jenny✨'s Reviews > Legendborn

⚔️⚔️⚔️ 9/15/2020: THIS. BOOK. IS. OUT! ⚔️⚔️⚔️

Before we dive in, let me ask you this:

Did Clary ever have to think about the dangers of being picked up by police while at a party?

Would Jude ever have been questioned about the legitimacy of her presence at an Early College program?

When America was selected as Maxon’s queen (disclaimer: I’m just pulling this out of a hunch, I never got past book 1 lol), did his people ever hurl racial slurs at her?

Yeah, I didn't think so. The gutting (and gripping) thing about Legendborn is that this is Bree Matthews’ reality—alongside demon hordes, a magical element in the air called "aether," sinfully hot sorcerers, and a secret society filled with modern-day descendants of King Arthur and his knights.

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This book is fucking awesome and without a doubt one of my favourite reads of this year. Trust me: YOU NEED TO GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a YA fantasy that's really enthralled me and shaken up the formulaic script I’ve come to associate with the genre. Legendborn wasn’t perfect, but boy does it bring a wholly novel story to the (Round T)able—a heart-pounding urban fantasy that tackles grief, inherited trauma, legacies of colonization and chattel slavery, and being a Black woman in the South, redefining the legends we thought to be set in (Excalibur’s) stone.

The reason I’ve given this book 4 stars and not 5 is because—despite its fascinating world-building and important, moving subject matter—it still leaned heavily on several YA clichés that grated on me. I’m really conflicted in my reconciling of these contrived bits with the parts that were transcendent and powerful and heart-hurting. I know this sounds contradictory, but that's exactly what I’m feeling: torn. The meh parts of this book were meh, but the good parts were PHENOMENAL.

Duality’s a thing, y’all, and Legendborn is it.

For now, I’m just going to say this: I implore you to read Legendborn. Deonn will reshape YA urban fantasy as we know it with this series, and I cannot put into words how excited I am to read the next book.



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So that was my TLDR version for the folks who’re here to get a sense of whether this book is worth your time (it is). If you’re desiring more of the nitty gritty, scroll on!



⚔️ THE PREMISE?
16yo Bree Matthews has not been the same since her mother died three months ago. As she walks the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill as a student in the prestigious Early College program, her mother’s alma mater seems to abound with barely concealed secrets—and Bree's convinced that one of them will shed light on why her mother died.

Then comes the night Bree meets Selwyn Kane—all dark curls, golden eyes, killer jawline—and witnesses him slay a demon, or isel, to be precise. Following this trail of deadly breadcrumbs leads Bree to the Legendborn: descendants of Arthur and thirteen of his knights, who vanquish demons to protect humankind. They're connected to her mother—and Bree—in ways she'll never expect, and to find out, she's going to compete in their trials. With the help of Nick Davis (think smokin' golden-boy-next-door), Bree will join their ranks.

But what she discovers is unfathomably bigger than the Legendborn. And as Bree grapples with her grief, she must reconcile these new revelations with everything she thought she knew about her mom.

Will she stay loyal to the boys she's come to love, even if it means serving an Order that negates her very existence? Or will Bree somehow forge her own way?



🔥 THE WORLDBUILDING?
There's a lot going on in this story, and we readers have to fumble alongside Bree as she encounters it all for the first time. Here's a quick summary of the positions within the strict hierarchy of the Order of the Round Table:

The Legendborn are demon-hunters descended from the original knights of the Round Table. The most important member of each family (or Line) is the Scion—a person between the ages of 16-22 who can be "Called" by their knightly ancestor. When you're Called, you gain the preternatural powers that the knight had; for example, Scions of the Line of Gawain gain the ability to heal others. Scions can manipulate aether—a magical element in the air—into weapons, and they're trained from birth for their roles: however, not everyone will be Called. There's a rank order in which the knights Call their descendants (e.g., Line of Bors will always be called before Line of Lancelot) and the top-ranked families are hardly ever Called because the lower families can usually handle the demon threats (and, no spoilers, but if every Scion were to be Called... it'd be a bad thing). When a Scion dies or turns 23, their title passes to the next eligible member in their family, akin to succession to the British throne.

The Onceborn are what the Shadowhunters call "mundanes"—humans who aren't part of the Legendborn families, protected from the truth about demons and magic. The only Onceborns who know about this world are Vassals, who have served the Legendborn for generations in exchange for money, power, the works. Vassals may be initiated into the Order as Pages (lowest ranked in the Order hierarchy, but still one step up from Vassal) who can then compete, once a year, for the coveted spot of Squire. Squires are magically bonded to Scions who have been Called, and they gain the powers of that Scion; the Squire's duty is to protect their Scion at all costs.

