Was OATHBOUND the original ending?

Hey, Lovely Reader,

Is it just me or did March fly by?! I am finally catching my breath now that I’m home from our (incredible, mind blowing!) national U.S. book tour, but there’s still so much to be excited about. Let’s kick this newsletter off with a round up of highlights from Oathbound’s first month of publication, shall we? In the last four weeks, Oathbound:

• Sold out a nationwide, nine-city, ten-event tour!

• Led The Legendborn Cycle series to debut at #1 on the New York Times Children's and Young Adult Bestselling Series List. Bree was the crown at the top of a list of literal giants in the industry. Go, Bree-Bree!

• Debuted at #6 on the USA Today Bestseller List, which encompasses all books, all genres, across formats! This is a huge deal.

• Became an international bestseller at #6 on both the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail bestseller lists.

• Brought new and returning readers to the Cycle and to Legendborn.

• Maybe exploded some folks’ minds? Sorry? Or you’re welcome?

The Cycle’s “First Three” Hardcover Box Set

Speaking of new and returning readers, if you have not yet collected The Legendborn Cycle in hardback, you can do so today with a “first three” hardcover box set that collects the current titles in the series: Legendborn, Bloodmarked, and Oathbound. It’s not a complete box set (of course! There’s one more book to come!) but it’s a tidy way to snag the hardcovers for your shelves if you’d like them, as many stores now only carry the paperback editions of Legendborn and Bloodmarked. This “first three” box set also makes a nice gift to a friend so you can invite them to the BreeHive and shout about the Cycle together. (We are a shouty bunch!)

Where you can find the box set:

• Bookshop

• Barnes & Noble

• Amazon

Just a reminder, this box set is incomplete! It’s ideal for folks who don’t have the first three books in The Legendborn Cycle in hardcover yet, but want them.

“Was OATHBOUND the original ending?” An Interesting Question from Tour.

I had such a great time on this tour! I signed thousands of books on the road, woke up super early for daily flights, and had a blast meeting so many of you. We had four events with author in-conversation partners (shout out to Chloe Gong, Olivie Blake, Nia Davenport, and Jill Tew!) but most of the events were a Q&A format where it was just me on stage answering y’all’s burning questions.

A question that came up several times in several different ways on tour was, essentially: “What made you decide to add a fourth book to the Legendborn Cycle?” Some readers were surprised when I shared that OATHBOUND is a middle book added to the series, rather than being the “original ending” to the initially planned trilogy. I wrote a little about this in a previous newsletter post shared here, but there’s more to add now that OB is out in the world. The two additional answers below are spoiler-free!

• One of the answers I shared in response to this question was that after really sitting with the promises I’ve made myself (and implicitly, to readers!) about Bree’s epic being one of both self-discovery and Black girl power, I realized I needed a longer runway to fully set her up for an ending that would deliver on the promises of her journey. Essentially, the series ending has to be earned in a way that satisfies my set up, and Bree needed more time and space to figure out what her role would become after all that had been forced upon her. If you’ve read Oathbound, you probably know what I mean.

• I also shared that I wanted to spend time with tropes that I could subvert and play with in order to highlight not only Bree’s path but the paths of those around her. (Remember, tropes are tools!) I love flipping tropes and YA archetypes on their heads, and while juggling the heavy consequences from the previous books, I needed a dose of that playfulness to help illustrate what the series would and would not be doing, and who these characters had become and could become. I won’t spoil anything about those tropes here, but just know that Oathbound includes something I have come to call a “trope turducken” that I am especially proud of.

Up Next: YALLWest!

I can’t wait to meet more readers at YALLWest in Santa Monica, CA on May 3. This festival is one of my favorites every year, and I just know we’ll get to dig into more Oathbound and Legendborn Cycle reader reactions and joy. Will you be there?

Happy reading,

Tracy