tl;dr the only love triangle i will ever sit through. we stan tracy deonn.
Premise
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.
A flying demon feeding on human energies.
A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.
And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.
The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.
She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.
Rating
4.5/5 stars
Review
Overall, great book. Loved it, loved the characters, loved the plot.
The characters were all great, and Bree was an amazing narrator/protagonist. She's so cool. I'd love to be her friend. I'm super similar to Alice so like...Bree let me into your inner circle, please. I really enjoyed reading about her journey of self-discovery while also unraveling her history, and I think Bree is a very relatable character. I also enjoyed reading about all of the side characters, AND THE REPRESENTATION!! Phenomenal.
I quite liked the plot, as well. There were a lot of super intricate plot twists, and some I didn't see coming at all. The book really ramps up as it goes on, and soon I found myself unable to put it down. I also liked how Tracy Deonn explored the issues of racism and sexism, and I think what Bree goes through during the book is definitely relevant to the real world.
I'm just going to take a second to discuss the love triangle because who would have thought I'd enjoy a love triangle that much. (if you don't want to hear my candid thoughts on the characters pls don't read) First, Sel is so interesting. Of course, he was pretty standoffish at first and he had that whole enemies-to-allies dynamic with Bree, but he really grew on me. He and Bree are very similar (I think they have more in common than Bree and Nick), and I'm really excited to see how he and Bree interact in the rest of the series. They have so much chemistry and tension it's off the charts. SEL IS ALSO TOO FUNNY CAN WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT FOR A SECOND HAH. Next, Nick - I do like him and I think he's nice, but I'm not sure how I like him with Bree - he has the potential to be great but also to be... not so great. I predicted in the beginning that Nick would give me Adam Kent vibes and....lol idk he kinda does but I also never read past the second book of the Shatter Me series - so honestly, I'm not sure if I'm just reading into things too much because I made that initial prediction or I'm just not vibing with Nick as a character. Also, the juxtaposition between Sel and Nick is immaculate.
I guess this is a segue into my main two things that don't make this a 5-star read: the worldbuilding and Nick's development. The worldbuilding and the conveying of information as a whole was kinda along the lines of telling the information and then later on explaining it, if that makes sense. I feel like the whole fantasy world is so complex and a lot to take in, so I was left kind of confused for the first maybe 1/4 of the book, but I eventually got a hold of things. The same goes for some of the plot twists: the new info was introduced, I was kind of confused, and then later things are cleared up or I finally understand.
Ok now let me take a moment to discuss Nick. Towards the middle/end of the book, he turns more absent and it seems like people are talking *about* him more than he actually appears in the story. He's definitely an integral character, but at the end, it was more people talking about what happened to him more than him being able to create his own narrative. Thus, he got less development and was less flushed out as a character. He definitely does have a lot of potential, though, so I'm excited to see him in the rest of the series.
Other Info
First book in an ongoing series (only first book has been published)
14+
Rep: Black mc and scs, Taiwanese-American and lesbian sc, bi scs, gay sc, wlw relationship (scs), nonbinary sc
CW: death of a parent; generational trauma (depictions of slavery, abuse, rape); gore; possession; demons; racism and micro-aggressions
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Legendborn-Tracy-Deonn/dp/1534441603
Would I Recommend?
Absolutely.
Similar Books
Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
Comentarios