Hi there!
Welcome to our May Intermission for Tracy Deonn's Legendborn. The first installment of her Legendborn Cycle. We were very excited about this one and it turned out to be a HIDDEN GEM! READ THIS BOOK!!!
Trigger Warning: Death of a Parent, Demons, Violence, Racism, Suicidal Ideation, Police
Overall
This one is all about racism, King Arthur, Magic, and Demons. Whew! What a book. We like this one a lot, honestly. The setup is well-done, the writing is great, and the relatability and representation with the main character as a black woman is invaluable.
This book is pretty damn good, in our opinion. In the first half, we actually have things to talk about! Comparing it to ACOTAR, we were impressed that so much action happens in the first half - this is NOT a slow-burn book! We APPRECIATED!!! Brieanna did not like that they harped on the Arthurian hierarchy, and Ceraya likes this book a lot too, and is literally obsessed with Nick. We are very interested in the magic elements of this world, and that different cultures in the story interpret the magic differently.
Bree & The Experience
Comparing this to ACOTAR, we are happy that we have a protagonist that gives a shit and asks questions, and doesn't take shit from people. These characters are very mature teenagers, and we were surprised to see the characters be so adult, but after meeting Bree's dad, we can see it. Alice is also really likable, once she got over her beef with Bree. Before Alice has beef with Bree for no reason, we loved that they have best-friend conversations. The dialogue in this book is very real and well-written. Even the first conversation she has with Nick. (Stichomythia, look it up). Nick and the other Arthurian Magicians are also very mature and likable, minus the racist ones.
We appreciate that Legendborn talks about the experience that black girls have in life. We had a long discussion about Ceraya's viewpoint on Bree.
The first major racist experience we see Bree have is with the police officer off campus. We were so scared for her and we thought it might wake up her magic if her emotions were running too high. The officer and his words against Bree were infuriating. Our nervousness was confirmed. The officer decided to be a jerk that said offensive things and disrespected Bree to her face. "Need-based" entry? Seriously? It's gross. Our hackles are raised with Bree's at this moment.
There is nothing we have to say that hasn't already been said about situations like these, which sucks, but it's a real experience that makes minorities feel powerless. That is what people in real life say to black people and all it does is hurt. There is no meaning more to it. It hurts and it's violence meant to keep black people down.
We also talk about Code-Switching a little in this book. Very often, minorities will talk "like white people" in order to be perceived as more professional or acceptable. This is Code-Switching. There is a prejudice against people who "sound black" and therefore so many of us will change the way we speak in order to be accepted. Code-Switching is important, not for good reasons. Be respectful.
Another experience that is spoken about is spaces that are not welcoming to black people. Especially areas that are not built for them, but that are built by them. Or areas that have Confederate monuments placed there. Additionally, places where you could be shot first and questions asked later. Or even grocery stores in rich neighborhoods. There are absolutely spaces that are not welcoming to black people, which we need to change. Work to make more spaces acceptable and approachable to your fellow humans.
We found the talk about Bree's hair incredibly relatable and charming, and it was annoying that Evan was like "Your hair is so badass." White people comment on natural black hair as if it's exotic and try to be apologetic by over-compensating in their comments.
Casual European Racism is something Ceraya has a lot of experience with. Having gone to Europe, it was the most racism she's ever experienced in her 25 years of life. Just in the month she was over there, it was way worse than the U.S., in Atlanta specifically. Which we thought was wild. The micro-aggressions that Bree experiences in the book, are similar to Ceraya's experience in Europe.
Comforting grieving people is a big discussion at the beginning of the book. Brieanna's mother passed away in 2016, so she had some thoughts on this concept of comforting others when you are the one who is grieving. There are absolutely moments as a grieving person when you have to make sure people who are trying to "comfort" you are okay. They will often come to you with shows and words of comfort, but really all they are trying to say is," I'm being a good person," they're not actually trying to comfort the grieving person. So then the grieving person has to expend emotional energy comforting the "comforter" in order to be left alone and to move past the subject because quite often, people who are grieving want to be left alone.
"Sorry for your loss," is pretty generic and empty, it doesn't offer anything. It's simply a poor acknowledgment of loss. Brieanna really doesn't like when people want to know what happened when someone passed away. If they offer information, I promise they don't want to offer more information. The best thing you could say is "What do you need right now?" But don't offer unless you're ready to pony up. Give the grieving person options, because all they want is peace. Be gracious and open when someone is grieving, but don't self-insert or dig for information.
Bree as a leading role is incredibly relatable and representative of the experience that many young black women go through in contemporary times. This is representation that we have never seen before, quite like this. At least, in YA fiction. She is strong, smart, and human. She is not some caricature used to make white people feel better about themselves.
