I saw the cover and heard that it was a legend of King Arthur re-telling mixed with Southern Black Girl Magic, and I knew I had to have it! Legendborn blew me away! The magic system and the world building are both incredible, and it was refreshing and eye-opening to get a POV where Black culture, Black history, and everyday life were all front-and-center. I can't wait to read more from Tracy Deonn (especially Legendborn 2!).

Not going to lie Bree worked my last nerve in this book. Then I had to remind myself she’s 16 and give her a pass. The pacing of the story could have been better as it did stall at times. The action scenes especially towards the end had me on the edge of my seat. This story tackles everyday racism us Black people face in America. That ending was something else and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Bree Matthews's last words with her mother were angry and resentful. How she wishes she could take them back, but her mother was killed in car accident that very evening. Trying to escape her guilt and sorrow, she enrolls in a program for advanced high school seniors at UNC-Chapel Hill. On her very first night at her very first college party, she meets some unusual people and witnesses a terrifying creature appearing out of nowhere. In the chaos, Bree is busted for so many things that she's put on probation in her college program and set up with a mentor, handsome and charming, Nick.. Her father also sets her up with a counselor on campus, one of the only other Black professors and one of her mother's acquaintances. As Bree settles in with herself and her new surroundings, she inadvertently ends up at a society dedicated to protecting the human race from demons encroaching on the world. Her mentor, Nick, is Legendborn - a descendant of King Arthur. The other members of the society, also Legendborn - are descended from the Knights of the Round Table. Bree uncovers a connection between this group and her mother's death, and discovers she has some powers of her own. The problem arises when Bree's powers are different from the Merlin's and the rest of the Legendborn. Add some terrifying encounters with increasingly sentient demons and a romantic attraction to Nick and you're set for a truly excellent new fantasy. This is the first fantasy I've read that had a Black woman as the main character. Also included is a gender-neutral character. All the characters are well-developed and atypical. The plot is fast-paced and intriguing. Hopefully Deonn is setting us up for a series. Fans of Holly Black, Cassandra Clare will love this, as will any reader looking for a great new fantasy! I appreciate the chance to read Legendborn as an ARC.

This book was so stunning that I wanted to take my time and savor every bit of it — and it's a good thing I did, because this was so richly dense with Arthurian myth (updated with a few contemporary twists, of course) and had so much to really unpack in terms of the heroine's journey. It's an amazing meditation on grief, growth, loss, magic, heritage, the racism and oppression built into the history of this country, and finding your own inner power. (Also, this is how I know I'm primarily a romance reader, because my thoughts automatically turned to the ideal throuple situation rather than a love triangle between Bree, Sel and Nick. Look, they're all Oathed to each other, it practically writes itself!)

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Legendborn will be — I can almost guarantee — one of the best YA Fantasies you'll read this year, purely because it is so layered. With complex characters, an intricate magic system based on legacies and privilege, and, as promised in the synopsis, southern Black girl magic, Legendborn plays with several classic YA tropes and turns them into something new and incredibly memorable.

CHARACTERS + TROPES ⚔

One of the most common factors you've probably seen in all of Legendborn's reviews has to do with its usage of tropes, and how there's a lot of them. It's an undeniable fact: Legendborn is tropey, but it's good-tropey, and manages to execute all the tropes in a perfect manner. A conversation we've had to have too many times — about how no trope is "overused" until an author of color gets the opportunity to write it — definitely comes into play, but regardless, Tracy Deonn's storytelling is powerful, and the sheer way she rewrites all these classic YA tropes is simply amazing to witness.

Bree, our main character, is such a lovely head to be in — stubborn, fierce, yet excruciatingly vulnerable at the same time, Bree is a main character you can't help but love and root (haha) for. I loved how Tracy Deonn explored themes of grief, trauma, the reality of racism, and the legacy of slavery through her character.

Nick, the reluctant king of the titular Legendborns, is charming and sweet, the effortless golden boy. Is his romance with Bree instalovey? Yes. Is it enjoyable and well-written? Also yes! On the flip side, we have our bad boy with a tragic backstory, Selwyn Kane — the tall, dark, and enigmatic boy we've all seen in YA before. There's a slight love triangle at play, but I didn't mind. Again, what really sets this book and its tropes apart has to do with the depth of the tropes. The love triangle is a medium to explore power imbalances, and the exploration of themes through tropes that have historically been called "trashy" is so incredible.

