Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Other Merlin by Robyn Schneider

9 reviews

boba_nbooks's review

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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: 🌶️ / 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. 
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abby_can_read's review against another edition

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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

đź“–
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. 
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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

 
As should be well established by now, I am a sucker for a King Arthur retelling. And oh my goodness some of my favs ever are of this *very* sub-genre (The Lost Queen, Legendborn, and in pre-blogging years, The Mists of Avalon and The Once and Future King). I'm pretty flexible on the style of these retellings, I just love them. And when I'm in the mood for one...they're like a warm and cozy blanket. Enter this queer YA variation, which turned out to be everything I was hoping for and more. 
 
Just as Emmett Merlin is summoned to court to train as the wizard for the young King Arthur (who has done very little of renown since pulling the famous sword from the stone a year or so ago), he becomes indisposed after a spell-gone-wrong encounter... His twin sister, Emry (who just happens to be chafing at the small town life she's living and has always been way better at magic than her brother anyways), figures to save their family reputation she will head to court disguised as her brother. It's just for a week, til he gets better and they can switch out. But a week turns into...indefinitely...and Emry has honestly never been happier: learning magic, becoming friends with the nerdy prince, his dishonored best friend Lancelot, the snooty Lord Gawain, and generally being annoyed by the ladylike Guinevere. As with all secrets though, Emry's imitation game is eventually uncovered...and the consequences might mean the end of what had been shaping up to be a very good thing, for everyone. 
 
Look, this was just absolutely delightful. I haven't had this much straight-up fun reading a book in...a while. The writing was great - smooth and well-paced and the dialogue was *chef's kiss.* There was actually a lot in the writing style that reminded me of My Lady Jane (and that whole series of historical fiction spoofs); just really light and easy, but still smart. The voices of each character were unique, fitting both their characterization historically and for this individual story, and they each interacted with each other in ways and tones that genuinely fit within that. I was also really appreciative of how all these characters and their stories started in slightly different places than their “historically accurate” counterparts, and yet the relationships and connections are developed into something as close to and strong as they’re traditional representations. Honestly it was really nicely done. Plus, I enjoyed lots of the little Easter eggs from the "original" mythology that were sprinkled in, even if they weren't main parts/characters (or at least not yet). 
 
The plot itself, like I said, was well-paced. Close enough (ish) to the source material to be very much recognizable, but with lots of new aspects and original inclusions that made it feel fresh as well as familiar. Like I said, it was well-paced too, so I was invested throughout and turning pages as fast as my eyes and brain could make it happen. And oh my goodness the queerness (and general openness about sex and sexuality) all over this was just, everything I could have wanted it to be. I mean, the bisexual gender-flipped Merlin was enough to get me excited all on its own, but it was even better than that. And yes, there were some policies and characters that weren't as accepting, but the general vibes were very sex/queer-positive. 
 
Y'all, this was just enjoyable AF. Spectacular fun. I just fell right into this story and I will not apologize for how much I loved this freaking retelling. Go see for yourself! 
 
“The sword had been waiting for hundreds of years, and to be honest, it was bored.” 
 
“It was so confusing, having feelings for someone regardless of their gender, and realizing not everyone felt the same way.” 
 
“It shouldn’t matter that you’re a girl […] Things like that – your gender, or who you love, or where you come from – they shouldn’t matter. / Yet somehow, they matter the most to the wrong people. […] And I’m out of time. I can’t keep waiting for the world to change. / Which is why we’re going to change it ourselves.” 
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beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.5

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tall_glass_of_hotness2021's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So.. everyone keeps passing this off as some lighthearted, fluffy teen rom com. But it is so much more than that. This is an amazing fantasy, along with a story of friendship, of power and about what it means to never truly belong. It had a couple blind spots but overall an excellent read.
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shaipanda's review against another edition

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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 I’m so excited for the second oneee omg
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maple_dove's review against another edition

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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.

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sweaterweather_inmymind's review against another edition

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adventurous funny 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

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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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).

 
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