Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Legendborn

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Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

151 reviews

lillygabriella's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

Oh boy, I am glad I waited so long to read this. Since I got to the end to find a cliffhanger waiting for a sequel which I hope is out now.

This was a very interesting spin on Arthurian legends, and a scathing critique of the power wielded by secret society members. It is also and at it's core, a story of grief and coming to terms with that grief.

I don't like to drop spoilers in my reviews, so I will just close by saying that this is a really great book and I highly recommend it. The quarter star off from 5 is for dropping all that Welsh through the book and then not having a pronunciation guide at the end.

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jiangslore's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring

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

3.5

[3,5/5]

“Legendborn”, apesar de alguns aspectos negativos, com certeza possui o que há de mais interessante na fantasia infanto-juvenil contemporânea. O estilo de escrita e a abordagem de temas muito interessantes com seriedade e sem idealizações diferenciam o livro de muitos outros que possuem o mesmo público-alvo. No entanto, o livro pecou no desenvolvimento de outros aspectos da história, além de recorrer a clichês do gênero que, embora não sejam uma questão que penso que vai incomodar todas as pessoas que pretendem realizar a leitura, com certeza foram pontos negativos na minha experiência.

Um dos pontos positivos mais expressivos do livro é a escrita. Desde o prólogo, fiquei muito interessada no estilo usado pela autora: é abstrato, mas sem enrolações, e é sensível o suficiente para abordar de uma maneira satisfatória os temas complexos que fazem parte da vida da protagonista — tais como o luto em razão da morte de sua mãe — e do enredo. No entanto, no primeiro um terço do livro, apesar da escrita em si ser boa, achei que as descrições e explicações dos aspectos fantásticos da narrativa foram realizadas de um modo que acabou prejudicando a fluidez que a escrita, por si só, possuía.

Na parte inicial do livro, há muitas informações são “jogadas”, de um modo que pareceu que Bree conseguiu descobrir “do nada” aspectos que não são facilmente entendidos. Ao mesmo tempo, aspectos básicos do universo tiveram que ser explicitamente explicados para ela. Acredito que isso fez com que algumas coisas ficassem um pouco confusas, seja porque explicações de questões “simples” demoraram para ocorrer, seja porque o leitor passou a se perguntar como Bree sabia de certa coisa ao invés de apenas assimilar a informação.

Mas, à medida que fui avançando na leitura — e após já saber qual era a proposta do universo e seus contornos principais — , acredito que os aspectos positivos do livro ficaram mais evidentes. Em geral, não sou fã de releituras, mas gostei muito da forma que a lenda do Rei Arthur foi colocada na história. A autora abordou muito bem partes concretas que normalmente são ignoradas, como o papel da Ordem no domínio da sociedade e o que isso significa em um país que tem a escravidão como parte de sua história.

Algo muito interessante, em especial porque os acontecimentos do enredo ocorrem em uma universidade, é a relação que tais aspectos da Ordem tem com a academia tradicional. Entretanto, isso não só não foi abordado no livro como também não houve praticamente nada relacionado à vida acadêmica de Bree. Embora não fosse a proposta principal do livro tratar disso, sinto que essa ausência quase completa teve consequências negativas para o equilíbrio do enredo.

Com relação ao enredo, há outra coisa que preciso destacar: o clímax de “Legendborn” é muito bom. Durante toda a leitura, eu fiquei me perguntando se a autora realmente abordaria certas questões de forma explícita, porque não abordá-las não pareceria combinar com o tom do livro, mas abordá-las poderia fazer com que ele se tornasse sombrio demais. No entanto, fiquei bem feliz ao ver que a autora não teve medo de ir aos lugares mais sombrios das questões raciais e de gênero que ela decidiu abordar. Algo que me incomoda em muitos livros é a a falsa profundidade de certos temas, mas isso definitivamente não é um problema em “Legendborn”.

Mas o que é um problema em “Legendborn”, na minha opinião, são os personagens. Não há nada que eu diria que é objetivamente “errado” na construção deles, mas penso que faltou algo que fizesse com que eu realmente me importasse com todos (ou com alguns). Acredito que Bree é a única exceção, porque ela, além de ser a narradora, realmente tem um desenvolvimento muito bom e interessante. Mas, tirando isso, os personagens só parecem ser adaptações de clichês conhecidos — e, ao que parece, é bem possível que essa mesma característica seja levada ao romance principal da saga.

