Legendborn and Bloodmarked (Legendborn #1, #2) by Tracy Deonn

Legendborn

Amy  
Lynnie

young adult, fantasy

Bree’s mother died shortly before Bree left home to attend the University of North Carolina’s Early College program with her best friend. On her first night there, she sees unexplainable things and there is an attempt to wipe away her memory. However, she later remembers. Then, after seeing more unbelievable things, her new friend, Nick, has some surprising answers for her. When she realizes that her mother’s death has suspicious similarities to the magic she’s recently witnessed, she attempts to find out the truth behind her mother’s death and an apparent secret society on campus.

Amy's Review

There are small homages and similarities to other wonderful young adult fantasy novels throughout Bree’s story, but Legendborn is definitely its own, unique tale. I was rivetted to find out what Bree would discover about her mother’s death and the Order. Tracy Deonn realistically depicted teenage life while also addressing serious topics of racism and handling grief. The fantasy elements were creative but became a bit over the top. Sometimes it felt like there was too much going on and too many characters. Also, the situations became crazy. But I made the decision to go with it and I enjoyed the ride. The characters were fun to get to know. I look forward to reading the sequel.

The narrator, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, was a terrific voice actor. However, her pronunciations of some words were unclear and I had to play back phrases, at times, to understand what she said.  Her accents and vocal repertoire were average. I was especially annoyed at her pronunciation of Arthur like “author” and this name was said many, many times. I’m giving her a B+.

Lynnie's Review

I’ve had Legendborn on my to-read list for a while and I don’t know why it took me so long to open it but I’m so glad that I finally did. I am positively smitten by Tracy Deonn’s characters and the fantasy world that she created. 

 

Before I go on about the stuff I loved though, let me address the one aspect that kept me from giving this book 5 stars. Bree is a 16-year old girl at the early college program at UNC. This particular aspect of the story adds no value and, in fact, frequently distracted me from the story. I attended a pre-college program at one point in my life and the reality is that the “real” college students didn’t want much to do with us so I found it completely unrealistic that this group of college kids, particularly a group in a secret society, would give her the time of day. Bree could have easily been presented as a college freshman and the story would have lost nothing. While the age difference between Bree and her romantic interests was only a year or two, I still couldn’t shake the fact that she was only 16 and they were college guys. 

 

That said, I adored Bree as a character. She was smart, strong and tough. I was impressed that Deonn chose to place Bree in a situation where she was the only black person- highlighting not only the racism directed at Bree, but the institutional racism that has existed for generations. As the only black person in the Order, Bree experienced an array of aggressions based on the intersection of her race, gender, age, and family history- people trying to touch her hair, assuming she was the hired help, leering at her body, and more- and she constantly handled it with a grace and dignity most of us couldn’t imagine. It reminded me of the words of Tressie McMillan Cottom who wrote, "I fix myself, even when it causes great pain to do so, because I know that I cannot fix the way the world sees me." Bree's experience isn’t something that is often shown in YA novels, let alone in a fantasy novel and I appreciated the deft way that Deonn portrayed it, embracing the often painful minority experience fully and head-on. 

 

But the fantasy! It’s been a while since I’ve read a fantasy novel that didn’t make me feel like I had a case of deja vu, but Legendborn felt wonderfully new while still giving a wink and nod to some classic books and tropes. I really enjoyed the incorporation of the Arthurian legend into the story and of course, who doesn’t love a competition between kids for the attention of their elders and peers? Supernatural creatures? Yes please! Cute romantic boys with snappy banter & respectful boundaries? Dreamy! I can’t say much more without getting spoilery- but I truly enjoyed every minute of this book. I wasn’t even tempted to skim ahead. 

 

I actually read the printed book AND listened to the audiobook on this one, which I rarely do- I had some time in the car and wanted to listen while I drove and after that I kept alternating between the two. While I loved Joniece Abbott-Pratt’s voice for Bree, I did not love her voices for anyone else mostly because I had a hard time differentiating them from one another- particularly the male voices. I would give her a B-, but since I read more frequently than I listened it wasn’t a huge deal. 

 

Overall though, a great novel! I will be eagerly awaiting the sequel to find out what happens to Bree, Nick, Sel, and the Order.

Bloodmarked

Amy    
Lynnie 


young adult/fantasy

Amy's Review

Bloodmarked picks up where Legendborn ended. The first half of the novel is the same kind of stuff that was happening in Legendborn. There are still demons chasing the Legendborn crew. The Order is still unprepared to face off against them and, overall, lacking in meeting their own necessary requirements.  Bree is trying to learn how to use all aspects of her magical heritage. But she soon learns that The Order is quite political, manipulative, and heartless.  She’s basically stuck in a shitshow that she’s trying to navigate and improve.

The second half of the novel was the fun part with new situations, characters, and settings. But it is still crazy overall and I had to work hard to keep accepting Bree’s world at times. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll read the next sequel but I do still appreciate the writing and creativity of the author. And, I would like to know how things turn out for Bree and the crew.

Lynnie's Review

So, I thought this was a duology, and I admit this may have colored my opinion in the end. It wasn't until I was about 80% finished that I realized that, "oh, this is not actually going to finish the story." There were simply too many loose ends hanging out there that Deonn was not going to be able to tie up. I admit I would have waited a while to read this if I had realized that, if only to decrease the time between books so I don't forget what happens. Alas...

I enjoyed this second book in the Legendborn series for the most part, and my complaints are generally the same. I still think the story would not suffer (and would actually be improved) if Brianna were college-aged rather than a 16-year old attending an early college program. However, where in the last book I thought she acted mature for her age (more like a college student than a high schooler), at least in Bloodmarked she acted every bit the temperamental, hormonal teenager making one bad decision after another. She frustrated me over and over and over again. I also continue to lose interest in the love-triangle-that-isn't. It's hard to be in a love triangle when a) one of the sides isn't even there and b) the other two don't actually acknowledge there's any sort of relationship. It's super weird and cringy so, perhaps, very much like a high school relationship except that two of the three participants are in college.

Otherwise, Deonn removes many of the characters from the last novel from the pages of Bloodmarked while introducing us to a host of new characters, most of whom I enjoyed getting to know, though I missed the old crew. I found many of the outcomes entirely predictable, but generally enjoyed the journey.

Will I read the next book in the series? Yes, absolutely. But I will be verifying if it is the finale or if there are others to come before I dive in. Overall, I think if you enjoyed Legendborn, you'll enjoy Bloodmarked as well. The only question is how long will this series be strung out and how long will we be willing to go along for the ride?