Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Author: Tracy Deonn
Release Date: 15/09/2020
Price: £8.99 at Waterstones.
Available in: Hardback, paperback and on audiobook
Pages: 512
Rating: 5 stars!
Trigger Warnings: Grief, death of a parent, racism, generational trauma
SOME LEGACIES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN.
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants to escape. A residential programme for bright high-schoolers seems like the perfect opportunity - until she witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus . . .
A flying demon feeding on human energies.
A secret society of so-called "Legendborn" that hunt the creatures down.
A mysterious 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 about her mother. Now Bree will do whatever it takes to discover the truth, even infiltrate the Legendborn. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur's knights and foretell a magical war, Bree must decide how far she'll go for the truth. Should she use her magic to take the society down - or join the fight?
Legendborn has become one of my favourites books of the year, it was entertaining and it really ticked every box you look for when reading a fantasy book. Legendborn is one of those really great books where you really want to devour it in one go but you also want to take your time reading it and really taking it all in. I recommend taking your time and really engaging with it, especially if you're unfamiliar or not the most knowledgeable with the legend of Arthur, though there is a really helpful guide and Google exists of course!
A lot happens in this book and that's excluding some of the secret society elements in the book, it's also a very fast paced book but thankfully though it's easy to keep track of what's happening.
I love Bree, she is a such a badass and well rounded character, she is dealing with a lot of grief and you can't help but root for her. I loved her friendship with Alice, Deonn did a great job writing about a realistic friendship, the ups and downs and the challenges faced when dealing with huge issues such as grief and college (the girls are in Early College). I don't want to be too spoilery (if that's even a word, ha) but I have two ships from Legendborn that I can't decide which I like better, one involves your typical all-American guy and one involves a hot mysterious guy who we first meet whilst he's lurking in the woods and I love them both. Deonn has the potential to set up a love triangle for the next book and I'm not mad haha.
On a more serious note, this book deals with grief and Deonn has written about grief really well. As someone who has very recently lost a loved one, Deonn has dealt with the grief aspect really respectfully whilst also being very honest about the different emotions felt. There's also a note at the end of book about grief and how grief and Legendborn relates to Deonn's grief.
I found Legendborn to be a very honest portrayal of what it's like to be a Black woman living in the south in America where there's still a lot of racism, it was an accurate narration of the past and present issues of racism faced by Black people in America. Legendborn also deals with the racism surrounding colleges and secret societies and how the actions of white people in the past still have repercussions for Black people today.
Overall, I absolutely loved Legendborn and I can't wait to see what Tracy Deonn has in store for the rest of the series.
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