Legendborn by Tracy Deonn | Book Review

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An Instant New York Times Bestseller!
Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award

Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and “braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery” (Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles).

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

This paperback edition of Legendborn contains a teaser to the thrilling sequel, Bloodmarked, as well as an exclusive short story from Selwyn Kane's perspective!

I absolutely gobble up Arthurian legend inspired books. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn is a book that I had held onto for a while, waiting for a good time to read it. I am SO glad I finally picked it up off my shelf and found that good time. It was SO GOOD. I am really excited to read the other two books in the series that are already out. And! I do have a frontrunner for who I would like to see Bree with. But first, let’s dive into what Legendborn is about.

Bree Matthews, main character of Legendborn, is mourning the sudden death of her mother — who passed due to a car accident. When she is in the hospital room, something strange happens. However, Bree moves on and retreats into being AfterBree. She also finds herself leaving home and going to Early College at UNC Chapel Hill. There, she rooms with her best friend Alice. She’s convinced to go to a party. Something weird happens at the party, involving what may be a demon, and oh, a person named Selwyn tries to take Bree’s memory of what happened. It’s after this party and facing some consequences, that Bree is forced to have a mentor, Nick. Oh, but it turns out that Nick is part of a secret society – Order Of The Round Table and may just be the Scion of Arthur. So, to prepare for Camlann, Bree and several other students become Pages and compete for the chance to become a part of the class of Squires. There is magic and so much more. I do not want to give anything away, but this book is such a fantastic twist on an old tale.

Tracy Deonn wrote an excellent series opener. I do want to also say that Bree is Black and of course, this is very important to her character — you learn how moving through life as a Black girl informs who she is. There’s moments of microaggressions as well in the story. We also see another form of magic called Rootcraft which was fascinating. I hope there is more of Root in the following books. We also see that Bree is brilliant. I liked her friendship with Alice — particularly the end. And the end! What a twist! Finally — I like Selwyn way more than Nick. I don’t know, the vibes are there. 

If you’ve delved into Legendborn, let me know what you thought!

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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