Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

867 reviews

bzliz's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

I waited a long time to read this because people spoke so highly of it and I was worried it couldn’t possibly live up to the hype. I’m so delighted to say I had nothing to worry about because it exceeded my expectations in every way. 

I immediately fell in love with Bree and I wanted nothing but good things for her. I’ve never been hugely into Arthurian legend but I enjoyed the dip into that world in a modern context and I was completely engrossed in every twist she encountered. The beautiful balance between aether and root was so cool and Bree’s journey to learn both paths was so fun. 

The biggest compliment I can give is that I want to immediately dive into Bloodmarked but I need to give it a few days so I don’t get them confused with each other. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Sexism, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Kidnapping and Slavery

Minor: Car accident, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Rape

Child abuse (off page):

mentions of the way Nick and Sel were raised involving physical abuse under the guise of being part of training for their duty.

Rape (off page): Mention toward the end of the book of one of Bree’s enslaved ancestors being raped by the master of the house, then threatened after she became pregnant. It’s not explicitly called by that name but it’s definitely what happened. Racism (on page):

Bree faces multiple instances of micro aggressions and overt racism. Nobody outright calls her any slurs but it’s pretty unrelenting because just like in real life even people who don’t mean harm can still cause harm.

drmars's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Not quite a five 🌟 read but very very close. I loved this book. The back half was impossible for me to put down. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

bgoodbookclub's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

These books have been on my shelf for a long time and I've always heard great things and wanted to read them so I finally did! 2024 is turning out to be my fantasy year so it felt like the right time.

These books are pretty in depth with a lot of details but I didn't feel lost at any point. Deonn does a great job of weaving everything together so that any questions you had were intentionally left unanswered and then resolved later.

The racial aspect of this book is woven in so well and is unlike what I've seen in other books which really stood out to me. I loved the way the author intentionally used the terminology of root (as explained in the author's note).

I am very excited to read the next book in this series!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Grief, and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent

klsreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

God-tier. An absolutely perfect debut. This book made me cry so hard, and I loved every minute of it. I loved the characters and their relationships (don't talk to me about Bree and her mom). There are non-tokenized queer and nonbinary characters and a bisexual male love interest (!!!!!!!). It reckons with grief, racial trauma, colonization, and the premature deaths of Black folks in America. It meditates on history, who is remembered, and what it means to be cut off from ancestral knowledge and power (literally and figuratively). It mythologizes and reckons with real racial struggles and white supremacy.The magic system is so unique and fun. Sprint to get this book. Tracy Deonn is unbelievably talented, and I will read whatever she writes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, Bullying, Colonisation, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, War, and Blood

Moderate: Medical content, Car accident, Rape, Alcohol, Torture, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Body horror

Minor: Police brutality, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Vomit

mamatrauma's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Cursing, Violence, Racism, Medical content, Death, Murder, Gore, Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

gcjay1994's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

One of those books where I smack myself in the head for not reading it sooner

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Slavery, Bullying, Mental illness, Classism, Racial slurs, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, and Violence

katebella's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Death, Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Torture, War, and Sexual assault

sn03's review

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Death of parent, Misogyny, Slavery, War, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Grief, Torture, Violence, Pregnancy, and Racism

Minor: Alcohol

maximind's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: Car accident, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Vomit, and Rape

sarahbearas's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

 Legendborn is YA fantasy at its best and I mean that so sincerely. This is one of my favorite YA fantasies I’ve read in a while and I can't believe it took me this long to pick it up. I’ve been missing out!!!! For so long!!!!

I came into this book without a lot of prior knowledge, which I've been doing nowadays since that seems to bring out a different, more enjoyable reading experience for me. All I knew was that 1) this was highly loved and 2) it's a fantasy. That's about it. Read no blurbs or plot summary because apparently, that's how I operate now. So, as a kid who really enjoyed Arthurian legends growing up, I just about nearly screeched when I realized that this was a twist on that. 

It's rare that a first page really gets me hooked on a story; I’ve become accustomed to the idea that a book takes a chapter or two to really get going and pull the reader in. When I tell you that this story drops you in immediately, I do; I’ve never started caring for a main character as fast as I have for Bree. At the core of this story, it's really about her grief and she learns to cope and live with it. And kudos to Tracy Deonn for handling such topics with the care and grace that should be used when talking about grief. 

With regards to the fantasy aspect, I felt as though I understood everything in the moment but the further we got along the more I was like “do I actually understand this magic system?????”. Alas, I think it's just the nature of a dense magic system to lose some details on the first read. I never felt like anything was too info-dumpy, I personally would have to go back and re-read a lot to really understand the concept of the Order and Root as well. It’s really excellent, once you start to grasp the ideas presented. 

My only true gripes are 1) there's so many side characters that they kinda got lost in a sea of names, for me personally 2) I’m not a huge fan of love triangles 3) Sel gets on my nerves. Me and Sel have beef. Truly. But am I going to go ahead and devour Bloodmarked after finishing this review? Why yes. Yes, I am. 

I highly, highly recommend this book, especially if you're itching for a well-written YA fantasy right now. Or if you want to try someone new outside of the genres you typically enjoy, I feel like this is a great pick. I’m so deeply excited to see where this series goes, and whatever future works Tracy Deonn puts out, I will definitely pick it up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Slavery and Violence

Minor: Rape