The Arthurian Hierarchy
When we finally get our first glimpse of this being a YA Novel, we meet a tall, dark, and broody, Selwyn Cane. We felt like this moment didn't make any sense because it doesn't fit into how things work later. "Do you feel something when I look at you?" Then she has sparks go across her cheeks (which happens again later). Bizarre. He was being mysterious but he is suddenly not in the rest of the book (so far), and then he disappears. We kind of find him annoying, generally.
At first we were confused about the chain of command, but once the characters started talking about the tournaments, things were a lot clearer. The lowest level is page, and then squire, and then Scion.
We started talking about how real King Arthur was. We determined that he might be on the same level as Jesus, not in terms of belief, but in terms of how likely they were to exist. King Arthur may have been quite real, but he may not have done everything there are legends about him doing.
We also started talking about how this is an immense amount of pressure for Bree. Because now she's a member of this order who has the "spark of eternal potential." As they're going around the group and announcing their lineage, we meet a Non-Binary person included in the book! Greer! Which is exciting! More representation! We need more of this.
And then Bree doesn't know the Oath, but then MAGIC makes her say the right words. We thought this was SO COOL. For the magic to come from inside says a lot about Bree's soul.
Later on at the dinner, where the old racist ladies make comments towards Bree, we also thought her powers were going to show up, but they again did not. We liked Bree more because she didn't bend to their will. And then when Vaughn made more racist comments and she had sparks on her face, Selwyn was watching her again. We think Selwyn knows she has a magic of some kind.
We then learn that women were not allowed to be Scions. And then we learn that women were murdered so that men could be Scions instead. They would "eliminate" daughters so that the next heir could have a chance at being a Scion. Yuck. This leads us to understand that this is a very flawed organization, and very dangerous for Bree. Nick takes a genuine stand against it though, he seems to be a good guy. "The order was never above the world's brutality, and it still isn't. That's what happens when you lead with fear and greed."
After Vaughn claims that Bree is getting into the Order because of "affirmative action bullshit," Bree finally lets her words fight for her. Ceraya felt like she was telling him off in the story it was so real. What a monologue.
"You're a bigot and a bully, Schaefer. You insult me because you think you know what I'm capable of, but you don't. I must make you nervous though, to expose your insecurities about your odds in the tournament. ...And your carelessness. You've just questioned, in public, the judgment of the Scion of Arthur himself by suggesting that he brought forth his page without good reason. Our future King does not owe you an explanation, and behaving as though he does displays insubordination, disloyalty, and fear. Not power. Not Strength. I pity the Scion that chooses you to be their Squire, that is, if you get chosen at all."
We thought it was important for Bree to stand up for herself so that this story doesn't turn into a white-savior story. We do want Nick to see her be a badass though.
Then we learn about the Morgain Merlins, that are rogues, and that they have no order. We think that has something to do with her dead mother. Is the line of Morgain related at all to the WildCrafters? They are from similar bloodlines, but they are rogues, so maybe they have some kind of overlap. More questions about he magic in this world appear.
Magic & Boys
We meet the demons for the first time over the campfire. The descriptions were kind of vague, so we imagined them differently. Then, the magic is introduced when Selwyn tries to "mesmer" Bree and make her walk away from the campfire. He basically tried to make her forget what happened and banish her from the location of the fight. It kind of worked, but then we find out it didn't!!! Which we thought was very cool. She broke the mesmer with pain, which we thought was very interesting. We're hanging onto the foreshadowing. This is absolutely going to come in clutch in the future.
When we met Nick, we were much more appreciative of his gestures and attitude towards Bree rather than Selwyn's. Ceraya loves Nick end of story. Ceraya would like me to mention his ocean eyes and summer sun smile. She is obsessed.Hot guy with a sword? End the book right there. Ceraya did not expect Nick to be so much more involved with the Arthurian hierarchy than originally suspected. We thought he wasn't going to be involved at all, but then it turns out he's basically the King.
In the second part of the book, Selwyn summons the weather to attack Bree, but Nick's dad stops the situation from getting worse. But we are suspicious of Nick's dad. He's a little too nice and accepting, and he's part of this very flawed and traditional organization.
When the ShadowBorn Attacks in the middle of the ceremony, everyone jumps into action and we were scared to see Bree frozen to her spot! We wanted her magic to come out and fight and it did not happen! The ShadowBorn was very scary and we did not like their evil attitude. We finally understood that the Scions get their powers from the knights of their lineage. And they get some fancy cool powers (strength, healing, etc.). Then we were scared to see Nick get hurt, and then we learn about Camlann. All we know is that it is a demon war and that the demons are coming back. Bree gets healed, and she sees a wall of Lineage, and she was upset because she only has a short lineage back to Emancipation, but no other lineage past that that she knows of for obvious reasons.
