Sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews's mother died in a car accident the night after Bree and her mother fought when Bree revealed she was planning to attend the Early College program at her mother's alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill. When Bree notices supernatural happenings and resists a magic user's attempt to rewrite her memory after witnessing a demon attack on other Carolina students, she remembers a police officer rewriting her memory in the same way while telling her about her mother's death. This leads her to believe that her mother's death wasn't an accident. To determine what happened to her mother, Bree must infiltrate one of the university's many secret societies, the Order of the Round Table, and untangle its history, its relationship to Arthurian legend, its connection to the university, and how it intersects and interacts with her own magical abilities.

What I Love:

Um, everything? Seriously, I'm so thrilled to share this book with the world. Everyone should preorder it, right now. It's full of Black Girl Magic and Arthuriana. If you're looking for a Dark Academia vibe, it brings that with its Secret Societies, but it gives it a distinctly Southern flavor that is missing from most DA media I've seen. It's got a LOT of representation: a Black young scholar, a Black botanist, a Thai-American young scholar, a Black father insisting his Black daughter take care of her mental health, a Black psychologist, men loving men, women loving women, men loving men and women (thus far only sequentially, no polyamory here), women loving men and women (same), nonbinary people, archers, swordfighters, staff users, African heritage magic, European heritage magic, and kiiiind of something that I personally anyway interpreted as a magical metaphor for chronic illness. Also, mostly the representation is nonchalant and/or joyful, rather than focusing on misery.

And that's before you get into its unique relationship with its setting, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This book leverages the most interesting things about the school (i.e., its proliferation of societies, both public and secret) and reckons with the university's cruel history and less-than-stellar attempts to address it. In May, I will finish my fourth degree at UNC, and between my two most recent degrees, I worked on campus for three years. Before I began my undergrad career there, it seemed like a fairly magical place; once I started, it turned fairly mundane and stayed that way until I picked up this book, which reminded me of the magic and mystery it held for me in the past and added new layers to it.

I'm trying to work out how to address this next bit without getting it wrong, but I don't know how, so I'm just going to risk being called in/called out because it's worth the risk. This book is an excellent example of the power of an Own Voices text, because it lets readers in on some of the daily considerations, slights, and trauma that a young Black woman has to deal with. Deonn handles these bits of narrative so matter-of-factly; they are everyday realities in Bree's life and as a white woman, I understood better how persistent these experiences are than I ever have before. It's not that I didn't know, intellectually, that this is the constant weight a Black woman must carry; it's just that it hits differently when it's narration from inside a Black woman's head, rather than explanation directed at me as someone who is privileged to not have the same experiences.

Also there are hot boys and swoonworthy romance but that stuff doesn't take centerstage and that is as it should be.

I really can't praise it enough.

What I Want More Of:

There is nothing missing from this book. There was one climactic part that was a little confusing for me, but a later part explained it. (And I understood what was going on in the climax, I just thought maybe I was wrong.)

Deonn is working on the second book now, so here's a quick wishlist for what I'd like to see in it:

- the Lady of the Lake
- the Forest Theater
- lots more of Sel

What I Need to Warn You About:

There's nothing about taste that I need to warn you about - this book is fast-paced, simultaneously lyrical and plainly written, and I really believe it would be a rare reader who wouldn't enjoy it. If you're not into fantasy, I guess, then it's not for you.

I will provide a content warning, though: LEGENDBORN contains instances of both covert and overt racism, slavery, and rape.

This book is more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Tracy takes two branches of history and mends them together to tell a beautiful, and insanely amazing, story. I love her storytelling as she not only gives us an intense cast of characters with many different wants and needs, but also adding in Bree's own internal conflict. The internal and external conflict Bree faces is something I couldn't even imagine anyone could withstand, but does so, so realistically and heartbreakingly. I just wanted to give her a big hug!

Everything about this book is so well thought out and just, amazing. The Arthurian legend, American history, Bree's family history, and so many other things combined would make me think that this story could become jumbled. But I wasn't confused. In fact, I'm very impressed with how well balanced this book really was. Not once did I get lost in Bree's shuffle or mix anything up. It was all clear, detailed, and well introduced.

