Legendborn by Tracey Deonn | Book Review

Blurb at the back of the book:

Some Legacies are meant to be Broken.

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen year old Bree Matthews want to escape. A residential for bright high scholars seems like the perfect opportunity – until she witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus…

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” that hunt the creature down.

A mysterious 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 from the night her mother died. Now Bree will do whatever it takes to discover the truth, even infiltrate the Legendborn. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and foretell a magical war, Bree must decide how far she’ll go for the truth. Should she use her magic to take the society down – or join the fight?

Main Protagonist: Briana Matthews: A college student; Sewlyn Kane: Merlin; Nicholas Davis: Legendborn; Alice: Briana’s Best Friend.

Notable Side Characters: William: Healer; Mr Matthews: Briana’s Dad; Faye: Briana’s Mom; Natalia: Sewlyn’s Mom; Mr. Davis: Nicholas’s Dad.

On the Plot:

I started Legendborn on a whim. I did not give it much of a thought as the summary of the book was really intriguing. I am a fan of everything witchy as you all already know, so yeah, I kinda gelled really fast with the book. It started on an interesting note, Briana receives the news of death of her mom and is in the hospital and she experiences something weird and different.

So, I loved the plot of the book so much that it has been a week or more since I finished it and I am still immersed in the story. I was hooked to the book from the very first page. The world building was real subtle and the author kept me on the toes before she let the cat out of the bag.

Let me give you a heads up on what I am talking about. So, this book has Arthurian content in an Urban Legend format. Therefore, the story has a lot of foreign words like: Onceborn, Legendborn, Shadowborn, Merlin, Kingsmage, Scion and Squires – and these words were quite new to me, even though I know their meaning I still did not know the context they were used.  And, I was really anxious to know about them, so, the author made me wait a certain time to revel the entire story and the context of the words she used. She lingered until a perfect time and did not delay it to a point where you just do not care anymore.

I loved the way Diversity was represented and the way the author expressed the insecurities of a POC person living in America. Also, interesting Briana had curly hair and I could not help but notice that Tracey Deonn (the author) had so meticulously described the hair care regime for curls, and I was happy to read that she was very detailed in whatever she wrote. And, the book never felt dragged even though there were a lot of details. The Climax was amazing, the battles and everything was phenomenal. I will say you one thing I love Excalibur and I want it in my life.

On the Characters:

I love a strong female protagonist which Briana was and she wasn’t like the others I have read about. She had her insecurities nonetheless, she was willing to explore the world she was exposed to. She was considerate of people around her and she was bold rather than coy which was the best thing about her. I loved her relationship with Sel, which I want to see more in Book 2. The way Sel antagonised her and the comebacks Bree had were amazing. The have a potential to be Enemies-lovers? But, that was definitely not how it was shown in the book, this is just me overthinking! But, I do ship them.

Coming to Nick, the knight in shining armour with the boy next door looks and attitude of a king! What a hot combination. I was literally drooling on him the entire book. I loved him and I wish he gets what he deserves. Nick and his dad had a strained relationship since the very beginning. Apparently Nick’s dad is someone you should look out for. He has a really bugging personality and I hated the way he interacted with Sel.

Sel is the cutest Morally Grey character I have come across, and the way he used to make Nick jealous was the best part I have read in this entire story, it made me laugh out loud. I love the way Sel addresses Nick as “My Liege” and the way he used to protect him, their banters were something I looked forward to and I am also looking forward to more of it in Book 2.

Romance:

I loved all the romantic relationship shared between all the couples represented here. There were Lesbians, Gays and Heterosexual couples as well. Since it is a YA it does not have much smut or spicy scenes but that is definitely made up by the suspense and thriller in the book.

Suspense:

The author has very tactfully built the suspense from the very beginning of the book. I was so anxious to know what was happening and why it was happening until one chapter in the second part of the book where certain things are revealed. The author reveals only the necessary thing one at a time and drags the suspense till the end, which was amazing in holding my attention.

I definitely recommend it to people who love fantasy and if someone wants to read Fantasy for the first time, you definitely should give it a try!

Quotes I loved from this book:

• “Don’t make your life about the loss. Make it about the love.”
• “The most important thing you can do in this world, the most necessary thing, is to survive it. You can’t do anything for anyone else if you don’t take care of yourself first.”
• “Some truths only tragedy can teach. The first one I learned is that when people acknowledge your pain, they want your pain to acknowledge them back. They need to witness it in real time, or else you’re not doing your part.”
• “Power taken and not returned incurs a debt. And the universe, and the debt, will always come to collect, one way or another.”
• “Because death breaks out connection… death is not a thread. It is the sharp cut that severs us. Death separates us from one another, and yet holds us close. As deeply as we hate it, it love us more.”