Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

20 reviews

libre_coffeeandpages's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.5

Legendborn lived up to the hype! It was extremely engaging and I was hooked from the very beginning. I usually have difficulty staying invested with young adult novels but this one really drew in my attention. The King Arthur theme and implicitly picking apart some of the original story made me think of it in a different light. There were several times I emotionally clashed with the MC though. Sometimes reading young characters is a challenge because, well, I'm not that age anymore so I'm just like - ughhhh I understand why you feel like that but you HAVE to know there's a better ways to handle things. T-T 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, War, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Slavery, and Homophobia

rosecardfaux's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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

5.0

Very rich world building. Vibrant characters I cared about right away. Well-crafted prose and super engaging. Immediately ordered the next book in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Xenophobia

lectricefeministe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Violence, War, Transphobia, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Misogyny, Stalking, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Racism, Racial slurs, and Sexism

eldritch_archivist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Death, Racism, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Blood, Alcohol, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Colonisation, Kidnapping, War, Transphobia, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Infidelity, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Police brutality

phoxyphoenix's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Grief, Racism, War, and Death of parent

Minor: Colonisation, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Slavery, Violence, and Xenophobia

branwen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny 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

I adored this book. I admit that I was skeptical at first, because of the hype around it, and so often they don't turn out to be as incredible as people claim, but the popularity of this book is so justified. 
It is based on Arthurian legends but within a modern setting, and I loved what Deonn did with this folklore. They weren't just the legends re-hashed as we know them, but dealt with and changed in such a unique way that it was like exploring the legends for the first time all over again. There is also a really interesting array of magic systems within the world that also felt very intricate and immersive. And by having a secret society setting, it just added so much more to the atmosphere of the book as well. 
The characters are by far one of the greatest strengths of the book. There is a large, diverse cast of characters who all feel well-developed and with distinguishable personalities. I think the author can create a real sense of authenticity in her work, so the diversity or the dynamics and chemistry between characters never feels forced. All of them are interesting and complex, and whilst there is always a few that you just cannot like and you're not supposed to like either, the large majority of them feel real and likeable, because you're given insight into their personalities and the ways in which they work/ think. Bree (the main character) also goes on a particularly incredible journey throughout the book, which is inspiring and emotional, and she gains more character development and depth in one book than some characters gain throughout a whole series. There's also a love triangle, and I cannot explain enough how much I usually despise them... yet this one had me hooked. It's definitely in the early stages of a love triangle, but I love the different dynamics we see between them all and I completely believe in the chemistry that Deonn can create between characters. 
Also, as much as there is a mystery being woven and solved, there's a lot of humour as well as emotional depth, which everyone can relate to or enjoy reading in some way. 
My only complaint is that the first 100 pages didn't particularly capture my attention, but then after that I was hooked. This book surprised me in so many ways and you get to go on such a journey with the characters (not just the main one) and you can't help but root for them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Xenophobia and Slavery

softselkie's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Transphobia, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Murder, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Rape and Sexual harassment

rebeckareads's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

2.25

• Rated 4.14 using the CAWPILE rating system.
• Read as part of the Books and Tea's discord server's July-August 2021 readalong.

Normally I never read YA fantasy, but I won this book in the Books and Tea discord server's giveaway and then read it as part of the same server's May-June 2021 readalong. 

I went in with just about zero expectations. I loved the prologue, struggled through most of the beginning and middle, liked the last 200-or-so pages. What I enjoyed most about the prologue was the writing, it felt very poetic at times. Apart from that, I did not find the writing extraordinary... however, I found the characters to be interesting! We got representation in a black protagonist, an Asian best friend, a non-binary side character, same sex relationships... you can tell the black protagonist is written by a black author, which feels refreshing. Colonialism and the generational struggles are woven into the book but in my opinion, it doesn't feel "too on the nose". The book also deals with grief, loss and feeling like you don't fit in (naturally - the protagonist gets thrown into a secret society formed by white men!). 
The character development for some of the characters feels natural - I especially loved Sel's arc! - while other feels a bit more stagnant and/or like their actions does not always have realistic consequences. 
As mentioned earlier, I struggled with the beginning and most of the middle. This mainly boils down to the worldbuilding and lore - I still haven't fully wrapped my head around what a Squire is or how the bloodlines work. Maybe that's because I know next to nothing about King Arthur (which Legendborn is a re-telling of) or maybe I just haven't read enough (read: any) YA fantasy before... either way, the exposition felt overwhelming and went over my head most of the time, but I felt this made no difference as the worldbuilding slowly felt into place as the book went on. 
All in all, the book was okay but unfortunately it did not stand out for me. Again, this might be due to YA fantasy not being a preferred genre of mine. I'm still considering picking up the second book in the series when it comes out though, so that's always something. I've got my hopes up for some character development in regards to Nick, be it positive or negative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia

mindthekat's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Slavery

lauraeerika's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• 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, Grief, Slavery, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Xenophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, and Alcoholism

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