And the ending! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and then the ending solidified my feelings that this is one of the best books I've ever read. I only wish I had the next book in my hands to find out what happens next!

This is such a great group of genres in one book that it's almost guaranteed that everyone will like this! I can't wait to read more from Tracy and read the sequel!

Book Review for “Legendborn” by Tracy Deonn. I read this book as an ARC through NetGalley. Thank you to Tracy Deonn, NetGalley, and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Okay people, hold on to your hats. “Legendborn” is officially one of the top five best books I’ve read this year. I kid you not, this book is AMAZING. I couldn’t put his book down, and quite frankly, I didn’t want to.

“Legendborn” is an amazing mix of fantasy and Black Southern Girl magic. Bree Matthews is the main character, and she is fierce. I want to be her. She discovers a secret society on UNC Chapel Hill’s campus, and instead of running away from the strangeness that surrounds this society, she jumps in head first. She is such a strong character, and despite all of the obstacles she is faced with throughout this book (including some really racist idiots), she does what she thinks is right, and follows her heart and her gut.

This book brings together the idea of lineage and family with mythology and legend. The storytelling is great, the characters are great, the romance is great, the magic is great, the LBGTQ representation is great. Overall, this story is GREAT! To express how much I loved this book, I just went and preordered a signed copy of it. Tracy Deonn, shut up and take my money! Guess what peeps, this book will also have a SEQUEL! It’s already on my TBR list. My rating of this book, if you couldn’t already guess, 5 out of 5 stars!!

Legendborn is a stunning debut that smartly weaves together Arthurian legend, a modern setting, and Black history, joy, culture, and traumas into one riveting, enthralling story.

City of Bones meets A Blade So Black, steeped in a fresh reimagining of Arthurian legend. It's everything I love about urban fantasy given new dimension and added layers. Bree takes the world by the teeth, and you cheer for her every step of the way.

I LOVED this book. I can’t wait to get copies for my school library. I would love to teach this book and could see it partnering well with texts that my school’s English department already teaches. Bree, Nick, Sel, and the other characters are well-rounded and unique. It’s a lengthy book, but it went by so quickly for me and I didn’t want it to end. There is so much incredible history in the story. The memory walks are heartbreakingly vivid-I had to pause reading at one point to catch my breath because it was so powerfully written. I can not recommend this book enough.

As soon as I read that summary, I knew I had to read this book. It’s been a while since I’ve read an urban fantasy at this scale, and I really enjoyed it! An Arthurian retelling with Southern Black Girl Magic, Legendborn provided a fresh take on age-old myths and YA tropes.

Bree is grieving her mother’s death as she arrives as a student at UNC-Chapel Hill for a program called Early College. When she goes to a party, she runs across demons and a mage named Sel who’s fighting them. Sel takes away her memories, but she somehow fights it and more importantly, she realizes that she’s seen this magic before. Bree recruits Nick, another student at Early College who’s supposed to mentor her and is somehow involved with this world, to take her with him into the secret society called the Order. But there are more secrets here than Bree first thought, and she’s soon pulled into a world of Arthurian bloodlines that seeks to keep her out.

When I said that this book takes on typical YA tropes, I somewhat meant that this book reminded me of a 2012 YA fantasy? However, I don't mean that in a bad way! Legendborn has some of these tropes, yes, but it makes them its own and perhaps more importantly, it has an ownvoices Black protagonist. People are so quick to judge when I say "chosen one" or "love triangle" (which are the tropes here), but this book doesn't fall into cliche YA fantasy because it doesn't have a white protagonist. It inherently subverts these tropes by having a Black protagonist. People of color deserve to see these kind of stories with themselves as the main characters, especially ones written by PoC themselves! Also, I'm just generally not opposed to these tropes as long as they're well done, and they are in this book. So yeah, I just wanted to preface my review by saying that this reminded me of a 2012 YA fantasy, but I loved that and I personally think we should have more of that today (with ownvoices PoC as the main characters of course).

I really liked the characters. Bree was stubborn and willing to do whatever it takes to uncover the mystery of her mother’s death, even if that means joining a mysterious secret society that clearly spells trouble. I really love her character development honestly; grief is a heavy thing, and she tries to push it away but eventually she has to realize that her grief and her anger are a part of her now. Nick is so sweet and caring. He helps Bree in any way that he can. Meanwhile, Sel is the requisite snarky character; I didn’t like him much at first, but naturally, he (not so unexpectedly) grew on me.

