A review by celeste329
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

A very interesting book that felt both too short and too long. Lots of interesting magic around, and I appreciated how the author offered effectively two schools of magic, each with their own teachings.

The whole plot of the book was fairly interesting as well. I could see the chosen one archetype being used, but with different nuances than one would usually expect.

Characters wise, there is a range of them. Bree is obviously the most fleshed out character and I absolutely loved seeing the book-world through her eyes. I really appreciated her journey of self-discovery, and elements of identity explored in the book. Nick is also a personal favourite of mine (what can I say, I love me a sweet and attentive boyfriend, and I think Nick was rather good in that aspect, with the slight question at the end
of whether his affection is truly love or a blood bond
).

Sel was also a complex character - but as complex as his background can be, I didn't really vibe with him. Old man Davis is also a compelling character, I could really see and understand his motivations (though not necessarily the root cause). I thought Alice was rather under-utilised in this book.

I also liked Patricia and how she acted like a bridge for Bree and the heritage she was seeking. William was another absolutely fun character, but I was rather confused about his age/wisdom, as some of his personality traits seemed to vary throughout the book. The rest of the cast was fine, I think it was perhaps a tad too large to do specific things with each individual, but it would be interesting to see how/if they change for the remainder of the series.

I didn't quite understand/vibe with the setting. Part of me understood why it was used, given some of the themes explored (privilege, inherited wealth & power, etc), but it felt like the whole College aspect became a bit of a background decoration, with it there to justify some of Bree's interactions with specific characters. The school aspect took a backseat to the bigger setting of the
magical war
.

I would have LOVED to see the
root magic
explored in more detail. I think it was a very interesting take on magic, and would have loved seeing Bree tap into that side of her power more actively. Perhaps one for future books? Also, whilst I like the idea of using the Legend of Arthur as another magical idea, I wasn't entirely sold on it. As in, I didn't quite see why it had to be this legend that had to be used and nothing else. 

The other thing I wasn't quite sure on was towards the end, where
Davis just spills all his plans to both Bree and Alice and lets them both walk away? If he had such a powerful Merlin on his side, why didn't he just block/mess with Bree's memories on the spot - especially given Sel's reaction to Isaac and how the latter is seen as such a dangerous Merlin master.
Too many things came crashing down towards the end, making the book have this feeling of being too long and too short at the same time.

Overall, it was a solid book nonetheless. 
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