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maplewrites's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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
3.75
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the ending. I did not like the ending
I liked everything else. i loved the characters. I loved the plot. I loved the story. I loved the conflict. I loved how emotions were a very important part of the story. I loved the pacing.
I did not like the ending.
Look, look. the ending was just. UGH. No. I get it, setting up the sequel. But no. That's just not how you destroy monopolies. The best thing to do at the meeting of the round table would be to look at the systems in place that the Mercer company was using and then break it up between the planets that they were taking resources from. Give it to the individual governments of those planets to do with as they see fit. To put them in charge of helping each other. Not just... trying to build everything new from the ground up. Invent the systems that prevent monopolies. One of those systems is how to break up monopolies if they ever should occur, break up Mercer based on those systems. I just.
the whole book, Ari complained about pageantry and how bullshit it was. And yet, she was playing their game. It is a bullshit chess game that the Mercer company is playing. And Ari was acting like anything they had to say had any meaning. Like, a lot of the power the Mercer company had after the figure head died was the power to lie. Ari's job in those moments should have been to go "no, that's not the game we're playing. Right now, what we're doing is using the resources that you have stolen and giving them to the people that need them. I have killed your guy in charge because that was the only way to gain footing, also he was genocidal." Because she does not need to play by their rules. I get it, she doesn't know how to run a government. But she does know how to use her resources. She has a lot of resources. She can use them!! She can use them to make sure that the planets can be reliant on each other and sustain each other.
the ending. I did not like the ending
I liked everything else. i loved the characters. I loved the plot. I loved the story. I loved the conflict. I loved how emotions were a very important part of the story. I loved the pacing.
I did not like the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Classism, Violence, War, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Police brutality, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Pregnancy
thecourtofreading's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
saw gender bending queer king arthur retelling set in space and buckled my seatbelt. this was SO good. i don’t know if i’ll read the sequel but the humour in this was chef’s kiss and i literally couldn’t put it down so 11/10
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Animal death
Moderate: Violence and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Sexual content
kaitlinlovesbooks's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Death
Minor: Blood and Sexual content
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
cookiecat73's review
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
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
neilibra's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Animal death, and Genocide
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
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 against another edition
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
jackiepreston's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy
bluejayreads's review against another edition
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)