Today I am delighted to be sharing my review of the incredible Oathbound by Tracy Deonn. This is a continuation of the Legendborn Cycle series, one of my favourite YA fantasy series at the moment, and a highly anticipated read of 2025 for me. Thank you to Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This review originally appeared on The Nerd Daily.
Bree Matthews is alone. She exiled herself from the Legendborn Order, cut her ancestral connections, and turned away from the friends who can’t understand the impossible cost of her powers. This is the only way to keep herself – and those she loves – safe.
But Bree’s decision has come with a terrible price: an unbreakable bargain with the Shadow King himself, a shapeshifter who can move between humanity, the demon underworld, and the Legendborn secret society. In exchange for training to wield her unprecedented abilities, Bree has put her future in the Shadow King’s hands – and unwittingly bound herself to do his bidding as his new protégé.
Meanwhile, the other Scions must face war with their Round Table fractured, leaderless, and missing its Kingsmage, as Selwyn has also disappeared. When Nick is detained by the Order’s Merlins, he invokes an ancient law that requires the High Council of Regents to convene at the Northern Keep and grant him an audience. No one knows what he will demand of them . . . or what secrets he has kept hidden from the Table.
As a string of mysterious kidnappings escalates and Merlins are found dead, it becomes clear that no matter how hard Bree runs from who she is, the past will always find her.
Publication Date: 4th March
CW: death, murder, violence, manipulation, grief, racism, sexism
My Thoughts:
Oathbound is a must-read of the year so far. If you haven’t already started the Legendborn Cycle series, you are missing out on pure excellence.
The Legendborn Cycle is one of my all-time favourite YA series, so it will come as no surprise that Oathbound was a book I was counting down towards release day for. It is just such an epic tale with characters that find a space in your heart and a plot that is compulsively readable. With each book, Deonn has elevated her world even more. Everything is intentional and placed so well, giving us space to learn more about details from previous books and how they slot into the overarching jigsaw puzzle of this series. Deonn is also ruthless for ending these books with cliffhangers that make you almost drop the book and are desperate for more.
Bree is the beating heart of this series and a protagonist for the history books. She has been through so much and a lot of Oathbound grapples with the titles and expectations that have been forced upon her. At the end of the day, she is a grieving teenager thrust into a world that does not want to accept her but is reliant on her power. That is an incredibly heavy burden to bear—all of that responsibility and expectations. Bree’s journey in this book is linked to her reclamation of her power, honing it even further and understanding her abilities around it more. This comes with some severe consequences that are heart-breaking to watch play out. In particular, there is a scene in the final third of the book that epitomises the impossibility of her situation. I fear what Deonn might have in store for us in the next book.
Alongside Bree, we get some new viewpoints this time around. I won’t give anything away, because I think readers will enjoy finding these out for themselves. I will just say I loved these new perspectives and what they added for our understanding of the wider world and plots going on around Bree. It adds a depth and intrigue that is always expanding. On a lighter note, they also spark some potential new connections that are enjoyable. The romance within this book is angsty and gives a new spin on familiar tropes. These are teenagers caught up in complex and deadly games of chess as well as grappling with the traumas they have faced in the past. You get a little more of some characters’ backstories here and the details are just a gut-punch. So when they get to have these more romantic moments of escape and connection with one another, they feel bittersweet. You know they’re a temporary moment of hope amidst the darkness.
This series has such fascinating worldbuilding with roots in real-life evil. I love how unafraid Deonn is to tackle racism and white supremacy, clearly showing the way power structures reinforce this and work to maintain it at all costs. There is a power in calling it out for what it is, especially in this political climate. Black girls deserve to see themselves represented in badass but three-dimensional protagonists like Bree. Even just having her front and centre on all three covers so far is an impactful choice for representation. Within the series, the magic systems we see are so well-constructed and intriguing, but they are forged from places of unimaginable pain. Deonn continues the threads from Bloodmarked to widen our understanding of this world and the power systems at play here, as well as adding new dimensions. It is so immersive and all-consuming.
Oathbound floored me. The Legendborn Cycle continues to be one of the best YA fantasy series out there with a phenomenal protagonist in Bree. This is a powerhouse of a book and I am so excited to see what comes next.
A Short Book Lover 
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