This is one of those books where I originally didn’t want it. As much as I loved Caraval and wanted more of that magical world, I kind of felt that it was good enough to standalone, and I was afraid that a sequel would be a let-down. But this is also one of those rare books where I loved the sequel so much more than the first book.
+ Tella is a delight
One of the things I wasn’t a huge fan of in Caraval was Scarlett’s character. She did have good character development, but I found her a little boring and just too good. I was a lot more interested in Tella although she wasn’t in the book much, so it was exciting to see that she was the narrator of Legendary. Tella is a girl you can root for. Her perspective shows that she’s a lot more complex and braver than I thought in the first book, and there’s so much more to her history and past. My heart broke for her over and over again.
Also, I love Tella because her room is a mess. She keeps is messy because neat rooms are easy for people to search through undetected, but messes are hard to replicate?? I love that??? That’s my new excuse for not tidying.
+ Sister story
I mentioned this briefly in my review of Caraval but didn’t explain it at all. Family is a huge theme is this series, and it’s nice reading a story about siblings as they tend to get killed off in fiction. These sisters have a great bond. Tella doesn’t judge Scarlett for being an opposite and Scarlett doesn’t judge her. And there’s a quote that says something like, “Tella might not have believed in love, but she had literally bet her life that Scarlett loved her.” And that’s beautiful.
+ It’s such Slytherin book
The world is so intoxicating and mysterious and twisty. No one is straightforward, and the entire story is spent double-crossing the people who have been double-crossed and tricking those who have tricked you. Everyone is lying. No one is who they say they are. Or are they? We never really find out.
+ I love villains
There’s a quote in this book that says, “Every good story needs a villain. But the best villains are the ones you secretly like.” And, honestly, I loved Jacks. We know from even before he’s introduced that he’s going to be a villain. He’s a myth come to life and his presence makes this book even more magical than the last.
Excuse the pun, but this book was legendary.
Rating: ★★★★★ (4.5 stars)
Some quotes:
- “She loved the feeling of doing something bold enough to make her future hold its breath while she closed her eyes and revelled in the sensation that she’d made a choice with the power to alter the course of her life.”
- “Her heart was still a little heavy, but she’d decided carrying it around would only make her stronger.”
- “This was why love was so dangerous. Love turns the whole world into a garden, so beguiling it was easy to forget that rose petals were as ephemeral as feelings, eventually they would wilt and die, leaving nothing but the thorns.”
- “Tella was the sister who would destroy the world if anything happened to Scarlett, but Scarlett’s world would be destroyed if anything happened to Tella.”
TandeWrites 