Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A tad unsatisfying at parts (looking at the end in particular) but so so sweet and special. Also reminds me of Shannon Hale’s Goose Girl series!!! Which is the highest compliment

Bloody brilliant! *will add more detail and specifics later because I have a lot of thoughts. So many quotable quotes and opinions on characters*

If you’ve read other fantasy novels, particularly those of Shannon Hale and Kristin Cashore, you will be just fine in terms of content warnings and the like. You will also very likely love this book as much (if not more) than I did. Plus, the acknowledgements section features an absolutely GOATED list of queer authors: Alice Oseman, Becky Albertalli, Casey McQuiston, and Rainbow Rowell (among others)!!

You can tell a lot of thought and care was put into this book and it was delightful overall. We need this book, and so many more books like it. So many air kisses and hugs to the author and all who made it possible. MWAH!

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eldervampire83's review

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

To be truly brave, first you must be afraid. And to be afraid, you must have something you cannot bear to lose.

The best way to structure this review is to go over my thoughts on Gwen and Arthur's character arcs separately, and then my thoughts on the general plot events after.

Gwendoline

Through the course of the story, Gwen learns to love herself and not doubt her own abilities. All of this is while struggling with becoming a young adult and being betrothed to a young man that she hates. I love that she begins as essentially an unreliable narrator. She had to have the people around her, including Arthur, explain to her different her versions of reality was compared to what was experienced by everyone else around her.
Her budding romance with Lady Bridget Leclair was pretty funny, and I'm happy that Gwen learns what it means to compromise in relationships and friendships. She learns how to grow up and see past her own bubble, and that was refreshing to see in YA.

Arthur

My one gripe with the audiobook is that the voice Arthur's narrator used for him was far too chipper. He's a depressed alcoholic fighting his own internal conflicts, and the narrator took the "I'm pretending to be suave and fun so that I can mask my own pain better" a little too well. Gwen's narrator portrayed his personality a lot better.
So, Arthur's story is both comedic and upsetting. He's a young man that was unable to cope with his mother's death, his abusive father, or the fear that no one would try to get to know him on a deeper level or love him. He has a larger than life personality, but it takes almost the entire book for people to realize how much he's hurting. His growth in coping with his emotions and moving forward with his life beyond his father and what people originally thought of him was satisfying to watch.
His own romance arc

with Prince Gabriel

was so sweet. I love how it was Arthur that helped both royals (with a little bit of blackmail

and some much needed reassurance from King Arthur himself and Sir Lancelot

) learn how to love who they were and how to not fear expressing themselves.

After his brutal attack, all feels hopeless (especially since his father was the one who ordered it), but he was able to both redeem himself with the royals and have a second chance to turn his life around after such a harrowing experience. And he got the boy of his dreams! I couldn't have asked for a better ending for this character.

The final quarter of this book was truly gripping. It went from this sweet romantic comedy to a high stakes emotional roller coaster complete with violence and heartache. It made me enjoy this story all the more.
The topic of internalized homophobia is discussed for a good portion of the book, and it was great to see that type of conflict resolved in a healthy and respectful way.

It was truly a shame, however, that Gabriel and Gwen never got to tell their father about themselves, and that Gabe never got to show him the letters from King Arthur and Lancelot. That was an upsetting lack of resolution, but that sometimes comes with sudden deaths. Not everything gets resolved. At least, the rest of Camelot will get to learn and accept the way people love.

The ending was a little rushed, but other than that, this was quite an enjoyable read.

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lunarlibra's review against another edition

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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,:

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!

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lizzyswingle's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-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

4.0

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readingpicnic's review

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5.0

I adored them all. Incredible and hilarious audiobook narration with just the right amount of sass for the delivery of Gwen and Arthur’s incredulance towards each other. And the gay romances for each of them were so cuuute, GAH! I don’t usually pay much attention to the politics in books, but they were pretty interesting to me in this one. Wholeheartedly recommend to any former or present BBC Merlin enjoyers.

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violetdisposition's review

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adventurous emotional funny tense 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

4.5

While I'd been looking forward to reading this book and had been waiting for it to be available at the library, I have to admit I started reading this book in a rather skeptical mindset. I had just finished a rather serious and grandiose book and felt this would feel fluffy and shallow. In addition, I listened to the audiobook and the narrator for Arthur was not my favorite accent for this particular character, and his emphasis on particular words in sentences tended to throw me off. I quickly disregarded Gwen as a typical woe is me princess who thinks she is helping but really does nothing and over the story grows into herself and her position blah blah blah... and honestly? Kind of true. HOWEVER, it was Gabriel who truly won my heart and convinced me to keep reading. Scholarly nerd who just wants to learn about history but has leadership thrust upon his shoulders and suppressed gay feelings? Swoon. The bonds between "enemies", best friends, siblings, and crushes were so well established and there were so many scenes that I didn't want to end - give me more domestic bliss, whether between lovers, siblings, or friends! I flew through this book, not because of plot twists and shocks, but because even if I KNEW what was coming, somehow I had come to care about all these characters so much that I had to see them through to the end, happy or not.

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lisa_m's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I had high expectations for this book and maybe that's the reason why I ended up not liking it. The cover is gorgeous and the story sounds exactly like some I'd love to read but this book fell flat for me.

The characters felt really flat and one dimensional. I did not care for any of them which is a huge problem. They just gave me nothing.

The relationships felt incredibly rushed and underexplained. They are just suddenly in love with each other even though we haven't had any scenes of them liking each other. I felt zero chemistry between any of them. Even the friendship between Gwen and Art came out of nowhere even though it's probably the one with the most focus on it and the most time together during the book.

The plot was basically non-existant. This book is a story about a group of people with crushes getting together. And that would be fine if I actually cared about them or felt any chemistry or tension, which I didn't. The setting of post-Arthurian legend could've been so cool but the only thing we get from it are the tournaments and feasts (which were both a bit boring). Also most actions just did not have proper consequences which is something that always annoys me

(Arthur being almost dead, just learning how to walk again and suddenly riding on the battlefield and fighting again?)

Also non of the big issues get resolved by the end of the book

- Gabriel still does not want to be King and is really unhappy and stressed because of this. I thought they would find some kind of solution so he could be actually happy but no, his father dies and he has to be King...

- Bridget does not want to stay at Court and Gwen is upset about this. They talk about it and then it is never mentioned again? We know she's still compeating in tournaments so did they ever find a solution for this? I don't think so.

- The whole issues with cultists which is one of the biggest things in the story also gets retconned by them saying that cultists actually are not an issue at all it was just this very specific group of people under the guise of religion..

Also the betrayal by the adviser person was not only so obvious that I knew almost the first time we meet him, it was also completely glanced over by the characters. They just mention it during the battle and then noone talks about it again? This is a huuge betrayal!??

So after hearing all these things that I disliked about this book you would probably think I hate everything about it but that is not true! Because this book made me laugh so much. I loved the humour and writing. Not always, because some parts of dialogue felt very strange but a lot of the times I was actually giggling about the banter and dialogue. Which is super hard because as said before, I did not really care about the characters OR story. But because of how much I enjoyed some parts of the writing I have been very split on what to think about this book.

I have come to the conclusion that I definitely want to read another book by the author. I think my biggest issues are probably with it being a not well done Fantasy story. So I think if I read a normal romance centered book I would probably enjoy it way more.

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