Helpful Score: 2
A premise that sounds like a dystopian Robin Hood? You didnt have to ask me twice if I wanted to read this. Marie Lu provides us with a solid dystopian read in her debut novel that, while not incredible, still proves to be very enjoyable.
LEGENDs strength lies in Lus writing. Written in alternating POVs, Days and Junes voices feel completely natural: both of them have genius-level intelligences, which shows in the way they approach and analyze situations (a great relief from those YA novels whose main characters claim to be smart but then they do or think the most idiotic things). LEGEND will appeal to readers who like their dystopian books endearingly unsentimental, in the way Katniss is a reluctant but still beloved hero. Both June and Day are like that: they are very focused on what needs to be done, and do not exhibit the types of thoughts or behavior that normal teenagers do.
This makes it believable that they live in a world where violence is part of the job description. This is no half-hearted dystopian world: the government does things that leave even me shocked and uncomfortable. LEGEND will surely become one of those books that censorship-happy critics target due to its darkness.
The trouble is, LEGENDs violence does feel a bit gratuitous. Its not that I have qualms about violence in YA fiction; I love The Hunger Games, after all. Its more that I still struggle to understand what purpose the violence in LEGEND serves, except to make the government as scary as possible. But the revelation that June and Day uncover about the government is rather anticlimactic, considering all the setup. I feel more scared by less violence-proven fictional dystopian governments, such as The Givers, than I did by LEGENDs over-the-top controlling government.
While I adored June and Day individually, I felt like their romance left something to be desired. Here, I suppose, is where their age shows, for their mutual attraction seemed to arise more out of the fact that they each find the other to be different than anyone theyve ever met and less due to an actual liking of one another. Still, I did like them individually, and thought they were pretty well developed in that regard. I had no problem with those two as the main characters, but perhaps if the book hadnt been sold to me with such a heavy emphasis on an epic romance I wouldve been more impressed.
So LEGEND is not perfect, but solid writing and two sympathetic main characters make it a cut above most other dystopian YA out there. Dystopian fans will surely want to keep this on their radar, though perhaps toning down your expectations a notch will make it a better read for you.
LEGENDs strength lies in Lus writing. Written in alternating POVs, Days and Junes voices feel completely natural: both of them have genius-level intelligences, which shows in the way they approach and analyze situations (a great relief from those YA novels whose main characters claim to be smart but then they do or think the most idiotic things). LEGEND will appeal to readers who like their dystopian books endearingly unsentimental, in the way Katniss is a reluctant but still beloved hero. Both June and Day are like that: they are very focused on what needs to be done, and do not exhibit the types of thoughts or behavior that normal teenagers do.
This makes it believable that they live in a world where violence is part of the job description. This is no half-hearted dystopian world: the government does things that leave even me shocked and uncomfortable. LEGEND will surely become one of those books that censorship-happy critics target due to its darkness.
The trouble is, LEGENDs violence does feel a bit gratuitous. Its not that I have qualms about violence in YA fiction; I love The Hunger Games, after all. Its more that I still struggle to understand what purpose the violence in LEGEND serves, except to make the government as scary as possible. But the revelation that June and Day uncover about the government is rather anticlimactic, considering all the setup. I feel more scared by less violence-proven fictional dystopian governments, such as The Givers, than I did by LEGENDs over-the-top controlling government.
While I adored June and Day individually, I felt like their romance left something to be desired. Here, I suppose, is where their age shows, for their mutual attraction seemed to arise more out of the fact that they each find the other to be different than anyone theyve ever met and less due to an actual liking of one another. Still, I did like them individually, and thought they were pretty well developed in that regard. I had no problem with those two as the main characters, but perhaps if the book hadnt been sold to me with such a heavy emphasis on an epic romance I wouldve been more impressed.
So LEGEND is not perfect, but solid writing and two sympathetic main characters make it a cut above most other dystopian YA out there. Dystopian fans will surely want to keep this on their radar, though perhaps toning down your expectations a notch will make it a better read for you.
Not too shabby, but not too amazing either.
This book has two perspectives/narrators: Day, who is a 15 year old boy out to protect his family from a plague that is spreading about and June, who is a 15 year old girl who loves her brother and has zipped through schooling with perfection in a safe feeling environment. I don't want to give anything away, but they live in a "Republic" after something occurs in the US, as if the United States was something unknown.
