RATING- 🌟🌟🌟⭐
AUTHOR- Tracy Deonn
Power taken and not returned incurs a debt. And the universe, and the debt, will always come to collect, one way or another. -Tracy Deonn
Legendborn is the first book in a series by Tracy Deonn. It is a King Arthur retelling with a modern twist take on it. To be honest I was a little disappointed, and not because the book wasn't any good... but because there was so much hype surrounding it and I personally wasn't as blown away by it as I had wanted. Like with every other person gushing about it on blogs and on YouTube it didn't feel as explosive or mind-blowing to me.
I did really enjoy it though. I haven't read a lot of King Arthur retellings and this had quite a unique spin on it.
I really loved the magic systems (there were two of them!) and the college/school setting and the way all of it was intertwined with black history.
It follows the story of this black girl name Bree Matthews who is just recovering from the death of her mother and has started her first year at the UNC Chapel hill residential pre-college program with her best friend.
Goodreads synopsis- 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.
It was quite action-packed, really fast packed, a page-turner for sure. Most of the book takes place in the span of just two weeks. We jump right into things from the very first chapter and it is an unstoppable ride from that point on.
The way the book handles the topic of grief and loss is really impressive. It plays a major role in the character's decisions. it really goes deep when talking about grief death, loss and moving on.
Bree is a pretty relatable character, although extremely stubborn. It took me some time to warm up to her, but I eventually came to understand her determination. She is in a very unfamiliar setting, where some people are outright hostile towards her because of her skin color. And there's a lot of time when she's just like...
There was nothing much I could find wrong about it or dislike about it, but there were I things that I wish had been done differently. I felt like the flashbacks weren't incorporated properly. It seemed like there were too many of them, and one of them was right in the thick of the climax scene, albeit a small one, it felt really jarring and interrupts the flow for the reader. I would also admit that in a few places, the dialogue felt really cringy. I wanted the dialogue to be a bit more polished, maybe in a slightly more formal tone. The tone of book is on the younger side of YA, so it seemed to not quite go along with the medieval, Arthurian vibe...but if that combination is something you like, then it won't be a problem for you.
I definitely really enjoyed the book and I want to know what happens next since we do end with a big cliffhanger and a lot of questions left unanswered. So even though I won't be adding it to my all-time favourites list anytime soon, you never know what the sequel might bring!
So that was it for my review today. Let me know if you like it, or if you'll be picking up Legendborn! I'd love to know your thoughts on this...
Happy Reading!!