AN INTRICATE MAGIC SYSTEM ⚔

One of the things I loved the most in Legendborn was how it had, in its essence, two separate magic systems, and how, when tied together, they illustrated a dynamic and painful story.

On one hand, we have Legendborns, descendants of the spirit of King Arthur and the Round Table, and made of the rich families of the South: In other words, white. The Legendborns are, for a lack of better words, cruel and aggressive, as most are when given so much power.

On the other hand, we have a magic known as Rootcraft, a soft magic practice revolving around healing and protection.

Without giving anything away, here's what I can say: Tracy Deonn has used these two magic systems to spin a narrative we don't hear often enough — the story of slaves, of excruciating pain, and of legacies that can't be claimed. Of violent monsters, and how sometimes, the most monstrous are human. Of privilege and wealth, power imbalances, and the difference between asking for and taking.

THEMATIC DEVELOPMENT + WRITING ⚔

I want to finish this review off with this: the story itself aside, the execution is brilliant. The build-up and pacing of the story is perfect, and Tracy's writing? The best.

There are quotes in there that make your lips slightly part, a soft [oh] escaping you, because the way things are being put together, falling in place and falling out of place, all at the same time, is simply oh-inspiring. Tracy doesn't sacrifice reality for fantasy, and the quiet, righteous rage that Bree feels echoes and strikes through the pages — and again, it's perfect.

IN CONCLUSION ⚔
I highly recommend this book to everyone!

A vivid, thoroughly engrossing fantasy about a Black teenager in the south discovering her power while investigating her mother's death. Complex, with a strong, totally organic bite of social reality. I knew it was set at UNC, and, to be honest, that’s largely why I’m reading it (I went to UNC J-School for my PHD), but no one told me LEGENDBORN was THIS Tar Heel-centric. It uses the school's very real and problematic history as a central driver of the narrative. Deon masterfully blends fantasy, history, and real life horror.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn was a great read. I featured it as Book of the Day on my social media platforms and included it in a roundup of new releases on my blog.

I absolutely loved this book! It spoke to my love for Black Girl Magic, Arthurian Legend and Secret Societies. I loved it so much that I preordered a copy immediately upon finishing.

This novel is, quite simply, stunning. Rich world-building and complexly crafted characters set the stage for this action packed Arthurian adventure which is sure to claim space as a YA classic for years to come.

I LOVE this book. I am amazed by how breath-taking it is. I have a deep fondness for King Arthur retellings, and I have read quite a few. Some good, some bad, some meh. This was incredible. It was magical realism at its best, with multiple magic systems, secret societies, demons, and King Arthur mythology with incredible Black Girl Magic. I need more stories like this, I WANT more stories like this.

There are so elements to this story that were incredible. The exploration of Bree's grief and her need to find the truth was captivating. Insert creatures from hell, magic and mages and you become entranced by Bree's story. I loved Bree diving into her history and her acceptance of that history as well as it being a source of power for her was masterfully done.

This was a bold, magical retelling that ignites one's imagination and demands the attention it deserves. I have become a life-long fan of Tracy Deonn. I wish I had the next book in my hands already.

Four stars for the writing and world building, it's stellar.
Three stars for the characters are somewhat one dimensional...but this is a YA story so imo, characters always fall into the same ol same ol; irrational and irritating.
Enjoyed the King Arthur references in the story. I do wish we had more Black characters around Bree but I guess for what this story is,that couldn't happen.

At the end of it all, I would recommend for teenagers.

LEGENDBORN BOOK REVIEW:
There is just so much depth to this book that I can’t possibly name all. Here are some things I loved about this book.
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I loved Bree. She was such a great character and person to read from. Sis played no games and she was so easy to root for! I also loved how realistic her transition into the Legendborn world was. I mean we got a whole wash day routine in this book!
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I also loved Bree’s interactions with Sel and Nick. Two very different interactions in which I enjoyed. I’ve seen a few reviews, not a lot so we’re good!, about their dislike for the love triangle (team Nick...for now lolll), bad boy with a complex past, and insta love tropes in this book. I mean everyone is entitled to their own opinion but keep in mind that other popular fantasy books of today has all of these tropes. I’m just happy that we, Black readers, get to see ourselves in these tropes as well. Also these tropes were handled wonderfully so props to Tracy Deonn!
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I also love how Tracy Deonn made it a point to center a Black African MC in this story. I’m African so I can’t wholeheartedly speak to that experience but after watching some of Deonn’s interviews, she really emphasized on how important it was for her to insert the Black American identity and experience within this fantasy novel. What does it mean to be Black in a predominantly White space? What does it mean to be active in an environment that wasn’t originally meant for you? We all know how European fantasy worlds look like. And thankfully we are starting to know how African fantasy worlds look like! But what does a fantasy world and mythos inspired by Black American heritage look like? These questions are all answered in this book! Black people in general see themselves in this book but I love that Black Americans get to see themselves and their heritage portrayed in a fantastical setting!
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Does this deserve the hype? Yes it does. This is the birth of a new fandom and I’m so here for it. Y’all better hype this book up!! Don’t let it be sidelined!

