Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn: Grief, Magic and History

During the summer of 2021, I was scrolling through a book list trying to find some books to pass the time and the cover of Legendborn caught my attention.

“Some legacies are meant to be broken.” 

Our story follows sixteen-year-old Briana Matthews, a.k.a. Bree. After the death of her mother in a car accident, Bree decides to attend a residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC Chapel Hill. It seems like the perfect escape from her childhood home and family memories —until Bree witnesses a magical attack her first night on campus. At a party, Bree sees a flying demon feeding on human energies. A mysterious teenage boy who calls himself a “Merlin” —a mage — attempts to wipe Bree’s memory of the event and fails. 

Unbeknownst to him, the Merlin accidentally frees Bree’s own magic and a hidden memory: the night her mother died, another mage was at the hospital. There’s more to her mother’s death that Bree previously thought, and she’ll do anything to find out what really happened, even if it means infiltrating the secret society of “Legendborn” students that hunt the demonic creatures as one of their initiates.

Bree teams up with Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own problems with the Order of the Legendborn, and together they delve deeper into the Order’s secrets. The Legendborn are actually descendants of King Arthur’s knights and war is coming. Bree has to choose —fight with the order, or against it. How far will she go for the truth?

“When the shadows rise, so will the light. When blood is shed, blood will Call. By the King’s Table, for the Order’s might, by the eternal Oaths, the Line is Law.” 

Overall, Legendborn is easily one of the best books I’ve ever read. As a queer POC, it’s difficult to relate to characters in most fantasy novels because I don’t see myself represented. But Legendborn has both POC and queer characters. Personally, my favorite character is Alice Chen. The way these characters are introduced into the story is perfectly written as well. Being queer isn’t the characters’ only traits and it isn’t used as a huge plot point. It’s just a normal part of the character’s identity, the perfect way to write queer characters. 

Normally I don’t like reading fantasy books with romance as it almost always takes away from the plot. However, I think that Deonn managed to successfully incorporate romance into the story without making me roll my eyes! Legendborn managed to avoid one of my biggest pet peeves in fantasy; a heroic man comes in and solves all of the female protagonist’s problems. My one complaint is that I think the romance was a little too fast. Bree is dealing with grief from her mother’s death and I think that the romance overshadowed that important plot point a little. 

Another thing I appreciate is how the book describes the Order. Even though it follows the trope of an ancient magical secret society, unlike many of the other fantasy books I’ve read, Legendborn addresses the bigotry that sometimes comes with holding on to old traditions. Deonn doesn’t shy away from writing microaggressions and other details that add realism to the story. 

Before I continue, I would like to give a quick disclaimer. From this point on, I will be discussing the character development in Legendborn, so there will be spoilers! If you would like to read this book, which I highly recommend, you should probably stop reading here. 

The character development is one of the many things that pulled me into the story, especially when the characters themselves are so compelling. And it’s not just main characters like Bree and Selwyn, even the background characters are dynamic. 

Bree is our independent, strong Black female protagonist. But she’s also so much more than just that. She’s more than your typical “I’m not like the other girls” main character. Sometimes in fantasy books, the main character’s character arc is so jarring because it happens too quickly. Legendborn takes its time, at least with Bree’s character arc. Especially since Bree is learning to deal with her mother’s death and mental illness like acute traumatic grief, PTSD and Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD), showing the fact that trauma doesn’t just go away, it’s something that can last a while but it can get better with help.  

Another great example of fantastically written characters is Selwyn Kane, my second favorite character. Even though we never really get to see the story from his point of view, we start to see more and more of his true self through Bree’s perspective. At the beginning of the story, we see Sel as a stoic and violent person. But as we progress through the story, we get to see more of why he does what he does. We see how fragile Sel really is, despite being such a powerful image. I’ve always loved the “I need to be taught I’m not a human weapon” trope, especially in fantasy and I think Sel pulls it off perfectly. 

The one person I don’t like is Nick. To me, Nick feels a little flat, in terms of character. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Nick doesn’t change throughout the story. While his relationship with Bree is cute at moments, I think he can also be toxic and overprotective. His romance with Bree felt a little forced and rushed. I’m not saying that Nick is a terrible person and never suffered in his life, I just would like to see his character go through some more change. 

I would delve deeper into the Legendborn Cycle’s lore, but I strongly believe that everyone should read this book to form their own opinions instead! Deonn’s writing is a masterpiece and the book covers themes like grief, bigotry, the importance of history and has an amazing cast of characters. Legendborn is an amazing book and a must-read for YA fantasy lovers!