Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn is a crackling debut novel that will enthral readers with mysterious secret societies, deeply realistic characters, and a twisting plot that will surprise you all the way until the last pages of the book.
After her mother dies in a car accident, Bree Matthews keeps the grief from swallowing her whole by separating from her old self. When she begins attending UNC Chapel Hill, her mother’s former college, as part of an Early College program, Bree suddenly finds herself thrown into a new world beyond anything she knew was real. A world that is somehow tied to her mother’s past and death. With the help of the absolutely charming Nick and the absolutely aggravating Selwyn, Bree uncovers secrets about herself and her heritage that have been hidden for generations. But as it always is with magic, there is a cost.
There are books that will stick in reader’s minds for days and months and years to come, and after finishing Legendborn, I am positive this will be one of those books. Deonn’s writing is nothing short of impactful. Whether she is making a slight dig at a popular vampire story or shining a spotlight on racism Black people face daily, every single word Deonn writes hits an emotion. I cannot think of another book I have ever read that has been so well balanced with fantasy and modern day realities.
Drawing from her time studying at UNC Chapel Hill, Deonn is able to craft an intensely real setting for the reader. And within the worldbuilding, Deonn brings everything that is real about life for Black people in the South. To walk on land where enslaved people built the very buildings you are in is not something any should have to endure, but Deonn brings Bree’s experiences to the page in a way that will strike chords with many readers. The stark realities about the South are woven into the story, not for shock or education, but because they are real and should not be ignored.
Bree Matthews is the kind of main character I want to see more of. She is not defined by any one aspect of herself, but multifaceted and imperfect. Bree is powerful as a human, but begins to find new powers and aspects of herself as she grows throughout the story. She has confidence and doubts and poor reactions and incredibly smart moments and so much more. So often, when we are presented with a female main character in a YA fantasy novel, she is all powerful and knows how to kill a man 17 different ways with a toothpick, and that’s fine, but it’s not real. Bree is real. She is so real that while reading, I found myself tearing up just from feeling her emotions. I can’t even remember the last time a book has done that to me.
The one aspect of the book that may trip some readers up is the secret society structure While it is easy to get lost in the intricacies of The Order’s ways, there is never a moment when it isn’t interesting. There is a lot going on within The Order, and though it can be hard to navigate, Deonn always keeps the line of what we need to know for the story in the forefront. And while the magic within The Order is interesting, the real star in the magic of this story is the Rootcraft. For the sake of spoilers, I won’t go into it in this review, but the way Deonn weaves Rootcraft into the story is so well done and I look forward to watching Bree learn more about it.
There is so much to love in Legendborn and I feel that if I were to lay everything out in a single review, we’d be here for days. Being a constant reader of YA novels, I sometimes feel like I’ve seen and felt it all, but Legendborn rekindled that fire in me that burns for stories that are outside my own experience. Bree and Tracy’s story will stay with me for a long time and I believe I am not the only one who will feel that way.
Simply put, Legendborn by Tracy Deonn is one of the best books I have ever read.
Legendborn is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of City of Bones with a modern-day twist on a classic legend and a lot of Southern Black Girl Magic.
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.