Really amazing book. For someone who loved Harry Potter but finds J.K. Rowling problematic, this was a breath of fresh air. I am already looking forward to the sequel.

A lot of interesting and compelling elements. We've got a complex, well developed world and a huge cast of developed characters. That hugeness made for a long read. It's so much and moves slowly. But Deonn is doing some cool stuff. We have multiple sets of rules for magic, different approaches reflecting different cultures. Add in racism and social strata and there's a lot to consider.

This book was absolutely amazing!! There was a point where I absolutely did not want to put the book down and would get annoyed when I had to stop reading. Yes, the book was that good and the ending was amazing like I am not sure how I am going to last until the next book. The ending was so unexpected and had me finishing it in the middle of the night when I had work early in the morning. I am a person who likes to guess what will happen in the book and come up with theories about characters and let me tell you, I still did not see that ending coming from a mile away.

I loved Bree’s character soo much and how Deonn portrayed her was magnificent. I feel like the way Deonn portrayed Bree’s emotions so well especially with Bree’s grieving process. Sometimes authors make the grieving process very linear with the main character just coming to terms with the grief over a period of time. But what about the people who just avoid processing the grief? This is Bree. Her grief is not linear but a bumpy road with the occasional step back and I love that.

Honestly, I loved the whole plot, I was entertained all the way throughout the book. The book is very fast-paced and gives you a bunch of information about the secret society, Root, and back history/story, and its a lot of information but I think after a while you really get to understand what is going on. Also, the way that Deonn incorporated the microaggressions that Bree faced throughout the book is truly seamless and I can see each one of them happening in real life. And the characters?! I love Nick, but I think I love Sel more...but overall I think I enjoyed the different personalities because each character was truly their own person.

Legendborn definitely has the potential to be a great series. Although King Arthur retellings are popping up everywhere, this one is very unique. I think the world building was a little confusing, we were meant to learn as the character did, but it felt a bit all over the place. The characters were like able and the plot had a lot of action. I hope the next book will be a bit smoother.

I did not finish this book. The writing was drawn out. The development of the world was choppy and confusing. Because of the confusion, it was hard to understand exactly what was going on. The book has potential but as a YA novel, the cumbersome task of trying to keep up with so many new and unfamiliar terms while adjusting to and deciphering the new world takes away pleasure in enjoying the story.

Daring Debut that is A Fresh Take on the Arthurian Tale, Lovingly Flavored with Southern Flair

Brianna Irene Matthews aka Bree leaves home to attend an early college type program at the university of her dreams. She’s still raw, still grieving and attempting to do the whole college experience with her best friend Alice–the only person from back home who sees her as the person she is now. A version of herself that is trying but lost without much of a paddle to navigate the waters…sometimes rocky, sometimes calm. It is here at the place of her mother’s college days that Bree finds more magic, more mysteries, and more about herself that she’d never imagined she would find. Stumbling upon a secret society, an ancient order tasked with protecting humankind, she finds the Order of The Round Table. The last descendants of King Arthur and his loyal knights all young people, her age, who have a safehold here and have protected society from Shadowborne, demons who would wipe out life here as we know.

Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of this novel is the world building. We have here this fleshed out, realized world that is one that I, as a reader can imagine myself in. This is the world with cars and modern architecture and where the internet all exists. It is also a world where weapons and armour can materialize at the drop of a hat, where healing properties can be grabbed out of the air, invisible to the sight of a normal human being–Oncebornes. And foul creatures from the other side that seek to create harm and chaos.

It is also a world where Bree lives and finds herself a child of two worlds. Again, a struggle that is relevant and timely as so many Black folks feel like second class citizens in whatever country they live in, and furthermore, how so many of us feel as if we are living through two different pandemics here in 2020. First and foremost, she’s a Black teen girl who knows that her skin and gender will make others actively work in dismissing, harassing, belittling, and attempting to erase her. Point blank, it makes her a target–to be treated differently. To endure silently the sly comments from school deans. To have to sit in a police car when her white classmates are told simply to return to campus. To be sized up in the worst way in the eyes of young men who only see her Black body as a means to an end.

