16-year-old Bree enrols at a residential programme for bright high-schoolers after her mother dies in an accident to escape the past. On her first night, she sees a magical attack on campus – a secret society of so-called Legendborn that hunts creatures down. A mysterious mage who calls himself a “Merlin” attempts to wipe Bree’s memory but fails. Bree remembers everything she saw. The witnessing of the magical attack and the Merlin’s failure to wipe Bree’s memory unlock Bree’s unique magical power and a memory from the night of her mother’s death. Bree joins the secret society to discover the truth about her mother’s death. But when the Legendborn reveals themselves as descendants of King Arthur’s Knights, Bree must decide how far she wants to go for the truth.
Look at me, reading my first Fantasy/ Magical Realism novel and enjoying every bit of it. I want to start by saying I have no idea who or what the round table or descendants of King Arthur’s Knights are. Count me clueless. The author did so well explaining the round table, the descendants of King Arthur's Knights and the centuries-old supernatural war. This book is well written – leaving no room for confusion in the mind of the readers.
I loved Bree’s character. She is strong, smart, intelligent, funny, and proud of the Black community and Black roots. I loved Bree’s growth from the girl putting on a brave front to bury her loss and grief to the girl who comes to terms with the beautiful memory of the love she shared with her mother, her roots and history as well as the girl who unlocks her unique magic. I can not talk about Bree without mentioning her feelings for Nick. The love and emotions they shared were beautiful.
Things I loved about the book:
A black Young Adult lead with unique magic – African American Magic called Rootcraft.
Relationships and Friendships. Sel’s and Bree’s enemy to friends, Bree’s relationship with white boy Nick, Bree’s friendship with her best friend, Alice Chen – A lesbian and Taiwanese-American, Sels crush on Nick, Sarah and Tor.
Simple and easy-to-understand hierarchy and positions of the descendants of King Arthur, and Round Table: Legendborn, Scion, Onceborn, Pages, Squire, Merlins, Kingsmage among others.
Racism: In as much as, this book is about the descendants of King Arthur, the author did well to portray what Black people go through living in America.
I highly recommend this one.
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