Bloodmarked (2) (The Legendborn Cycle) Hardcover – November 8, 2022

How do I even begin to tell you how much I love this series and Author Tracy Deonn? I love the concept, the writing and the mood of this series and this book two: Bloodmarked is the next chapter of Bree's story.Bree has power now. At least she should have. Bree had thought the war she was fighting was between the demons and the Order that protected human life but she quickly discovers that is not the only war she has to fight. The Regents have their own plans. As does Arthur. Bree has only her friends to rely on and while her own power is growing it's uncontrolled and this lack of control is putting her in danger. She must find a way to control her power to keep everyone she loves safe. The cost is high but the cost of doing nothing is higher. She has to rescue Nick and herself, risking Sel's life in the process and it puts all of her friends in danger.The writing of Tracy Deonn draws you quickly into the story. Her writing style allows for a pacey, enjoyable read that I had to force myself to slow down and savour. And I did savour this book. Every page was a joy. Descriptions of locations and settings do not slow the pace of the tale in the slightest, neither do explanations of history, myth and legend. Even the incredibly painful reminders of American Black history do not slow or choke the story in its tracks. Tough topics of violent death, physical and emotional racial abuse, emotional generational trauma and degradation are handled delicately and deftly but with strength and pride. The juxtaposition of the legendborn arthurian patriarchal power and the matriarchal rootcraft that war within Bree's body is a brilliant storytelling tool used beautifully by Tracy Deonn to tell this tale.Magic and demons, merlins and rootcraft and aether - all the fantastical elements are cleverly woven throughout the story and do not take the reader out of the flow at all. And I love me some Arthur mythology and sword fighting! The mutable and inconsistent quality of myths and legends cause Bree all sorts of strife. Everyone has secrets and the telling of history (depending on who is doing the telling) has a way of hiding the truth behind shadows, half-truths and straight up lies and add all sorts of twists to Bree's tale of power and empowerment.There are also so many fabulous characters in this series to love. Bree, Selwyn, William, Nick, Alice and more, and plenty of new faces and personalities are introduced to enjoy. The ghostly presences are also numerous, entertaining and grippingly powerful in the stories they have to tell.An altogether enjoyable book two and a terrific series. I totally recommend Bloodmarked. A perfect book two.

