Legendborn

By: Tracy Deonn

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt

An instant New York Times best seller!

Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award

Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and “braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery” (Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times best-selling author of The Belles).

After her mother dies in an accident, 16-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.

©2020 Tracy Deonn. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

An instant New York Times best seller!

Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award

I really wanted to like this

It just felt all over the place whenever it came to action scenes. The performance may have really affected my experience. Narrator made mc always sound on the verge of a breakdown.

Incredible!

I flew through this book. The story itself drew me right in, and the narrator was a perfect match for the story and it’s characters. I loved the tie-ins to the King Arthur legend as well as to the racism of modern day life. Really well done. I hope the author will write a sequel soon. Highly recommend!!

AWESOME!!!! IM IN LOVE

Great book.. Cant wait to see Bree and the round table next journey in book two

A.MAZ.ING

I loved it I want more and I'm speechless. I just finished and I wasn't too read it again.

Superb

This story was woven with such precision! My 10 year old was captivated by the characters as well! We finished this together in 2 days! Anxiously anticipating the next time we hear about Bree ✨

Great listen.

It was not what I expected it to be. The plots and twist we really good. I am waiting on the next book.

What an adventure!

Great spin on an old tale that had many twist, turns and bought a diverse grouo of kids together despite roots of history and mystery.

existing as black women is exhausting

Through this amazing story of magic and Lineage, and discovery and...really cute boys.
This story centers around grief and does so beautifully.
Grief of lost loved one. Raw and real hard to confront. and The unspoken grief daily existences of young blackwomen.
I admit non poc might struggle and even feel overwhelmed by how often race and misogyny is brought up but, It is a true to life step in the mind of black women. with all the pain, strength, exhaustion, annoyance, ect that comes with simply existing. if you're ever curious to want to get in the head of a black girl. or if your are black girl wanting a heroin that really gets you read this book!

Pretty Good

I loved the cover art. This was a long story, and a good one. There were a lot of characters to keep up with - maybe too many. I can’t tell you what any of them might look like. I enjoyed this book ok but I don't know if I will read the rest of the series. I really wanted to like it more.

Awesome

Great book. My daughter recommended this book to me. Once I started, I couldn't put it down.