goodness the queerness (and general openness about sex and sexuality) all over this was just, everything I could have wanted it to be. I mean, the bisexual gender-flipped Merlin was enough to get me excited all on its own, but it was even better than that. And yes, there were some policies and characters that weren't as accepting, but the general vibes were very sex/queer-positive.
Y'all, this was just enjoyable AF. Spectacular fun. I just fell right into this story and I will not apologize for how much I loved this freaking retelling. Go see for yourself!
“The sword had been waiting for hundreds of years, and to be honest, it was bored.”
“It was so confusing, having feelings for someone regardless of their gender, and realizing not everyone felt the same way.”
“It shouldn’t matter that you’re a girl […] Things like that – your gender, or who you love, or where you come from – they shouldn’t matter. / Yet somehow, they matter the most to the wrong people. […] And I’m out of time. I can’t keep waiting for the world to change. / Which is why we’re going to change it ourselves.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and War
emilywrayburn's review
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?
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:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Outing
Minor: Death of parent and War
maple_dove's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Verbal abuse (graphic)kristincdugas's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Absolutely adored this story!
The voice this book was written in had me from the first page. It was immediately witty and fun, exactly what I needed after a previous heavier read! I find so often that YA fantasy is going darker, which don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy the dark and creepy and the mysterious elements we have been getting recently. But it was so refreshing to read a retelling with so much lightness and teenage hilarity!
The characters were such an important part of the comedy (because they were each so great at laughing at themselves in each other in that way that is so much of what I love about YA), each of them was so lovable and even some of the ones we were led to dislike at first really came around and were shown to be deep and complex characters! *cough* except Elaine, who let's be honest, was kind of the worst . I loved the way we got inside so many of their heads to give us more of an understanding of what informed their actions. It was done in a way that made it easy to follow who we were with and through it all the voice and fun was consistent. There were so many favorites and honestly just our whole cast brought so much life to this book.
Emry, our MC -- love her! She was such a fun character to follow with her goals and ambitions coupled with the warring feelings she was fighting and her fears of blowing her secret. It was so great seeing a bi female MC who just wanted to be herself and was so incredibly ambitious about learning!
Going off the spectacular cast of characters I have to give a huge round of applause to: THE BANTER. Wow it really just hit me so hard from that first chapter. The banter between friends, between enemies, between LIs -- it was all spectacular. Personally I would love to be as well versed at a verbal sparring as Arthur one day but for now I'll settle for reading and re-reading this book to live vicariously through him.
This will be a new favorite for me to re-read when I need something fun and light!
The voice this book was written in had me from the first page. It was immediately witty and fun, exactly what I needed after a previous heavier read! I find so often that YA fantasy is going darker, which don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy the dark and creepy and the mysterious elements we have been getting recently. But it was so refreshing to read a retelling with so much lightness and teenage hilarity!
The characters were such an important part of the comedy (because they were each so great at laughing at themselves in each other in that way that is so much of what I love about YA), each of them was so lovable and even some of the ones we were led to dislike at first really came around and were shown to be deep and complex characters! *cough* except
Emry, our MC -- love her! She was such a fun character to follow with her goals and ambitions coupled with the warring feelings she was fighting and her fears of blowing her secret. It was so great seeing a bi female MC who just wanted to be herself and was so incredibly ambitious about learning!
Going off the spectacular cast of characters I have to give a huge round of applause to: THE BANTER. Wow it really just hit me so hard from that first chapter. The banter between friends, between enemies, between LIs -- it was all spectacular. Personally I would love to be as well versed at a verbal sparring as Arthur one day but for now I'll settle for reading and re-reading this book to live vicariously through him.
This will be a new favorite for me to re-read when I need something fun and light!
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
explorer_of_legends_and_ink's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment
foreverinastory's review
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).
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).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Outing, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content
More...