Worthy Of Legend By Roseanna M. White

Summary

1906

After a summer of successful pirate-treasure hunting, Lady Emily Scofield and her friends must hide the unprecedented discoveries they've made, thanks to the betrayal of her own family. Horrified by her brother, who will stop at nothing to prove himself to their greedy father, Emily is forced to take a stand against her family--even if it means being cut off entirely.

Bram Sinclair, Earl of Telford, is fascinated with tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table--an interest he's kept mostly hidden for the last decade. But when a diary is unearthed on the islands that could lead to a secret artifact, Bram is the only one able to piece the legends together.

As Bram and Emily seek out the whereabouts of the hidden artifact, they must dodge her family and a team of archaeologists. In a race against time, it is up to them to decide what makes a hero worthy of legend. Is it fighting valiantly to claim the treasure . . . or sacrificing everything in the name of selfless love?

Positives

The thing I loved the most about this book was it’s handling of emotional abuse/trauma. At first, I wasn’t sure I was going to be pleased with it, especially since emotional abuse and trauma is a topic I’m passionate about. 

The four trauma responses are fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. Emily displayed signs of the “fawn” trauma response, where she tries to get her abuser’s attention and may or may not submit to their demands in order to earn their approval.

At first, no one around her seemed to realize the problem with that. They simply praised Emily for having a good heart and for loving her enemies, instead of recognizing the situation was unsafe and that there were no healthy boundaries to protect her.

Throughout the story, however, that theory was debunked. Emily realized that she couldn’t save them, that she could only save herself. She could show mercy, but she also needed to protect herself. Her friends also seem to have gathered that. In some ways, I think that point could have been clearer, but overall, I think this book achieves that end beautifully.

The climax alone would have sold the entire book for me. It was an epic way to close both the book and this three-book treasure hunt on the isles.

The main character, Bram, has come so far from the beginning of Book 1. Take a look at my quote from my review of Book 2, To Treasure an Heiress.

“I’m very excited to see the dynamic between Telford and Emily play out, but especially between Emily and her family. It looks like it will be a golden opportunity to represent verbal and emotional abuse—a subject that is often not represented at all or represented very poorly making the survivors seem like wimps. And she did convince me to like Telford after how I hated him for how he treated Libby in the first book--I mean, he takes in stray animals and likes chocolate. There may be hope for him.”

All I can say is my hopes were fulfilled.

Negatives

None.

Conclusion

Worthy of Legend is worthy of your shelf. And your reading time. And your mind. And your heart.