Although this has some creativity involved in it, I don't understand how it seems credible either. I didn't even really get into this book until after the first 100 pages, but I think the ending was far too rushed and sloppy.
This book has two perspectives/narrators: Day, who is a 15 year old boy out to protect his family from a plague that is spreading about and June, who is a 15 year old girl who loves her brother and has zipped through schooling with perfection in a safe feeling environment. I don't want to give anything away, but they live in a "Republic" after something occurs in the US, as if the United States was something unknown.
Although this has some creativity involved in it, I don't understand how it seems credible either. I didn't even really get into this book until after the first 100 pages, but I think the ending was far too rushed and sloppy.
"Legend" is one of the most balanced dual narrator books I have read on a long time. Our protagonists, Day and June, are from completely different sides of society. June is from a wealthy military family. Day lives on the street and spends his time committing rebellious acts against the government. Both characters are very well developed, and over the course of the story we are able to watch them grow and change.
Despite the fact that Day and June are from opposite sides of a conflict, Lu is able to make both sides have equally strong voices and justifications for their actions and choices. As I was reading Days perspective I would think, "Yeah, that totally makes sense, the government is a bunch of pigs, they deserve what theyre getting." Then the perspective would switch to June and Id be forced to see the consequences of what Day had done. Id immediately sympathize with the government. As impressive as the protagonists are, I wish the secondary characters were given the same amount of depth.
The plot is interesting and moves at a good pace. There are several twists that I never saw coming. Some of the twists were very predictable, however, the most obvious being the relationship between Day and June. Not only could I see it coming a mile away, I just didnt buy into it and felt like it wasnt needed. The meat and potatoes of the story is the conflict between the rebels and the government. The story should have stayed focused on that, but it seems to be a prerequisite that all young adult fiction have at least one relationship in it, if not several different ones.
Overall I really enjoyed this and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I hope that in later books we get to see more of the government and better developed secondary characters. Id recommend this to fans of dystopian fiction with corrupt governments, heavy on world building and plot with light romance.
Despite the fact that Day and June are from opposite sides of a conflict, Lu is able to make both sides have equally strong voices and justifications for their actions and choices. As I was reading Days perspective I would think, "Yeah, that totally makes sense, the government is a bunch of pigs, they deserve what theyre getting." Then the perspective would switch to June and Id be forced to see the consequences of what Day had done. Id immediately sympathize with the government. As impressive as the protagonists are, I wish the secondary characters were given the same amount of depth.
The plot is interesting and moves at a good pace. There are several twists that I never saw coming. Some of the twists were very predictable, however, the most obvious being the relationship between Day and June. Not only could I see it coming a mile away, I just didnt buy into it and felt like it wasnt needed. The meat and potatoes of the story is the conflict between the rebels and the government. The story should have stayed focused on that, but it seems to be a prerequisite that all young adult fiction have at least one relationship in it, if not several different ones.
Overall I really enjoyed this and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I hope that in later books we get to see more of the government and better developed secondary characters. Id recommend this to fans of dystopian fiction with corrupt governments, heavy on world building and plot with light romance.
I liked the parkour action mixed with the dystopian setting of the world.
Another entry in the ever-expanding YA dystopic genre, Legend was a decently-written book with an interesting concept but I didn't find anything about this novel to stand out (positively or negatively). It was a quick read and the story moved along apace, but I didn't feel a genuine connection with any of the characters or shocked by any of the plot twists. The story was frequently moved along by coincidences that seemed a bit of a reach. That said, if you're a fan of the genre there's no reason not to read this one. I don't think I liked it enough to read the other two books in the trilogy (Prodigy and Champion) but I wouldn't be opposed to reading something different by the author in the future.
The first in another YA trilogy that fans of divergent, etc... may like. However I didn't think this one was early as deep and tended to be a little predictable. Not sorry I read it because it was a fast read and an interesting plot, but the depth of the story wasn't there and many of the 'twists' were predictable. I may read the next one at some point if the friend who loaned me this one has it to loan as well.
This is the first book in the legend series by Lu. The second book in the series, Prodigy, is set to release in Jan of 2013. This is a decent dystopia novel, but I had some problems with inconsistency in Junes character.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. There are different narrators for June and Day; which made it easy to tell when the book changed point of view.
Day is in hiding as the nations most wanted criminal. He is trying to help out his poverty stricken family and do what he can to give the Republic trouble. June is a prodigy in the Republics army who is trying to track down Day after he kills her brother. The story takes place in a world thats been devastated by some sort of volcanic disaster. The west coast is now known as the Republic and is at war with the rest of the country.
