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New year, same virtual book club goal, same Maas release month!  Can Nikki finish her reread in time?  House of Earth and Blood (#1) is the longest single book we’ve read, and it’s a reread, so she’ll be there regardless, just perhaps a bit rusty on that ending.  Join us to discuss the irony of Target’s vacuum sale during Valentine’s and House of Sky and Breath release, share your own Jelly Jubilee story, and more on Friday, February 11 at 7:30 pm CST, but you have to sign up here to get the link Friday afternoon via email!

Welcome to Nikki’s readerly confessions, which today gives you an opportunity to learn from my mistakes.  When one is roughly half way into a novel, one should be very careful and not read the marketing copy on the follow-up novel, when one is trying to determine the release date for said follow-up novel.  THE STRUGGLE!  I know, I usually don’t read the marketing copy, but I needed that publication date, and it was just screaming at me off the screen, so then for the last 40 or so percent of the book, I was waiting on this thing to happen… 0/10 do not suggest.  The thing happened, and I already knew there was another book coming, but I didn’t need to know about said thing early. At least I warned my book buddy to stand firm against spoilers. Ugh.  Now back to our regularly scheduled review.

Darling readers, this week we are reviewing the story I didn’t know I needed in my life.  I didn’t even sort of understand what we were getting into, but Arthurian legend with a Black YA female hero?  Yes please!  And now, after reading Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, please ma’am may I have another, but maybe before November when the second book in the trilogy comes out!  Content warnings are needed for this book surrounding the death of a parent among other things found on the author’s website.  It doesn’t happen on the page, but this death is a motivator for our hero, and other characters also discuss the loss of their mothers and walk each other through those tragedies.  Also in this book we have a (literal) hero’s journey, which does include demons and such, so there is violence, but it feels appropriate for a young adult novel (our protagonist is a junior in high school, sort of).  

As Legendborn opens, Bree, our hero, lost her mom three months prior, and is still very much struggling with her grief.  She is moving to UNC, mom’s alma mater, to attend their early college program with her best friend Alice, partially to escape her home as it is now, without her mom.  In the course of trying to find her way (via a party, as one does), Bree finds herself witnessing a demon attack, which leads to her being attacked by hellhounds (sort of, but it’s all on the page), and learning that she’s immune from having her memories tampered with by a Merlin (yes, like that Merlin) when she’s in physical pain, which releases a memory from the night her mom died, a memory that she now knows was tampered with.  What follows is the story of Bree’s search for answers about her mom, and what she learns about herself and the world around her in the process.  

Legendborn is ultimately a complex story, fantastically told, in a familiar setting, not because I’ve ever been to UNC – Chapel Hill, but because it’s a college campus.  I’m already looking forward to rereading it before reading Bloodmarked and looking for easter eggs planted earlier in the story for how the ending plays out.  Speaking of endings, I’m not mad about it because it’s not a giant cliffhanger, but we definitely have a lot coming up in books two and three.  One of my favorite things about this book, and I hope the series, is that while Bree is the protagonist, there is a large supporting cast of her friends, with some playing strong supporting roles to the point that they feel like an ensemble supporting our lead.  

I’m giving Legendborn 4 solid stars.  The writing is amazing, the plot is solid, if a bit predictable, but the world building felt like it took longer than I really wanted it to take.  Perhaps that’s an adult reading a YA campus novel, or perhaps it just took longer than necessary.  Regardless, I’m likely to reread when each subsequent book in the trilogy comes out or, let’s be honest, maybe just when the third book comes out I’ll binge it all at once, especially if they’re running two years in between books (you all know I’m scared of #2 in a trilogy).  And, I’m really looking forward to seeing where Deonn takes the rest of the books.  What she’s laid out is pretty amazing, and I’m excited to read the rest of Bree’s story, and her supporting ensemble’s story too.  I feel like these characters have a lot to learn and a lot to teach, and that they have a solid chance of staying with me like some of my favorites.  

What’s a title that you knew might become a favorite after reading it the first time?

~Nikki 

I’m going to start with the usual and important work of author biography and book awards because I don’t want to forget to do it before I get into my own readerly confessions. Tracy Deonn is a masterful writer, creating this world of demons and Arthurian legend mixed with Southern and “African American history and spiritual traditions.” It’s no surprise knowing that she’s a “second generation fangirl;” readers can feel her love of science fiction and fantasy, her knowledge of the current and popular magic-based worlds, and how she transforms them into something brand-new but with deep roots. (See what I did there!?) Deonn is a two-time graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with master’s and bachelor’s degrees in communications and performance studies. A champion of diversity and representation in all science fiction and fantasy media, she has contributed her voice to two story collections, the 40th anniversary anthology of The Empire Strikes Back, From a Certain Point of View and a story of growing up Black and geeky in Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America. Legendborn is Deonn’s debut novel, an instant New York Times Bestseller, winner of the 2021 American Library Association Coretta Scott King – Steptoe Award for New Talent, among numerous other accolades found here on her website. Per usual, my favorite line of her bio is the last one: When she’s not writing, Tracy speaks on panels at science fiction and fantasy conventions, reads fanfic, arranges puppy playdates, and keeps an eye out for ginger-flavored everything. It sounds like the perfect geek-life.

Now, for Ashley’s readerly confessions: I’ve been low-key obsessed with Arthurian tradition since high school. So much so that I took an entire English course on Arthurian tradition in Literature when I went on my undergraduate exchange adventure to Bishop’s University in Canada. I’m going to blame my former roommate and friend of the blog for getting me sucked into Marion Zimmer Bradley’s epic The Mists of Avalon. The 2001 television mini-series starring Juliana Marguiles, Angelica Houston, and Joan Allen that featured music by Loreena McKennitt sealed the deal. I have gotten away from my more hardcore obsession of Arthurian tradition as an adult by trying to learn about more diverse legends and mythology. Legendborn, though… it’s bringing me back in a whole brand new way and I’m loving it. If I were to allow myself to follow the path of readerly feelings, I would jump right back in with two feet, settle into a nice re-acquaintanceship, and sail along until Deonn’s Bloodmarked arrives in November. Obviously, I’m here to join in with any re-reading plans that Nikki places in front of me, for any and all the reasons.

There are two points that I want to make about why I love this book. The first is that I knew from the first chapter that the two best friends, Briana and Alice are our people. Here’s the first and best example:

[Alice] eyes me as if gauging my mood. “ ‘I hate tiny parties—they force one into constant exertion.’ ” I squint, searching my memories for the familiar words. “Did you—did you just Jane Austen me?” Her dark eyes twinkle. “Who’s the literary nerd? The quoter or the one who recognizes the quote?” “Wait.” I shake my head in amusement. “Did you just Star Wars me?” “Nah.” She grins. “I New Hope’d you.”

The second point is that Deonn seamlessly, expertly, allows for a plethora of diverse characters in her ensemble cast. There are LGBTQIA+ characters and relationships, plus additional persons of color  – not just Briana’s immediate family. I love it. It’s much more representative of what we know life on a college campus to be like.

I’m giving Legendborn 4.5 stars and rounding it up to 5. I’m obsessed, I’m definitely going to re-read, and Deonn’s future works are going straight to my TBR. It didn’t hurt that our friend of the blog and blog photographer extraordinaire recommended the title this past fall, spurring us to get Legendborn off of Nikki’s holds list ASAP.

Has there been a book you picked up as an adult that reopened a childhood obsession?

~Ashley

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