A existência desses clichês no livro é compreensível, e sei que é válido que pessoas de minorias queiram ser protagonistas em histórias que são classicamente amadas por boa parte do público. Por essas razões, continuo achando que “Legendborn” é um bom livro e vai satisfazer quem esteja procurando uma fantasia infanto-juvenil agradável e cheia de aventura. Mas acredito que a existência desses clichês, nos personagens e (ao que parece, mas não dá para entrar em detalhes sem spoilers) no romance, foi tão destoante da profundidade incrível de outros aspectos do livro que acabou me desagradando durante a leitura.

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sammie_namjooning's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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katieandkiri's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.75

I will be honest that I struggled through the world building portion of this book, BUT wow does the third act suck you in. I couldn’t put it down after that. I will be recommending this to everyone.

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kiala's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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? No

5.0

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kimilyn's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I’ve been hearing about this book for years. People raving about how good it is. Now that I think back no one ever mentioned any specifics.. probably because this book is actually pretty average. The magic system is interesting but it takes a while to understand it and there were a lot of info dumps and not many demonstrations.

Characters
The characters are pretty bland. Everyone has a nickname. Eg. Sar and Tor and Sel and Whitty. But there aren’t a lot of defining characteristics. It felt like everyone was just doing what the plot demanded and weren’t making choices based on their needs or wants. When certain characters were in mortal danger I didn’t really care because I didn’t know them enough to care.

The two main boys were your typical golden haired good boy and dark haired bad boy. Each with their own super-tragic-traumatic-secret-backstory. Given the way the two boys are connected I wouldn’t mind a little polyamory between the three of them… But I doubt the author will be brave enough to do that. Trad pub and all. unfortunate because that would have made them a lot more interesting besides them fulfilling their trope roles and being “omfg! 😳 so shmexy! 🥵 can’t focus 😍”

Bree just felt stupid. There were a couple things the author was going for here according to the author’s note. Related to trauma and secret magic reasons, but for me it just didn’t work. I didn’t ever know why Bree was doing what she was doing. And not in a fun way that made me want to know more. It was more in a frustrating way that made me want to quit reading. Also can someone go back and keep track of how many times she passed out at the end of a scene? because I’m pretty sure it was more than five.

Plot
According to the author’s note the goal was to center Bree’s relationship with her mother and ancestors. But to me the only thing that was centered were the boys she was obsessed with. There was definitely a focus on Bree wanting to find out what really happened to her mom, but that wasn’t about their relationship. That was just a mystery to solve that happened to make her spend time with the hot boys. The ancestors storyline picked up near the end but it didn’t really seem centered. More of an addendum.

Plot Twists/Reveals (No Spoilers)
I usually enjoy plot twists. But not when they come out of nowhere with no hints or setup. During the last fourth of the book it felt like every few pages was another reveal or twist. Some of them worked but some of them were kind of annoying because it felt like the author was just throwing everything at the wall to see what stuck. I’m sure it was well planned out but it was a lot and for me personally not everything hit in the way I think it was intended.

Worldbuilding
The whole Legendborn thing is a very interesting idea. But it was explained in either info dumps or from Bree magically connecting dots. It was very confusing for me for a lot of the book. I think I got most of it by the end but it took a lot to get there. I like exploring a fantasy world but every time there was a new pause in the story for another info dump I was just irritated.

Racism
Just to preface this I am a black woman and fantasy is my favorite genre. Any time I can see myself reflected in the genre is a win. This included. But I prefer when racism, especially anti-black racism, is left out completely. I get why it wasn’t here. Kind of a crucial piece of the story. but to me it could have been handled more intentionally.

The actual day-to-day racism Bree experienced felt like superficial representations. Most felt over the top or heavy-handed. Maybe my experiences with racism have been different from this author’s. But the racism I usually see is a lot more subtle when it’s face to face. More passive aggressive and disguised.

It also was weird that this was a very white, historic secret society, yet there were only one or two instances when someone made Bree feel unwelcome. From my experience it felt unrealistic. Places and people like that will make black people feel othered all day long. did you see Get Out? That was way more accurate. The looks, the comments, the body language. Wish there had been more of that here to emphasize Bree’s sense of not belonging.

And I know this book was long so there probably wasn’t room, but some nuance around the discussion of racism would have been nice. Like if either of her boyfriends had been unintentionally racist a few times so she could correct and educate them. Just a little more acknowledgment that everyone is a at least a bit racist, intentionally or not but that doesn’t make you a bad person if you learn from it and do better.

Diversity
There were five non-white characters in this book. And I think there were four LGBTQ+ characters.

It was weird to me that Bree kept talking about being black and wanting to connect with her heritage, but made no efforts to connect to black kids her age. Bree had zero black friends.

