Cover Image: Legendary

Legendary

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DNF at 25%. It's been over five years since I received this ARC. I gave it a go and have decided it is not for me. It interested me then and no longer does now.

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Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC.

I had to DNF this book about a quarter of the way in. It didn't grab my attention at all.

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I started reading this one but didn't hold my interest. I though the concept was good but I wish I could have connected with the characters more.

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I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book which I received
through Netgalley. A lovely twist on an ancient legend

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An interesting modern take on an ancient legend. Definitely a book for young adults I think, or maybe its just me feeling old reading this!!

When a woman rises out of the lake, and tells Aliana that she is the chosen one, only she can awake Arthur and his men to defeat the evil that is coming, Aliana feels compelled to start on this adventure. Her role now is finding and freeing King Arthur and helping to gather the Knights. And since the story is set in modern times there is also a bit of a learning curve for the Knights to adjust into the modern world.

There is so much in this book: action, adventure, many realms, fantasy, time travel even a love story. A modern-day fairy tale, filled with mystery, magic, fairies, pixie's, evil queens and magicians, elves, goblins, a Pegasus, and even a guardian dragon!

There are so many wonderful characters that surround Aliana by the end of the book. A king, Knights Of The Round Table, Sir Galahad and many more and each character is unique and entertaining in their own right.

And no book of this kind would be complete without evil villains! Morgana and Mordrid are the villains that spice this book up and are just brilliant! I loved them!!

I am glad that this is not the end of the journey for Aliana and her men, but instead just the beginning of what I know will be an epic quest.

Legendary was published way back in February 2014 so I have discovered this book very late! But the good thing with that is I won't have to wait for the next book to come out!!

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Once I read the synopsis on this book, I knew I had to have it. This was published back in 2014 but I did not find it until I seen it on Netgalley. Huge thanks to them for approving my request for this book. I truly enjoyed this book.

We start with Alaina. She is an eighteen year old girl in London and on her own. Her parents tragically died two years ago in the US. This left her feeling incomplete.

She has a passion for Avalon and wants to pick up her father's research and dive in where he left off.

On a photo shoot in the country she accidentally enters Avalon and meets the "Lady of the Lake". She is the "destined one" and has to save King Arthur, reunite the knights of the round table, and save Camelot before Mordrid wins and destroys everything.

This story is fast pace and I enjoyed it. It is worth the read.

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When I chose to read Legendary, I read it in the hopes that it would take a old and well known legend and give it a fun, modern twist similar to the Grimm sisters series. Boy was I wrong! The writing of this novel wasn't elementary level at best. In 5th grade I feel like I could have done a better job at writing this book! The backstory is confusing and weak with plot holes. Initially the main character says that she can't remember her parents, but later she is fondly remembering her mother's laugh which was confusing. The author goes for the good old "parents killed in a car crash when MC was young" trope in a weak attempt to create depth in this one dimensional character.
Legendary is about a girl named Alaina discovering that she is the Destined One who is meant to help King Arthur and his fellow knights defeat Mondrid. The Aliana's initial fascination in the legend of the Knights of the Round Table came from her father, and she devotes part of her life to learning everything about it, kind of like a Lara Croft on crack without the wicked fighting skills and common sense. Alaina is also an idiot who is far too trusting of individuals and can't protect herself at all despite claiming to take jiu jitsu or something. Like every cliché YA book in existence, King Arthur and one of his knights instantly fall in love with the dumb ninny that is Alaina creating a love triangle that made me gag every time it was brought up. The beginning of each chapter featured the thoughts of some of the knights and despite being a weak character with an astounding ability to get herself in trouble, all the knights see is the "sorrow and pain from her constant sacrifices" and how beautiful she is (because it isn't a YA book without a beautiful main character who is not aware she is beautiful). This is definitely one of the worst books I have ever read in my life. All I can hope is that whoever reads this review isn't mislead by the kinder ones surrounding it. I am saving you from a few hours of torture!

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I loved this story! I love pretty much anything Arthurian and when I saw the synopsis for this book I knew I wanted to read it. The adventure is non stop and I adored the romance! I can't wait til the next book comes out bc there are some things that are left unexplained and I can't help but think there's a reason.

Alaina is eighteen in London and on her own. Her parents died tragically two years ago in the US leaving her feeling incomplete. She has a dream that reignites her passion for Avalon and to pick up her father's research and dive in where he left off. On a photo shoot in the country she accidentally enters Avalon and meets the Lady of the Lake. She is the "destined one" and has to save King Arthur, reunite the knights of the round table, and save Camelot before Mordrid wins and destroys everything. Is she up to the task?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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“‘Not a single one of your tough-guy, know-it-all egos would even come close to fitting through the door.’”

