Legend (Legend #1)
By Marie Lu
Genre: YA Dystopian
Recommended Ages: 15+
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
The Gist:
Legend felt like yet another generic dystopian novel about a young girl and boy fighting against the mean ruling power. I don’t mind dystopia, but there was nothing different or unique about this book. Nothing like the intensity of Hunger Games or Divergent. Throughout the story, we watch June, a prodigy of the Republic, and Day, the rebel bad-boy, overcome obstacles to get to a place where they have to work together towards a common goal. Honestly though, if this wasn’t a super popular series and I didn’t have some weird obsessive compulsive thing about not finishing a series, I probably wouldn’t move on to book number 2.
What I Liked:
I appreciated how strong, intelligent, and brave June was. I think it’s great for young teenage girls to have characters like that to relate to and aspire to be more like.
The pace wasn’t horrible. Something always seemed to be happening so I’ll count that as a pro. I mean, it really is a fun, quick read if that’s your thing. I just wasn’t that interested in what was happening.
June’s emotional arc from Republic-prodigy to rebel against the Republic was well crafted and shaped. That was aided by the fact that everything she did was driven by her love for her brother.
What I Didn’t Like:
It’s hard to name specific things I didn’t like. The story in general did not intrigue me. There wasn’t anything particularly unique or interesting. It felt like a cookie-cutter dystopian novel. I was frankly bored through a lot of it.
But I think the characters is where the main problem lies with me. They weren’t anything special to me. I think a lot of the personalities were very similar and none of them felt very complex to me.
LunasLuckyRating: 3/5 Lunas
