Legendborn Book Review

From Goodreads:

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.

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. 

CW: Loss of parent, expressed attitudes of racism, discussions about slavery, grief, mental health, and rape (briefly mentioned, occurs off-page). 

Hey everyone,

Why, why, WHY has it taken me so long to pick up this book? I’d bought it on kindle back when it first came out, then Illumicrate kindly included a physical copy as an additional book in one of their boxes. I should have recognised then that the universe was nudging me to read this book, but I still had it in the midst of the never ending tbr. It got bumped up considerably because I was trying to do a readathon in May, and it fit the prompts, so I finally got to pick it up.

And wow. Just wow.

Legendborn felt like everything I needed in a book. I loved the college setting, for starters. I was a bit sad that there wasn’t much focus on the classes and stuff outside of the secret society things, as it possibly could have added to the setting a bit more, but I did love that it was on a campus.

The characters are also just perfection. Bree feels so real, and I think a lot of readers will find her very relatable, brave, and kind. She’s gone through an awful lot at the start of the book, and it makes sense that grief plays such a role in her character arc. But the way that it’s handled is done so well, and it instantly helps to connect you to Bree’s character. I think this is one of those books which needed to be told in first person, because readers do spend a lot of time in her head, but she’s going through so many emotions and thoughts that it added a lot of complexity to the narrative. The whole After-Bree thing is brilliant, and so well written, and it just makes perfect sense as well as being really poignant. I also thought that the way the author connects Bree’s feelings and experiences to racism in America was masterfully done—there’s so many moments when something happens and you see Bree trying to cope with it, even though it’s awful, and you can see how situations effect her as a Black protagonist. For example, there’s a scene at the beginning where Bree has to interact with a police officer, and you can tell through her thoughts how uncomfortable this is for her.

I think Legendborn touches on a whole lot of Black issues, in a myriad of ways—there’s a tiny moment in a scene where someone tries to touch Bree’s hair without asking first, which is quick and not massively discussed, but I think it gets the point across. There’s also a lot in here about therapy and mental health and about how Black people often find it harder to access mental healthcare because of historical tensions with healthcare institutions, as well as perceptions about how Black people should cope with grief and pain and mental health issues. Legendborn does a phenomenal job of broaching all of these incredibly difficult issues without coming across as patronising.

In terms of the plot, I was hooked from page one, and struggled to put the book down until I finished it at about 2am. Again, the magic system is well thought out, and explained in chunks that sometimes almost tipped into infodumps, but kind of worked within the context of the narrative. Bree’s complete lack of knowledge about the Legendborn and their world helps a lot in this situation I think and allows for a lot of the information to be delivered in dialogue. The whole idea of the Knights of the Round Table is also just fascinating to me, and I like how the mythology and the magic were intertwined and brought into a contemporary setting. It felt very unique. It also definitely allows for a lot of unpredictable twists and turns throughout the plot, which really drove up the pace for me. I think in terms of the whole secret society defending humans from demons, it reminds me a tiny bit of Cassie Clare’s Shadowhunters universe, so I think if you’re a fan of those books, Legendborn is definitely a recommendation you should add to your tbr.

The romance was also just amazing. I really appreciated that this was quite a sweet and non-toxic relationship where the characters were just so kind to each other. It felt very positive and I was hungry for more. There was some lack of communication and hiding secrets, sure, but I think the author does a good job of explaining why this needed to be done with the kinds of stakes she introduces along the way. Again, I can’t talk about this too much as I want to keep this review spoiler-free, but the romance was very cute and I just wanted to keep reading these scenes. I’m also curious about a dynamic that is introduced later, potentially adding a lot of tension to the established relationships. I thought this developing dynamic and the potential hate to love or hate to friendship thing is super-interesting, and it felt very organic, rather than contrived.

Overall, I’m giving Legendborn:

It was a brilliant read, possibly my favourite book of the year so far. I’m really excited for book two and can’t wait to be able to preorder it, as I’m sure it’ll be equally incredible. If you’re looking for an urban fantasy with a complex protagonist, a twisting, turning plot, a lot of action, and some amazing romance, I can’t recommend this book enough!

Has anyone else read this book? What did you think about it? Let me know in the comment section <3