“Some truths only tragedy can teach. The first one I learned is that when people acknowledge your pain, they want your pain to acknowledge them back. They need to witness it in real time, or else you're not doing your part.” Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Ledgendborn by Tracy Deonn is a YA fantasy that is based on the legend of King Arthur. The novel follows 16-year-old Bree Matthews after her mother dies in a car accident. Bree chooses to enroll in an Early College program at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill to escape the grief that now fills her childhood home. On her first night at the university, Bree sneaks off campus to attend a party and witnesses a terrifying demon attack.
Bree watches in horror as two college students that refer to each other as a “Legendborn” and “Merlin” use magic to kill the demon that is feeding off the energies of students at the party. When Bree feels a spell being cast on her to forget the events of the night, she realizes not only can she resist the charm but that it is not the first time a spell like this has been cast on her. The first being the night of her mother’s death.
This realization launches Bree into the mysterious world of the Legendborn and the secret magical society called The Order of the Round Table. She must find out if this order had anything to do with her mother’s death or if it truly was just a tragic accident.
Legendborn was written by Tracy Deonn who has roots in live theatre, video game production, and K-12 education and is her first novel. Deonn was inspired by the death of her mother which is evident in the novel's depiction of grief which is extremely well done. A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, it is clear in the novel’s descriptions of the campus that Deonn knows it well. Legendborn also promises to be the first installment of a series as well.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I felt that it gave an honest description of grief, especially for a YA book, and that it balanced well between very heavy topics and lighter things. The book also has strong LGBTQ+ representation and acknowledgment of racism and North Carolina's roots in slavery that I felt were also executed well.
Content Warning: Language, violence, and racism.
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