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Omnific Publishing. Trigger warning: attempted rape.

Two years after the death of her parents, Aliana Fagan accidentally stumbles into a magical realm while she’s on a photoshoot in an obscure part of the English countryside. All her life, her parents chased down legends of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and now the story is coming to life before her eyes. Aliana is destined to wake King Arthur so his knights reincarnated can once again join forces to defeat the evil sorcerer, Mordrid. A couple of thousand-year-old knights in the twenty-first century turn out to be the least of Aliana’s problems when she discovers magic of her own, which may be the key to saving her new friends.

This is a cute concept and a fun read overall. All the retellings of Arthurian legends I’ve read have taken place in medieval England, and I like the idea of making the story more contemporary. They all adjust reasonably well, and I wish there would have been more ancient knights vs. technology in the book because that seems like a missed opportunity for humor. Nicole has set up an interesting world with a lot of room for exploration though. The first half of the novel takes place in Avalon, the second in the human world, but she hints at other magical realms (such as Olympus and Atlantis) that would be fascinating to explore.

Aliana’s a fairly standard heroine. Despite the loss of her parents, she’s got a wide-eyed innocence about her that’s charming, and she’s fundamentally good but not without inner conflict. The dialogue is a little clunky at times; I have a hard time believing in an eighteen-year-old character who says “Son of a biscuit” and talks to herself so often, but okay. As a unit, the knights are a little overwhelming. Men outnumber the women by about 4:1, and I don’t understand why fantasy stories can’t have female knights! I would have been so on board for a female knight story. As it is, their combined masculinity is somewhat oppressive. (Woman stay home. Man go out and fight.) Aliana’s physical abilities are almost completely discounted once they show up. She’s studied martial arts for most of her life and suddenly becomes a damsel in distress. I did have fun casting them all as members of The Avengers though (Galahad as The Winter Soldier, Merlin as Loki, Percy as Thor…).

My favorite character is easily Dagg the dragon, in part because he has a great relationship and rapport with Aliana, and in part because there’s no chance of romance in that relationship. I’m not fond of love triangles, and I don’t see why Arthur was ever a love interest for Aliana when it’s clear from the beginning that she and Galahad have bonded. It’s not even a major point of contention, just a side note that we wouldn’t even be aware of were it not for the occasional quote from his perspective. I’m not a huge fan of Galahad as a love interest either, because of all the he-men, he’s the he-manniest, but I can see its appeal to a teenage demographic.

The writing isn’t wonderful, but it isn’t distracting. The plot is well-paced and keeps the story moving, while still giving Aliana the occasional downtime to process everything that’s happening to her, and it’s a good balance of action and character development. There are a handful of things that I thought were going to be plot points that don’t really play out. The first is that Aliana mentions an ex-boyfriend who tried to rape her, but it seems to have no resulting trauma and the novel never really attempts to deal with it. It seems like an event that serious should be more than just a passing detail. The other is that we never find out why Aliana feels her parents’ death is her fault. A lot of her history is filled in slowly over the course of the novel, and while that may come up later in the series, it seems like something that essential should have been covered by now. Overall, it’s a fairly light and easy read. I enjoyed the story and the characters, but I’m on the fence about continuing with the series.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

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Hands up: who loves Arthurian lore yet, too? I loved the Arthurian lore and when I read the summary for Legendary by LH Nicole I was stoked. Not only was the cover gorgeous but it involved the medieval in a modern setting. I still don't get why the heck there was Greek mythology and Shakespeare mixed into it. I'm really hoping the next book explains it better. I was hoping for more from the knights but cheers to medievalism (anything after the medieval ages. Presumably what people thought the medieval was like.) they were all super hot knights without any real flaws that would make them different from being typical knights. I had a hard time believing I was in Avalon after being introduced to the Pegasus which belongs only in Greek mythology. I'd really like to know what the author's thoughts were when she wrote this.

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Legendary is a book by a new to me author and it’s a story about one of my weaknesses: Arthurian themes. So when I saw this book on Netgalley, I just couldn’t not request it. After reading it, it would have been better if I did. It wasn’t that the book was terribly horrible, but rather that it has a lot to live up to and failed live up to expectations.

In short, there is a great big hero (in this case the Destined One) who has a quest, instant love and a perfect character and the pitfall of every Young Adult story: a love triangle.

Our main character is Aliana who’s grown up on stories of King Arthur and his knights and a desire to find Avalon. The story really starts when she does find Avalon and learns she has to go on this epic quest. No pressure there. Along the way she meets of with quite the cast of characters. Some likable, some not, but all - apart from the established characters - suffered from totally unfitting names that just didn’t quite blend with the rest. The naming felt too forced to me.

