Reviews

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

erinmz's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.0

It's  a quick, sweet, & cozy fantasy.

graveyardgothic's review against another edition

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bored out of my mind - no plot just vibes isn’t my thing. I don’t wanna read about someone opening and running said coffee shop for 300 pages 

lea96's review against another edition

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funny hopeful relaxing slow-paced

3.5

thedeadwoods's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

durolokki's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

soinap's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

soophay's review against another edition

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hopeful slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

hunterrr's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

amjohn63's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

ninette's review against another edition

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2.0

So the selling point here was particularly and I quote: wholesome cozy fantasy with queer community vibes!

Imagine my surprise when and utter bafflement when get something that could very well be the wet dream of say a ... Starbucks executive?!!

We are all friends here. We don't need no pesky labor laws or unions because we are all just one happy family and the employees want to do unpaid overtime actually. Or is there even overtime if the working hours are not specified in anyway and your employees just assume that they should show up in the morning, work all day and only go home to sleep. Who needs a life outside of work, right?

In fact, even though all indications are that this is a very much capitalist world, non of the employees actually seem to need to work for money. Like it is kind of a hobby and payment is really more of a side benefit.

Really the hapless boss is at the mercy of her competent employees. She just can't stop them from exploiting themselves and even investing their own money and/or free labor back into her enterprise ... without any expectation of sharing profits of course. That is something our generous hapless boss can offer out of the goodness of her heart ... and because she want's to change the nature of their relationships. Well, at least we have some nascent awareness of the power dynamics here.

Also somehow you seem to have a functioning city with most basic amenities and certainly enough infrastructure to build a coffee shop in a matter of weeks without the need for taxes ... but there sure is a nasty weirdly benevolent protection racket going on.

Like seriously, is this a fantasy novel or a political campaign add?! How has this not been flagged in all the glowing reviews I have seen. Are they all just bamboozled by the cozy coffee vibes???

And on that note I presume in this cozy comfy world coffee, sugar and chocolate do not depend on colonial exploitation somehow ...

AND who populates a fantasy world with all kinds of creatures with supposedly wildly different bodies and somehow ends up with an establishment that looks just like 21st century coffee shop?! No accommodations for any bodily difference?! And everyone is able to consume the same foods and beverages?! Are there actually different bodies or is this all just aesthetics?! Like a cool costume but the anatomy is actually all the same really?!

Plus both a build environment and culture are rooted in history and place. You don't just plop them down somewhere with the force of your entrepreneurial spirit. But I guess that this is a fiction that would be particularly popular (*cough cough* self serving) within the American imagination.

Actually the more I think about this the more alarmed I am by how many people in my supposedly leftist/anarchist bubble raved about this.

Also I feel like I should note that I do not like coffee ... at all.