A review by ninaprime
The Winter Knight by Jes Battis

adventurous hopeful mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Battis created a very cool premise by modernizing Arthurian legends into a Toronto university campus but the execution was lacking for me. The world-building was muddled by bringing in other legends (Valkyries, fates) and never really giving a clear explanation for how the myth cycles worked, despite repeat attempts. The plot meandered, with the central mystery put on the backburner for quite awhile to focus on the romantic entanglements. There is great representation with autistic, trans, and queer protagonists but it was frustrating when Battis dropped exposition about their backstory into pivotal moments. For example, when one character starts reminiscing about exploring her cultural heritage with her dad during the confrontation with the big bad. I wanted to love this but couldn't.

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