“When the time comes, if it comes, don’t be scared. Fight. Take risks. Follow your heart. And move forward.”
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Legendborn has the perfect blend of the intricate magic system, bold and charismatic main characters, and a great storyline. Along with it, this book also deals with the deep-rooted racism and the intergenerational trauma experienced by descendants of enslaved people, from our black female lead, Bree’s perspective.
The story revolves around Brianna Mathews who gets selected for The Early College program at UNC-Chapel Hill. It seems like a perfect escape to her than living at her childhood home that brings back memories of her mother who died in an accident three months ago, until she witnesses a magical attack by a demon the first night on the campus. She briefly meets a guy named, Selwyn Kane, a Merlin, who destroys that demon and tries to wipe out her memory of that incident. But he fails to do so and this triggers a reoccurrence of the night her mother died, and she realizes another Merlin was at the hospital. She goes on a mission to find out more about her mother’s death as she suspects some Merlin tried to erase her memories of that night.
In doing so, she gets tangled with the secret society, called ‘The Legendborns’ who hunt these demonic creatures down. She asks Nick, another Legendborn who has self-exiled himself from that world, to help her get to the depth of the secrets of this society and that night of the incident.
This is a non-spoiler review, you can read my spoiler review on Goodreads.
This was a character-driven story for me! The plot was interesting and it got better at the end but still, the main three characters stole the show for me.
Let’s start with our brave black female protagonist, Bree. Dealing with the loss of her mother, Bree finds it hard to live her day-to-day life and the way she deals with the grief and trauma is written so well. Bree also has to deal with the microaggressions and the blatant racism, being the only black female without any familial status (like an outsider) in the Order of the Legendborn community.
The character development of Bree was so impressive as she grows from being a grief-stricken teenager to learning to fight physical fights (while failing a lot of times) to gaining her confidence, healing from her trauma gradually, and embracing the baddest bitch that she has always had in her! I also liked how she stood up for herself and her culture every time someone tried to bring her down.
The only thing I didn’t like about her character (which seems to be common with most YA leads) was how stubborn she was at the beginning, for diving into something she knew nothing about. I get that her desperation to find answers was driving her, but I personally prefer main characters who are more careful and strategic in their decisions.
She also wasn’t very cautious about who she shared her secrets with. Aside from Nick, every time she confided in Sel, Patricia, or even Alice, I kept worrying she was going to be double-crossed.
Okay, now let’s talk about Nick. He’s a total darling!
I loved how kind, genuine and sweet he was to everyone, especially, Bree. The romance between them was sweet and I didn’t mind the insta-love here. I usually heartily dislike this trope, but it didn’t bother me as much in this story, mainly because of how Nick’s character was crafted. He was genuinely good and helpful, so when he became attracted to her just days after they met and decided to help her, it felt true to his nature. Bree felt strongly for him too. I would say they were more like friends to lovers.
Guess what? I fell in love with him too lol
(Well, there are two things I didn’t like about his character you can read that in my Goodreads review as it is a spoiler)
And Selwyn, this dark, brooding, yellow-eyed Merlin (a mage tasked with destroying demons that enter the human realm and closing the Gates) completely took me by surprise. At first, I thought he’d be your typical bad boy with a tragic past, a rude personality, and a killer smile.
Well… I wasn’t wrong about the killer smile 🤭but everything else? Totally not what I expected, in the best way.
Sel’s character did have a bad boy edge, he was ruthless and dangerous. But as the story continues you realize he’s just fulfilling his oath. His character development was immaculate. Even his relationship with Bree felt natural and a lot like enemies to lovers (not exactly but you’ll know what I mean *when* you read this book, which you must). He’s such an intriguing character. I liked his character arc too much, I’m hungry for more of him in the sequel!
“Don’t make your life about the loss. Make it about the love.”
Apart from these three, I liked William a lot and Bree’s Dad too. I liked how he kept a tab on her daughter, how much he cared about her overall well-being. It’s not highlighted much in books usually. It’s the main leads going on a dangerous mission and conquering the world, but their parents have no care about that. (Particularly, when it’s the character being part of some secret mission which they can’t tell their parents and I don’t necessarily want them to engage but at least ask about your child’s well-being!)
The love triangle wasn’t a problem for me either, but I do wish they would all just communicate and sort out their differences. I don’t want either of the boys ending up heartbroken. And can we please get some Nick and Sel friendship too? I barely saw them interact beyond Sel’s “Where is he?” and Nick’s “What did you do?”
The magic systems are my favorite part of a fantasy book. And the magic system in Legendborn was so carefully crafted. It was the mixture of two magic systems, one based on African American history and spiritual traditions while the other’s based on the Arthurian legends.
But the way information was frequently dumped over just a few pages made it really hard to understand the system. Honestly, I still don’t fully grasp a lot of what was explained about the history. And that’s surprising, because I usually enjoy and understand these aspects, learning about magic and its background is one of my favorite parts of fantasy books. I prefer when the characters uncover history gradually, by asking questions or experiencing things firsthand. But here, it was frustrating to follow and didn’t feel as natural. I am hoping it gets better with the sequel and we get more answers.
The Legendborn reminded me of ‘The Shadowhunter Chronicles’ in terms of the secret society on a mission to protect the humans from the Demon entering their realms and destroying them.
The plot was pretty good, as there was always something interesting happening in the story. And (screaming) the last twist, the whole ending five chapters slapped so hard. I was amazed. It left so much room for the development of the magic system, the character arcs, even the love triangle in the next book!
I’m so excited for the sequel and the Legendborn Universe to grow more!
This is no doubt an outstanding read.