Beloved, as readers, we aren’t thrown into a world where magic exists and microaggressions don’t. We are not thrown into a world where a Black girl is not aware that the many great institutions we uphold were built on the backs of people who look like her. It would be unrealistic if Deonn penned this adventure this way and for that I am grateful. For Bree, it already wasn’t uncommon to find herself as the only person in the room with her features, her hair type, her shared life experiences.

Bree is most certainly a hero that we’ve been waiting for. In the current wave of diverse YA titles making their way to shore, in Legendborn she is one of the new leaders of the pack. Seeing Black girls and women in fiction, in speculative fiction, in fantasy is always a treat. And in recent years, it has thankfully become easier to visit a store and see someone who looks like me on the shelves, on display, featured on the website–yet it an even greater victory to read Bree’s story and see a fleshed-out, complicated, endearing narrative of a Black girl that I not only want to root for but see pieces of myself in. It is a greater victory to see that Bree is written by Black hands with a glorious cover illustration also by a Black woman. She’s a smartass–her banter throughout the book is gold. For a black girl who very easily falls into the ‘difficult to love’ category at times–it is refreshing and affirming to see her on display as someone very few really believe she is worthy–time and time again and eventually getting the landing right.

Throughout the fantasy genre, we see protagonists, especially children and teens without parents, without many mothers and fathers around. It is not uncommon to see the chosen ones running about as orphans or missing a parent–And in too many beloved stories and franchises mothers have a very obvious and depressing absence. Now writing this review, I see how this could be the book’s greatest criticism. And while Legendborn perhaps doesn’t fully subvert this trope, the author manages to effectively and brilliantly craft a story about a motherless child getting the chance to have a piece of her mother, again. Without heading into spoiler territory: this is the tale of a Black girl who gets to reclaim her mother–and her mother before her in a moving story about taking everything you are and everything you have–being your ancestor’s wildest dream and becoming the hero you need to be.

This YA fantasy is going on my list as one of my favorites for the year.

There are some familiar tropes at play here. Bree is the special girl who gets caught up in a fantastical adventure and snares the heart of the handsome, popular “prince.” (And maybe more than one guy is interested, so triangle TBD in later books.) The complexities of the story keep it interesting, though. The Legendborn, whose history is based in the court of King Arthur, are fighting the demonic Shadowborn, and Bree gets caught up in the struggle when she tries to figure out the order’s connection to the death of her mother. Black people have their own type of magic, which is called root, and Bree inherited those powers from her mother’s family. Beyond that, Bree seems to have powers all her own that nobody quite understands, a mystery that’s central to the plot. And once that mystery gets worked out, well, there’s kind of a twist in terms of some of those tropes . . .

I think one of the things that elevates the book above others in the genre is the central role that race plays in the story. Bree may be special in terms of the magic she wields, but she’s also Black, which means that some people will see her as less than she is. The Legendborn’s magical traditions grow out of their northern European roots, and many of them have slaveholders in their family trees. As the first Black person to join their group, Bree encounters racism within the ranks of the Legendborn and their vassals, who are almost all white. Even some of the people who want to be friends with Bree have a lot to learn in terms of their internal biases. (Seriously, why would anyone just reach out and touch someone else’s hair? I don’t get it. Do not do that.)

The author doesn’t shy away from discussing racial issues in the mundane world, either. The author is an alum of the University of North Carolina campus at Chapel Hill, and the campus is a big presence in the book. However, the university has a history based in slavery, and race remains an issue at the school. Bree is constantly having to navigate being Black in an environment built by and for white people, and the reader gets to experience the anger and pain that she feels as she does so. This may be a fantasy, but it’s very firmly grounded in reality.

Readers interested in #ownvoices YA fantasy will definitely want to check this one out. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the next book in the series to find out what happens next!

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

BOOK REPORT for Legendborn (Legendborn #1) by Tracy Deonn

Cover Story: Black Girl Magic
BFF Charm: Heck Yes
Swoonworthy Scale: 6
Talky Talk: Modern Fantasy
Bonus Factors: Arthurian Myth, Early College, Diversity
Factor: Series Starter
Anti-Bonus Factor: Discrimination
Relationship Status: Feeling Sparks

Content Warning: The topics of slavery and the abuse that came with (whipping, rape) are depicted in Legendborn as memories—i.e., events that happened in the past—but they are no less disturbing and might be triggering for some readers.

