Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
"After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-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."
I have been spoiled in my reads lately and I fear that this streak of amazing reads won't last forever. But wow. This book was amazing! I don't think I have instantly known a book was going to be good the way this one was in a very long time. OMG this was so good.
I was instantly absorbed in the mythology of this book. There's the Legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as well as the ancestral Rootwork which is a form of fantasy magic inspired by African American history and spirituality. This world is intricately layered and the characters are gut-wrenchingly real. Bree is a badass and so very human. She's got very real teenage insecurities as well as some serious trama and it feels like those realistically show up in her character.
“Don't make your life about the loss. Make it about the love.”
― Tracy Deonn, Legendborn
I should say though, this book deals pretty heavily with grief and loss. You pretty much see Bree deal with the death of her mother in real-time and this book doesn't shy away from the messy parts of that. There are also many cringe-worthy scenes that you'd expect from a character who is walking through a world of rich, white, and powerful men. Keep yourself self safe if that's not something you can read about right now.
But seriously I cannot recommend this book enough. If you really need a fantasy with a badass protagonist who breaks rules and makes waves, pick this one up!
My copy of this book was an ARC won in a Goodreads Giveaway and provided by Simon & Schuster.
Genre: fantasy, ya
Representation: Black MC, lesbian SC, non-binary SC, bi SC
Content Warnings: death of a parent, violence, racism, racial slurs, character death, rape (implied/not explicit), micro-agressions/rich white people being the worst