Reviews

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

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pammie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lyfranka's review against another edition

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4.0

I liked this book and it was a surprising end.

This took me a while to settle into. I don't think it's the books fault; I think I've read too many MG/YA (and otherwise) about secret societies and magic schools, rendering most of the (initial) tropes and plot devices unimpressive and unoriginal. I was bored with another plot predicated on the unlikely scenario that hundreds of people (locally, thousands world wide) would manage to keep such an enormous secret, AND that our MC was spinning a never ending web of lies to keep things going. Combined with insta-love that I just didn't really get, adults being bad adults, and more than one miscommunication trope along the way, and I just wasn't feeling it. UNTIL.

There is a corner this book turns, and I can't tell you where exactly it happens, but suddenly this is not just another iteration of "young kid solving the problems adults made and are neglecting to address", but instead moves into a powerful commentary on history, identity, community, and grief. When Legendborn got where it was going I was so so glad that I took the journey, and I'm stoked to see where the trilogy goes next.

ichabodreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

rachmcf's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

mollies_reads's review against another edition

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I’m honestly having a hard time caring about this. The part where I’m at is a lot of information dumping but considering this is first person narration, and Bree only had at most 10 minutes alone with Nick to get a brief rundown about what was happening before the ceremony started, it doesn’t make sense that she’d be naming who, what, why, when, and how. Also, I find her character to be a little annoying: she pushed Nick into this situation without any regard for his own history and trauma, and he obviously has something going on with his family as to why he abandoned the society and his title in the first place… bit in a matter of moments he agreed to do all of this without really knowing more about Bree. Considering this is such a secret society, with high stakes, that seems a little bit implausible. I’m also incredibly stressed out that she’s immediately skipping classes and foregoing her dream of E.C.. I think it’s just a little bit too YA for me.