Book Recommendation: Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn almost needs no introduction, given its high praise (4.4 rating with 127k+ reviews on Goodreads alone) and its equally loved sequel, Bloodmarked. The third book, Oathbound, is set to release in 2025.
I arrived late to this book (as I do to most hyped books), and I’m glad I finally got around to reading it. I have some small criticisms, including too many secondary characters and the plot feeling rushed within a three-week in-book timeline. But those are small and don’t detract heavily from the enjoyable main characters, satisfying plot, and great action sequences. Legendborn does not shy away from historical U.S. chattel slavery, the generational trauma it created, and overt and unconscious racism seen today. It’s a book that makes the reader think about the impact of slavery, then turn the page and root for Bree to win a fight against a demon fox.
Legendborn is recommended to anyone who enjoys:
Contemporary fantasy, especially in a school environment
Arthurian legend
Secret societies with complex hierarchies
Magic hiding in plain sight
Well-written love triangles
Quick Facts:
Author: Tracy Deonn
Publish Date: 2020
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Sequels: Bloodmarked (2022), Oathbound (2025)
Representation: Black main and side characters, Asian-American side character, non-binary side character, queer side characters
Sexual Content: Limited to kissing
Content Warnings: Death of a parent, depictions of enslavement, graphic violence and death, racism, transphobia, sexual assault
Official Synopsis:
Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of City of Bones with a modern-day twist on a classic legend and a lot of Southern Black Girl Magic.
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.
A flying demon feeding on human energies.
A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.
And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.
The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.
She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.
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