I loved the contrast between the two characters of Day and June. June comes from an influential family with lots of money; she is a prodigy; smart, hard working, and all about following rules. Day is a rebel from a poor family, he is smart but is all about breaking the rules.
The interactions between the two are interesting. They are bitter enemies at first but as time goes on they challenge each other to find out the truth. It is only by Days comments that June ends up digging deeper into some issues with the Republic that have been bothering her.
There are a lot of well done action scenes too. Some of the torture scenes and plague scenes get pretty graphic and gory, just a warning if that bothers you.
The plot is fairly predictable. Things (such as the reoccurring plagues) have origins exactly as you would expect. I kept hoping for some twists and turns that would surprise me and was sorely disappointed.
I was also a bit disappointed in the sameness of this world with so many other dystopian worlds out there. The background behind the Republics origin is never really explained. The cause of the current social status is hinted at (such as when they where white to funerals to represent ash) but also never really explained.
The other thing I didnt enjoy was Junes inconsistency of character. At times in the book she was incredibly insightful and intelligent; then at other times there were things she needed spelled out in the simplest terms. I also found a lot of the events towards the end of the story to be a bit contrived.
The story stops at a decent place. There are a number of issues unresolved but you arent at a total cliffhanger. The writing style is easy to read and engaging.
Overall this is an okay YA dystopian novel. I enjoyed June and Day as contrasting lead characters and the book was engaging and readable. I was a bit disappointed that the world wasnt more interesting and also disappointed that the story was so predictable. All that being said it was a decent story. I would recommend The Hunger Games, Divergent by Veronica Roth, and Mystic City by Theo Lawrence over this book. But if you have read all of those and are still hungering for more dystopia, Legend is a decent enough read. At this point I am not sure whether or not I will read the next book in the series.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. There are different narrators for June and Day; which made it easy to tell when the book changed point of view.
Day is in hiding as the nations most wanted criminal. He is trying to help out his poverty stricken family and do what he can to give the Republic trouble. June is a prodigy in the Republics army who is trying to track down Day after he kills her brother. The story takes place in a world thats been devastated by some sort of volcanic disaster. The west coast is now known as the Republic and is at war with the rest of the country.
I loved the contrast between the two characters of Day and June. June comes from an influential family with lots of money; she is a prodigy; smart, hard working, and all about following rules. Day is a rebel from a poor family, he is smart but is all about breaking the rules.
The interactions between the two are interesting. They are bitter enemies at first but as time goes on they challenge each other to find out the truth. It is only by Days comments that June ends up digging deeper into some issues with the Republic that have been bothering her.
There are a lot of well done action scenes too. Some of the torture scenes and plague scenes get pretty graphic and gory, just a warning if that bothers you.
The plot is fairly predictable. Things (such as the reoccurring plagues) have origins exactly as you would expect. I kept hoping for some twists and turns that would surprise me and was sorely disappointed.
I was also a bit disappointed in the sameness of this world with so many other dystopian worlds out there. The background behind the Republics origin is never really explained. The cause of the current social status is hinted at (such as when they where white to funerals to represent ash) but also never really explained.
The other thing I didnt enjoy was Junes inconsistency of character. At times in the book she was incredibly insightful and intelligent; then at other times there were things she needed spelled out in the simplest terms. I also found a lot of the events towards the end of the story to be a bit contrived.
The story stops at a decent place. There are a number of issues unresolved but you arent at a total cliffhanger. The writing style is easy to read and engaging.
Overall this is an okay YA dystopian novel. I enjoyed June and Day as contrasting lead characters and the book was engaging and readable. I was a bit disappointed that the world wasnt more interesting and also disappointed that the story was so predictable. All that being said it was a decent story. I would recommend The Hunger Games, Divergent by Veronica Roth, and Mystic City by Theo Lawrence over this book. But if you have read all of those and are still hungering for more dystopia, Legend is a decent enough read. At this point I am not sure whether or not I will read the next book in the series.
I enjoyed LEGEND! The character development of June and Day, though very advanced for 15-year-olds, was very engaging. The world-building was a bit weak, but believable enough to work.
I liked the alternating chapters between the main characters, and the way Day's chapters were in a copper font. There were also a couple of occurrences that really made me close the book, picturing the scenes in my head. Very arresting!