Finally, we have the Merlins, or sorcerers of the Order. Merlins can use aether to do all manner of things, from tracking and incapacitating demons, to sensing Gates (portals that allow demons to enter the human plane), to manipulating, or mesmering, people's memories. The Kingsmage—like Selwyn Kane—is the most powerful Merlin of their generation, and has a special bond with the leader of the Round Table.



✅ THE GOOD?
➟ The diversity of rep. Bree's Black and her best friend Alice Chen is lesbian and Taiwanese-American. Even though the Order is just about fully white, there are two bi characters, a gay character, a wlw relationship, and a non-binary character. There’re also several other Black characters who were pretty awesome, including Bree's dad and her therapist.

➟ Bree's banter is 10/10. I loved the scenes featuring her and Alice (they have this thing where one of them quotes a certain movie and the other person's like "Did you just [movie franchise] me!??" and the first person's like "No, I [specific film from said franchise]'d you!" and it's freakin' adorable), and also her back-and-forth with the boys. Not to mention, Bree drops some FIRE comebacks against the bigots who come at her throughout the novel.

➟ There's this epic fight scene at the end that made my heart race. It ties into the book's big twist and was seriously unputdownable.



💢 THE BAD?
➟ So much capitalization. Anything to do with the worldbuilding was slapped with a capital letter—Bree was Spelled to take an Oath to the Order so she can't break the Law against the Legendborn Lines even though she already has the Sight. Nothing inherently wrong with this, it just felt like a juvenile world-building move.

➟ INSTALOVE. So at first I didn't think Bree and her love interest were going to exhibit instalove—my most DETESTED of tropes—but they kinda did! I mean, this book only takes place over the span of 2-3 weeks, and by the end of that time they've fallen deeply in love with each other (and not just any love; it's an I-will-guard-your-life-with-my-own type of thing). There's a sort-of explanation for why this might be the case, but it's still instalove in my books.

➟ über hot love interests and a love triangle I'm not altogether convinced was necessary. I am ALL for angst but wasn't the biggest fan of Bree being drawn to both guys. Also, I'm still waiting for the day when YA gives up the sharp-jaw-gorgeous-cheekbones-broad-shoulders-silky-hair love interest intros.

➟ Chosen One tropeyness. Oof. We're constantly told that everything about Bree defies reason, physics, all known magic—she’s UNLIKE ANYONE EVER BEFORE HER and has powers innumerable. I'm more than a little sick of reading MCs who are singled out as special snowflakes, but that could just be me.

➟ I expected more from the platonic friendships department!! Her best friend Alice plays such a minor role in the story, and in the beginning I was actually a little fed up because Bree and Alice were getting into the dumbest fights (that felt like they were only there to alienate Bree and further the plot). I loved Alice and Bree together, though; despite that rocky start, they have such a pure and good relationship—I just wish we'd seen more of it!



💥 THE GREAT?
As far as I'm concerned, this more than makes up for the tropes I mentioned above. Legendborn doesn't simply acknowledge what it means to be Black in America, or to be any sort of different from the cishet white norm. It head-on confronts modern-day anti-Blackness and its roots in the nation's history of colonialism, disenfranchisement, and violence. It celebrates and champions the ways in which Black folk survive, resist, and thrive.

I really loved the revelation that (view spoiler)[the Legendborn—users of colonizer magic—aren't the only ones who can manipulate the otherworldly. Alternate systems of magic exist, based on a much more mutual give-and-take with one's ancestors, and I absolutely adored reading about Deonn's system of Rootcraft. Making the distinction between root and aether was SO important (hide spoiler)], a clear statement about questioning hegemonic paradigms, honouring our blood and our land, and understanding that resources are neither infinite nor designed for human exploitation.

Also, two scenes in this book stuck out for me in particular. In the first, Bree is drawn into the memories of a Black woman from the nineteenth century, and they talk about colonizer magic built on the blood of slaves and Indigenous peoples. In the second, which reads like verse amidst the prose, (view spoiler)[Bree finally connects with her mother's ancestors—a matrilineal line spanning centuries (hide spoiler)]. The revelations from this turn out to be both devastating and utterly uplifting.


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Whew. If you've read all the way down to here, I thank and congratulate you!

Bottom line for this book: I loved it and I really think you will, too.



Huge thank-you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for allowing me the privilege of reading this book as an ARC. All thoughts are my own!