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The POC and queer rep in this book is good for the YA community.

Norris. McKinnon. Tor. Three comments, three assumptions, three people who've singled me out because of how I look and what they've decided I represent. In forty-eight hours.
How many cuts am I going to have to endure?

If the world is simple, certain people will never inconvenienced, never need to adapt. I disrupt those people, and you do too.

We need books like this to call out and make more people see and realize what is wrong with the world. And the way Bree reacted to the bullying because of her skin color? It's awesome. I love that she stands up for herself and makes those people be ashamed of what they said.

The book also deals with heavy grief and trauma. The magic system in this book is quite cool, especially the parts about Rootcraft and its connection with ancestors and African religion. The part about Arthurian Legend...It's just average YA.

But I can't say I'm really impressed with the plot. I have no problem with the info dump. It's the plot.
In Legendborn, we follow Bree into the world of demon and magical hunters at a fraternity house that looks like the New York Institute, as she fought other contestants to join the ranks of Shadowhunters. My mistake. The ranks of Legendborn, a king Arthur-themed medieval organization, where people call each other only by one syllable of their names (Evan=Ev. Selwyn=Sel. Victoria=Tor. Felicity=Flick. Sarah=Sar. ...do people in America really do that? Except William. They somehow call him William. Don't understand why they skipped the most obvious choice.) When I saw the sentence Sel and Sar and Tor aren't back I just lost it. The Order/Clave protects Onceborns/Mundanes from demon that comes through the Gate/Hellish dimensions while human don't know anything about it, because Merlins/warlocks will erase people's memory if they accidentally see anything. Also Merlins can summon demons.

I have really no prior reads about King Arthur and the round table stories, so forgive me if I sound ignorant on that front.

Watch Bree as she figures everything out lightning-fast despite the ambiguous expositions, conceives a rather rash plan to find out about her mother's death on the spot, and attempts to win a competition with zero training and info. She asks herself typical YA questions like But if I don't know Nick, then why do I trust him? And falls in love before three days has passed in the book. No. Why. Don't. Also, I can't get over the fact that Bree ran out on about ten conversations while people were still talking to her. It's just...not good manners.

There are of course—two hot guys, one angry and brooding and only wears black ( He belongs to the night as a predator does. And likes predators, he takes our measure. When his glittering golden eyes find me, a line from childhood comes to mind unbidden: All the better to see you with, my dear. oh hey Jace), one sunny and helpful guy with facial features can be both loose, charismatic and stern, noble with eyebrows drawn tight at the same time. There's also Victoria Morgan (Isabelle Lightwood), the Legendborn Scion of the Line of Tristan, third ranked. And then there's this love triangle that I couldn't care less about...oh god this book would be so much better if there isn't any romance in it.

Legends are dangerous, Bree. Don't underestimate them.
I seem to have read that somewhere before...All stories are true...? Maybe I'm just paranoid. Anyway, Lord Davis loves quoting Tennyson as much as Valentine Morgenstern loves Paradise Lost.

The fighting scenes got repetitive after a while, and they were frankly quite low-staked. The banters bored me. The writing is very YA. I got annoyed around halfway, but people told me to hang on so I did, expecting some sort of reveal or change that would make me say oh my god! Yes! It's not what I thought at all! Except that after I got to 90% I'm still waiting for something to change. I kept reading because the reviews mentioned a twist in the end that would blow my mind. It was a little unexpected, but I still don't love it as much as everyone. It's still a pretty decent YA, and complex enough for a debut, but I wasn't wowed and the hype made me expected way too much. If the characters are less tropey and more developed (Most of the side characters we only know about their race or sexuality) I might like it better.

I don't have plans to read the next book.