Atlantic County Library System

UnCovered review by Nancy Wessler, Librarian, ACLS Mays Landing Branch

Sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews enters into the prestigious Early College program at UNC-Chapel Hill still deeply mourning the death of her mother three months prior. She is fleeing the painful memories of home, but on her first night at school she witnesses an act of magic - a magic that can erase memories, a magic that she realizes was used to erase her memories on the night her mother died. No longer certain that her mother’s death was an accident, Bree soon finds herself immersed in the world of a secret Arthurian society, the members of which are descended from the actual Knights of the Round Table and whose mission is to protect humanity from otherworldly demons. Joining their ranks may mean finding the answers to her mother’s past, but it also means risking life and limb in a magical war centuries in the making and discovering truths about herself that have long lay hidden.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn is a YA urban fantasy that hits all the sweet spots of the genre. There’s a dangerous magical world hidden within our ordinary one; an engaging and relatable protagonist with powers she doesn’t understand; a diverse, fully-formed supporting cast ready to provide banter, romance, tension, and adversity; scary monsters heralding calamity; and the early makings of a love triangle. What sets Legendborn apart, however, is the way in which Deonn interweaves the very real issues of grief, racism, oppression, and inheritance into this tale of the fantastic. The book addresses the entirety of Bree’s experience as a Black girl in North Carolina, exploring the ongoing legacy of white supremacy and American chattel slavery as well as championing the ways in which Black Americans have always survived, resisted, and thrived. There are revelations later in the book that are equal parts devastating and uplifting.

Ultimately, Legendborn is a story about love and loss. It explores the nature of power and who gets to wield it, generational trauma, and the things we owe our forbearers, each other, and ourselves. Also, King Arthur! Magic swords!