Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Once & Future by Cory McCarthy, A.R. Capetta

15 reviews

lastcomment314's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

3.75

It was almost so good. I love me a good gay Arthurian fantasy, and this one had a cool twist with being set in space, and some nice found family vibes, but the overall delivery on this one held it back. Stylistically, it wasn't quite my cuppa tea. There were also certain scenes that seemed forced, and the focus on sex and bodily functions was a bit much for my tastes. To summarize discussion with group I read this with, we don't care about Merlin relieving himself in the crystal cave, we care about the quest to overthrow the unjust, tyrannical king company.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Excrement, Colonisation, Violence, Cursing, Death, War, Classism, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Torture, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Grief, Death of parent, Racism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, and Animal death

Minor: Rape, Pregnancy, and Genocide

mitzee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Loved this story of reincarnated court of King Arthur.

I am dying to know what happens next and am very happy it seems to be a series.

I loved all the queer and diverse characters in this space opera future. It’s TRULY sci-fi fantasy.

If theres anything I didn’t like about this book it’s that the love and sex scenes feel a bit heavy-handed or gratuitous sometimes, but they do help me envision the emotional relationships between characters. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Murder, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

cookiecat73's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

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

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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

iksme's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

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. 

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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)

sssssoup's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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? Yes

4.25

This book was so much fun. It was a great experience and reading it was a treat. The plot, characters, and world building all felt very well developed and it felt very different than a lot of other YA I’ve read.

The main cast members were all interesting and likable with distinct personalities and a variety of identities. There wasn’t a ton of development during the story for them - except for Merlin - but it didn’t really bother me. I wish some of the characters in the main group got more page time, but I was pretty happy with them for the most part. Overall I really liked the found family dynamic the group had.

The plot was definitely been done before, and it wasn’t the most interesting one I’ve ever read. I was definitely more invested in the characters themselves than what they were trying to accomplish. That being said, the last hundred pages or so felt very strange to me. Everything got pretty confusing and I wasn’t a fan of the direction the authors went with some of the characters and their dynamics.

Despite its flaws, I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it, especially to someone who’s looking for a lot of representation. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Genocide, and Racism

Minor: Death of parent, Grief, Torture, and Pregnancy

aseel_reads's review

adventurous 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 was actually a lot of fun and quite gripping - a sci-fi retelling of Arthur with super diverse characters?? a FANTASTIC idea. it definitely took some time to get hooked into it but I think it's because I don't vibe much sign sci-fi as a genre, not the hooks fault. was pleasantly surprised by all the books twists and turns - pretty original while staying true to the og story. keen to see what happens in the next book

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Pregnancy, Grief, Death of parent, and Death

bookcaptivated's review

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, and Violence