Review – Legendborn (Legendborn, Book 1) by Tracy Deonn (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Length: 512 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: September 15, 2020
ISBN-13 : 978-1534441606
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Legendborn series
Source: Owlcrate
Rating: 5/5 stars
“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.”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Legendborn series. I got this book in an Owlcrate.
Story (5/5): This is a contemporary urban fantasy of sorts involving both Arthurian legend and other folklorish types of magic. Bree ends up attending a sort of pre-college at UNC-Chapel Hill and gets caught up in a secret society involving the spirits of Arthurian knights. As the story continues she realizes that this group might somehow be tied to her mother’s death. It’s a well crafted story that is intriguing and engaging.
Characters (5/5): I loved the characters here. Bree is amazing and I loved that the author gives excellent insight into the challenges Bree faces because of her skin color, this isn’t super in your face but is realistically portrayed. Bree is struggling with her grief over her mother’s death and it was amazing to watch how she grew throughout the course of the story. I loved a lot of the side characters as well, they all have a lot of depth to them.
Setting (4/5): The setting is fine; most of the book is set on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. It worked well for the story and I did like how the King Arthur mythos was tied into everything. I can’t wait as more of the magic of this world is unraveled in future books.
Writing Style (5/5): This was an incredibly well balanced and well written novel. The pace is excellent and I had no issue staying engaged in the story. I loved the characters, the magic system, and the way Arthurian folklore and traditional Hoodoo were tied together. This is not a typical YA fantasy novel but has a lot more depth and complexity to it. I loved it and can’t wait to see what happens next.
My Summary (5/5): Overall I really loved this book; it was very well written and was an excellent blend of great pacing, wonderful magic, amazing characters, and an intriguing and complex story. I am excited to see what the second book in the series brings and would highly recommend this to fantasy and urban fantasy lovers young adult and older.