While Legendborn is a great introduction, Bloodmarked excels at expanding a well laid base. The characters and plot becomes more complex, introducing a multi-villain approach and how they’re woven makes you question all and everything that you know. I read with distrust because I truly cannot discern who is a good guy and who is a villain. Very good at touching the topics of becoming into oneself and further exploring grief and its effects. The ending felt a bit rushed to me and somewhat dissonant with the good pace and overall structure the book had going, but it’s a worthy sequel to an amazing story. Can’t wait for the next installment!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC, we definitely recommend this book and series. We have a major book hangover after reading.Things we like: The writing is still detailed and descriptive. Most of our main characters are kept together despite this being a typical second book in a YA trilogy where the cast of characters are on a traveling journey. We love that we get more Sel and less Nick (team Brelwyn forever!!)Things that could have been better: It often does feel a lot like: team of characters gets to place is betrayed, flees to another place, gets betrayed, flees again. Also we wished we saw her train more. She makes a few measly attempts but doesn't tap into the resources she has until the VERY end of the book and of course when battle comes she is woefully unprepared. We especially wanted to see her connect to her root craft more and focus on using her powers. Also the last battle of the book feels lackluster, we honestly thought more of the regents would be taken care of before book three.Anyway this book picks up where we left off with Bree having just learned she’s actually Arthur and has his powers along with her Root ones. Bree is reeling from the truth and Nick’s abduction. Bree is being super irresponsible and sneaking out because she’s been forced to stay put and have bodyguards, which she hates. She wants to train but doesn’t really know how. Of course she gets herself and Sel in trouble when she’s caught by the regents who are apparently in charge of the order. The regents SUCK!She’s introduced to Lark a new Merlin they want her to bond with <spoiler>(he ends of betraying her early on and redeeming himself but I still don’t like him for her). The regents decide to put all the blame on Sel for the first book’s events and try to trap him. They eventually succeed when Bree is almost killed.</spoiler><spoiler>Then Bree and William are abducted by the regents before she can finish the Arthur ceremony. She’s drugged and kind of tortured mentally and William is forced to watch. They escape with the help of some retired order members and then they’re on the run. They go to a safe house and are betrayed by Jonas who sold her out to a demon. Also Tor sold her out from before and told the regents on her before she was abducted.Then they’re on the run again. They go to a bar at the crossroads and meet a balanced cambion and he takes them to a root craft practitioner for help. But not before Bree gets them in trouble (again). While all this traveling and bouncing around happens Bree continued to have more visions/dreams and learns more about her ancestors including Arthur. And she figures out she can connect to Nick in this dream world to check up on him.Turns out the regents are hunting him to kill him. They also are hunting Bree so they can control and trap her. They still want to shackle Sel. So Bree runs again to a reclaimed rotation with the help of root crafters. She connects with her ancestors to learn more about how to harness her root as a weapon and who is hunting her because apparently there’s a deal her ancestor Vera refuses to acknowledge she made with a demon in the past. We don’t know why Vera lies. Then they’re found out and Bree decides to let Arthur in so she can hurt the Merlin’s and regents chasing after them. But Arthur lied he wants to stay permanently in control of her body. The regents take her, but suffer in the process because the plantation refuses to see one of its people in chains again.The regents put Bree/Arthur on display to freak out the other members of the order except they already knew the regents betrayed them and made a deal with Nick and the Morgaines (the morgaines still want to murder her we don’t know why but we are told that migraine was betrayed and the group blames Arthur). Sel and Nick arrive in time to get Bree back in control after Bree learns that the demon King himself made a deal with Vera and in order to use her magic she has to essentially admit that and harness her power like a demon would. In order to save her Sel feeds off her energy turning full demon (he has a moment on the road where we find out that he’s close to losing his humanity) also Arthur/Bree accidentally hurt Alice. When Bree comes too she learns what she did and what Sel did to save her. She figures out she has to make her own deal to save Sel and to train herself (she has been poorly attempting to train on and off in this book with little success). She figures out the shadow king made her deal and figures out he was pretending to be one of the regents in order to “protect” her. She agrees to go with him, let him train her, and help him reclaim his court if he takes Sel to his mom who somehow figured out how to not succumb to her demon.</spoiler>So we were able to figure a few things out like what happens to Sel (that one goes to Staci) and exactly who would train her. We didn't quite see one of the regent's true colors, but it does make sense. We both want to see Sel with his mom, Bree complete training in the next book and to see them take down the Order. It'll be curious to see what happens with Nick, we both want different things for him and given that the OG myth has Lancelot betraying Arthur there is room for something interesting with him in the next book. We also both expect Alice to be different in book three. Also how will Bree's most recent deal pan out when it comes to her life?Anyway, if you love fantasy and books that fill you with theories, this is a book and series for you.

I remember reading Legendborn back in 2021 and thinking “wow this is going to be a wild ride” oh boy how right I was. The first book felt like a nice introduction to the story and characters but this book really took me on a journey. Bree is such a great character, her development through out the story is so realistic. She’s been put through so much. Every twist and turn of this story had me on the edge of my seat. Now let’s talk about my best boys! Selwyn, Nick and William. Omg I fell in love with them all over again. Honourable mention would be Valec. He really grew on me. Lark is a cutie too.Spoilers and my best girl ALICE! 🥹 I hope to see more of her in the next book! That ending was something else but I can’t help but agree with Bree’s decision. I just hope it pays off in the end.I dare say, I loved this more then book 1. 10/10 ⭐️Looking forward to book 3!!!

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I truly enjoyed the Legendborn Cycle. I have never read a non fiction fantasy book that has touched me so profoundly.Tracy Deonn has produced a masterpiece that connects you to past and present life’s that gives a true perspective on cultural issue’s relevant then and now.Thank you, a book that I will always remember.

An incredible follow-up to the first book, this one excels by deepening our knowledge of the world that the author established here. And while the twist at the end wasn't as mind-blowing as the original (could've seen it coming), it left the narrative in a very intriguing moment as to where to move forward to.Can't wait for the follow-up!