Hi there!
Welcome to our May Finale for Tracy Deonn's Legendborn, the first book in her Legendborn Cycle. These were published in 2020 and 2022, and are a Black -Female-Protagonist Adventure Series. A third book is presumably on the way.
Trigger Warning: Demons, racism, slavery, colonialism, blood, self-harm, rape, violence
Overall
This is a Jam-packed book, and everything happens on every page, to be honest, and we loved it. It's totally refreshing. We also loved the character's traits and dialogue, and how relatable they all were. We also can't avoid talking about racism, as it is integral to the black experience, and our main character is black. The relatability is there for Ceraya, and we're sure for several of our minority readers.
Memory Walks & Magic
The Memory Walks were very interesting, and we loved the concept of them. Patricia's ancestors could see Bree and it was startling and intense. We liked that the ancestors could see she needed help and let Patricia step away for a moment so that they could help Bree. This already speaks to the complicated black experience with ancestry. On one hand, there are deep roots and connections there, on the other hand, many black individuals don't have knowledge of their ancestry due to colonialism and the slave trade.
We thought that anyone who practices magic in this universe can see it, but Patricia revealed to her that not many people at all can. The concept of ancestral Root Magic is "I don't want to take too much of my ancestor's power, but I do need magic to heal my friend. So I will only borrow what I need, and then give the magic back."We thought this made a lot of sense. A very strong concept in black ancestry is that our ancestors watch over us and lead us, lending us their power and guidance, but they do not solve all of our problems. We thought that the author turning this concept into RootCrafting for Bree's Black ancestors was intuitive and made a ton of sense.
Much later, Bree has a dream about her mother and being Arthur, and it was foreshadowing and we didn't even know it! Brieanna suspected it, but it took Ceraya by surprise.
Again, much later, Patricia chooses to leave Bree as her therapist, and we think it's because Patricia thought she was going to train Bree in RootCrafting, but she wasn't prepared to be Bree's true therapist. Bree wasn't emotionally ready to open herself up to the magic in a healthy way, because she only wanted revenge, and we believe that Patricia disagrees with those motivations. But because Patricia is the only person Bree can talk to, we were upset that Patricia left. Bree doesn't really have anybody to talk to now. We thought this was very unfair to Bree and that Patricia did a disservice to her. Bree trusted Patricia because she knew her mother, and was aware of magic, and that therapist took that away from Bree? We wonder why the author wrote Patricia out of the story a little bit. Perhaps she will come back in the Sequel?
Before Patricia leaves, she introduces Bree to Mariah. When Bree meets Mariah, and Mariah says, "Death knows you well," we were taken aback, but it was cool to meet another Medium. This meeting didn't go so well, because Mariah really got onto Bree about being acquainted with death. Patricia introduced the two of them so that Mariah could bring Bree some closure about her mother, and possibly even speak to her mom through Mariah. Mariah was trying to have Bree focus on the love, but it doesn't work, because Bree becomes insecure about it and leaves, being hurt and embarrassed as well. It's quite hard to experience a tragedy and then see a silver lining, as both of us know too well.
Bree has no idea what Mariah is talking about in terms of "Something awful happened in your family, didn't it?" Because she doesn't have family stories passed down to her, due to her circumstance, she is upset by this because she doesn't really know.
Much later, Selwyn and Bree discover what happened to her mother - that she was in a car wreck while being shadowed by Selwyn's mom. Because Bree got what she came for - the reason why her mom died - she was immediately avoidant of the order and decided to cut them all off. She was devastated that he mother was killed in an accident, and even more bothered by her mother not telling her about the magic she carried.
Power Moves
We saw the scavenger hunt as super fun and interesting. Keeping Nick away was sad to see. But then when Selwyn stepped in, we thought he was going to sabotage her so she could not succeed at the task, but it turns out he just forced her magic and discovered that she has some sort of connection to the Round Table and to the aether.
