Scan barcode
gabriella_'s review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Read this entire book on a flight to England and holy shit. The way this book captures grief, trauma, and how it can intersect with misogynoir was gripping.
Tracy Deonn is excellent at character writing and establishing interpersonal dynamics (and conflicts). She also creates a unique atmosphere with obvious (and not so obvious) foes. She empowers her protagonist and makes her multifaceted. She breathes life into Bree and, as a reader, makes her feel so real. And this doesn’t get into how she writes an ensemble cast either - good GOD I would be remiss if I didn’t get into that.
Every character contributes something to the plot and it’s amazing that this author finds a way to do that without rendering them to be one-note or just a plot device. She has a plan for every character - and pieces of dialogue have a way of retaining relevance chapters later in a refreshing way.
I wish I had a book like this when I was a kid. 2,000/10 recommend reading this book if you are interested in fantasy and coming of age books. It’s the gift that keeps on giving! Tracy Deonn, thank you for writing this.
Tracy Deonn is excellent at character writing and establishing interpersonal dynamics (and conflicts). She also creates a unique atmosphere with obvious (and not so obvious) foes. She empowers her protagonist and makes her multifaceted. She breathes life into Bree and, as a reader, makes her feel so real. And this doesn’t get into how she writes an ensemble cast either - good GOD I would be remiss if I didn’t get into that.
Every character contributes something to the plot and it’s amazing that this author finds a way to do that without rendering them to be one-note or just a plot device. She has a plan for every character - and pieces of dialogue have a way of retaining relevance chapters later in a refreshing way.
I wish I had a book like this when I was a kid. 2,000/10 recommend reading this book if you are interested in fantasy and coming of age books. It’s the gift that keeps on giving! Tracy Deonn, thank you for writing this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Death, Car accident, Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Racism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and War
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.75
I think this would've been a 4 star read for me if I had read with my eyes instead of my ears. I started listening to the audiobook in early summer and got about half way through before my Libby loan returned. I enjoyed it, but wasn't totally convinced on the hype this book often gets. Once I was finally able to borrow it again in Libby, I finished the second half in like 2 days and really loved how it wrapped up. These are wonderfully written characters and I'm excited to see how their story continues. Deonn has created an extremely poignant story of southern dark academia that has a lot of important things to say about race and gender in a way that's palatable without doing hard topics any disservice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Child death, Classism, Car accident, Sexism, Transphobia, and Slavery
Minor: Colonisation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
ghostlyprince's review
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Rape, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, Kidnapping, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol, Stalking, Body shaming, Classism, and Confinement
webtheweeb's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
This book is simultaneously a love letter to the YA fantasy so many of us grew up reading and an insightful, subversive, searing critique of it. I LOVED it. Deonn is one of so many authors in the YA field today making the genre what it always should have been. I’m so grateful that she’s shared her deeply personal story with the world.
This book is one of several in recent years that’s bringing me back into the fold of YA with open arms. There’s still new stuff happening here!!!! AND ALSO THERE ARE LOVE TRIANGLES THAT WILL MAKE YOU SCREAM A LITTLE WHILE YOU’RE READING THIS BOOK IN PUBLIC BY THE POOL. Not that that was my personal experience or anything. But oh my goodness - I liked this book before Bree and Sel became an option, but AFTER???? Immediately in my favorites tag. Nick was fine, but I found him pretty boring. SEL, though? YES. That’s what I was waiting for! Or better yet, a throuple even! I want to continue this series to see what happens with the war and everything, but a large portion of it is seeing if Bree will finally dump Nick LMAO. Also it helps that all her options fall into my favorite trope of two-people-are-in-love-but-is-it-just-because-they’re-fated-to-be-entwined-or-do-they-really-love-each-other. Incredible.
The plot twists in this book were also top tier. Looooved the high stakes of the final battle; looooooved the appearance of the goruchel that completely caught me off guard. The slow, painstaking reveal of Bree’s powers was done with such care and consideration. The way that the King Arthur bloodline society was chipped at little by little until its blatant white supremacy was plain was horrifying and also done with extreme care and smarts. This was just a very, very interesting take and subversion of the typical “girl discovers at 16 that she has secret powers and enters a world hidden from view that she’s never known” story, and I’m thankful to have read it. 10/10 would recommend.
This book is one of several in recent years that’s bringing me back into the fold of YA with open arms. There’s still new stuff happening here!!!!
The plot twists in this book were also top tier. Looooved the high stakes of the final battle; looooooved the appearance of the goruchel that completely caught me off guard. The slow, painstaking reveal of Bree’s powers was done with such care and consideration. The way that the King Arthur bloodline society was chipped at little by little until its blatant white supremacy was plain was horrifying and also done with extreme care and smarts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident and Rape
Minor: Forced institutionalization
chalkletters's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
I knew from Kate's description that Legendborn was dark academia meets Arthuriana with a fantastic twist. None of those things necessarily appeals to me particularly, but I did appreciate the moment I put the book down about a third in to ask myself whether that was 'the twist' or if there was another one coming. (I won't spoil anyone’s own appreciation by answering that question here.)
Tracey Deonn, first and foremost, does that thing great young adult books do (and some other books, as well): all Bree's emotions are incredibly real and raw. The grief over losing her mother, the giddy attraction to Nick, the anger and disgust in response to racism all jump out from the pages. In turn, this makes the relationships very compelling — whether it's the romance or Bree’s friendship with Alice or the steadfast support of her father. Legendborn really fired on all emotional cylinders.
As discussed, the plot is also impactful with at least one jaw-dropping twist. Bree's storyline is tight and easy to keep track of. Her antagonism with Sel, and the way that changes over the course of the novel, really adds depth to the action. However, the number of scions and squires and descendants of the knights of the round table get a little hard to track. Reliably remembering whether a specific page is on Bree's side or against proved challenging, let alone accurately tracking who makes up each of the bonded pairs. It always becomes obvious who’s who fairly quickly, but apart from Greer few of the characters on this level stand out as particularly distinct, which did make the death scenes less emotionally-affecting than they could have been.
While it’s not a perfect book, I really enjoyed Legendborn and will definitely be adding the sequel to my TBR.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Grief, Death, Blood, and Racial slurs
Minor: Car accident, Slavery, Infidelity, and Misogyny
onefineelephant's review
adventurous
emotional
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
4.5
9/10. I really enjoyed this book. It gave me chills, made me very emotional, and made me really care about the characters. I was taken on such a journey throughout this story. There were so many parts of the story that surprised me and added to the complexity of the plot. Each turn deepened the connections between the characters and the past. The Arthurian legend and the magic feel unique and compelling to me. I'm not really into love triangles, but this one feels very organic. I found this book from booktok and I knew it had racial tensions/racism as part of the plot, but since I like to go into books mostly blind, I was not expecting the story to address generational trauma and touch on the traumas of enslaved women. This is not a negative to me, but just not what I was expecting going into it. I figured the racial tensions would be more microaggressions and modern racist topics (which were also explored). I think this book will be even more interesting after already reading it for the first time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Racism, War, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Medical content, Stalking, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Colonisation and Car accident
Minor: Rape, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Transphobia, and Slavery
This book deals with modern racism such as microaggressions and also generational trauma.abisnail564's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Murder, Death of parent, Racism, and War
Moderate: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Death, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Pregnancy
lillygabriella's review
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping
katieandkiri's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Death of parent
Moderate: Slavery, Grief, Car accident, and Racism
Minor: Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault
kiala's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Violence, Death of parent, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, and Car accident
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault