Read This Book…

Bree Matthews and her best friend Alice are attending the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Early College Program. Bree is Black and Alice is Taiwanese-American and they saw this program as the best way for two girls from marginalized backgrounds to get out of their small, rural North Carolina town. Bree’s mom attended UNC and it’s always been a dream of Bree’s to go, though her mom didn’t like that idea for reasons unbeknownst to Bree.

During their first night on campus, Bree and Alice find themselves at the traditional (and illegal) first-year student cliff-jumping at Eno Quarry. At the quarry, things take a turn for the magical and frightening. After witnessing a little too much, Bree runs away and is arrested along with Alice who takes them back to campus. The next morning, the dean’s office summons them both and they are assigned peer mentors, second-year Early College Program students who have made better choices. Bree’s peer mentor is Nick Davis. He’s trying to be friendly and walk her back to her dorm when things get weird, magical, and terrifying again. Bree stumbles upon some large, glowing, absolutely frightening creature. It tries to attack but Nick jumps between her and the monster and tells her to run. Bree passes out and wakes up in one of the giant stately homes off campus. Nick brought her there, to their healer.

Nick is part of a secret society and is what is called Legendborn, a direct descendent of King Arthur and his round table. They assume Bree must be one of them, because she saw the hellhound and normal people can’t. Meanwhile, Bree has close to no idea what is going on but everyone else there thinks she knows more than she is letting on. Once Bree knows this little bit, she can’t unknow it. And maybe she has more of a connection than she realizes. So she plans on infiltrating this secret society.

There is so much in this book. Different kinds of magics, lots of monsters, both the human kind and the fantastical, Black girl magic, of course, and tons of fun.

Content warnings: the book immediately starts with our main character’s mother’s death and additional content warnings for lots of racism. This is the first book in a series and the second is due out later this year.

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