Scan barcode
summerfalkenrath's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-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
This book was everything I wanted it to be! I was so in love with all of the characters and they were all very well rounded and had realistic flaws, habits, desires, and doubts. It made me laugh very often and I was always intrigued by where things were going in every single chapter. There was not a moment of slowness and I was so eager to keep listening ASAP whenever I had to pause for life. Both narrators were very talented and great at portraying the emotions of the whole cast. I felt like the actions of each character felt very realistic and was very happy that a lot of common tropes were evaded during this book. I'm very excited to read more from this author in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
chrismap's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia and Misogyny
chellyfish's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent
chezler24's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
3.75
"To be truly brave, first you must be afraid. And to be afraid, you must have something you cannot bear to lose."
Queer Arthurian romp! YA historical Romance! A (mostly) comfy medieval rom-com! This was such a nice comfort read to listen to and unwind after long days at work. This story is full of found family and self-discovery. I loved Bridget Leclair. I mean she's a lady knight; of course, I would love her. I enjoyed seeing the two main relationships develop as well as seeing all of the secondary characters and their friendships develop as well. In this respect, it was so refreshing and nice.
My one critique would be the tone shift at the very end. While there were seeds of unrest or some nods of political strife early on, the final scenes with the big overthrow felt a little rushed and jarring for me. The setups almost felt too light in comparison. Maybe I was too focused on the romance and teenage shenanigans, but it felt very fast and resolved very quickly right there at the end. I felt like I blinked and it was over. It was a little bit abrupt for a standalone BUT if she writes more then I'll for sure read them.
Queer Arthurian romp! YA historical Romance! A (mostly) comfy medieval rom-com! This was such a nice comfort read to listen to and unwind after long days at work. This story is full of found family and self-discovery. I loved Bridget Leclair. I mean she's a lady knight; of course, I would love her. I enjoyed seeing the two main relationships develop as well as seeing all of the secondary characters and their friendships develop as well. In this respect, it was so refreshing and nice.
My one critique would be the tone shift at the very end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Sexism, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse and Vomit
lunarlibra's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.75
Yes. YES.
Picked this up on a whim and devoured it. I had such a hard time putting it down! The characters have real flaws that we see them address and grapple with, we have reluctant allies to good friends, we have sapphic yearning, and a group of teenagers coming into their own.
It's so good and so many things, while also being straightforward enough to read (relatively) quickly and even pick up on the crumbs of foreshadowing scattered throughout.
I feel like it's about, in no particular order,:
Picked this up on a whim and devoured it. I had such a hard time putting it down! The characters have real flaws that we see them address and grapple with, we have reluctant allies to good friends, we have sapphic yearning, and a group of teenagers coming into their own.
It's so good and so many things, while also being straightforward enough to read (relatively) quickly and even pick up on the crumbs of foreshadowing scattered throughout.
I feel like it's about, in no particular order,:
- first love
- healing from first love and finding true love
- learning to stand up for what you believe in
- queer solidarity
- (in some ways) queer mentorship, like when you make your first gay friend or when a baby gay learns from people who maybe never had the option to be in the closet
- the political and personal importance of coming out of the closet (even if just to yourself)
- the power of friendship
- learning to be brave
- the pain of parental pressures and disappointment
- the almost-miraculous feeling of having your first gay kiss (especially after believing you'd never get to experience it)
- learning from stories and myths while keeping a keen eye on the present reality
- the beauty and strength of platonic relationships!!!
- Did I mention the power of friendship?
- "changing for love" not in a shallow and misogynistic way, but in the sense of being inspired by someone you respect to work on personal growth
The writing is evocative, funny, and heartfelt. It felt personal to me and like a completely new story.
It would be a 5 stars read for me if not for one of my pet peeves, which is "miscommunication as the source of drama/conflict". It made sense in the context of the characters, and was somewhat short lived, and given how it wound up fitting into the character development of both of the main characters, so I might change my mind and say it is a five-star read after all.
This book gave me the emotion that makes me love reading, and love books. I can't wait to read the author's other works!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Dysphoria, War, and Classism
sgpartyhat's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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
4.0
I sat down with this book expecting a queer Arthurian retelling and was met instead with a (Netflix) Bridgerton-esque medieval England, where witches aren't burned at the stake but believers in the Arthurian legends and magic - called cultists - still clash with the Catholic Church, and where homophobia exists but also the gay teens are *very* bad at hiding how gay they are.
It was a delightful world to live in.
Croucher's loose historical fiction - their bio calls it "historical(ish)" - is anachronistic in all the best ways, pulling my 21st century heart into their world by making it like mine. Their characters are funny, brave, kind, good, messy, and confused in all the same ways I was as a late teenager. The found family trope goes HARD in this one, but it doesn't do so lazily; each pairing of characters (among six) is different and has its own arc.
The romance is lovely - from sapphic pining to drunk make out sessions, there's something for everyone. It's not a spicy book, which is a nice reminder that not everything has to be.
Being a YA novel, it had a few plot elements that weren't designed for my fully developed frontal lobe. I saw a twist in the ending from a mile away, and there were times when I felt the explanations a little heavy-handed. That said, I still enjoyed reading it, and would have absolutely devoured this book as a high schooler.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Vomit, and War
ctriinnn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Vomit, and Death of parent
backonpointe's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Literally the best book I've ever read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
audreyau3's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Body horror, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
bzliz's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
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
3.5
I really wanted to love this book but in the end it was just okay. I had a good time reading it but it didn’t have a lot of substance in either the plot or romance categories.
Although I did find the relationships to be cute, I couldn’t really buy in all the way. Gwen had some off-page pining for Bridget but they spent hardly any time together until they were smooch buddies. Bridget was very accurate when she said they barely knew each other. Arthur and Gabriel had more substantial scenes together but I didn’t feel like anything was accomplished in them because Gabe was pushing Art away so much.
Arthur got the most character development by far. He was the driving force in so many scenes and schemes. His antics were what led to him and Gwen forming any kind of friendship. By contrast, the royals were too passive about damn near everything. I wish either one of the siblings had been passionate about their country and their people and whoever that was could get the crown in the end, because if we’re making everything gay, there’s no reason Gabe couldn’t abdicate the throne to Gwen since he doesn’t want to be king so badly that he jokes about preferring death.
Although I did find the relationships to be cute, I couldn’t really buy in all the way. Gwen had some off-page pining for Bridget but they spent hardly any time together until they were smooch buddies. Bridget was very accurate when she said they barely knew each other. Arthur and Gabriel had more substantial scenes together but I didn’t feel like anything was accomplished in them because Gabe was pushing Art away so much.
Arthur got the most character development by far. He was the driving force in so many scenes and schemes. His antics were what led to him and Gwen forming any kind of friendship. By contrast, the royals were too passive about damn near everything. I wish either one of the siblings had been passionate about their country and their people and whoever that was could get the crown in the end, because if we’re making everything gay, there’s no reason Gabe couldn’t abdicate the throne to Gwen since he doesn’t want to be king so badly that he jokes about preferring death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Minor: Child abuse and Homophobia