Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Excalibur Curse by Kiersten White

7 reviews

nimeneth's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I wound up liking the way this wrapped up the series, even if there were a few points I wish to read more about, specifically the Guinevere and Lancelot aspect. It does lead the mind to some of the older Arthur legends about that relationship, but there's just so much room to play around with it since they're just kids in the series.

I appreciate that Guinevere got her happy ending and all was forgiven with Lancelot as well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Sexism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and War

frantically's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

This was a satisfying, if not perfect conclusion to the story. I got transported right back into the magic (or lack thereof) of Camelot and, as with the previous books, I really enjoyed the "feel" of the book and the writing style.

At the end, the author write about perfect wrapped-up stories and myths, where we never get to see all the bad and terrible things that also happened. While that sentiment may be true, it is still unsatisfying how a lot of plot lines seemed to just be beginning — and suddenly the reader is cut out.

As a sapphic reader, yes, I was rooting for Lancelot most of all. And it is so so disappointing to see Guinevere share multiple kisses with Mordred, while we are even told that her love lies with Lancelot. I get hoping for something more than vague feelings and touches but we got nothing. Would a kiss or even just a declaration of love really been that much to ask for?

I did still really enjoy this series and while continue recommending it — just no longer as the queer retelling I was hoping it would be.

(Also, I read fantasy for a reason, reading about all these old magic users being destroyed almost made me sob ngl)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Death

Moderate: War, Misogyny, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

typedtruths's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Animal death, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Self harm, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Classism

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Death, War, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Suicide, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

starccato's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Self harm

Minor: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

allisonwonderlandreads's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

3.0

I LOVE the women in this series. We get a high quality addition to the cast in this final outing in Fina: warrior of the north, gifted bisexual flirt, and honorable friend. However, for all the strong friendships and celebration of all kinds of love, this finale offers little new content in the relationships that made me love this series. It mostly circles back on itself in a reflective way while Guinevere struggles to understand herself, her history, and what she wants from the people in her life. I love her, and I even love her angst. Her intense introspection is something I enjoyed in the first two books, but it was always balanced with action. Here, the revelation of her background brings forth some weighty questions, necessitating a major decision. The ongoing conflict between Camelot and malevolent magical forces tests loyalties and priorities. During the turmoil, she makes the same mistakes again and again while trying to forge a future she can be proud of. Guinevere spends most of the book in her own head with little only rare examples of the sparkling interactions that make her story shine. Guinevere didn't deserve this finale. It was my least favorite in the series despite the stellar cast.

It's hard to do this spoiler-free, but I was highly stressed about my ship for Guinevere. It's up in the air not because of indecision but lack of self-knowledge and a personal blindspot towards romantic love. THEN, my ship prevailed (I think) but it got less time on the page than both the other options (it's a full quadrangle, out here) and it wasn't particularly decisive or romantic despite the long emotional journey to get us to that point (on literally the last page). I felt deflated after all my building concern and excitement led to such an anti-climactic result.

While the questions raised were interesting and thoughtful, they looped through the story without the benefit of the great character elements driving the first two installments. It's strange for me to get the conclusion I want and still leave dissatisfied and underwhelmed. I would have appreciated more plot and more emphasis on the heartfelt relationships that make the trilogy sing. I'm still glad I read the series in its entirety, and this is my favorite version of Camelot to date. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Infidelity, War, and Violence

beforeviolets's review

adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

What an epic conclusion to a magical and adventurous story! So many twists and turns and reveals tied in among nuanced discussion of right and wrong and good and evil. Every single character in this world is written so well and has such a complex history and personality and moral code. They're fully realized beings and are truly what drives the emotional connection between the audience and the story. Kiersten White, more than anything else, knows how to write a good character.

And I felt like this book left me with so many fantastic messages about strength and growth and love. I'm always a huge fan of the trope that the strongest weapon that can be wielded is the complexity of humanity.

However, I'm going to need a novella RIGHT NOW. RIGHT. NOW.

i can not believe i read three whole books waiting for Guinevere and Lancelot to get together just for it to have an open ending like that. i need to see them fall in love and STAT. the author spent so many scenes in this book leading up to a relationship between the two of them (or at LEAST a conversation about their feelings for each other) that I was WILDLY disappointed to not see it come to fruition.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

Moderate: Alcohol and Animal death

Minor: Vomit