Can't-Wait Wednesday: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

 "Can’t-Wait Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted over at Wishful Endings, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, what's really got my pages in a twist is...

Legendborn

Tracy Deonn

(Legendborn #1)

Publication Date: September 15, 2020

Hardcover, 512 pages, McElderry Books

Genres: YA, Urban Fantasy

Goodreads

Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of City of Bones with a modern-day twist on a classic legend and a lot of Southern Black Girl Magic.

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

My Thoughts

I keep hearing about this book. Not actual reviews, but just how much other people are excited for it. Thus, I decided to add it to my own TBR. I think I’ll wait to purchase Legendborn once more people have gotten ahold of it, but I am intrigued. Maybe it’ll come in one of my book subscription boxes. That would be cool.

What book are you waiting for this Wednesday?

My Thoughts on Netflix's Cursed

I thought I’d share my thoughts and feels about season one of the Cursed Netflix show. In case you haven’t seen it, I’ve posted the trailer below:

I’ve seen a lot of hate for this show since its release a few weeks ago, and while I can understand the criticisms, I truly think people expected way more of this show than what was promised. Some people seem to think it should’ve been on the level of Game of Thrones or The Witcher, and that baffles me. So, just so we’re all on the same page, this show falls somewhere between The Swords of Shannara show and The Witcher. It’s not fantastic, but it’s not bad either.

Okay, now that I’ve said that, I’ll get into my own personal thoughts. First of all, there’s a lot of action. Which is cool. Swords are always a good thing in fantasy shows; however, sometimes this action was off put by the mediocre CGI. The fake blood sprays and CGI wolves were cringey. I did love the transition scenes, though. They were pretty.

My major complaint with Cursed is how it butchered the typical Arthurian story. Some parts were fine, like Merlin, Percival, and Lancelot’s journeys, but others, like Uther, Gawain, and Arthur mostly had me scratching my head at the writing choices. Uther is supposed to be Arthur’s father in the myth, so why is Arthur a cutthroat in this show? Morgana’s storyline had me conflicted. I liked some aspects, such as her romantic relationship and her dark origins, but the Igraine bit is confusing. Igraine is supposed to be Uther’s wife in the myth, so why is Morgana being called Igraine, supposedly her grandmother’s name? Does that mean Morgana and her brother, Arthur, are actually Pendragons in Cursed? Will they find out at some point? Like I said, head-scratching.

Moving on from the mythology, I will say that Nimue is an enjoyable main character once you get past the first couple of episodes. She makes many mistakes, but she’s consistent in her goal of saving her people, the Fey. The Fey are actually a really cool addition to this storyline. Sometimes it seems like Arthurian retellings skip over the fairy aspect of the myth, so it was interesting to see that twist, in addition to just have a retelling that focuses on a female character. Also, the sword of power (Excalibur? It’s never called that, so maybe it’s not actually Excalibur? But it probably is.) plotline is fun. Instead of focusing on Arthur finding the sword and freeing it from stone, this retelling focuses on its origins and its “curse.” A cool twist, in my opinion.

I did enjoy the ending to this first season. There was a cliffhanger, but it’s one that I hope really delves into the Lady of the Lake myth. Like the fairies, the Lady of the Lake is another element that rarely gets screen time. Instead, most television and film retellings focus on the male protagonists, Merlin and Arthur. I will mention, though, that there’s criticism going around about how there have been other, better female-centered stories written by female authors that could’ve been adapted instead of Cursed. I can’t say too much because I haven’t read Cursed or the other books, but I will mention that the author probably wrote Cursed as a partnership with Netflix, so it wasn’t a true adaptation; it seems like more of a “fleshing out of the screenplay to make a full-length book” situation.

Overall, it’s a fun show that takes many liberties with the myth. If you don’t take it too seriously, you’ll enjoy it for what it is.

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Hood by Jenny Elder Moke

"Can’t-Wait Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted over at Wishful Endings, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, what's really got my pages in a twist is...

Hood

Jenny Elder Moke

Publication Date: June 9, 2020

Hardcover, 320 pages, Disney-Hyperion

Genres: YA, Historical Fiction, Retelling

B&N | Book Depository | Amazon | Goodreads

You have the blood of kings and rebels within you, love. Let it rise to meet the call.

Isabelle of Kirklees has only ever known a quiet life inside the sheltered walls of the convent, where she lives with her mother, Marien. But after she is arrested by royal soldiers for defending innocent villagers, Isabelle becomes the target of the Wolf, King John's ruthless right hand. Desperate to keep her daughter safe, Marien helps Isabelle escape and sends her on a mission to find the one person who can help: Isabelle's father, Robin Hood.

As Isabelle races to stay out of the Wolf's clutches and find the father she's never known, she is thrust into a world of thieves and mercenaries, handsome young outlaws, new enemies with old grudges, and a king who wants her entire family dead. As she joins forces with Robin and his Merry Men in a final battle against the Wolf, will Isabelle find the strength to defy the crown and save the lives of everyone she holds dear?

My Thoughts

A story about Robin Hood’s daughter? I’m intrigued. There aren’t a lot of Robin Hood retellings out there in the YA genre, so I’m cautiously optimistic about this one. I’m hoping it’ll be just as good or better than A.C. Gaughen’s Scarlet.

What book are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Can't-Wait Wednesday: By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar

"Can’t-Wait Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted over at Wishful Endings, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, what's really got my pages in a twist is...

By Force Alone

Lavie Tidhar

Publication Date: June 16, 2020

Hardcover, 416 pages, Tor Books

Genres: Adult, Historical Fiction, Retelling

B&N | Book Depository | Amazon | Goodreads

A retelling of Arthurian myth for the age of Brexit and Trump, from World Fantasy Award-winner Lavie Tidhar, By Force Alone.

Everyone thinks they know the story of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table.

The fact is they don't know sh*t.

Arthur? An over-promoted gangster.

Merlin? An eldritch parasite.

Excalibur? A shady deal with a watery arms dealer.

Britain? A clogged sewer that Rome abandoned just as soon as it could.

A savage and cutting epic fantasy, equally poetic and profane, By Force Alone is at once a timely political satire, a magical adventure, and a subversive masterwork.

My Thoughts

I’ve heard really good things about this book, which is great, because I need a good Arthurian retelling in my life. I miss Merlin, Arthur, and the gang. I’ve even thought about re-watching the Merlin TV show, even though I know the ending just makes me sad. Plus, By Force Alone is supposed to make the story gritty and dark. And I just want it ASAP.

What book are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday: My Plain Jane

 "Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, what's really got my pages in a twist is...

My Plain Jane

Cynthia Hand, Jodie Meadows, Brodi Ashton

(The Lady Janies #2)

Publication Date: June 26, 2018

Hardcover, 464 pages, HarperTeen

Genres: YA, Historical Fiction

B&N | Book Depository | Amazon | Goodreads

You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

My Thoughts

I love Cynthia Hand’s and Brodi Ashton’s books, so why haven’t I read My Lady Jane yet?! I really need to read it before this one comes out. Historical fiction isn’t normally my thing, but I feel like with the combined writing styles of these three authors, there’ll be enough humor, wit, action, and romance to make this at least a four-star read for me.

What book are you waiting for this Wednesday?