Legendborn

By Tracy Deonn

Book Overview

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!
Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award

Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn's YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and "braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery" (Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles).

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.

This paperback edition of Legendborn contains a teaser to the thrilling sequel, Bloodmarked, as well as an exclusive short story from Selwyn Kane's perspective!

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1534441611
• ISBN13: 9781534441613
• Release Date: February 2022
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.4" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Legendborn, great story but longwinded

The plot was amazing and definitely with some good twists. However, the heavy amount of backstory in the beginning drug on. I was reading with my friends so I made myself keep going. It picks up after world building is complete. I am reading book 3 right now so it definitely kept me interested.

Swords, magic, and social studies, oh my!

4.5* stars. Summary: A solid contemporary retelling of Arthurian legend with mostly unique takes on magic, characters that feel real, and emotions that seep from the page into your hands, letting you feel what the characters feel. Recommended if you like action, the feels - complete with a bit of romance - or love nerding out about history and legendary tales. Full review: There is a lot of information that needed to be told in Legendborn, the first of The Legendborn Cycle trilogy, which the proudly self-identified nerd in me absolutely loved. However, at times, it was a lot at once, even though it was told through dialogue. Oftentimes, that helps with the drawlness of large paragraphs of history or lore, but my mind still wandered while important details were being told, causing me to reread some parts. As someone who read the Arthurian tales when I was younger, of my own volition, not for a school assignment, I enjoyed this retelling of the Knights of the Round Table. The weaving of mundane college life with the magical Herculean task of going through the trials to enter a secret society while trying not to die from demon attacks from a different plane was well depicted. The scenes sometimes felt a little bouncy when going through time jumps to move to important segments, but those little parts that weren't necessary for the overall plot helped to get into Bree's mindset. At the beginning, I wasn't that much of a fan of Bree; I respected her and felt for what she was going through, but her attitude rubbed me the wrong way at times. Going through the novel and watching Bree learn about herself, her life, and open up her feelings to not only those around her, but letting herself feel what she had pushed away for so long since her mom had died, it felt freeing. Like it did for Bree. Every emotion she felt, I felt. Grief, happiness, confusion, strength and confidence, numbness, liberation: everything. Of course, when you're learning about magic, generational magic, all is not always what it seems. It is a bigger burden. But I liked how in the end, Bree handled walking the line between her two worlds, learning to accept herself and her place in both worlds. Along with the magic system - which I love the terms Root and Aether and how both "sides" understand the magic that flows through their veins - the characters have some stereotypical characteristics but are each unique in their own right once you get passed the initial introduction and meet the person in the character, making them feel real.

The book has water damaged!!!

This book had water damage and the cover was ripped. This was not “good condition “ as labeled.

Was ok

Interesting kind of twist on king Arthur. But, there weren't any likable characters.

Absolutely, positively the best book Ever !!!

Just read it ! You won’t regret it . This book has all the elements to make it a timeless read.

Grief, Generational Trauma, and Uncolonized Magic

This book is amazing. Tracy Deonn is an incredible writer who weaves emotion and the very real processes of surviving Trauma, that done to you directly along with that brought upon your ancestors, with Magic, and is unafraid to delve into the colonialism that whitewashes so much of fantasy. She brings the power dynamics that are always the underpinnings of racial tension to the forefront and shows its ugly face and the horrors it brings. And she does it all with beauty, suspense, and grace. I cannot wait for the next installment of this series.

Brilliant

You really just have to pick up this book and once you do you'll find that you won't be able to put it down. The job of creating a new world with complex magic systems can be daunting for any author let alone a debut novelist, but Deonn not only tackles that task but also found the time to weave in discussions of grief and generational trauma, all while propelling the story forward in such a compelling way. I can't wait to see where this series goes!