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adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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:
No
Tracy Deonn is simply a genius. Despite the fact that this is the third book in the series, she continues to throw me for a loop. Each ends with a plot twist and no matter how you remind yourself you NEVER see it coming.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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:
No
I feel bad rating it just a three, but someone said this book suffered “middle book syndrome” and I fully agree.
I think the main reason I didn’t click with the book like k did with the first two was that there was a lot of filler. Things picked up once the characters ended up at the auction party, but from there to the acton-packed end was the last third of the book.
I loved that we had some of William’s perspective, but then it just abruptly dropped off. I would have loved more (especially with Lark 👀).
I also wish we had more of Sel in this book 🥺 I still haven’t figured out how I feel about the twist ending. I’m a little disappointed with it. I know it’s supposed to be this big, exciting thing, but I didn’t like it.
It was unexpected though for sure! Props for that.
And as always the descriptions and writing was beautiful 🙌🏼
I think the main reason I didn’t click with the book like k did with the first two was that there was a lot of filler. Things picked up once the characters ended up at the auction party, but from there to the acton-packed end was the last third of the book.
I loved that we had some of William’s perspective, but then it just abruptly dropped off. I would have loved more (especially with Lark 👀).
I also wish we had more of Sel in this book 🥺 I still haven’t figured out how I feel about the twist ending. I’m a little disappointed with it. I know it’s supposed to be this big, exciting thing, but I didn’t like it.
It was unexpected though for sure! Props for that.
And as always the descriptions and writing was beautiful 🙌🏼
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
No
Took me awhile to get back into this since it’s been awhile since I read the last book. This one focuses a lot more on Bree and Nick, and moves forward the story of them and Sel (though Sel isn’t in this book much). I was pretty lost in the beginning, it would be good to find a quick recap before starting.
I think I liked this book more than the others and maybe it’s because it included a lot more likable characters (the Cambians and rootcrafters)
Summary for myself
At the start of this book Bree has been taken by Erebus - who is revealed to be The Shadow King. TSK is a full on demon, a Nightshade? and a powerful one at that. Bree has made an agreement with him in exchange for him taking Selwyn to his mother (after Sel sacrificed himself to save Bree). She also wants him to turn her into a weapon. Part of what she agreed to give up was her memories. She forgets the people from her previous life but can still remember events kind of blurrily.
Alice is in a coma. Being watched over by the root users/ Cambiens.
Nick is still with the order, along with Will, but are on bad terms with most of them since Bree was taken / gone missing.
Selwyn is basically a whole entire feral Cambien now, lost all his humanity, and seems very dangerous. Most of his parts of this book are told through his mom’s PoV as she tries to restore his humanity. Apparently she, Natascia, knew Bree’s mom and had been responsible for protecting her. Eventually Sel escapes
Bree begins training with TSK and two of his apprentices? Disciples? Two twin cambiens named Elijah and Xoelle (who is a trans woman) they become a unit after they fight and try to kill each other but TSK tells them to get along. TSK sends Bree and Xo to the Penumbra - a high society/ dark society event/auction to steal TSK’s crown. It has been “cursed” by Morgains so he cannot touch it himself.
At this event they assume fake identities for this party - at which everyone is masked and has anonymity. When Bree goes to steal the crown, she ends up fighting some guy who turns out to be Nick. But she can’t remember him though he feels very familiar to her. Most of the book that I can remember takes place in this Penumbra party.
Fast forward through a few plot points:
- Bree’s alternative motivation for coming to this event is to save missing black girls who have been abducted and enslaved to continue giving root for this auction
- The root folks that Sel introduced her to help her save those girls who end up being sold to someone from The Order. They keep the girls at The Institute, which is where Will finds them
- Will and Larkin might be a thing? Like a couple?
- Nick knows that something happened between Bree and Sel. But Bree doesn’t know because it’s one of the things she forgot.
-Bree has burned her access to root because she didn’t want Arthur to have access to possess her anymore.
- at the end of the story, Nick, Xoelle, Mariah, Natascia, Valyk, Bree (and more?) end of trying to capture Sel again because they know he is hunting for Bree in his current state of mind.
- Sel does end up finding Nick and Bree and at the end of the book Sel seems to die but return as a demon and they know that Sel is the son of TSK as he puts on the crown. He seems to have turned completely evil.
I think I liked this book more than the others and maybe it’s because it included a lot more likable characters (the Cambians and rootcrafters)
Summary for myself
At the start of this book Bree has been taken by Erebus - who is revealed to be The Shadow King. TSK is a full on demon, a Nightshade? and a powerful one at that. Bree has made an agreement with him in exchange for him taking Selwyn to his mother (after Sel sacrificed himself to save Bree). She also wants him to turn her into a weapon. Part of what she agreed to give up was her memories. She forgets the people from her previous life but can still remember events kind of blurrily.
Alice is in a coma. Being watched over by the root users/ Cambiens.
Nick is still with the order, along with Will, but are on bad terms with most of them since Bree was taken / gone missing.
