Legendary – L.H. Nicole
*Warning – may contain spoilers*
Author: L.H.
Nicole
Publisher: Omnific
Publishing
First published: February
2014
Edition: eBook
Pages: 286
Blurb: (Taken from Goodreads)
Aliana Fagan spent her childhood
travelling the world, dreaming of legendary heroes and mythical lands. But
after the sudden death of her parents, she hides behind the safety of her
camera and her art until a vivid recurring dream compels her to dig into her
father’s research about Avalon and Camelot. When she is hurled into a magical
realm by forces she thought were only the stuff of fairy tales, she finds
herself thrown into an adventure she could never have imagined. Nearly
everything she thought she knew about Arthurian legend was wrong.
The independent eighteen-year-old
is shocked to find that the people of Avalon think that she is the Destined
One, the only person who can summon King Arthur back to life from his hidden
chamber. Most surprising of all is that it’s up to her to lead the Knights of
the Round Table on an epic quest – an adventure that will transport them across
the seven magic realms to reclaim all that has been lost so they can defeat the
evil Mordred for good. But first, she must bring the ancient warriors into her
world and reunite the with their lost brothers. Chaperoning the legendary
knights-with-a-chivalry-complex as they navigate the modern world is a constant
challenge, and she certainly never thought she’d be caught between her intense
feelings for the noble Sir Galahad and her growing friendship with the King.
To fulfil the prophecy, Aliana
will have to discover the meaning of friendship, bravery, loyalty, true love,
and forgiveness. But can she do it all in time to save the realms from Mordred’s
impending Armageddon?
History of my copy: I received a free
copy of Legendary through YA Bound Books in exchange for an honest review.
I jumped on the opportunity to read this book as soon as I
got the offer. A modern girl having to save Camelot? Sounded exactly like my
kind of book! (If you didn’t know, I’m rather obsessed with Arthurian legend.
You can blame the fact that I live near Tintagel, Arthur’s supposed birthplace,
for my adoration of anything related to the myth.) I was, unfortunately, rather
disappointed.
Plot: The plot basically involved Aliana
somehow ending up in this mystical land where she meets a dragon who convinces
her to save Sir Galahad, who then gets her to save King Arthur. And that’s as
far as I read because I couldn’t take anymore. I guess the plot had potential,
but Nicole just really didn’t know what to do with it.
Setting: The setting was the only part
of this book, besides the potential idea, that was even vaguely alright. It
wasn’t a massively descriptive world building, but it was certainly sufficient
to get across the places in which Aliana found herself. It wasn’t, however,
amazing enough to carry the rest of the book’s downfalls.
Characters: I think the characters were
what really ruined this book for me. I was going to criticise this whole book
for the ‘absent parent’ thing that seems to be a recurrent theme in YA books
(convenient ‘sudden death’ so the story can take place, ugh) but then when
typing out the blurb, I realised that Aliana was 18. Sorry, what? She was
petty, pathetic, a complete idiot… how on earth is she 18? I was more mature as
a 12 year old! She spent literally the entire time going ‘oh how hot is
Galahad? Oh Arthur is gorgeous! How shall I ever choose?” Girl, these are grown
men from hundreds of years ago and you’re about to save the kingdom, stop being
a little girl. Ugh, she was annoying and had no regard for the safety of
others, nearly getting them killed numerous times because she’s smarter than a
clever dragon. She also blushed every time the spoke or even looked at her?
You’re a grown woman? You should not ‘swoon’ every time a bloke glances your
way.
Then
there’s the dragon that was so unnecessary? Not sure what he added to the
story. Stuck out like a sore thumb.
And Galahad and Arthur (and no
doubt the rest if I had ever got that far) had no characteristics beyond being
good looking. Great. Real good heroes. Definitely going to defeat Mordred with
a swish of their pretty locks. Ugh.
To read or not to
read: Really don’t read. I mean,
even if this is your kind of book, I’d be honestly surprised if you could make
it to the end. It had the premise of a fantastic plot, but had totally ridiculous
characters and a writing style that just really didn’t work well. Not a single
part of it was actually enjoyable to me.
