#Legendborn was one of the most interesting young adult fantasy books I have read in a while, so I was very excited to read this advanced copy of #Bloodmarked by #TracyDeonn. The sequel reads much like the first book. There is quite a bit of world building with an equally matched action-based plot. Bloodmarked spends a lot of time delving into the characters and their relationships. I can't get too much into the plot without spoilers, but needless to say that all of the characters from the first book show up again in this one. In some cases this is a bit overwhelming--the sheer number of characters is, at times, hard to follow--especially at the culmination of book. But the finale is truly epic, bringing everything together. Fans of the first book will not be disappointed. My only concern is the length of the book. While YA in character, the book itself is very much best geared toward the reader who will be able to stick with the very long book and can keep track of the layers of Arthurian storyline, Rootcraft storyline, and modern day storyline. Clearly also the layers of social and historical criticism are strong and important throughout the whole book, and I'm thankful for the ways Deonn wove and highlighted them throughout. Overall, as enjoyable as the first book. Thank you to the publishers and netgally for this ARC.

Wow. Well worth waiting 2 years for. I'm going to be thinking about this for a long time to come, and I cannot wait for the next book.

I really liked the first book, which is why I'm really disappointed that at 30% of the way through, I'm feeling frustrated and aggravated, and not in a good "this plot is so good I can't put it down" but a "holy shit just get on with it already" sort of way. Bree resists her connection to Arthur at every possible chance and then does nothing but complain when she can't channel that power right. She's 16 and it *shows*.

This book was an interesting continuation of book one. I really loved our new character, Valec. This was kind of slow until halfway through and this could have been 100 pages less. Otherwise, can’t wait to see what happens in Legendborn 3!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC, we definitely recommend this book and series. We have a major book hangover after reading.

Things we like: The writing is still detailed and descriptive. Most of our main characters are kept together despite this being a typical second book in a YA trilogy where the cast of characters are on a traveling journey. We love that we get more Sel and less Nick (team Brelwyn forever!!)

Things that could have been better: It often does feel a lot like: team of characters gets to place is betrayed, flees to another place, gets betrayed, flees again. Also we wished we saw her train more. She makes a few measly attempts but doesn't tap into the resources she has until the VERY end of the book and of course when battle comes she is woefully unprepared. We especially wanted to see her connect to her root craft more and focus on using her powers. Also the last battle of the book feels lackluster, we honestly thought more of the regents would be taken care of before book three.

Anyway this book picks up where we left off with Bree having just learned she’s actually Arthur and has his powers along with her Root ones. Bree is reeling from the truth and Nick’s abduction. Bree is being super irresponsible and sneaking out because she’s been forced to stay put and have bodyguards, which she hates. She wants to train but doesn’t really know how. Of course she gets herself and Sel in trouble when she’s caught by the regents who are apparently in charge of the order. The regents SUCK!

She’s introduced to Lark a new Merlin they want her to bond with <spoiler>(he ends of betraying her early on and redeeming himself but I still don’t like him for her). The regents decide to put all the blame on Sel for the first book’s events and try to trap him. They eventually succeed when Bree is almost killed.</spoiler>

<spoiler>Then Bree and William are abducted by the regents before she can finish the Arthur ceremony. She’s drugged and kind of tortured mentally and William is forced to watch. They escape with the help of some retired order members and then they’re on the run. They go to a safe house and are betrayed by Jonas who sold her out to a demon. Also Tor sold her out from before and told the regents on her before she was abducted.Then they’re on the run again. They go to a bar at the crossroads and meet a balanced cambion and he takes them to a root craft practitioner for help. But not before Bree gets them in trouble (again). While all this traveling and bouncing around happens Bree continued to have more visions/dreams and learns more about her ancestors including Arthur. And she figures out she can connect to Nick in this dream world to check up on him.
Turns out the regents are hunting him to kill him. They also are hunting Bree so they can control and trap her. They still want to shackle Sel. So Bree runs again to a reclaimed rotation with the help of root crafters. She connects with her ancestors to learn more about how to harness her root as a weapon and who is hunting her because apparently there’s a deal her ancestor Vera refuses to acknowledge she made with a demon in the past. We don’t know why Vera lies. Then they’re found out and Bree decides to let Arthur in so she can hurt the Merlin’s and regents chasing after them. But Arthur lied he wants to stay permanently in control of her body. The regents take her, but suffer in the process because the plantation refuses to see one of its people in chains again.The regents put Bree/Arthur on display to freak out the other members of the order except they already knew the regents betrayed them and made a deal with Nick and the Morgaines (the morgaines still want to murder her we don’t know why but we are told that migraine was betrayed and the group blames Arthur). Sel and Nick arrive in time to get Bree back in control after Bree learns that the demon King himself made a deal with Vera and in order to use her magic she has to essentially admit that and harness her power like a demon would. In order to save her Sel feeds off her energy turning full demon (he has a moment on the road where we find out that he’s close to losing his humanity) also Arthur/Bree accidentally hurt Alice. When Bree comes too she learns what she did and what Sel did to save her. She figures out she has to make her own deal to save Sel and to train herself (she has been poorly attempting to train on and off in this book with little success). She figures out the shadow king made her deal and figures out he was pretending to be one of the regents in order to “protect” her. She agrees to go with him, let him train her, and help him reclaim his court if he takes Sel to his mom who somehow figured out how to not succumb to her demon.</spoiler>

So we were able to figure a few things out like what happens to Sel (that one goes to Staci) and exactly who would train her. We didn't quite see one of the regent's true colors, but it does make sense. We both want to see Sel with his mom, Bree complete training in the next book and to see them take down the Order. It'll be curious to see what happens with Nick, we both want different things for him and given that the OG myth has Lancelot betraying Arthur there is room for something interesting with him in the next book. We also both expect Alice to be different in book three. Also how will Bree's most recent deal pan out when it comes to her life?

Anyway, if you love fantasy and books that fill you with theories, this is a book and series for you.

Oh my goodness what a perfect sequel. This book was packed with action, reveals, betrayals and so much more. Wow my mind is reeling. So good!!

Phenomenal! I am not rating this a five star because I felt the first 60% was very repetitive and we barely learn anything new.

The writing is fantastic and the world building great (yet still a little confusing for me) and I loved getting to learn more about root and loved that Bree got to learn more about her people. I will say that Bree was acting her age for a lot of the book. I get her frustrations and her need to help but Jesus Christ!!! Her character is growing and I loved witnessing her growth throughout the book.

Grief shapes this book as it did Legendborn and the way the Arthur portrays grief and how it affects so many different people in this book was done so well.

We see all of our favorite characters again - Alice, Sel, William, Nick and some new and unexpected friends and ally’s. I think Bree & Alice’s friendship was one of my favorite parts of the book. Their friendship and banter hits home for me.

The book is action packed from the beginning! The anxiety while reading this is real my friends. These folks cannot catch a break. The book picks up right where legendborn left off and doesn’t miss a beat getting your heart racing!!

The last 40% of the book - holy shit. It was so good. The way the book ended!!!! SCREAMING!! Like what now????

A great sequel! I’m praying there’s a book 3 because I cannot deal!!