Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Lendários by Tracy Deonn

115 reviews

chrisb913's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

The story and plot start out slow, we start off meeting the MC Briana a few months after the death of her mother. She has moved to a college campus to take part in an early college program with her best friend Alice. Immediately you are thrown into a plot of magic, demons, and secret societies. I found the initial descriptions of the hierarchy of the Order of the Round Table to be a bit confusing, but as you progress in the story it becomes significantly easier to follow along. One thing I really wish the author had done, was put a pronunciation guide in the back of the book, as there are several names and phrases that are repeated. She initially puts a phonetic description of how to say it in the story, but it would have been nice to have a reference page. 

At the end of the day, while the beginning was slightly clunky for me, the ending more than made up for any grievance I had with the book. This story is such an interesting and unique take on the Arthruian lore and the characters are so incredibly realistic. I cannot wait to continue reading in this world and this will be one of my go to recommendations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Bullying, and Child death

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Transphobia

spess's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Colonisation, Slavery, Racism, and Bullying

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

tetrootz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, Slavery, Classism, War, Abandonment, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Mental illness, Torture, Bullying, Car accident, Gaslighting, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Acephobia/Arophobia, Police brutality, and Rape

some_random_person_hi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Kinda wattpad-y at some points and some characters & characterisations remind me so much of Heroes of Olympus that I wouldn't be surprised if this was originally riordanverse fanfic/ the author is a fan. 
All in all, very gripping once past the first 50 pages -> I binged this. I love the characters so much + the exploration of how historical institutions are hostile to POC (esp in USA) stood out to me. 
Had some flaws (

Sel's monologue at Nick's dad's house just felt like infodumping

  + so many characters they're hard to remember + sometimes the writing just felt clunky) but I greatly enjoyed it so 5 stars it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Death, Slavery, Bullying, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, and Racism

Minor: Misogyny, Murder, Kidnapping, Rape, Alcohol, Car accident, Colonisation, Stalking, Transphobia, Self harm, Confinement, and Torture

Self harm is not in the mental health issues way but the for blood way.

midnightverde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Amazing! There is so much happening in the book and there are so many questions you ask yourself as you’re reading. I absolutely loved this and am eager to read the next books in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Blood, Gaslighting, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Classism, Gore, Bullying, Violence, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Moderate: Infidelity and Rape

litoreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

TL;DR:
Someone let Miss Tracy Deonn cook and she created a masterpiece. Five Stars.

The story starts with the heartbreaking loss of Bree Matthews' mother. A few months later, she heads off to USC, the same university her mother attended. Shortly after arriving at the school, she stumbles upon the exclusive Order of the Round Table, a modern-day rendition of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

As mysterious and perilous incidents unfold on campus, Bree seizes the opportunity to join the Order as a Page, facilitated by Nick, the prospective King and heir to King Arthur's throne. Amidst her training to be a Squire, escalating violent events prompt the original Knights to call upon their Scions to Awaken, signaling an impending war. The catch is that if Arthur's Scion (Nick) is Awakened and falls victim to the Shadowborn demons,

15 centuries of Legendborn magic lines will vanish, plunging the world into darkness and chaos

.

Simultaneously, Bree undergoes therapy where her therapist unveils

the magic system, Rootcraft

, and cautions her about

the dangers posed by the Order. After consulting with her ancestors, Bree resolves to infiltrate the Order to uncover the truth behind her mother's fate, as her mom was a Rootcrafter adept at manipulating plant energy

.

I won't spoil the rest for you; PLEASE READ IT. I couldn't contain my excitement and literally yelled and felt chills when the climax was revealed.

On the downside, I found a minor issue with Bree's frequent lack of awareness in certain situations. For instance, moments where she unexpectedly realizes actions she apparently performed without conscious awareness felt a bit inconsistent for a character with such

legendary power

. Unfortunately, this is a typical trope found in YA novels. Beyond this, the rest of the story is exceptional.

Here's what I appreciated:
- The engaging narrative
- Rich lore
- Well-crafted magic system
- Compelling characters, particularly Bree, Sel, Nick, and Alice

Bree's perspective as an intelligent Black woman resonated with me, offering a poignant exploration of how White society incessantly thrusts her race and gender in her face. As a person of color myself, I identified with many parallels, and the portrayal of racist interactions at times moved me to tears.

The inclusion of queer representation in the story is commendable. Same-sex relationships are normalized, and I applaud the matter-of-fact acceptance within the narrative. The diverse sexual orientations of characters, including Sel being bi (we need more bi men in books) and Alice being a lesbian, along with queer figures in high-ranking positions in the Order, is a refreshing and welcomed aspect.

Tracy Deonn's debut novel is a tapestry of adventure, gripping battle scenes, dynamic characters, a captivating magic system, and creative, imaginative lore rooted in Arthurian legend. It lays the foundation for a

potential love triangle

in the sequel as well as a

larger war with incredibly high stakes

. If you're a fan of fantasy, magic, and coming-of-age tales, this book is an absolute must-read.

Five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexism, Misogyny, Car accident, Cursing, Death of parent, War, Death, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Violence

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Body horror, Violence, Kidnapping, Classism, Grief, Death of parent, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Moderate: Murder, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Torture, Child abuse, Colonisation, Medical content, War, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Slavery, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, Car accident, Transphobia, Rape, Sexual content, and Cancer

quel_g's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Racial slurs, Murder, Death, Slavery, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Misogyny, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Racism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Blood, Misogyny, and Police brutality

The sheer joy it brings me knowing that these misogynistic racists most powerful lineage got passed down to only black women because of one dumbass along the way. Love

antijeffbozo_love2read's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Cursing, Slavery, Infidelity, Grief, Death, Child abuse, Racism, Bullying, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident and Rape

Minor: Sexual content

julee_melii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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: Violence, Death of parent, Death, Slavery, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy, Car accident, Gore, Rape, Abandonment, Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Minor: Transphobia, Bullying, and Sexism