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cookiecat73's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War
Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Dysphoria, Grief, and Self harm
longlost's review
- 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
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
iksme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Murder, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Genocide, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Cursing, and Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
bluejayreads's review
- 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
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
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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)aseel_reads's review
- 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
Minor: Rape, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Pregnancy, Grief, Death of parent, and Death
bookcaptivated's review
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, and Violence
violet_pages's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Animal death
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Confinement, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Torture
Minor: Rape and Sexual content
danajoy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I found the first half rushed, too much happening and too much told instead of shown. I will note that I don't know very much about Arthurian legend and part of me wished we'd gotten a little story time moment before the reveal that Ari is King Arthur reborn. It would've been a nice way to foreshadow so we didn't just get Merlin's character panicking and reminding everyone about doomed romances and the such.
I found all the romances in this rushed and excessively horny. I don't particularly gel with this as YA, there is a fair bit of swearing and sexual encounters that made me feel uncomfy as an adult (23yo) reading about details of the love life between teenagers. I hated the forced marriage inclusion and the discussion of babies when everything was already so rushed.
I wanted more banter and moments between the friend group.
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Violence, and Mental illness
confusedmuse's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, and Sexual content
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The way Merlin kept thinking or talking about where characters fit in the cycle was helpful, especially early on, since I have a little familiarity with the Arthurian canon but not enough to know where all the players fit in a retelling unless the narrative gives me some help. It also grounded his perspective on them, establishing him as much as it introduced them.
The main frustrating thing for me was that a character comes out as ace in a "we could have avoided all this tragedy if you'd ever asked anything about me" way, and it made it feel like their identity was a plot point to help misdirect other drama. The other queer rep in the book felt really good and the whole thing adds up to an almost entirely queer cast with just the canon rep, so having that character's identity only come up one time to explain someone else's issue was disappointing.
This is part one of a longer saga, and it does a good job of setting up who these versions of the characters are. The ending is a "to be continued" situation, but enough of this volume's plot wrapped up for me to be satisfied. I'll definitely be checking out the sequel, this is a cool and weird world and I want to know where it goes next.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Sexual assault
CW for misgendering (minor), sexual assault (backstory), confinement, plague, violence, blood, gore, animal death, genocide, parental death, major character death, death.