Selwyn is basically a whole entire feral Cambien now, lost all his humanity, and seems very dangerous. Most of his parts of this book are told through his mom’s PoV as she tries to restore his humanity. Apparently she, Natascia, knew Bree’s mom and had been responsible for protecting her. Eventually Sel escapes
Bree begins training with TSK and two of his apprentices? Disciples? Two twin cambiens named Elijah and Xoelle (who is a trans woman) they become a unit after they fight and try to kill each other but TSK tells them to get along. TSK sends Bree and Xo to the Penumbra - a high society/ dark society event/auction to steal TSK’s crown. It has been “cursed” by Morgains so he cannot touch it himself.
At this event they assume fake identities for this party - at which everyone is masked and has anonymity. When Bree goes to steal the crown, she ends up fighting some guy who turns out to be Nick. But she can’t remember him though he feels very familiar to her. Most of the book that I can remember takes place in this Penumbra party.
Fast forward through a few plot points:
- Bree’s alternative motivation for coming to this event is to save missing black girls who have been abducted and enslaved to continue giving root for this auction
- The root folks that Sel introduced her to help her save those girls who end up being sold to someone from The Order. They keep the girls at The Institute, which is where Will finds them
- Will and Larkin might be a thing? Like a couple?
- Nick knows that something happened between Bree and Sel. But Bree doesn’t know because it’s one of the things she forgot.
-Bree has burned her access to root because she didn’t want Arthur to have access to possess her anymore.
- at the end of the story, Nick, Xoelle, Mariah, Natascia, Valyk, Bree (and more?) end of trying to capture Sel again because they know he is hunting for Bree in his current state of mind.
- Sel does end up finding Nick and Bree and at the end of the book Sel seems to die but return as a demon and they know that Sel is the son of TSK as he puts on the crown. He seems to have turned completely evil.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Violence
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
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
This book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and it did not disappoint! These characters, this story, means everything to me. Bree as a main character is so complex which is one of the reasons why I love her so much. I loved her journey throughout this book and I’m excited to see her journey progress in the fourth and final installment. I also loved getting to hear from other character’s perspectives. And I loved the focus on Nick as a character. I missed him in the second book (just like I missed Sel in this one).
Everytime I think Tracy Deonn can’t shock me more, she proves me wrong. That ending has me absolutely shooketh! Like what? The only other thing I will say about this book is that there seemed to be too much going on. I love multiple perspective books but I think sometimes it’s hard to get perfectly right. Like there were some storylines that I think needed to be expanded in order to grasp the full reality of the situation. And some storylines could have been shortened to make space for this. As a writer myself, I have learned that balance is key. But I have also learned that balance is almost impossible to get 100% correct so it didn’t bother me as much as it could have.
Nevertheless, I’m excited to see where the story goes. I’m also terrified bc I feel like there are too many things to wrap up. Although if the fourth book ends up being 1000 pages, I won’t be mad lol.
Everytime I think Tracy Deonn can’t shock me more, she proves me wrong. That ending has me absolutely shooketh! Like what? The only other thing I will say about this book is that there seemed to be too much going on. I love multiple perspective books but I think sometimes it’s hard to get perfectly right. Like there were some storylines that I think needed to be expanded in order to grasp the full reality of the situation. And some storylines could have been shortened to make space for this. As a writer myself, I have learned that balance is key. But I have also learned that balance is almost impossible to get 100% correct so it didn’t bother me as much as it could have.
Nevertheless, I’m excited to see where the story goes. I’m also terrified bc I feel like there are too many things to wrap up. Although if the fourth book ends up being 1000 pages, I won’t be mad lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Murder
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This feels like a very different journey to Legendborn and Bloodmarked. It fleshes out things we'd already started to learn, but also introduces a number of new threads. And unlike other fantasy series I've tried (looking at you Fourth Wing!), I never got confused.
I was a bit worried that separating my favourite character team would make it less engaging. But actually it just gave everyone space to develop even more, and heightened the drama when they came back together.
There's so much revealed here, and so much still to solve, I am absolutely obsessed with this series and trying very hard not to think about how long we'll have to wait for the next one...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Grief
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Classism
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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
Tracyyyyyy Deonnnnnnnn. Girlllllllll you did not just end this book like this with unanswered questions 😩. Well they were answered but now I want to know if Sel knew all along. Now everything makes sense as to why Erebus didn’t tell the regents where his mom was. I’m hoping there will be another book. Because ain’t no way this is the end. I’m still worried about Alice 🥺. This book was so good. Now I wonder who will Bree truly be with 😭😭🤣. It doesn’t seem as if Sel wants to harm Bree. Lawd this book was definitely worth the read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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:
Complicated
Read on audiobook March 2025.
The way my jaw dropped at the end because I thought this was still a trilogy, and that was the end.
A king, a knight, and a prince.
