Reviews tagging 'War'

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

167 reviews

rberdan's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

I will be honest. I read the first half and a predictable thing I expected had already transpired so I wasn’t terribly invested, and then my Libby loan expired. I skipped my loan a few times and then it came back up a few days ago when I was in exactly the mood to read it while recovering from COVID and let me tell you… I did not put it down until I was done and promptly jumped to book two when I finished. 

I know enough about Arthurian legend to understand what’s going on, but I wouldn’t say I’m typically drawn to these stories, which is a testament to the author’s skill at storytelling. Sure, there were some predictable bits… it’s a YA novel and I expect this… but there were also some things I didn’t see coming and some different story elements in terms of both magic and the interweaving of power, elitism, and racism that were deftly woven. By the end of the noon I was already fully invested, and then when I read the author’s notes I retroactively had an even deeper appreciation for the work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, and War

Moderate: Murder, Bullying, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual violence and Rape

bimess_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Loved the narration though I had to speed it up a bit. 

The story captivated me but sometimes it made me put it away. Loved the magic systems introduced in this story. Bree's grief struck a personal cord of mine. And it made it difficult to read sometimes. Anyway, the plot twists didn't really feel like twists? But it still surprised me 🤭 

Sometimes I thought if I was really reading YA. 

But it was good. I would've given it five stars. 

But the idea of Sel and Bree together nauseates me. Considering how abusive he was at the beginning. And everything changes because what? A connection between king and merlin? lol hell nah.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, War, Misogyny, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Car accident and Transphobia

gabriella_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

Read this entire book on a flight to England and holy shit. The way this book captures grief, trauma, and how it can intersect with misogynoir was gripping.

Tracy Deonn is excellent at character writing and establishing interpersonal dynamics (and conflicts). She also creates a unique atmosphere with obvious (and not so obvious) foes. She empowers her protagonist and makes her multifaceted. She breathes life into Bree and, as a reader, makes her feel so real. And this doesn’t get into how she writes an ensemble cast either - good GOD I would be remiss if I didn’t get into that. 

Every character contributes something to the plot and it’s amazing that this author finds a way to do that without rendering them to be one-note or just a plot device. She has a plan for every character - and pieces of dialogue have a way of retaining relevance chapters later in a refreshing way.

I wish I had a book like this when I was a kid. 2,000/10 recommend reading this book if you are interested in fantasy and coming of age books. It’s the gift that keeps on giving! Tracy Deonn, thank you for writing this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Death, Car accident, Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Racism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and War

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Rape, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcohol, Stalking, Body shaming, Classism, and Confinement

allieesq12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Racism, Slavery, and War

buud_w0rm's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

THIS WAS SO GOOD. The magic system, the ties to her ancestry?!? How is that not talked about more. I’m in shock and awe, it’s been a while since a book had me in such a choke hold. I can also definitely see why people love the love triangle cuz wow. It’s so much deeper than just a simple love triangle w the Arthurian aspect. I think tho ( and apparently this is the unpopular opinion) that Bree and Nick should be endgame. I can see Selwyns appeal and even more so after his POV at the end of the book revealing his regret for his deep seeded murderous intent on Bree and how badly he hurt Nick. I just can’t ignore how much I love the push and pull between Nick and Bree and their deep bond through time .. ugh tugs at my heart. Honestly they got it for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Violence, and War

Moderate: Grief, Gore, and Death of parent

Minor: Slavery and Vomit

AGAIN how is no one talking about how well thought out the different magic systems are in this book and their intertwining?!? The part where it’s revealed that 8th generations ago in Nick’s generation, the Scion of Arthur had a child with his slave Vera who ALSO has her own magic ( root) . Her escaping and begging for heightened abilities form the ancestors in order to protect her and her lineage ?!?! I mean incredible really. Amazing no notes.

ahhhreadzombiez's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

To put it short, this is one of the most influential, inspiring, and gut wrenching stories I’ve ever read. I don’t want to spoil this at all, since I came upon the book without knowing what it was fully about. It truly only got better with each chapter. At one point I had to put the book down and bawl my eyes out for a quick second before frantically going back to reading. This is such an amazing book and I will hold it close to my heart. I have the second book waiting for me, and I can’t wait to dive in.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Racism, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Sexism, War, and Sexual assault

onefineelephant's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.5

9/10. I really enjoyed this book. It gave me chills, made me very emotional, and made me really care about the characters. I was taken on such a journey throughout this story. There were so many parts of the story that surprised me and added to the complexity of the plot. Each turn deepened the connections between the characters and the past. The Arthurian legend and the magic feel unique and compelling to me. I'm not really into love triangles, but this one feels very organic. I found this book from booktok and I knew it had racial tensions/racism as part of the plot, but since I like to go into books mostly blind, I was not expecting the story to address generational trauma and touch on the traumas of enslaved women. This is not a negative to me, but just not what I was expecting going into it. I figured the racial tensions would be more microaggressions and modern racist topics (which were also explored). I think this book will be even more interesting after already reading it for the first time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, War, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Medical content, Stalking, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Colonisation and Car accident

Minor: Rape, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Transphobia, and Slavery

This book deals with modern racism such as microaggressions and also generational trauma.

malebrina's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Grief, War, Death, and Death of parent

abisnail564's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Murder, Death of parent, Racism, and War

Moderate: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Death, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Pregnancy