After they fought the fox demons, when they are in the tunnel, Bree notices his tattoo. We thought his tattoo was a little silly and looked like a pie chart. LOL. They seem to have made up as friends, but we don't think Bree should forgive him that easily. The fight continues, and Brieanna thought someone was going to die, but Ceraya thought Bree's magic was going to come out and it did. Finally! They kill the foxes, but it's a scary fight. Nick walked up to Selwyn and laid him out with one punch for putting Bree in danger. Nick had told Selwyn to stay away from Bree, and then Nick sees them like this. She fully could have died if she had not had the RootCraft Magic to protect herself. This speaks a lot to Nick's feelings for Bree, but also that Bree does not have a "white savior" in this story. Bree was fully able to protect herself, but Nick was so angry at Selwyn that he decked him out. Nick and Selwyn did not save Bree - she protected herself.
The combat training was cool to see also. We appreciated that Nick kind of set Bree up with a mentor to learn the combat techniques. We liked the concept of "you don't have to win, you just have to lose well." You could really apply that to any part of your life, and it would make sense. Bree is not doing well in training at all. But the instructor is taking a special interest in her and focuses on her technique as much as possible. We liked this as well also, in that Bree was receiving some special attention because she was, in a lot of ways, almost the least qualified to fight with this group, having no former knowledge of the group at all. At the final trial, Bree loses well to Sydney, due to a misstep, which is pretty damn good. And then wins against Blake, and then wins against Vaughn! Woohoo! We were celebrating so hard! Bree needed a win against Vaughn, and we don't mind the cliche.
Much, much later in the book, Davis' Kingsmage Isaac kidnaps Bree, and then TORTURES ALICE. We experienced some serious outrage here. We love Alice, and she is a pure cinnamon roll and nobody should touch her. We KNEW Lord Davis was too good to be true and we were RIGHT!! HE'S THE BADDIE. Once Bree accepts Davis' conditions for Bree to leave the order, she uses her RootCraft to heal Alice, and they agree to go fight The Order together and to protect Nick and Bree's friends.
Soon after this, we realize that Evan was a Demon in disguise the whole time, we were SHOCKED. He was a demon for almost the WHOLE BOOK! And then people start dying and things become a little scary, but we got through it. At this point, we weren't taking any notes because the book was soo intense!
The Gang's All Here
There is a lot of romantic fluff in the second half of this book. We see that Nick and Bree are trying to have a relationship, but a lot of things, including Selwyn and demons, keep getting in the way. Bree and Nick keep trying to have a private moment. Selwyn is taking his oath very seriously to take care of Nick. And he thinks that Bree is still a demon, so Selwyn is annoying when it comes to Nick and Bree's growing romance.
Bree is worried about dating within the Order, especially dating within the Legendborn because of bloodlines, and then it becomes a no-no for Legendborns to date each other. Because people could claim different lines. The friendship between Bree and William is adorable, and we love them and hope they are instant best friends. The romantic representation in this book is also very representative of many orientations and identities. Keep it up Tracy!
When Bree is exposed on William's Table and Nick walks in, everyone is sexually embarrassed and we thought this was hilarious. William's comments were then even more hilarious.
Then Ceraya got annoyed and stayed annoyed because Selwyn and Bree are attracted to each other briefly. Brieanna posits that because Selwyn is dark and has a hard exterior, but is a little cupcake inside, it makes him interesting to Bree, but we think that Bree relates to Selwyn emotionally more than Nick, but Nick is the only one that really gives her butterflies because he is a cutie.
When Nick and Bree talk on the balcony, and he gives her his room key, we loved it. We were so happy that they have butterflies for each other. And we thought it was so cute. We love the fluff. Love it so so much. We were then surprised to learn that Selwyn was once in love with Nicholas. We felt this was a little sad, because imagine being in total servitude to the person you love who does not love you back, or doesn't want to be in the position he's in, and then he doesn't love you back. Ouch.
Much later in the book, Bree goes to the Selection Gala after Alice convinces her. Bree has been avoiding The Order since discovering what happened with her mother, and Alice plays the best friend in the best way. Ceraya loved this moment. When she goes to the Gala, we learn that she is going only to say goodbye and this broke our hearts. We understand that it doesn't make sense to get revenge, because there is no reason for it, but it was still disheartening for her to want to go for such a sad reason.