Bree also has such a great support system. Her dad makes her go to therapy because he thinks she’s not coping well after her mother’s death (and she’s not); her therapist, Patricia, helps her answer questions she didn’t even know she had. Bree’s best friend Alice is always there for her, even when she doesn’t want her to be. Despite there being many people in the Order who want to see Bree fail, there are also a lot of characters who want to see her succeed.

The romance was also good. Bree and Nick were a little instalovey, but that’s not always a bad thing. I also really liked how caring Nick was. There is a love triangle, and again, I’m not necessarily opposed to this trope. I wasn’t quite expecting it but yeah I ended up liking the other love interest as well, so we’ll see what happens next.

Oh also the representation in this story is so great! Bree is ownvoices Black; Sel is bisexual; and Alice is a Taiwanese-American lesbian. There’s also bisexual, gay, and wlw side characters, as well as nonbinary side character who uses they/them pronouns.

The worldbuilding is intense and incredibly detailed. This is a King Arthur retelling, so there are squires and pages and mages called Merlins. Legendborn means someone whose family follows the bloodline of one of the Knights of the Round Table, and every Legendborn family has an heir. Deonn has clearly put thought into the hierarchy of this world, and it’s utterly fascinating. She also ties in “Southern Black Girl Magic” as the summary says; by this, I mean a magic called root that has ties to Southern Black culture. Bree must grapple with both worlds and magic systems because they intertwine more than she realizes.

Since the Legendborn families follow the bloodlines of King Arthur’s knights, they are all white. Being in the South, many of them are racist as well although they may not seem it at first. Many of the members of the Order obviously think Bree will fail and that she doesn’t belong there, which is indicative of society today. Bree deals with many microaggressions, but she proves them all wrong. Also, since this book takes place in North Carolina, the Order has links to slavery in its past as many old societies in the South do. There’s a line in the author’s note that I really loved about Arthur being the seat of Western mythology and how she wanted to show how we can retell stories in different ways.

This review got really long, I’m sorry; this doesn’t even cover everything. The book itself was very long but it definitely pays off in the last 5-10%! That ending was a Lot and I cannot wait for the sequel.

Legendborn was a refreshing take on both a “classic” story and various YA tropes. It takes the King Arthur legend and makes it its own. The characters are great, and I loved the representation in this book. Legendborn is a legend in and of itself, one that should definitely make its way into the hands of anyone interested in retellings or urban fantasy.

Ok, I think we have been needing this book for a long, long time. Not only does Tracy Deonn dismantle the pristine Arthurian legend, she brings the ax down on it. This book has everything, and I mean everything. I'm not going to list it all here, because I think you should read it for yourself. But, if you're looking for a book with a badass black girl protagonist, bringing white men to their knees, and claiming what is rightfully hers, look no further.

Meet Bree, a 16 year old girl from rural North Carolina. Her mother just tragically died in a car accident, and she is headed to UNC for an Early College program. Her first night there, she heads to a party off campus and encounters something strange... magic. She's busted for being off campus and has a mentor assigned to her. Nick, a 2nd year EC student, is with her when she experiences magic, and a magical being for the second time. Not only is he not surprised at this, he fights it off and leaves Bree very confused. Enter the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In a whirlwind, Bree is brought into a secret society and starts to learn magic, as she comes to believe her mother's death was NOT an accident. But the fact that she knows anything about magic is dangerous, because she is different and has separate abilities. Her Southern Black Girl Magic threatens the White Boy's Club that is the Order, and Bree must fight for her life.

WOW oh WOW. I loved this book so much! Hands down, Legendborn will be in my top five for the year. Everything about this book pulled me in and kept me captivated until the very end. I am absolutely obsessed. The writing is superb, the characters are interesting, insightful, and dynamic, and the plot is action packed and filled with plot twists and shocking moments. I adored the romance and would have even loved more of it. Bree's struggle with racism from the Order, the school, and police along the way was so well written, and Bree was really given a strong voice to push back against the rhetoric.

