A review by the_jennnster
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

5.0

Perfect for fans of [b:Once & Future|36233085|Once & Future (Once & Future #1)|Amy Rose Capetta|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531148558l/36233085._SY75_.jpg|57874613] and [b:Ninth House|43263680|Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1)|Leigh Bardugo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553102141l/43263680._SY75_.jpg|53348200], Tracy Deonn's Legendborn brings a much-needed twist to the classic tale of King Arthur, bringing the story into the modern day alongside the struggles of sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews.
Fresh from the death of her mother and her transition to UNC-Chapel Hill's Early College program, Bree quickly finds herself swept up in secret societies, ancient legacies, and the mysterious circumstances of her mother's death, diving through the history of both the Order of the Round Table that carries on the mission of King Arthur's knights and her own family's in her grief-fueled quest to figure out the truth about not only her own mysterious new abilities, but the questions surrounding the supposed accident that took her mother's life.
As a longtime fan of Arthurian legend and resident of North Carolina, this book was familiar in all of the best ways. As a white person, it was an insight into the struggles that Southern Black women endure every day, in both microaggressions and generational trauma. Deonn's writing is well-suited to the YA genre with an emotional, character-driven first-person perspective filled to the brim with Bree's hard-earned resolve, and her twisting ever-growing plot kept me glued to the page to the very end.