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I am so disappointed in this book. It has been on my TBR for ages and I was so excited by a gender bent queer Arthurian retelling/homage.

This was terribly written, the pacing and tone was all over the place, the characters were flat and had no personality, and the romances were forced.

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This book was BAD. I didn‘t even read the last 20 pages of it. I wasn‘t even with it from the get go. The is book just had one of those plots where you were just enough invested to not bail but not enough to be excited to read it. I mean this was bad. 1⭐️

Once and Future! Don‘t have the best pic of that rn but it was in my pride month TBR stack so we‘ll go with this! This was such a fun read! Who doesn‘t love a super queer King Arthur retelling set in space?! 🙌🏻💕🏳️‍🌈 Give this one a go!!

#TBRPile 📚 Coming to terms with your identity is always difficult. But for Ari, the 42nd reincarnation of King Arthur, it just got a whole lot more complicated...

This was my Illumicrate read for August, I got it ages ago, kept putting it off.
It was a fun enjoying read. It is a queer sci-fi retelling the Arthur myth, which is also got a bit of dystopian and fantasy. All the main characters are likeable. It is the first in a series! #bookseries

Ari struggles with avoidance then difficult decisions as she moves from being a fugitive to the reincarnation of King Arthur fits this card to a T. #tarottakeover

@Erinsuemreads @Meaw_catlady

I am currently read this book, from an Illumicrate box last year. Pretty good so far! #books

1. Yes usually
2. Normal People and His Dark Materials
3. Shadow and Bone

#sundayfunday @ozma.of.oz

I read this May 8-10 and rated it 3 ⭐️ I was so disappointed in this book. There is a long review on my good reads. But it boils down to there are points where it feels like the authors are too lazy to work out plot points and don‘t know what to do. It has great LGBTQA+ representation and diversity but it‘s not enough.

For today‘s April Challenge, #Vibrant , I am choosing this book my awesome penpal @WorldsOkayestStepMom sent me (I have yet to read it as I have so many in line first) #BloomingBibliophiles (by the way, I did up the contrast to make it pop even more)

This retelling of the sword and the stone was intriguing. Ari is so bada**! The moment when she is carrying the weight of the world you can‘t help but feel for her. Merlin is awesome and quirky.

I was not sure about this at first but it grew on me and kept me coming back.

I absolutely loved this. There are a lot of plot holes and it‘s cheesy in typical YA fashion, but it‘s also an over-the-top gay, futuristic King Arthur story. I found myself thinking about it when I was doing other stuff and wanting to know how it would end. There‘s another coming soon and I‘ll definitely read that, too.

Fast paced series starter about a futuristic queer King Arthur story set in space. I wished for a bit more character development and was a little turned off by some of the more juvenile humor, but think this definitely has its audience who will race for the second book, due in April. Can we take a moment to love this cover too? #covercrush #booked2020

I actually thought the reviews were really harsh on this one, for the first time in my life. It‘s very readable and engaging, particularly for a young adult novel; I devoured it in a day. I‘ve tried at least 7 YA novels this year, and abandoned all of them because they were juvenile and trite. I liked the spin on Arthurian legend, and I loved the casual ease in which this book develops a diverse range of LGBTQ characters. It‘s decent!

This is the start of my February book challenges, written by LGBTQ authors. Hoping to reach my #24b4Monday goals in spite of exploring Guam!

I love this reimagining of King Arthur. It is not a retelling, it is a reinvention. it is fun, funny, serious and sexy. I adore the new life breathed into these characters and the modern social commentary woven into a futuristic setting.

The premise for this sounded so intriguing, but even reading the first 30 pages proved to be a chore. The pacing was uneven and the story was all over the place, starting in the middle of the action and dropping bits of info that should have clarified but there was far too much going on. The Illumicrate edition is especially beautiful and I would have loved to have it on my sci-fi shelf, but sadly this was a hard pass for me.

I really enjoyed seeing such diverse representation in this novel! To me, that is its strongest case for a solid pick. But I didn't care for the writing and thought it could have used more polishing up. It felt repetitive and stagnant in the parts of the book where there wasn't major plot development happening. 3.5-4 star book.

Confession: I never read Once & Future even though it‘s been sitting on my shelf for a year.

But now with sequel in hand, I‘m ready to power through these!

An interesting take on the material. I grew up on these legends & so because I love the originals I'm perhaps not as objective on this as I should be. This story was good, not stellar, but good. There was however great gender & sexuality representation of characters. My biggest complaint is that I could not stand Gweneviere. I wanted to just skip over her whenever she was on the page but it's King Arthur so that's not really a thing you can do.

I was really hoping this was going to be good. I bailed after the main character was grinding in a club looking to make out with someone. I like it when stories are re-told and add things like “in space”. But this was lacking. I think some people would find it entertaining so I say give it a try it just wasn‘t for me. The cover is beautiful this photo doesn‘t do it justice.

