Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

128 reviews

danysgirl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Sexism, Cursing, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Murder, Racism, Car accident, Grief, Rape, Death of parent, Mental illness, Violence, and Vomit

hilivingston7's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this fantasy. It was a great modern day telling of the legend of Arthur on the legacy of UNC Chapel Hill that examined how chattel slavery impacted and continues to impact characters. The depiction of Bree’s grief for her mother felt so real and coupled that with her feelings of tokenism and isolation as the only minority experiencing daily micro & macro aggressions. I loved how the ending threaded the nuance of her ancestors and her coming to terms with accepting her mothers death. Really excited to read the second! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Car accident, Rape, Abandonment, Violence, Colonisation, and Sexual violence

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

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

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

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

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

asuenram's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, Racism, Rape, and War

bookishspy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

Legendborn is a solid and exciting YA read! 

I had a lot of people recommend this story to me over the past year, and after finally reading it, I'm actually regretting not getting around to it sooner! 

Bree is such a perfect main character. She is fun, smart, and has such a deep and real personality. She's not perfect and also had a temper when it was called for. She didn't just always let things slide right off her back as some might’ve. Her strength was the standout here. 

Nick is such a sweet guy and always had Bree's back. I love that he had a little rebellious streak, but he knew when it was time to put that aside. He did surprise me with one of the fights where he hit someone who he knew was not allowed to hit him back, and that left me wondering if he might be a bit darker than he seems. The romance with him was perfect, just a little flirty and cheeky. It was super cute, but he clearly has a jealous streak. 

Sel seems endgame to me. He has the dark and mysterious thing going on, plus a bit of that forbidden charm. He's also deeper than he first appears to be, and he seems to have a bit of a cheeky streak as well. I really want more of him. 

While it is not heavy on romance and is more fantasy with a side of romance, the love triangle is certainly triangling, and it is hitting the spot. The jealous moments and then working together despite it, just perfect. 

Now, if we get to the actual story, I will say this wasn't a perfect score for me, but it was close! The only thing that dragged down this story was how confusing the names and places got at times. We were thrown a lot of names and expected to remember who was who and where was where. I was winging it a lot of the time, and because of that, the bad guy reveal just didn't hit as hard as it should have. 

Despite that, this was so unique and exciting! It was also heartbreaking and hard to read at times that involved heavy doses of racism and sexism. Sometimes, I wanted to climb in this book and yell at some of these characters for their bigotry, which is a testimony to how well written this story was. I was enthralled and binged this as fast as I could, and I think I'll move immediately to the next book in the series.

I would highly recommend this fantasy book!

➛ 𝟒.𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Death, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Mental illness, Death of parent, Slavery, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, and Car accident

Minor: Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Bullying, Car accident, Racial slurs, and Cursing

ellenwm's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

I am in awe of this book. Absolutely adore it and think it will surely become a contemporary classic in the genre. Tracy Deonn weaves together a masterpiece with a killer plot, wonderfully drawn characters, and beautiful, earnest prose. She’s embellished a real campus and based the story in history, lore and legend from multiple perspectives. The way she writes about slavery, violence, generational trauma and contemporary white supremacy is important. As a fellow member of the motherless daughters club, I found her meditations on grief, PTSD, rage and isolation refreshingly realistic and meaningfully expressed. Her depictions of friendship and found family rock. It is a gift to get to know Bree! Her relationships with Alice and her Dad ring acutely true. The pacing is awesome, too. I was sucked in and racing to the next snort-laugh-worthy line of dialogue or gasp-inducing reveal. I can’t wait to read the next book!!!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Misogyny, Abandonment, Death of parent, Transphobia, Slavery, War, and Sexism

Minor: Rape

wytherwytch's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.75

This book was brilliant. It was slow to get going for me as the fantasy world was set up and explained but once it was going it was utterly brilliant. I really appreciated reading a book with a main character that was a woman of colour by a woman of colour and the raw perspective this book offered. More of this please.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, Car accident, Racism, Death of parent, Death, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War, Blood, Infidelity, and Alcohol

knockoffrainbow's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Bullying, Blood, Mental illness, Sexism, Slavery, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Violence, War, Racial slurs, Child death, Misogyny, Racism, and Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Slavery, Torture, Alcohol, and Transphobia

Minor: Infidelity

ruthannejoy's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Kidnapping, Rape, and Blood

Minor: Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Colonisation, Car accident, Torture, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization