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boba_nbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.25
Spice Rating: š¶ļø / 5
The Other Merlin is such a fun twist on the original King Arthur story that lovers of retellings, YA novels, banter, and magic won't want to miss.
Emry and Emmett are the legendary court wizard Merlin's twin children. When Merlin passes away, the court summons Emmett to come train as an apprentice wizard for Prince Arthur (yes, that Arthur). However, Emmett becomes indisposed, so Emry decides to go in her twin's place, disguised as Emmett, until he is able to go to court himself. Emry has always been the twin with a better knack for magic, but in a world ridden with misogyny, no one would ever accept a female wizard--especially in the king's court. Atop of keeping her disguise intact, Emry has to deal with the lies, scandals, and betrayals that come with living in the court. And, she may or may not be falling for Prince Arthur.
This book was so much fun! The tension and banter between Emry and Arthur is second to none, and I adored the large cast of side characters. The Other Merlin combines the King Arthur story with the movie She's the Man, and the outcome is fantastic.
The Other Merlin is such a fun twist on the original King Arthur story that lovers of retellings, YA novels, banter, and magic won't want to miss.
Emry and Emmett are the legendary court wizard Merlin's twin children. When Merlin passes away, the court summons Emmett to come train as an apprentice wizard for Prince Arthur (yes, that Arthur). However, Emmett becomes indisposed, so Emry decides to go in her twin's place, disguised as Emmett, until he is able to go to court himself. Emry has always been the twin with a better knack for magic, but in a world ridden with misogyny, no one would ever accept a female wizard--especially in the king's court. Atop of keeping her disguise intact, Emry has to deal with the lies, scandals, and betrayals that come with living in the court. And, she may or may not be falling for Prince Arthur.
This book was so much fun! The tension and banter between Emry and Arthur is second to none, and I adored the large cast of side characters. The Other Merlin combines the King Arthur story with the movie She's the Man, and the outcome is fantastic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Outing
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
abby_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
4.0
š
While I thought this was cute and I had a good time reading it, I did struggle at times. Part of those struggles were ADHD brain and another part was the writing style. I know this book was fantasy and it was sat in a historic England, but the writing style included several slang terms. I loved Lance, he was by far my favorite character. I liked the development of Emmett. Arthur and Emry were cute. The plot was decent though I thought it was predictable.
While I thought this was cute and I had a good time reading it, I did struggle at times. Part of those struggles were ADHD brain and another part was the writing style. I know this book was fantasy and it was sat in a historic England, but the writing style included several slang terms. I loved Lance, he was by far my favorite character. I liked the development of Emmett. Arthur and Emry were cute. The plot was decent though I thought it was predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Abandonment
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, and War
emilywrayburn'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
From the blurb, I thought this was going to be a modern-day Arthurian retelling. The blurb literally says that Arthur and Merlin need to get over their "thirst for one another... or act on it."
Alas not.
This is set in some kind of alternate London/Camelot... around the 18th century? St Pauls Cathedral exists (it opened in 1710), but England/the UK is still split up into kingdoms such as Camelot and Lothia. But the language is completely modern, which jarred at times.
The plot is actually pretty decent, though it did often feel like things went wrong only to be easily solved in a chapter or two. The exception to that is the conflict with Yuriel and Morgana, which will clearly continue into future books.
I enjoyed Arthur's character development and how he started standing up to Uther, and I liked that he isn't a warrior by any means.
I liked Emry Merlin as a character but a lot of her development was basically mooning over Arthur. Also I couldn't figure out the relationship she'd had with her father. Half the time it sounded like he'd been pretty jerky towards her when she'd been growing up, but then it seemed to suggest that he was actually protecting her and they'd actually had a really loving relationship and she misses him greatly. It's clear that finding out for certain whether or not Dad is still alive is a plot point for the series gong forward.
spoilers for the various romances:
The main romance suffered from the Moonlight Curse... I liked the lingering looks and the tension and then they got together and then it was all a bit boring. Also I appreciate that since Lancelot in this version of things is gay, and Arthur is obviously ending up with Merlin, the author had to find someone else for Guinevere to end up with... and of all people, she chose Emry's useless brother?
Alas not.
This is set in some kind of alternate London/Camelot... around the 18th century? St Pauls Cathedral exists (it opened in 1710), but England/the UK is still split up into kingdoms such as Camelot and Lothia. But the language is completely modern, which jarred at times.
The plot is actually pretty decent, though it did often feel like things went wrong only to be easily solved in a chapter or two. The exception to that is the conflict with Yuriel and Morgana, which will clearly continue into future books.
I enjoyed Arthur's character development and how he started standing up to Uther, and I liked that he isn't a warrior by any means.
I liked Emry Merlin as a character but a lot of her development was basically mooning over Arthur. Also I couldn't figure out the relationship she'd had with her father. Half the time it sounded like he'd been pretty jerky towards her when she'd been growing up, but then it seemed to suggest that he was actually protecting her and they'd actually had a really loving relationship and she misses him greatly. It's clear that finding out for certain whether or not Dad is still alive is a plot point for the series gong forward.
spoilers for the various romances:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Outing
Minor: Death of parent and War
shaipanda's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
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
5.0
I LOVED THISSS - it was a great plot, super fast paced which I love, loved the way the typical Merlin story was changed and subverted and just generally Iām so excited for the second oneee omg
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia
also has mentions of a falsely accused sexual assaultmaple_dove's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Under ordinary circumstances, she would have been quite pleased at the girl's interest, and would have flirted back. A person's gender made no difference to her. (pg. 81)
While bisexuality means two or more genders, I believe it's important to repeat that there are more than two genders.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Verbal abuse (graphic)explorer_of_legends_and_ink's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment
elderflower's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
more content warnings: drunkennessforeverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Rep: Pansexual female MC (possibly demisexual as well), bisexual male side character, gay male side character, questioning love interest, BIPOC side character.
CWs: Abandonment/suspected death of parent, alcohol consumption, blood, misogyny, outing, sexism, violence, sexual content (not graphic).
Rep: Pansexual female MC (possibly demisexual as well), bisexual male side character, gay male side character, questioning love interest, BIPOC side character.
CWs: Abandonment/suspected death of parent, alcohol consumption, blood, misogyny, outing, sexism, violence, sexual content (not graphic).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Outing, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content