Book 835: Legendborn (Legendborn Cycle #1) – Tracy Deonn

I was on hold at the library for months to get this one! I vaguely remember it being released, but didn’t realize it’s connection to UNC Chapel Hill (my undergrad) until I saw the cover and Deonn in one of the alumni newsletters and then of course immediately had to read it, but was stifled by the long hold times :’-(

I wasn’t only drawn to it because of the UNC connection, but also because of the modern retelling of Arthurian legends. I knew this was going to be a fascinating take on them with a Black protagonist, southern history, secret societies, and the first public university in the country, how couldn’t it be!

What I enjoyed most about this book was the racial and gender diversity of the characters. Deonn didn’t make a big deal out of it, they just were diverse. Of course, Bree, the protagonist on the cover, is Black, her best friend Alice, is Asian and a lesbian, there are a couple of Latinx characters, and I’m pretty sure Greer is gender fluid and identifies with they/them pronouns (but I don’t distinctly remember that discussion happening) which is great that it was just accepted! There are some “of course they are” moments with the love interest, Nick, being a blonde-haired blue-eyed Adonis, but in contrast you have another potential love interest (I’d totally ship them) Sel, who is a half-demon merlin, and it just gets mixed up quick.

I’m sixteen. I pay attention. I listen to the stories from uncles, cousins—hell, my own father—about police run-ins and stops. I see the videos online. Sitting in this car and thinking about those images makes my heart pound. I don’t know if there’s a single Black person in this country who can say with 100 percent confidence that they feel safe with the police. Not after the past few years. Probably not ever. Maybe there are some, somewhere, but I sure as hell don’t know ’em. (Loc. 396)

Race and personal experience are core to the book and I found Deonn handled them incredibly well. Not only did she bring across the trauma of enslaved people’s experience in general, but specifically at UNC and in NC, but she also shone light on what is still happening today. I was reading this at the same time the Nicole Hannah-Jones (NPR) fiasco at UNC was happening and it was an interesting time to read this book.

I found the differentiation between bloodcraft and rootcraft fascinating and the parallels between colonizers and those they colonized wasn’t lost—the taking of aether/magic/root by force or the peaceful existence and exchange was really well written. I felt for Bree the more we learned about her past and her mother’s early death and the string of early matriarchal deaths in her family, but truly enjoyed Dr. Hartwood’s motherly guidance and patience. And not only that, but her place as a strong black professional female educator at a predominantly white institution (PWI). And Hartwood’s various meeting places (even the fictional moving of the Unsung Founders Memorial—so glad Deonn acknowledged it!) only served to reinforce the experience of many of the individuals mentioned above.

Some of the most painful stories in the book are facts: the unmarked, disrespected, and segregated graves; the open brutality of the real Julian Carr against an unnamed woman; that Black students live and learn on a campus built by enslaved people held in bondage by celebrated men who would have wanted to enslave us, too. These facts and monuments have mirrors in other spaces and at other schools, and I hope light continues to be shined on them. (Afterward)

And then on top of all of this, Deonn wrote a compelling young adult action and adventure novel with a bit of teen RomCom thrown in! I felt all of the characters, especially Bree and Alice grew up a lot in the just over 500 pages. What more could you ask for. There were a few times the action began to lull, but they were few and far between for me.

It didn’t take me too long to figure out what the twist was going to be, but I couldn’t figure out what the sub-twist was going to be. Like there was too much at stake for the second person NOT to be someone important and then when the climactic scene was happening it happened it all clicked into place really quickly and I was like WHOA, I get it now.

Nick is waiting for me at the top of the stairs, and I absolutely blame Alice Chen for where my brain goes as I walk up to meet him, because all I can think is that he looks like a rom-com daydream come to life. His hands are stuffed in a pair of dark-wash jeans, and he’s wearing a blue Henley that brings out his eyes. Eyes that roam over me, too, with a soft, unreadable expression. (Loc. 2,513)

The cliff hanger at the end did NOT make me happy, mostly because it happened off page since Bree wasn’t there to see it, but at least we know there’s going to be a second book because how could there NOT be one?!

Recommendation: READ THIS BOOK! I enjoyed it so much because of the setting and how accurately Deonn described everything (and acknowledged what she changed), but you don’t have to know anything about UNC to appreciate this book. There’s drama and romance, action and adventure, and characters growing up with the pressures of legendary inheritances in a time of great calamity (even if it is forced).

Opening Line: “The police officer’s body goes blurry, then sharpens again.”

Closing Line: “And then I’m in the air, leaving the earth and trees far behind me.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Legendborn
“Cliff jumping is the perfect formula for Southern-white-boy fun: rural recklessness, a pocket flashlight’s worth of precaution, and a dare.” (Loc. 97)

“I kick at a pebble. ‘I need to be alone for a minute. Enjoy the party. I’ll be there soon.’ She eyes me as if gauging my mood.
‘”I hate tiny parties—they force one into constant exertion.”‘ I squint, searching my memories for the familiar words.
‘Did you—did you just Jane Austen me?’ Her dark eyes twinkle.
‘Who’s the literary nerd? The quoter or the one who recognizes the quote?’
‘Wait.’ I shake my head in amusement.
‘Did you just Star Wars me?’
‘Nah.’ She grins. ‘I New Hope’d you.'” (Loc. 191)

“Growing up Black in the South, it’s pretty common to find yourself in old places that just… weren’t made for you. Maybe it’s a building, a historic district, or a street. Some space that was originally built for white people and white people only, and you just have to hold that knowledge while going about your business.” (Loc. 1,075)

“To be able to trace one’s family back that far is something I have never fathomed. My family only knows back to the generation after Emancipation. Suddenly, it’s hard to stand here and take in the magnificence of the Wall and not feel an undeniable sense of ignorance and inadequacy. Then, a rush of frustration because someone probably wanted to record it all, but who could have written down my family’s history as far back as this? Who would have been able to, been taught to, been allowed to? Where is our Wall? A Wall that doesn’t make me feel lost, but found. A Wall that towers over anyone who lays eyes on it.” (Loc. 1,958)

“‘Nick says I’ve got to keep it secret, keep it safe.’
‘Did you just Lord of the Rings me?’
‘Nope.’ I grin. ‘I just Fellowship of the Ring’d you.'” (Loc. 2,474)

“I’ve read books, watched movies, whispered secret wishes to Alice in the darkness of bunk-bed sleepovers. I expect this kiss to feel an awkward sort of good. I don’t expect each gentle brush of Nick’s lips to shift, grow insistent—and set me on fire.” (Loc. 3,153)

“Heart pounding for too many reasons to count, I think back on the Wall of Ages and its Lines and the mixture of disconnection and frustration I’d felt staring at it. Then, from the monument’s place of honor at the top of Carolina’s campus, I look back on the school’s buildings and manicured lawns and brick walkways. I let my gaze draw lines here, too, from building to building, from tree to tree, from buried lives to beaten ones, from blood stolen to blood hidden. I map this terrain’s sins, the invisible and the many, and hold them close. Because even if the pain of those sins takes my breath away, that pain feels like belonging, and ignoring it after all I’ve just witnessed would be loss.” (Loc. 3,500)