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Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcohol, War
Minor: Slavery
16/35 (46%)
I really liked the concepts in this book. It really felt like it had do much potential but imo it fell flat in every way. The writing and pacing were decent at the start, but about 60% in the grammar started to drop off and the pacing slowed down a lot for me.
It's not for me. The plot and 'character development' were predictable (and I almost never make predictions while reading), which is so disappointing!
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, War
Minor: Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Slavery, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, War
I found the book quite enjoyable, and it was a quick read. I read it in about 4ish hours. I found the retelling of the story of Excalibur and King Arthur an excellent spin on the story, filled with fae and a believable world! I'm pretty interested to see where this story will go and the story of Morgan (who I totally did not call Morgana more than once).
The relationship between Morgan and Darven was interesting. Still, I did not see a spark of romantic tension between them, which was fine as I got so interested in the world and the story of the fae I forgot this was a romantasy (romance fantasy) book.
Without going into spoiler territory, I enjoyed how Arthur was in this! I loved seeing his arc and change throughout the book, which also helped me like Darven as an excellent comparison.
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Kidnapping
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Slavery, Kidnapping, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
An interesting take on Arthurian legend. Too dark for me, sadly.
Thoughts
I keep telling myself to give dark fantasy another chance, and I should stop telling myself that. My feelings on this book are split. On the plus side, some great twists on fae and Arthurian legend. The story had some great reveals, and I liked all the supporting friends. But it turns out I am tired of things being miserable always and at all times. While this doesn't go all the way into "gritty" territory, the storyline is definitely dark enough, with our MC constantly being kicked around from all directions (mostly from her really terrible brother), with barely a sliver of relief. At one point, I started to wonder why she was even still doing the quest, when she'd probably be better off just running away. Or perhaps using the time away to build that secret army her brother thinks she's got going on. But if you want a dark fantasy, this book absolutely fulfills the prompt. There's also a decent amount of spice, and a very slow burn romance (that looks like it won't really see completion until later installments), and I liked the world building.
Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood
Moderate: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War
Minor: Xenophobia