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mbradham's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Loved the found family aspect of this book and it was very funny. However, it got very slow half-way through and after that point the plot almost felt forced. I’m still planning on reading the sequel but the first book feels incomplete by itself in a weird way
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Blood, and Body horror
Minor: Rape
gwen_c6's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
2.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
marioncromb's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
This book has never heard of show don't tell. For example here is a point where a character gives a very short speech, that is average at best and then the text (not a character, the text itself) immediately goes 'It was a beautiful speech'. Like, no.
It relies a lot on telling us with expositional dialogue why characters are doing what they are doing/thinking without actually doing the work to give those characters natural 3d character development. Having a bunch of LGBTQ+ characters with varying skin tones doesnt "good representation" make if that's the sum total of their characterisation. Any themes/links/etc are often spelled out in dialogue rather than giving the reader some respect, deep thought, or credit.
The book made me cringe and roll my eyes a lot, especially the way the relationships were handled.
There was a point just after halfway through where it kinda picked up a bit pacewise and i thought it might be doing something interesting but i quickly got bored again. I thought it was kinda interesting that Merlin's character arc ran the opposite way to the bbc show (guess the aging backwards makes sense)- initially overprotective and unwilling to trust anyone he thought might hurt arthur, to being more chill and embracing friendship and honesty, but honestly i found the rest of his characterisation irritating. I did enjoy the initial recurring gag in the first half of Ari just spearing excalibur into the ground or the nearest hard surface for storage.
It relies a lot on telling us with expositional dialogue why characters are doing what they are doing/thinking without actually doing the work to give those characters natural 3d character development. Having a bunch of LGBTQ+ characters with varying skin tones doesnt "good representation" make if that's the sum total of their characterisation. Any themes/links/etc are often spelled out in dialogue rather than giving the reader some respect, deep thought, or credit.
The book made me cringe and roll my eyes a lot, especially the way the relationships were handled.
There was a point just after halfway through where it kinda picked up a bit pacewise and i thought it might be doing something interesting but i quickly got bored again. I thought it was kinda interesting that Merlin's character arc ran the opposite way to the bbc show (guess the aging backwards makes sense)- initially overprotective and unwilling to trust anyone he thought might hurt arthur, to being more chill and embracing friendship and honesty, but honestly i found the rest of his characterisation irritating. I did enjoy the initial recurring gag in the first half of Ari just spearing excalibur into the ground or the nearest hard surface for storage.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Genocide
Minor: Rape
miles's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, and Animal death
Minor: Rape, Pregnancy, and Genocide
toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
Really enjoyed this book! It really married the scifi and fantasy elements well, had twists despite being a retelling, and the characters and worldbuilding were really compelling! Not sure how medieval fans would feel about it, but as someone only tangentially aware of that time period and Arthurian myth, I loved it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Xenophobia, and Genocide
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Suicide
caitlynleahy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Infidelity, and War
Minor: Rape and Suicide attempt
aviery's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Genocide, Death, and Animal death
Moderate: War, Gore, Death of parent, Cursing, and Blood
Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Rape
mikc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide and Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Chronic illness
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, Genocide, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
longlost's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.0
this is the superior king arthur mythos adaptation
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Murder, Violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Genocide, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Confinement, Kidnapping, Racism, Pregnancy, and Cursing
Minor: Sexual content and Rape
bluejayreads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
King Arthur in space. Cool idea, right? It gets better.
King Arthur and his knights are reincarnated every so often. The 42nd King Arthur is Ari Helix, an illegal immigrant from a blocked-off planet currently on the run with her adopted brother after their mothers were arrested and imprisoned for not turning Ari in. They're on the run from the Mercer Corporation, the galaxy-wide monopoly on everything that blocked off Ari's planet for saying that monopolies were bad, actually, and basically are the government because if the government does something they don't like they can just stop delivering food and water until the government changes their mind.
Ari herself is hard-headed, stubborn, devoted to those close to her, and deeply passionate about truth. She is almost physically incapable of telling a lie, hates lies by omission just as much, and once ended a relationship because she felt like her girlfriend not telling her every single thing about herself immediately up front was tantamount to being lied to. Not only did that make her an interesting character, but it functioned as both a positive thing and a character flaw depending on the situation.
Merlin was a point-of-view character, cursed to age backwards so a couple millenia after helping the original King Arthur he's somewhere around seventeen. It's his job to mentor each reincarnation of Arthur, train him (or her, in the case of Ari), and accomplish a series of steps that the Lady of the Lake set out to end the cycle of reincarnation. Forty-one Arthurs before Ari have died without completing the steps, and Merlin carries the guilt of every single one. He is also incredibly gay, and completely adorable falling for one of Ari's "knights."
All of the characters in this book are stellar (pun intended). From Ari herself to her love interest Gwen (regal, pragmatic, and literally queen of a planet); Merlin (terrified of de-aging out of existence and not sure what to do about teenage hormones) and Morgana (not quite a physical being and fairly terrifying); Ari's knights, including her relentlessly practical brother and a nonbinary friend who uses they/them pronouns; and the director of the Mercer Corporation who gives the faceless evil company a hateable and very punchable face
.
I've seen criticisms of this book saying the pacing is all over the place, and I can absolutely understand not liking this. But personally, I found it a delightful sort of chaotic. This book gets really dark at times, from relationship betrayals to literal genocide, and fits a lot of really intense emotions into less than 400 pages, but it's balanced somewhat by witty quips and bordering-on-absurd situations. It's one of those books where looking back some of it was a little ridiculous, but in the moment it was a great read.
Considering the end of this book, I'm not sure I want to read book two - the ending wasn't bad, but it was setting up what sounds like a vastly different type of adventure, and I don't know if that's really what I want out of these characters and this concept. But this book was absolutely worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Animal death, Murder, Genocide, Blood, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Body horror, and Gore
Minor: Rape
Needles, prison, being injected without consent, misgendering (once, accidental and immediately corrected)