The characters are surprised when they have to begin the tournament early, and they begin training immediately. Nobody (except maybe probably Selwyn) knows that Bree has magic. Which is a big deal. While they are on the way to the training ground, she is blindfolded. And Nick tells her more info. She's worried about how Selwyn and Vaughn hate her, and she confides in him that people look down on her as Nick's Page. He makes a joke, and then things get flirty and cute. He starts kissing her hands and laughing, and then starts sharing emotional natural words with her. Very Romance. Much handsomeness. They would be bonded forever if she became his Squire, which is interesting too, romantically. We know that Bree is an impulsive and emotional teenager, whose mom is recently dead, and it was hard for Brieanna to believe that these characters would be willing to do these things because of the "abatement" - the concept that the Scions lose 50 years off of their lives if they allow the magic to awaken in their body. Bree claims she feels guilty for bringing Nick into the situation because this will happen to him too.
Later on, after Selwyn comes and threatens Bree again, the tournament occurs. This was a cool scene and one of our first scenes of organized action. We loved the description of the action and wanted more. After Nick is injured by the snake, we love love loved the scene where she slept over at his place after he was healed, and we LOVED Alice's reaction to it.
When we learn Nick's back story, we felt rather sad, but then we wondered if Bree and Nick would eventually team up and find out what happened to both of their moms. This makes Nick more than just a nice guy willing to help -it shows he has an investment in Bree, especially when he learns that she could break the mesmer, which his mom could not.
The next day, they share a lovely steamy kiss (whew!) and then Bree heads home. We were SO HAPPY that they finally kissed and declared that they really like each other. We looooove this. We were sweating. And we're happy that Bree picked the man with the best communication. Seriously.
Two Worlds
Alice's beef with Bree didn't make any sense. Alice could have said no to going out with Bree and getting caught. But instead, she's apparently not a free thinker, and it's totally Bree's fault according to Alice. The reality is that Alice got caught and she wants to blame Bree for it.
The juxtaposition between the contemporary world and the magical worlds in this book is odd. Bo-berry biscuits compared to ancient Arthurian magic freaks Brieanna out a little bit, but we get it. This story takes place in 2020, so we can't shy away from today's social climate at all.
Bree's father cares about her a lot. We can see it in the tough love. But him against the magical world, perhaps because we think he has no knowledge of it, is such a different experience.
The two worlds start coming together more when Bree starts talking to Patricia, and we learn that Bree's mother was a WildCrafter. We think this is SO COOL and now we're wondering who the HELL killed her mom and WHY! This is such a mystery and we're craving some answers.
We only get a little bit of Patricia, but as of now we really like that she's helping Bree and we're excited to see her work with Bree on her magic.
YA Novels
The complex names and concepts of hierarchy that go into YA novels are something that we talked about a little bit while going through the notes we had on this book. This is the part of the book where there was a ton of lore dumping. Brieanna doesn't care for it. But she understands why it is necessary for YA Novels. Brieanna was concerned that things weren't shown to us in a different way.
Ceraya did not feel the same way. She felt that it added to the story's cleverness. It did make sense that Bree was pretending to be someone who understood these things, but because she didn't, the exposition was necessary, and show that Bree didn't actually know what was going on.
Shortening names is silly too, but quite frequent. It feels like lazy writing sometimes, but at the same time, we understand that it's a YA novel and the author is trying to make it interesting. But shortening Sarah to Sar? Seriously? Unnecessary.
We had the same idea with the Hell-animals. Hellhounds, hellboars, hellsnake, etc.? This just doesn't feel creative.
That being said there are a lot of perks to this book as a YA novel. Number 1: REPRESENTATION, Number 2: THE DIALOGUE, and Number 3: THE ACTION.
Where We Are Now
Bree has just learned about Root Magic and has just passed the first tournament to become the level above Page - a Squire.
Selwyn keeps looking at Bree weirdly.
Nick and Bree have a romance! We love.
Bree definitely is a WildCrafter with her magic (at least Brieanna thinks so).
Where We Go From Here
We are interested to find out what is going on with William and Isaac's Jewel in the wall, and we are suspicious of many people in the story knowing more about magic than they are letting on.
We are interested to see if her dad knows more about magic.
We are interested to see where Nick and Bree's relationship goes and how Selwyn is involved somehow.
We are interested to see where Bree's magical powers go and how powerful she actually is.
Will Camlann happen in this book? OR is it in the sequel?
Conclusion
We really like this book so far and we are looking forward to reading the rest. The magic in this world seems complex, and we're very VERY excited to see where this story goes.
Live, Love, See you soon!
Ceraya & Brieanna
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