BloodCrafting & Being Called
Bree is half BloodCrafter and Half Root Crafter (with her branch being Medium). We liked this a lot, really because it talks about how some people are torn between two worlds, and some feel that they must choose, but really, it's okay to be both of something.
Something about Selwyn - Merlin Descendants are hot because they're born of succubus and incubus. This is also why they have a shit ton of magic- they are super crazy powerful because they have full demon blood in their lineage. William explains all of this to Bree. Selwyn finds them out and is embarrassed when Bree calls him a CrossRoads Child. At least we think he's embarrassed. This is super harsh of Bree, and we were like damn, that's mean.
We find out later, that if the Merlins don't Oath, they will go wild and crazy and somewhat feral, and then that's what leads them to be locked up if they're too wild. If they're not on the side of good, they might go too rogue and hurt others or affect the order. Later on, when Lord Davis told Selwyn that he might lose his Oathship, and may have to leave the order, he is afraid that he would have to leave and be locked up, or become more ShadowBorn. There is some talk about Selwyn's mother as well, it is noted that she was the most powerful Merlin in a generation and that she became Feral, but then we see in Bree's Memory Walks that this is not true, which is another lie that The Order has been telling them. Could this come back in the second book too?
When Selwyn and Bree find the records revealing that Bree's mother was mesmered because an attack happened on campus and she saw it- Bree was devastated and we were a little shocked. Something absolutely crazy must have happened for the report to be covered up and then sent to the regents as a lie because even the REGENTS are okay with covering some things up.
Shortly after this, Bree's dad, who we love, gets in contact with her and has a heart-to-heart - then gives her a gift, which turns out to be her mother's bracelet, which contains a mesmered memory in it from when Bree was little. This reveals that Bree carries RootCraft and BloodCraft inside of her, a double whammy! This means that not only does she carry some sort of power from her ancestors that she can call upon (RootCrafting - and she's a medium), but she also has the power of her ancestors brought down to her from her bloodline, all of their magic combined (BloodCrafting).
At the Gala, Nick requests that Bree will be his Squire! LE GASP*** THE DRAMA!!! We didn't expect her to be chosen, but we knew Nick had to choose SOMEONE!!! We just didn't think he was going to choose HER!!! We didn't even want to turn the page and see it!
Much later, after much action and fighting, Vera takes Bree on a memory walk and we learn that Vera is Bree's ancestor and she was raped by a descendent of Arthur, and then we learn that BREE IS THE SCION OF ARTHUR! WOOP WOOP! She is AWAKENED!!!! But then what does this mean for Nick? HE AWAKENS AS LANCELOT INSTEAD!!! WHAAAT. Turns out his ancestor was SUPPOSED to be the Scion of Arthur, but his ancestor had an affair with the Scion of Lancelot instead. OOP. Again. The Drama.
After the big fight with the demons and Rhaz, everyone acknowledges Bree as the descendent of Arthur, and Nick is kidnapped like immediately. Everyone is healed, minus our dead friends, and the book is left open for a Sequel, which will be Ceraya's June Quick-Read!
Questions for the Sequel
Bree's magic discussion with Selwyn reveals a lot. He says something cryptic - that Bree defies every Law of Ether. "The order doesn't know everything," and then he doesn't elaborate on anything. What is he referring to? Does he know anything about RootCrafting? Or is he referring to something else?
Will Patricia come back in another way in the Sequel or Threequel?
How will Bree and Arthur and Vera all live in the same body? Is that going to come back?
And do the Merlins actually go crazy? Or are they just too powerful and the Order is trying to contain them?
Conclusion
We loved this book (AND THE SEQUEL, GO READ IT). And were incredibly impressed by the action-packed adventure that is this series. We will be keeping an eye on Tracy Deonn and her next titles as they come out, and keep tabs on this series in particular. Keep an eye out for Ceraya's June Quick Read for the sequel to this book, Bloodmarked!
With love, see you soon!
Ceraya & Brieanna
Comments