Have you ever celebrated a book character’s birthday before? Well, the protagonist Bree Matthews from The Legendborn Cycle series celebrated her birthday this past month.
And she’s waiting for you to join her story.
Bree’s birthday month, or what author Tracy Deonn calls NovemBREE, offers the perfect motivation to start reading The Legendborn Cycle series. For long-time veterans, it’s a good time to refresh your memory before the third book, Oathbound, is released on March 4th, 2025!
Although the month is over, NovemBREE could be the sign for you to get into the series over the winter!
Background Information
Tracy Deonn is the author of The Legendborn Cycle series. The first book, Legendborn, was released on September 15th, 2020, and the sequel, Bloodmarked, was released on November 8th, 2022. Through her writing, Deonn has crafted impactful and empowering works that capture the wonder of multiple worlds within our own.
Deonn created Bree in her mind for a long time before even putting her on paper. Bree, like Deonn, was also grieving the loss of her mother.
Bree was the flame of resilience, the ferocity of injustice, and the raw power of her emotions — the culmination of those who came before her. But she was still a human who could make mistakes and own up to them.
Who wouldn’t want to dive into an incredible and complex world such as Bree’s?
Well, now is the perfect time to start reading! As for the long-lost readers, why don’t I serve small recaps, with reviews on the side?
Hold up! Spoilers ahead. If you haven’t read any of the books yet, save yourselves and hold off on the recap. You don’t want to ruin the fun right?
Book one: Legendborn
Main Points Recap:
Here are the major details of the book; the other important details of the book you can go back and read yourself! (Wink-wink.)
It begins with Briana Matthews (Bree) and her best friend Alice Chen joining an early college program at UNC-Chapel Hill in North Carolina following the passing of Bree’s mother.
Bree and Alice attend a college party for the young adult vibes, but the party is attacked by beings only Bree could see. Afterwards, Bree gains a peer mentor to watch her: Nick Davis, a blond-haired, blue-eyed sweetheart.
Nick introduces Bree to the Lodge of the Legendborn, a place where the descendants of King Arthur and the Round Table lived and trained to fight the Shadowborn. Nick is the heir of Arthur’s bloodline, and Selwyn Kane (Sel) is his bonded Kingsmage — and also a half-demon.
After Bree finds out that her mother could have potentially been a part of it (or was accidentally caught up in it), she convinces Nick to indoctrinate her into the Legendborn world so she can learn the truth about her mother’s death.
Bree and Nick start to develop feelings for each other as well (super cute!)
During the initiation, Sel questions Bree’s timely arrival to their world without a background. Thinking Bree is a disguised Shadowborn, Sel decides that he should kill her. Rude!
Bree discovers magic within her lineage. Her assigned therapist, Patricia, was a Rootcrafter who worked with root aligned to the earth and her ancestry of Black women. Bree learns about the abilities of her mother and other Rootcrafters — and her own abilities, too.
Revenge becomes Bree’s motive to infiltrate the Legendborn. Her last straw is facing the truth of her mom’s accident (with Sel, of all people).
Nick shocks everyone when he chooses Bree as his Squire. And then come the riots and racist remarks from the Order…not fun.
Nick’s father and another Merlin, Isaac, suddenly kidnap Nick to force Arthur to call him and for Camlaan to begin (kidnapping your own child is wild).
Bree gains insight into her powers: she is a descendant of both Bloodcrafters (still kind of Rootcraft, but her ancestor Vera made it a bloodline thing) and of Arthur, but not without the cost of terrible violence.
Bree joins the Legendborn and rescues Nick, only to be taken again the next day by his father and Isaac. With the powers of Bloodcraft, a Medium, and of Arthur, Bree is faced with her lineage
Mini Review:
Things that worked well for me in this book:
Emotional writing: Bree’s emotions proved instrumental in her evolution as a character and her reconciliation with herself throughout the story, along with the raw process of grief and loss. Deonn embedded characterization and individual reactions for all her characters that made them feel realistic.
Magic systems: It’s already so elaborate with the Order and the abilities of the Scions and Squires and bonds, but my favorite part is its incorporation of another magic system called Rootcraft. This type of magic derives power from Black ancestry, venerating their roots and the sacrifices they made.
Both magic systems were very detailed, especially in expressing their ties to racism and colonialism.
Free verse: During the highly impactful climax of the book, Deonn uses free verse to reveal Bree’s family history. The writing style is easy to read, keeping the revelation effective while not making readers struggle through paragraphs of backstory.
Themes of oppression: It covers both racism and sexism, explaining experiences of pain, trauma, and resilience.
The way Deonn weaves complex themes into the fabric of her characters makes them emotionally stimulating and exceedingly relevant to contemporary issues. Various examples of discrimination and oppression — some blatant and some subtle — were frustratingly accurate.