All the LGBTQ+ kids felt like afterthoughts. There was a non-binary kid and the vibe was that they were such a disruption and almost as much of an outsider as Bree. But it was just said, no one ever actually treated them any differently.

Final Thoughts
Like I said, for me this was average. Probably won’t pick up the rest of the series. But if you like a twist on Aurthurian Legend with a black lead, go for it.

**(Also am I crazy or is it weird that Bree is sixteen and her love interests are at least nineteen? That age gap is weird right?)

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delreese's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense fast-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

5.0

as a black woman, i have NEVER felt representation like this. is this how white people feel all the time?

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britreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.0

I'm going to try to organize my thoughts into clear 'likes' and 'dislikes.' Overall, I thought this was equal parts entertaining and frustrating. I will likely continue with the series, just to see where the story will end. But I'm not in a hurry to pick up the sequel.

What I liked:

As someone who lost a parent at a young age, I really related to Bree's grief. I think her grief was familiar in some ways and different in others. I liked that her grief caused her to seek out answers to explain the senselessness of her mother's death and how when she finally received those answers, it forced her to finally acknowledge the loss. I also liked how Bree was aware that people don't know how to respond in a genuine or helpful way. Since so much of Bree's story is based on the loss of her mother, I would be interested in seeing if that continues to play a role throughout the series.
Like other people, I liked Rootcraft and I wished there was more of it in the story. Though I hope Bree learns more about it in the sequel and in any other novels. I thought the memory walks were so unique and I liked how the different ancestors had distinct personalities.

What I didn't like:

The romance and the setup for a future love triangle. I think the biggest obstacle for me when it comes to the romance is how quickly this story moves. From page 1 to the end, it has only been about three to four weeks. I understand that the strong feelings between Nick and Bree are explained near the end, but it didn't work for me. And given how Sel treated Bree for a majority of the book, I don't understand what she finds remotely attractive about him. I wish the romance didn't take up so much time in the spotlight because I felt that it distracted from a genuine exploration of grief and how it shows up for Black people, particularly Black girls and women.
A lot of the characters associated with the Order blended together for me. There were some I can tell apart like Greer, Whitlock and William. But
when Fitz and Russ died near the end, I genuinely could not tell if there were present in the beginning of the book. I felt like their deaths were meant to be emotional and I just kept thinking 'who are you again?'
I also found the hierarchy within the Order to be very confusing. I know there's a table in the back explaining the different Lines of the Table (which some names hidden to avoid future spoilers). But there should have also been a glossary to explain some of the terms.
Last, the depiction of racism and microaggressions were well down and I appreciated the conversation about how American institutions were built with slave labor. But it was so frustrating reading scenes were Bree is discriminated against. And she faced nearly every microaggression possible from people touching her hair without permission to someone nearly calling her a 'nappy headed bitch.' I'm wary of microaggressions in fiction because I always wonder who is it for and most times it feels like a way for authors of color to speak to white audiences. It's a complex topic and not intended for a book review. But Bree needs to find a Black community in future books. (That was another weird bit of disconnect for me...Bree faces all of this discrimination, acknowledges the discriminatory history of university and then never seeks out other Black students.)

I'll probably check out the sequel later this year or wait until the series is done to continue. But I am happy that so many people loved this story! I think a King Arthur inspired story centering a Black girl is such a good idea and I'm sad it didn't fully work for me.

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directorpurry's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

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alyxbeau's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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? No

5.0

The absolute only compaint I had about this book stemmed from the fact it was an audiobook, nothing to do with the writing itself. It was the pronunciaton of "Arthur" which in the southern accent of the characters sounds like "Author" on nearly all occasions. This made it quite confusing to follow until I realized what was being said, about a third of the way through the book.
I appreciated all the attention being given to Bree's heritage, and her responses to the world as a result. As a young african-american MC there is generational trauma that I cannot even begin to fathom, and books help me to reach at least a limited understanding that I can apply to my own real life situations, and learn from it. It is important for people to be exposed to the faux-pas they may unwittingly do that minorities are so used to that they just dont tell us to stop anymore. We need to learn and books are a safe place for those needs to be expressed, and to call out readers who have toxic and inappropriate behavior. This book does fantastically with that. Despite Brees obvious exclusionary enviornment in the south, this novel is also amazing at showing diversity in other ways while still accentuating the horrible conditions people of color still face today.We have numerous queer representation sprinked through the book.
In all, this was a lovely book that I would reccomend to a pretty wide audience. Maybe 14 and older? Its certainly got enough going for it that older readers will enjoy this, even though it is centered around young teenaged characters.

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