The magic system is very complex and there is a lot of information about the Order given, which can be hard to grasp. It isn't info-dumped, it's sprinkled in along the way and it was like creating a word map throughout the story for all the different elements. More information was introduced through to the very end, so if you prefer books with a carefully laid out magic system and world-building in the beginning, this may not be the book for you.

With a splash of Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunters and a sprinkle of ACOTAR, Tracy Deonn has created a rich world not too different from our own, but one where demons exist and the past needs to be told from all perspectives in order to be understood. Legendborn is a retelling involving a secret school society and black girl magic in a part of the world that is still working towards anti-racism.

**Thank you to Margaret K. McElderry Books and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Wow! Loved, loved, loved this new adventure based on old mythologies, mixed together and presented in a completely new and refreshing way/voice. If you're into King Arthur, or ancient African magic, or magical realism on a southern US college campus, this is the book for you. It has everything - a love triangle, murder mysteries, secret societies, realized abilities, coming of age, race and cultural awareness. Bree is a kick-butt, black protagonist facing a world of mystery and magic. While the book is wholly satisfying, it does set us up for a sequel and I can't wait!

Tl;dr: OMFG this book is AH-mazing!

Ok so I do need to state a couple things in preface to my review.

1.) I know the author, as she and I were colleagues when she worked for my employer a few years ago, and we're still friends on social media. We are not friends in the sense that I would call her for advice with a personal problem or whatever, but we exchange hearts on Tweets. That said, if I thought this book was meh, I would say so.

2.) I've worked/taught at UNC-Chapel Hill (the setting of the book) since 2005. I am far more familiar than the average reader with the Carolina campus.

3.) I'm not a huge reader of YA. I mean, i've read the big titles like the Harry Potters and the Hunger Games ones but I'm not a connoisseur of the genre.

With those facts in mind, I'll just say that this book is so $&#%! good that I could barely put it down. And, that's saying A MEGA LOT given that the pandemic really did a number on my concentration--there's only one other book I've goten this invested in since FEBRUARY, PEOPLE.

I'm going to keep this review spoiler-free, but know that each time there's a twist, it's more like a revolution. You think you know maybe what's up and then some previously-unknown element is revealed and you're just like <head explodes> (but in a good way, you know?)

I particularly appreciate how she delves into the difficult complexity that is the UNC-Chapel Hill institution and campus.. As a professor there and a member of the "Carolina community," I have always struggled with the ethical conflict between the deification of the school's heritage as this great and noble point of pride, and the fact that (for example) there are tributes to the school's dead Confederate faculty/students carved in marble on the walls of Memorial Hall. This place is STEEPED in the shame of its culpability in perpetuating enslavement and this book holds up a mirror of truth about that. Brava.

SO. Wonderfully conceived, well plotted, great characters, and I loved the fact that there are so many characters in the spectrum of gender/sexuality where their orientation is just another fact about the character and they never agonize about being gay/bi/genderfluid/etc., and the plot never once turns on those elements of identity. I particularly appreciated that there was no performative revelation/acceptance surrounding the character whose pronoun is they. Greer is a person who's nice to Bree when others aren't, and that's what's important about them.

Hearts. Get it.

I received an ARC of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Legendborn is a world-class YA fantasy. Complex Arthurian-inspired lore, multiple magic systems, AND a heartbreaking and empowering look at grief, love, and race. This is easily one of the best books I've ever read. Bree is everything.

Legendborn is everything I ever wanted to read in a YA novel. I've always been a fan of Authortian tails. I've watched all types of shows. My most recent is Merkin and Cursed.
ROMANCE

I'm a sucker for a good romance in a novel and this book has the perfect swoon-worthy crush, Nick. He is handsome, caring, and brave. Also, he isn't afraid to challenge Bree on her thoughts and feelings.

P.S I feel like it was a love triangle brewing in the novel. I'm not going to mention any names because I don't want to spoil anything but I'm here for it. I'm a sucker for the underdog.

Rootcraft
Tracy developed a unique magic system that intertwined African American culture and her creativity. I love her creation of Rootcraft was inspiring and intriguing. Being that it deals with ancestral magic and exists with the black community gives me all the good vibes.

