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A review by kristincdugas
The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Absolutely adored this story!
The voice this book was written in had me from the first page. It was immediately witty and fun, exactly what I needed after a previous heavier read! I find so often that YA fantasy is going darker, which don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy the dark and creepy and the mysterious elements we have been getting recently. But it was so refreshing to read a retelling with so much lightness and teenage hilarity!
The characters were such an important part of the comedy (because they were each so great at laughing at themselves in each other in that way that is so much of what I love about YA), each of them was so lovable and even some of the ones we were led to dislike at first really came around and were shown to be deep and complex characters! *cough* except Elaine, who let's be honest, was kind of the worst . I loved the way we got inside so many of their heads to give us more of an understanding of what informed their actions. It was done in a way that made it easy to follow who we were with and through it all the voice and fun was consistent. There were so many favorites and honestly just our whole cast brought so much life to this book.
Emry, our MC -- love her! She was such a fun character to follow with her goals and ambitions coupled with the warring feelings she was fighting and her fears of blowing her secret. It was so great seeing a bi female MC who just wanted to be herself and was so incredibly ambitious about learning!
Going off the spectacular cast of characters I have to give a huge round of applause to: THE BANTER. Wow it really just hit me so hard from that first chapter. The banter between friends, between enemies, between LIs -- it was all spectacular. Personally I would love to be as well versed at a verbal sparring as Arthur one day but for now I'll settle for reading and re-reading this book to live vicariously through him.
This will be a new favorite for me to re-read when I need something fun and light!
The voice this book was written in had me from the first page. It was immediately witty and fun, exactly what I needed after a previous heavier read! I find so often that YA fantasy is going darker, which don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy the dark and creepy and the mysterious elements we have been getting recently. But it was so refreshing to read a retelling with so much lightness and teenage hilarity!
The characters were such an important part of the comedy (because they were each so great at laughing at themselves in each other in that way that is so much of what I love about YA), each of them was so lovable and even some of the ones we were led to dislike at first really came around and were shown to be deep and complex characters! *cough* except
Emry, our MC -- love her! She was such a fun character to follow with her goals and ambitions coupled with the warring feelings she was fighting and her fears of blowing her secret. It was so great seeing a bi female MC who just wanted to be herself and was so incredibly ambitious about learning!
Going off the spectacular cast of characters I have to give a huge round of applause to: THE BANTER. Wow it really just hit me so hard from that first chapter. The banter between friends, between enemies, between LIs -- it was all spectacular. Personally I would love to be as well versed at a verbal sparring as Arthur one day but for now I'll settle for reading and re-reading this book to live vicariously through him.
This will be a new favorite for me to re-read when I need something fun and light!
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment