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A review by spellbindingtomes
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? No
5.0
๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
I GET THE HYPE. I've not had a fantasy series captivate me this much since the Green Bone Saga. I've always been interested in the legend of King Arthur, but wow what Tracy did here absolutely blew my mind.
After her mother's death, 16-year-old Bree Matthews joins a UNC-Chapel Hill program but witnesses a supernatural attack on her first night. When a teenage mage fails to erase her memory, Bree discovers her own magical abilities and a possible connection between her mother's death and a secret society of "Legendborn" students who hunt magical creatures.
The first few chapters took me awhile to get through because it contained a lot of information about the lore and magic, but once I got past that this was completely unputdownable. Tracy combines the famous Arthurian legends with issues of race and identity in such a brilliant way.
Bree as a main character was so relatable, both in her grief and anger. She's refreshingly complex, strong, and fiercely determinedโnavigating a world that wasn't built for her to pursue the truth about her mother all while challenging centuries-old traditions in the process. I'm so excited to see how she grows throughout the series.
๐๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐บ ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ข๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ.
Okay, so the love triangle. I don't LOVE love triangles, but I didn't mind this one. Though I found the romance between Nick and Bree somewhat rushed, Nick seems like a good guy who genuinely cares for Bree. BUT on the other hand, the complex relationship between Bree and Sel just stole the show for me. I think they have similar personalities that clash, creating some great tension and angst between them. Sel also keeps this tough brooding exterior but is extremely loyal to those who have earned his trust. I am firmly on TEAM SEL.
This series has completely taken over my reading life. I immediately dove into book 2 & I'm thrilled to see where Tracy takes these characters next.
I GET THE HYPE. I've not had a fantasy series captivate me this much since the Green Bone Saga. I've always been interested in the legend of King Arthur, but wow what Tracy did here absolutely blew my mind.
After her mother's death, 16-year-old Bree Matthews joins a UNC-Chapel Hill program but witnesses a supernatural attack on her first night. When a teenage mage fails to erase her memory, Bree discovers her own magical abilities and a possible connection between her mother's death and a secret society of "Legendborn" students who hunt magical creatures.
The first few chapters took me awhile to get through because it contained a lot of information about the lore and magic, but once I got past that this was completely unputdownable. Tracy combines the famous Arthurian legends with issues of race and identity in such a brilliant way.
Bree as a main character was so relatable, both in her grief and anger. She's refreshingly complex, strong, and fiercely determinedโnavigating a world that wasn't built for her to pursue the truth about her mother all while challenging centuries-old traditions in the process. I'm so excited to see how she grows throughout the series.
๐๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐บ ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ข๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ.
Okay, so the love triangle. I don't LOVE love triangles, but I didn't mind this one. Though I found the romance between Nick and Bree somewhat rushed, Nick seems like a good guy who genuinely cares for Bree. BUT on the other hand, the complex relationship between Bree and Sel just stole the show for me. I think they have similar personalities that clash, creating some great tension and angst between them. Sel also keeps this tough brooding exterior but is extremely loyal to those who have earned his trust. I am firmly on TEAM SEL.
This series has completely taken over my reading life. I immediately dove into book 2 & I'm thrilled to see where Tracy takes these characters next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, Classism