Trying my hand at getting in on the booktube conversations with a good old fashioned book haul. Excuse some of the roughness of this video as I get into the swing of things, but if you‘d like to join me check it out https://youtu.be/uQYTF7Ek5fs

Unfortunately, this was a total bust for me. I had such high hopes for this book because the concept was refreshing. In all honesty, this book felt pushy on their beliefs (which I agree with!) and extremely fast paced. All the characters were sex crazed. It came down to underdeveloped plot and characters 😞

I have a giant stack of library books, many purchased books I haven‘t read yet, and many anticipated releases in the next couple months....but B&N is having a bookhaul so I had no choice really.

Once & Future has been on my radar for a while. When I saw B&N has it on sale for 50% off, that was too good to resist. #booksale #bookhaul #YA

... Not wrong.

James Patterson and JP Presents were buy one get one free this weekend. So I finally broke down and bought once and future. And since I had a free one I couldn‘t pass us the new MG co authored by Gravensteins (Mr Lemoncello). Plus I really need to catch up on the Disney reversal series. Since I had the first 2 in paperback and I think 4, I have been trying to stick to Pb. I believe I have the Ursula title as a galley. Man I need to inventory.

I was excited to read this book because gender bent King Arthur in Space! But I was a bit disappointed. It often felt like it was trying too hard, the characters seemed underdeveloped, and I wanted more ancient Arthurian backstory. I will probably still read the sequel, though. Merlin was my favorite character (and the most interesting, imo) and I want to find out more about his backstory. 3/5 stars.

Back in the airport - got here super early so plenty of reading time 👍

3 1/2 stars. This is a fun spin on King Arthur and his court, where King Arthur has reincarnated 42 times and this time is a woman named Ari and Merlin has aged backward to a teenage boy. All the other original characters from King Arthurs court are here, gender fluid and their roles discovered as the story progresses. It is a creative, light and fast paced read that you don‘t have to think too hard to enjoy.

So I read my first book for the #bookjunkietrials on team #bard
I really enjoyed this SciFi retelling of the Arthur legend. It‘s diverse and has a found family that I adore.

The first challenge at Elven guard is done and I got past those elves by brushing up on my political skills that I learnt from this book 😉

Onwards to the hallow isle and my atmospheric read!

Starting my first book of the month. It‘s Monday and I need to have all three bookclub books read by Friday. No pressure, right?
#currentlyreading #amreading #julytbr #bookjunkietrials #bard

This book is EPIC. Queer characters, rebellion against a monopolistic shipping company, queer romance, settings in space. Ugh. I LOVED it. Definitely one of the best new reads of the year. #queerreads #YA #queer #KingArthur #Merlin #Camelot

Finally recovering from the latest round of #summerblues nonsense. Thanks for all the well wishes. Dark Phoenix movie (uneven but better than expected!), Red Lobster meal, and Wizards Unite later, I‘m trying to finish this book and plan studying. Does anyone know anything about the #Holberton school?
#underemployedadventures #xmen #queerread #marvel #pusheen

Really cool concept and amazing characters!! 😍😍

The plot wasn't the best though. It was kind of just like a series of scenes that didn't fit together. Like a movie maybe?? I would LOVE to see a movie adaptation

Overall a solid and diverse retelling of King Arthur! (in outer space!!) 🌟🌟🌟🌟

#kingarthur #scifi #ya #lgbt

#booksandboardgaming but I‘m not playing today

Reading before work. It‘s my 3 year @HappyLitsyversary ! At #BarnesandNoble celebrating. Free tall beverage for members with purchase right now (you get the coupon when you buy something). 🙂😎#underemployedadventures

The summertime blues have hit hard (anyone else get this? It‘s like reverse SAD) and I‘ve been all kinds of depressed and in (mostly mild pain). There‘s only so much Good Omens fanfic a person can read (Aziraphale/Crowley FOREVER ❤️) so giving this #queerread a try. #underemployedadventures #summertime #summerblues #queer #YA #KingArthur

THIS BOOK. The characters are super lovable and compelling, and it's 100 percent adventure all of the time. Queer, gender-flipped King Arthur retelling in space that is hilarious and refuses to take itself too seriously?? What could be bad? Nothing. Oh, except it broke my heart into about a thousand pieces. But, all Arthur stories kind of have to do that. ⬇️

Typically I find time jumps irritating...Let's see if it holds true for this one

Placement essays are graded. It‘s all downhill for the rest of the quarter!

Awesome amount of LGBTQ+ rep in this book and i really expected that from these authors. The idea of a sci-fi queer King Arthur retelling got me so excited but it fell flap unfortunately. The writing itself isnt bad but the authors just didnt take any time to relationship and character build. That was hastily thrown together and you just had to be told that there was chemistry between people. They needed to slow the plot down and develop the ppl

I'm kinda nervous since I've heard so many "meh" reviews and I am so anxious to read it but here we go

My wrap up for #bingoathon! The multicolored stars represent With the Fire on High, the red rose is for Twice in a Blue Moon, and the blue flower is Once & Future. I'm not finished with Once & Future, but am counting it anyway. I didn't use Crown of Feathers bc I chose not to finish it, and I'm not done with Hot Dog Girl yet either! But it's been a pretty good reading week altogether - 2 five stars, and in the middle of 2 more promising reads!

I love the tone that this book has so far! 😍 It's both sci-fi and fantasy, but doesn't take itself too seriously. Hope it keeps this up as the book progresses - excited to see how much progress I can make with it tonight!