Review–Legend (Legend #1) by Marie Lu

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Legend (Legend #1)

by Marie Lu
 
Summary: 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.


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Source: I purchased a Kindle copy

Review:

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Legend was great! I was sucked into the story immediately and I flew through the pages quickly. I really liked June and Day as characters and I liked getting their points of view back and forth throughout the novel because they both had similar thought processes, but completely different circumstances and surroundings.

Legend was a YA dystopian and there were elements of the story I’d seen before because I’ve read so many dystopian novels. But June wasn’t your typical girl about everything, which was what I was expecting. She was unlike what I’m used to seeing in YA dystopian novels. There were naïve aspects about her, but it made sense that she would lack understanding about the slums having been brought up in a rich family. She was extremely logical and tough, which made her stand out to me as a character. Day was also unlike other male leads in YA novels. He was cunning and resourceful, but genuinely caring and nice as well. He wasn’t the cold and distant type of logical, nor was he the sweet, but dense friendly kind of character, either. There should be more Day’s in YA fiction.

I understand now why so many people recommend this trilogy. It was well written and intriguing. I loved the setting, with the US split into the Republic and the Colonies and the inhabitants of the Republic not really believing that the United States was ever a thing. I’m eager to find out more about how the world is broken down and what the fractured US looks like as a whole, which I’m sure I’ll find out in the remaining books.

My only issue with the novel is that it was predictable to some degree. I don’t know if it was because I’ve read so many dystopian novels that I know the routine: things are not what they seem, people aren’t to be trusted, the government is lying to you, etc. After June figured out things weren’t how they seemed, the story wasn’t nearly as predictable and I was eager to find out what she would do with that information. And before she discovered her government was lying to her, I was eager to see how she would eventually put the pieces together. It’s not good for a novel to be predictable, but I also don’t think that the predictability hindered the book much. It was still captivating and I knew that it was a first book and would be doing a lot of building up to the major conflict.

I can’t wait to continue the trilogy and find out what happens next. I enjoy many first books of dystopian trilogies and often dislike the rest, so I’m eager to see if the series gets better with each book and continues on an upward trend.

 4%2520star 

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