Cover Story: Black Girl Magic
Although this term is often used in a more figurative sense, there is literal Black Girl Magic happening on this cover, and I am here. for. it. The young woman looks like a take-no-prisoners and take-no-shit badass, with a side of sorrow in her eyes, which is absolutely accurate for the story, and the ying-yang of her arms and the different colors of magic is another awesome nod to what's within.

The Deal:
Three months ago, Bree Matthews's mother died, and Bree separated into Before-Bree and After-Bree. After-Bree keeps things walled up inside herself, things that threaten to overwhelm or set fire to the world.

But when Bree sees magic—real magic—happen on her first night in the Early College program at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, she's thrust into the secret world of the Order of the Round Table, the descendants of King Arthur and his knights who have sworn to protect humanity from demons. And when Bree realizes that someone from the Order might have had a hand in her mother's death, After-Bree's lust for vengeance threatens to break her meticulously constructed walls right down.

BFF Charm: Heck Yes
Bree, fueled by her grief over her mother's death, has a tendency to do her own thing without telling others or without concern for her own safety. Part of me wanted to be there for her to pull her back from the edge, but another part totally gets the anger that comes with grief, and so wanted to support her in her efforts. (Especially when Bree recognizes the racial inequalities and white supremacy of the Order; yas, Queen, you take them down!) Bree is absolutely the kind of person who'd go into literal battle for the people she cares about, and everyone needs a friend like that in their lives. (Particularly when we're talking about actual battles against real, live demons!)

Swoonworthy Scale: 6
You're intelligent folk who've read a lot of YA, so although this is a semi-spoiler I'm going to come right out and say it (because if you read this book you'll figure it out as quickly as I did): there's a love triangle in this book. It's only going to get worse before it gets better, and I have no idea how it's going to end up. But, the dudes are total dreamboats, both, in very different ways, so I don't envy Bree's struggle.

That said, there is a good helping of swoon in this book before the triangle gets too messy. It's a very sweet, very early college "we can be alone together and my parents aren't going to freak out" swoon, but nostalgia for that kind of fizzy chemistry is all too real.

Talky Talk: Modern Fantasy
Although the lore in Legendborn is inspired by the very old myths of King Arthur and other voodoo-type magics—mixed to great effect!—Deonn doesn't shy away from being upfront about contemporary (and in some cases, sadly much older) issues. The Order is painfully white, and on more than one occasion during the book, Bree is othered because of the fact that she's Black and a woman, both. Deonn's messages on classism, racism, and sexism are powerful and moving and never feel shoehorned into a book about demons and knights. I applaud her for including these topics, because they're absolutely part of the real world, even if the "real world" in this case happens to have magical bits.

Bonus Factor: Arthurian Myth
I'm all about Arthurian retellings, and the more feminist or diverse they are, the better. (The Round Table was such a sausage fest!) Deonn does a great job of using the known myths to inspire the new magical system in Legendborn; I wouldn't call it a retelling, but it's definitely familiar to anyone who knows even the bare minimum about King Arthur and his knights. (Also, I watched Deonn's launch Zoom event in which she talked about how it's actually impossible to do an actual retelling of an Arthurian myth because there's no one story that people can retell, and this blew my mind with both its brilliance and how obvious it is now that she said it out loud.)

Bonus Factor: Early College
I love the fact that Deonn set this book on a college campus; it makes the secret society themes easier to believe than if it took place in a high school setting. (Bree and her friend Alice are juniors in high school, but attending an early college program.)

Bonus Factor: Diversity / Anti-Bonus Factor: Discrimination
In addition to Bree's being Black in a very white (secret) society, one of her friends is non-binary. The powers that be don't really know what to do with either of them, and that's both empowering—eff the system!—and unbelievably frustrating—they're people, not something other; they don't need to be treated any differently than anyone else because of their race or gender identification and deserve to be as respected as everyone else.

Factor: Series Starter
I'm not sure how many books Deonn plans to include in the Legendborn series, but there's a very large world she's created in the first book that I'm excited to explore in however many more she blesses us with.

Relationship Status: Feeling Sparks
I'd heard you were something special, Book, but I was reserving judgment until we could get together just the two of us. I'm glad to see that the hype wasn't undeserved; there's definitely something exciting happening here, and I can't wait to see where it goes.