I thought the flow of the narrative could've been smoother in some areas, but still, the writing is very strong, and I definitely want to follow June's and Day's journey into the next book of the series!
I give LEGEND a solid B.
★
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I liked the alternating chapters between the main characters, and the way Day's chapters were in a copper font. There were also a couple of occurrences that really made me close the book, picturing the scenes in my head. Very arresting!
I thought the flow of the narrative could've been smoother in some areas, but still, the writing is very strong, and I definitely want to follow June's and Day's journey into the next book of the series!
I give LEGEND a solid B.
★
(¯`·.·´¯) (¯`·.·´¯)
`·.¸(¯`·.·´¯)¸ .·
×°× ` ·.¸.·´ ×°×
Once again I find myself struggling to write a review for this book. Not because I didn't like it, but because ultimately it left me feeling disappointed. And I don't like feeling disappointed in something that I liked so much through the middle.
This book begins with one of our two narrators, Day, as he watches his family be inspected to determine if they have come down with the plague. He tells us that his family believes him to be dead, but really he is the most wanted criminal in the whole of the Republic. I really liked Day. I found him interesting, insightful, and suspicious for all the right reasons. You have to feel sympathy for the boy who failed his Trial tests and was sent to a government labor camp to spend the rest of his days. Through this introduction you are left wondering how the world got this way, but alas the book never tells you.
The rest of the story alternates between Day and June. Day is accused of the murder of June's brother. June is brought into the military life immediately to hunt Day down and bring him to justice. But along the way she manages to get to know him a little and has a hard time believing he was capable of killing her brother so callously. This begins her journey to figure out what happened and if she should truly hate this boy who is just barely older than she is. And if he is innocent, what really did happen and why was it blamed on this boy?
Overall the story moved at a quick pace but not so quick that you get lost in it. The characters made me care about them and I sympathized with the plight of each of them. But the end just left me with a lot of questions and a set up for a sequel. I wanted to know how the world ended up this way, but was never told. I wanted to know exactly what it was about Day that the Republic found so threatening, all I got were some vague answers that didn't really explain much of anything. Being an entertaining story can only get you so far when you don't give the answers to the reader's questions. So, I would be interested in reading this book's sequel but I want some answers or I, for one, will not be a happy reader.
Note: All reviews are also posted to my Goodreads profile.
This book begins with one of our two narrators, Day, as he watches his family be inspected to determine if they have come down with the plague. He tells us that his family believes him to be dead, but really he is the most wanted criminal in the whole of the Republic. I really liked Day. I found him interesting, insightful, and suspicious for all the right reasons. You have to feel sympathy for the boy who failed his Trial tests and was sent to a government labor camp to spend the rest of his days. Through this introduction you are left wondering how the world got this way, but alas the book never tells you.
The rest of the story alternates between Day and June. Day is accused of the murder of June's brother. June is brought into the military life immediately to hunt Day down and bring him to justice. But along the way she manages to get to know him a little and has a hard time believing he was capable of killing her brother so callously. This begins her journey to figure out what happened and if she should truly hate this boy who is just barely older than she is. And if he is innocent, what really did happen and why was it blamed on this boy?
Overall the story moved at a quick pace but not so quick that you get lost in it. The characters made me care about them and I sympathized with the plight of each of them. But the end just left me with a lot of questions and a set up for a sequel. I wanted to know how the world ended up this way, but was never told. I wanted to know exactly what it was about Day that the Republic found so threatening, all I got were some vague answers that didn't really explain much of anything. Being an entertaining story can only get you so far when you don't give the answers to the reader's questions. So, I would be interested in reading this book's sequel but I want some answers or I, for one, will not be a happy reader.
Note: All reviews are also posted to my Goodreads profile.
Great Dystopian series. Was slow at first but after it picked up I was immersed in the world of Day and June. I love the way Marie Lu switches every chapter from June narrating to Day narrating. It is also easy to remember who is speaking because the text and color of the text is different in Day's perspective.
June is a super soldier and Day is from the streets. An unfortunate event brings them together with June hunting Day. I love the way Lu describes the difference in worlds they come from and I also like how it is set in the US in the not so far future.
June is a super soldier and Day is from the streets. An unfortunate event brings them together with June hunting Day. I love the way Lu describes the difference in worlds they come from and I also like how it is set in the US in the not so far future.
I really enjoyed this story, and I'm looking forward to picking up the next book in the trilogy.
