This is an Arthuriana retelling from the POV of Mordred, called Medraut here. It's a book I really really liked, and then I really really didn't
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I was interested in this a while back, what with the gay and all, but when I read a rundown of the story it sounded to me like it'd be... exactly like you just described, so I was wary. Looks like I was right to be wary? D:
Yup. I mean, most I know who've read it think highly of it? But I felt like I was reading a really good book and then suddenly I was reading a book made of nothing but thing's I hate.
As far as the gay goes...even if I were a lot more into slash than I am, I'm pretty sure I still would have disliked it. For me, the baseline to like a pairing/not mind a pairing on my screen/page, I have to (1) believe the two (or more) parties respect each other and (2) not feel that one abuses the other. As long as we have that then I usually don't object to a pairing even if I couldn't care less about them, or dislike one of the parties. I didn't think Lleu and Medraut respected each other at all and found their relationship to be emotionally abusive on both sides, and not in a fun mind games way.
I often actually like really seriously f'd up pairings (the old love/hate thing especially), but only so long as the narrative acknowledges how f'd up it is and doesn't try and paint it in some oh-so-romantic soft light. (...Thus one of my (many) problems with Twilight, but I digress.)
I can see how you can read it like that. Wein protagonists always seem to go through really dark times, and I liked Guinevere, Arthur and especially Goewin to make up for Lleu (who won't be in the picture after this).
I did like A Coalition of Lions much better, not just because of Goewin as a heroine, but we get the introduction to Telemakos - who later on becomes the focus (and reminds a lot of people of a younger Eugenides from MWT's books) of the books - but the Medraut that shows up there is substantially different from the Medraut in this book.
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As far as the gay goes...even if I were a lot more into slash than I am, I'm pretty sure I still would have disliked it. For me, the baseline to like a pairing/not mind a pairing on my screen/page, I have to (1) believe the two (or more) parties respect each other and (2) not feel that one abuses the other. As long as we have that then I usually don't object to a pairing even if I couldn't care less about them, or dislike one of the parties. I didn't think Lleu and Medraut respected each other at all and found their relationship to be emotionally abusive on both sides, and not in a fun mind games way.
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I did like A Coalition of Lions much better, not just because of Goewin as a heroine, but we get the introduction to Telemakos - who later on becomes the focus (and reminds a lot of people of a younger Eugenides from MWT's books) of the books - but the Medraut that shows up there is substantially different from the Medraut in this book.
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