Then I did some searching and realized it's going to be 4 books. The relief that I'll hopefully get the answer to IS ALICE ALIVE?! The POVs in this book were Bree, William, Mariah, and Natasia. Then there's like a brief Nick POV in there. Bloodmarked was heavy on Bree and Sel while Oathbound was heavy on Bree and Nick. It's pretty obvious that Nick loves Bree. He never judges her, respects her (honestly, it's like reverently) and truly lets her lead. I don't think he's as controlling as many male main characters can be in other fantasy novels.
With 3rd books not in a trilogy, there can be a bit of a slump where it feels like nothing is happening. I found the slowdown in fighting helpful for character development. It also wasn't a boring slowdown. Things are still happening, and the reader is still learning critical information for the storyline. It also breathed complexity into the characters, which made them so much more relatable and dimensional. Bree is finding herselfespecially after losing part of her soul. She's literally searching for herself, and in general, she's trying to figure out what and who she cares about, her priorities, her legacy. Thinking about teenagers or early 20s, that's what everyone is trying to do. Untangle who they want to be from who everyone else wants them to be.
Oathbound really made me rethink how I viewed Bloodmarked and Legendborn. I was initially annoyed with how Bree would ditch the plan and just go with her gut feelings in those books then get attacked or captured. In reading Oathbound, and the scene with Valec and Bree in particular (The "you had to fail to rise" part), I see that there was so much pressure on Bree to be perfect and do all the right things, and as a reader, I had those expectations and biases too.
Which brings me to...There was so much commentary and parallels on being Black in America. Being a Black woman in America. I won't list it all as I feel like this book was truly written for Black young adults. I'll just share one scene where I felt physically ill: The rootcrafter girls were disappearing then they showed up at the auction in Penumbra along with their root for display for rich white people to bid on. William and Lark follow Bree's instructions to find them at the Institute and bring them to the Crossroads. Bree says their names out loud one by one, and that was such a powerful scene, especially because these girls and women were still alive when they so easily could've been killed.
I loved the times in Penumbra when Mariah, Zoey, and Bree were talking whether it was about Bree's love triangle or her burning her ancestral plane. Everyone had strong, emotional reactions to Bree sharing new info with them then they would talk it out and support and love her. That friendship and community was so beautiful.
I'm honestly still processing the book, so maybe I'll return to this review. Who knows? I'll definitely read book 4 though.
With 3rd books not in a trilogy, there can be a bit of a slump where it feels like nothing is happening. I found the slowdown in fighting helpful for character development. It also wasn't a boring slowdown. Things are still happening, and the reader is still learning critical information for the storyline. It also breathed complexity into the characters, which made them so much more relatable and dimensional. Bree is finding herself
Oathbound really made me rethink how I viewed Bloodmarked and Legendborn. I was initially annoyed with how Bree would ditch the plan and just go with her gut feelings in those books then get attacked or captured. In reading Oathbound, and the scene with Valec and Bree in particular (The "you had to fail to rise" part), I see that there was so much pressure on Bree to be perfect and do all the right things, and as a reader, I had those expectations and biases too.
Which brings me to...There was so much commentary and parallels on being Black in America. Being a Black woman in America. I won't list it all as I feel like this book was truly written for Black young adults. I'll just share one scene where I felt physically ill:
I loved the times in Penumbra when Mariah, Zoey, and Bree were talking whether it was about Bree's love triangle or her burning her ancestral plane. Everyone had strong, emotional reactions to Bree sharing new info with them then they would talk it out and support and love her. That friendship and community was so beautiful.
I'm honestly still processing the book, so maybe I'll return to this review. Who knows? I'll definitely read book 4 though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence
Minor: Rape
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
the first time i read oathbound i didn't reread legendborn and bloodmarked. i was planning to give it a 4.75 ⭐ then, but after rereading the entire series, i found that i enjoyed oathbound more than the first time. for that, i simply cannot give it any less than a 5 ⭐
this book is a bit different to the first two - expect less action, a slower pace and lots of character development. i love that we focused on growing the characters, because we needed to see them change and develop. think of this book as sort of a "training arc", if you will. luckily for me, training arcs are some of my favourite parts to consume in media, so i had a delightful time devouring this book. i also love how tracy deonn used the different povs to give us insight into the storylines of other characters, and there was one character in particular (natasia ) that was very interesting to read about.
anyway, i could go on and on about how much i love bree, nick, sel and the others but i'll end my review here lmao. i'm so excited to see where tracy deonn takes the story after that ending !! 🫶
this book is a bit different to the first two - expect less action, a slower pace and lots of character development. i love that we focused on growing the characters, because we needed to see them change and develop. think of this book as sort of a "training arc", if you will. luckily for me, training arcs are some of my favourite parts to consume in media, so i had a delightful time devouring this book. i also love how tracy deonn used the different povs to give us insight into the storylines of other characters, and there was one character in particular (
anyway, i could go on and on about how much i love bree, nick, sel and the others but i'll end my review here lmao. i'm so excited to see where tracy deonn takes the story after that ending !! 🫶
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
adventurous
hopeful
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual assault