Though this book is labelled as Young Adult, it’s appeal is pretty broad. To my mind it would be like saying “Star Wars” is Young Adult. It is, but there are layers to be uncovered…And speaking of layers... High schooler Bree gets a chance to study at a special program at University of North Carolina. And there are secret societies, grief, friendship, and coming of age issues all taking place while strange things are afoot! We learn more about the “Legendborn” and as we start filling in the blanks, the stakes are raised (of course). This all takes place with a University in the background and provides a lot of rich opportunities for interaction.
There is a little violence, but not terrible. There are LGBTQ+ characters, and it is possible that Bree is, but I doubt it at this point. There is very light romance, but nothing spicy that I can recall. As mentioned there is grief and dealing with grief, but it is done well. I have both read this book and listened to the audio version on libro.fm. Both were top shelf, and I am pretty picky on audio books.
Tracy Deonn’s second book in the series, Bloodmarked, is coming out on November 8th, and this would be a perfect time to pick up the series!
Review by Scott Hughes