The bones of the story is not bad and this story could have been great, but Aliana is a character that fails to meet up to expectation. She nears mary Sue-ish regions too much for me to like her as a character with such a great destiny and in the company of such big names. She comes across as a character who is flawed, but then she ticks all the right hero-boxes.

The part that didn’t help much either was that the writing was too much on the amateuristic side for me. It was too obvious, to starry and too stiff and forced. There was too much telling and not experiencing the story and too many infodumps. Because of that the author failed to really draw me into the story. It’s definitely not the first time, I don’t like a female lead, but did like the story. For Legendary there was too many factors combined for me to like the story.

To be fair, there are a lot of great books to live up too and I do liked the idea of the story, just not the execution. It could be that I’ve become too jaded for the young adult genre and there will probably be readers out there who love this, it just didn’t work for me.

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I wasn't a fan of the writing style. Certain things bothered me like the excessive use of exclamation points. It also bothered me that the main character spoke and acted a lot younger than her actual age. She's supposed to be a responsible, independent kid who has learned to rely on herself but she didn't feel like she was. I really did love the storyline though! I'm a huge fan of retellings, so I really enjoyed the plot line of the story.

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I was immediately drawn in by the gorgeous cover. The prologue was absolutely amazing and drew me in immediately, but unfortunately I found myself not as entranced as I was before once we switched to Aliana. She just read a lot younger than her age so that made it difficult for me to read. The storyline overall is incredibly intriguing and fun though. I loved the twist on the King Arthur story. I think that this would be a perfect fantasy story for younger audiences. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!

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I expected to love this book. The cover is gorgeous, and I adore the premise. But I was so disappointed with the book itself.

Here's why:
- The writing is bad. It's amateurish, uninspired, and there's way too much telling. Not to mention the piles and piles of info dumping. And overuse of exclamation marks...
- The plot is very rushed and boring. It's untidy, and loose.
- The romance is eye-roll worthy. Galahad talks of "claiming" and "possessing" Aliana, which I do not call love, and for her part she spends the majority of her time with him oogling his obviously flawless bod and just about having a heart attack every time he's shirtless. Ugh.
- The dialogue is so unrealistic and dull and cliche.
- The characters are extremely flat. Also, Aliana is The Chosen One and loved by all; she can do no wrong and every guy is overprotective and falling in love with her. Give me break. For most of the book all I wanted to do was smack the guys' heads together because the testosterone was getting ridiculous.

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An interesting modern take on an ancient legend. Overall not a bad read. I liked the characters, I rather wished this was an RH though, it would have made the entire thing so much better if that was the case. The guys could have used a little more description other than being "big warrior cute guy" - not an exact quote but I couldn't tell you who was blond or whether their hair was floppy apart from Arthur didn't have as many scars and Lancelot wasn't that tall. It was good, especially the descriptions of Avalon and her using the camera to "see the truth". I would happily read more in the series.

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I received an ARC copy from netgalley for my honest review,  so thank you netgalley and publishers for offering me this book! ♡




This story is a about



Before the darkest hour strikes the Destined One shall come forth

Avalon’s lost daughter must thrice and alone prove her worth

Then can she fully possess the power to awaken the King

It shall become her destiny to reunite the Round Table

Unearth and reclaim their lost relics

Become the key to undoing the evil Mordrid has wrought

Only with her can the Once and Future King prevail

Aliana Fagan spent her childhood traveling 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 Mordrid for good. But first, she must bring the ancient warriors into her world and reunite them 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 fulfill 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 Mordrid’s impending Armageddon?







This was my first book by this author, It was all together an easy read. ♡ I give this book a
3 star rating!

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This is the first book I have read by this author but won't be the last.  I really loved the reinvention Camelot and the knights of the round table mythology and how she adds a unique modern twist.  An interesting cover peaked my interest but the story line and writing kept me captivated right to the end.

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It was a really good, quick read and the cover is gorgeous!

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I received a copy of Legendary by LH Nicole from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was a little leery to read this because the legend of King Arthur has always been a favorite and works that butcher it just send me into a bad mood. With LH Nicole's novel, I was pleasantly surprised, however.

The good: a novel plot that moves swiftly, a well woven story that keeps the reader engaged, and a likeable protagonist (Aliana) that you want to root for. The not-so-good: the supporting character development could have been stronger and with the swiftly-moving pace of the story, some threads of the plot weren't fully explored/explained.

All in all, reading Legendary by LH Nicole was an enjoyable way to spend a winter day and am happy to had the opportunity to do so.

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Holy Cow! This was a fantastic fast paced book. Descriptive and keeping in tune with the legends. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series. This book was hard to put down to eat.

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