Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Legendborn - Der geheime Bund by Tracy Deonn

578 reviews

adalinemccormick's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

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

Moderate: Slavery and Kidnapping

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

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.

klsreads's review against another edition

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

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

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

mamatrauma's review against another edition

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

laurenbeetea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

gcjay1994's review against another edition

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

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: Grief and Death of parent

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

Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, and War

sn03's review against another edition

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

Minor: Alcohol

maximind's review against another edition

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: Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, and Violence

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

sarahbearas's review against another edition

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, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Slavery and Violence

Minor: Rape