Hello friends,
Long time no see! I haven’t been updating regularly, and I want to get back to it. But life has been so busy and chaotic. Even so, I will try to update more regularly. Cover art on this post, above, is by @mageonduty on Instagram & Patreon.
I have to confess, for today’s book review – I haven’t finished reading the book yet. But I’m almost at the end. A certain part of it really caught me earlier today, so I felt compelled to give this review now. I will probably update it, or post again about this book, once I’ve finished reading it.
Today’s book is Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, and a New York Times Bestseller, among other accolades. It’s about a Black college girl, Bree, whose mother just recently died, who gets mixed up in the magic and mystery of the King Arthur legend, come to life in dangerous ways on her college campus – and trying to find out if the two may be related.
This book was published in 2020 and is up for a TV show version soon; its sequel, Bloodmarked, came out in November 2022.
Art by Alyssa Bradley
What I liked
Today, the thing that struck at my heart about Legendborn is how vividly and realistically it portrays grief. As someone who lost a parent at age 20, seeing Bree struggle in grief hit home for me. Bree has trouble talking to her best friend, Alice, about her mom’s death. She puts up walls whenever people say “sorry for you loss” or try to talk to her about her mom. Another her, whom she calls “after-Bree” for the Bree that came to being after her mom died, she is determined not to let out; the Bree that wants to cry, scream, and rage. Instead, she keeps the walls up.
For much of the book, Bree is angry, sad, and has trouble talking to a therapist about her mom or the grief. I think this portrayal is really realistic. I see books with grief or death in them, but sometimes they just ghost over it, or the characters don’t seem deeply effected by it. I really like how Bree is truly effected by her mom’s death, and it shows in every page of Legendborn.
Another thing I really liked about this book is the friendships. Even though half of the kids are magical or have a Knight of the Round Table’s consciousness residing in their body, they’re also just normal college kids. They do dares, they party, and they joke. I particularly like the friendship between Bree and Alice, even if it is on-the-rocks sometimes. The way they quote movies to each other and then have to guess the reference made me laugh.
I like how Legendborn faces racism and other issues head-on. We get to see how Bree is effected by racist remarks casually flung at her from a police officer, the Dean of her college, and other students. We get to see how being excluded, and being the only Black student in the Order that supports Arthur and fights against evil, turns her stomach. Deonn writes about these very difficult and real topics with total boldness and realism. She doesn’t water any of it down, and as a white female, reading Bree’s perspective was a learning experience.
The book addresses the history of slavery while entwining it with the contemporary happenings of Bree’s life at college. It does it so intelligently, and in a way that is relevant to building plot and character. And I love that we get another YA fantasy where a POC can see themselves in the main character.
What I didn’t like
There are a couple things I don’t like about this book. (I hope the ending will be good!)
I dislike how you’re thrust so quickly into the world of the Order, which is a secret society on campus; a cover for the group that protects King Arthur, inheriting powers from the Knights of the Round Tables’ spirits to fight demons. It goes a bit too fast and a lot of terms are thrown about before I’m even given space to understand them. I found myself having to go back pages to remind myself what’s a Scion, etc. Plus the demon names are sometimes in Welsh etc., so my brain just kindof crumbles when I try to pronounce those words in my head.
At the same time, the book moves slowly and doesn’t really seem to have a focus until Bree decides she’s going to join the Order to decipher if her mom may have been killed by a magic-user. By this point in the book, many chapters have gone by.
Later, the plot finally picks up, but by then, I fear Legendborn may lose some readers to confusing jargon and slow introductions.
Another thing I don’t like is the therapist character. She and Bree get involved in some magical messes, and she drops Bree as a patient. I found this shocking and just rude. It made me feel really bad for Bree. And the therapist made most of their sessions about the magic-related stuff, and not Bree’s grief. Not good therapy, in my opinion. It rubbed me the wrong way and made me dislike that character.
In Conclusion
That’s all, folks! I will probably update and lengthen this post later once I’ve finished the books. Have you read Legendborn, and if so, what did you think? Is there a particular YA or YA Fantasy that has recently captured you?
Until next time,
Chaitanya
Typing Madly 