Things that I think could’ve worked better:
The influx of characters: While I understand that many characters needed for the magic system, I often found myself confused about who was who. I kept referring back to specific parts of the book to recall their appearances and connections. It made certain characters less engaging, unless Bree interacted with them more.
Presentation of the magic system: As with any fantasy book, there’s a lot of world-building to process. However, the information presented itself in multiple paragraphs of dialogue — sometimes interrupting the flow of a scene or plot.
I would also like a chart somewhere in the book to clarify which characters belong under what bloodline, along with a glossary for the terms used in the book.
Lastly, where’s Alice? I wanted to see more of her. Bree’s journey separated from her, but Alice’s role and presence were supposed to be significant given their close friendship. Bringing in Alice solidified their relationship and provided a reminder of Bree’s human life, so I would like to see her more in the sequel.
Book Two: Bloodmarked
Main Points Recap:
The story starts with Bree meeting the Mageguard of the Order and Seneschal Erebus for the first time, who were sent to protect her during the funeral service. They arrested Sel after the Order accused him of being a traitor.
During the Rite of Kings ritual, Bree connects to Nick briefly through Lancelot, his ancestor. Then the Order tranquilizes Bree and drugs her to dampen her power as they interrogate her.
BOOM! Alice breaks Bree out of the facility with the help of Lieges and rescues William and Sel. They escape on a plane, action-movie style, to a safe house. Bree also stumbles across a new Medium ability to access Arthur’s memories and connect with Nick.
They go to the Crossroads Lounge, where they meet Valec.
Valec introduces Lucille, a Rootcrafter, who tells them about the Hunter. Bree agrees to face him if Lucille shows her how to control her powers.
Bree and Sel determine Nick’s location, but the Mageguard are already there when they arrive. They kill Nick’s father, and in vengeance, Nick beheads the killer and disappears. Bree shares some of her root with Sel to fight against Erebus.
They move to Volition, where Bree tries ancestor work. She figures out how to add Sel to Arthur’s memories (genius).
The Mageguard arrive, luring Bree out using her former therapist, Patricia, as a hostage. Bree summons Arthur and harms almost everyone in the process, including Sel and Alice.
The Mageguard brings Bree/Arthur to the Lodge. Descendants of Morgaine, Arthur’s sister, reveal themselves and try to kill Bree’s body holding Arthur’s spirit.
Arthur shoves Bree into his world and takes control. Lancelot (Nick) and Merlin (Sel) finds her, but Sel’s choice to save her causes him to succumb to his demon side.
Bree cuts off her ancestors’ magic and calls out the Shadow King, who is Erebus. She bargains with him to strengthen her powers in exchange for Sel being brought to his mother.
Mini Review:
Things that I liked about this book:
The magic system and worldbuilding were as strong as ever: The book contains a lot of information, but it is still well-constructed, combining Bloodcraft, Rootcraft, and Medium abilities and their histories. For example, the characters’ visit to Volition gave me chills and left me in awe.
Alice showed up more in the book! Her bigger role highlighted the importance of her friendship with Bree, which connects Bree to her humanity and her life before everything happened.
Also, we needed another girl as smart as hell to push back against Sel’s broody behavior.
Emotional writing and planning of scenes: Deeonn builds intense emotional stakes during the interrogation. It was absolutely haunting to read what they did to Bree. And the culmination of Bree’s meeting with all three Regents? Her expression was phenomenal, as with all the other character transformations in this sequel.
The memories of Arthur: The way Bree and Nick played it like a script in a production gave a new sense of control for the characters in the story. It was an even better way to gather context from Arthur’s story.
The point of view switching from Bree to Arthur was so jarring in the best way. And the reaction of Arthur’s world to Bree and her defiance had great, nightmarish details.
Things that I think could’ve worked better:
How do we feel about the worldbuilding boundaries? For fantasy especially, it’s difficult to not get lost in how much the world expands after leaving the bubble of the first book.
Adding more characters wasn’t so bad of a transition, but at certain parts, I struggled with the universal magic systems.
More connections to Rootcraft magic and community. While Bree is understandably stuck in the Legendborn world, the Rootcraft community and its symbolic justice are critical.
We got more amazing details like Volition and bloodwalking through Bree’s ancestors, but I would love to see even more of Bree’s identity.
More exposure to culture: The cuisine made at the station and the barn is a good example. A few cultural details would make it more personal for readers to understand “before” Bree.
That’s all for now!
I encourage you to give this series a try — or reread it! Oathbound’s March release means that you have plenty of time to get lost in Tracy Deonn’s expansive world of fantasy. Bree would love to have you join, for the first time or once again.
For the people who already read it: What do you think about the series so far?
