by Tracy Deonn
I have been blowing through my BOTM books within a few days of receiving them so I ordered two books in April. This was one that has been on my TBR (to be read) pile for a while and man, am I glad I finally dove in!
Legendborn followed Bree Matthews as she getting into an Early College program at UNC Chapel Hill soon after her mother is killed in a hit and run. After a fraught night where she witnesses two students and something they call an isel, which she was not supposed to be able to see, she is thrown into the world of The Order of the Round Table. Yes, THAT round table. Being a young black woman, their world is not hers but she manages to find her space while discovering her own hidden magic. It is a story about grief and love and what someone might do to keep people they love safe.
I was so excited to read a fantasy book with a black protagonist written by a black author (but Neil Gaiman I still adore your Ananzi Boys!). Bree navigates a world of southern gentility whose history rests on the backs of her own ancestors. Lineage and bloodline are important to the story but they are not as straight forward as they might seem, especially for African Americans such as Bree. She learns about the magic of aether from the Legendborn Arthurian, as well as other magics closer to her heart and her own heritage. Deonn’s worldbuilding and characters are phenomenal. I am rooting for everyone, even the obnoxious ones! (Ok, maybe not Vaughn really, but Sel and Mr Davis and the like) I’m excited to continue the series with the next one, Bloodlines!
A little side note: YA books are never something I avoid, but the propensity for having children fight evil when adults aren’t never sat well with me. I mean, where are the adults??? Why aren’t they fighting?? How can they let these kids just fight their fights for them? Then I realized the allegory that these books are really telling. We have left children to their own fights when it comes to school shootings. In Legendborn, the adults are not the scions, which explains away why the children are training but they are also the ones deciding that dealing with bureaucracy is more important than fighting the fight. The children, therefor, are left to defend themselves and fight for their rights to safety and education because the adults are seriously lacking in their ability to fight and protect. We can do better.