I really loved the book. From Bojangles references to washdays. It was really Black Girl Magic personified. I also love how Tracy showcased the microaggressions of being Black in an all white community. Plus the plot twist at the end was everything.

An Arthurian legend remix that follows Bree, who has gotten in to an early college program at UNC and during the first week comes upon an Order who fights demons that crossover into the real world.

I finished this a few days ago and still find it hard to form coherent thoughts about this book. THIS WAS PHENOMENAL. The writing was great, the character work was immaculate, and the intentionality of the plot points was superb. How can this be a debut? It was so well done. This is more of an urban fantasy as it takes place in our world with magical elements. However, never once did the world seem stale or didn't make sense. Everything flowed seamlessly together.

If you can't tell I loved this book and will be preordering a copy of it so that I can read it again when it comes out. This was so refreshing to read in the YA fantasy genre and the possibilities for the second book are endless.

This is, without a doubt, one of the best books that I've read all year. Bree is an incredibly compelling heroine. The interweaving of history and culture, of Arthurian mythology and the reckoning with Southern history, is just amazing. I don't have a single negative comment to say about this book except that it's a tragedy that there isn't MORE of it and that it isn't already out so I can scream about it with other people.

The worldbuilding is expansive and on point. The characters are fascinating and their growth over the course of the story was amazing to watch. The magic system! The mystery! The — the everything! Netflix, please make this into an original series, because I'm not ready to say goodbye.

Umm H E L L O Legendborn.
- King Arthur based
- Secret magical societies
- Demons
- Love triangle trope

you already had me sold, add in a bad ass black girl lead with side characters who are LGBTQ+ Representative?
I WAS HERE FOR IT.

Tracey Deonn blew me away with this book. The world building was phenomenal. The story filled with thought provoking ideologies.

This book will change your life.

Great job at a debut novel!

This book has everything you could want in a 2020 fantasy book. A strong Black female protagonist, diverse cast of characters, unique plot, intricate magic system, romantic love interests, sassy banter, and a powerful message.

Bree is our leading lady and right off the bat I connected with her emotionally since her story open with the death of her mother... which propels her journey to finding herself. My own mom passed when I was 14 and I instantly knew how she felt dealing (or not dealing) with her grief. Even as far as "Before Bree" and "After Bree" really hit home. I wanted to hear her story and I routed for her from page 1.

The side characters in this story have less background but are also interesting in their own right. While Alice is Bree's best friend, she really didn't add too too much to the story but based on the last part of the book, I expect her to play a larger role in the sequel. There are other characters, such as William, who I absolutely adore and hope to see more of in the sequel as well.

As for love interest, golden boy Nick is definitely her beau throughout this story however the book strongly hints at a love triangle with the dark and sexy Sel. Honestly, I'm going dark and sexy instead of golden boy in this one! Nick is sweet and heroic but I truly felt more of a deeper connection between Sel and Bree...

The plot and how Deonn weaves Arthurian legend into fantasy and southern Black culture and traditions is simply amazing. Honestly, you might think the two don't exactly go hand-in-hand - one being 15th century Welsh folklore and the other being 19th century American history and slavery- but somehow she makes it work perfectly! And I love it!

First of all, everything about this book is amazing. It’s beautifully written with a stellar plot that reminds me of Ninth House if Ninth House was a Black southern gothic. Bree is such a badass relatable character. Her struggles, fear, and pain are real and she’s the heroine we all need. She jumped right off the page from the moment we meet her. The book’s magic system is very unique, which I appreciated because it makes for an exciting read. You literally don’t know what to expect. In all, Deonn expertly pulls you in from the very first line and doesn’t let go until the end. I was so excited to read this book and it did not disappoint!

This book takes "black girl magic" literally. Bree is just trying to get away from home and get an early start on her college education, but she immediately finds herself entangled in an ancient Arthurian secret society of demon-battlers.

I'll be honest, I couldn't quite get into this book, and I'm not sure why. But there wasn't anything WRONG with it, and I'm not a teenager, so I'm going to chalk it up to, "I'm not the target audience, but it's easy to predict that some teenagers are going to like this."

A unique Arthurian retelling with a well-developed world and plot. The characters are realistic and well-rounded, and the representation in this story is incredible. I am looking forward to book two.