Here I am, going against the masses once again. I know everyone seems to love this but this one was a bit of a mixed bag for me. There was so much I liked about the story but the execution wasn't as great as I hoped it would be.
Synopsis: Considered a modern day twist on the Arthurian stories. Narrative follows Bree, a brilliant Black teenager girl going into a pre-college program at UNC-Chapel Hill against her late mothers wishes. Bree finds that there is much more at college than she expected as she begins to see magical things that others do not. She joins a secret magic society to attempt to uncover the truth about herself and her mothers untimely death.
Plot: Like I said, there is so much to like about this plot. I loved the twists on the Arthurian stories, the great representation and the commentary on race, prejudice and slavery but overall, I was just too confused. Young adult fantasy seems to struggle with this issue of having way too many characters and this is one example where it weakened the story for me. There were too many different people and positions that I was almost guessing at what was happening to who. By the end of the novel, I understood the magical world a bit better but at that time I had already mostly checked out of the story. Along with that, there are many other pros and cons about this story: The plot was super fast paced and kept me interested the whole time, but the plot twists didn't get me, mostly because I was unsure what was happening. The writing style had beautiful imagery but was also a bit info dumpy. And the magical world was super engaging but some of it logically didn't make sense to me. Altogether the plot was enough to keep me reading but it was frustrating to not fully understand what was happening at all times.
Characters: Bree as a narrator was a huge plus for me and saved the novel from a lower rating. Through her trials in the story and her past heritage, Bree was easy to care about and root for as she is such a likable character. I love reading about strong and smart women and Bree is definitely one who fights for what she wants. The sections where she was dealing with her grief and anger and learning about her family were my favorites and she has a great character arc. There were many other characters included, as well as a possible love triangle, but for me Bree is the only one who really stood out.
Overall, I'm super disappointed I didn't love this as much as I thought I would. That being said, I will probably still read the following books in the series when they come out.
3.5/5 stars.
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