― Marie Lu, Legend
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.
My Thoughts: I've heard so many great things about this book. I was hesitant at first to get it because I was not sure about the hype. I don't like to get disappointed. But then I met Marie Lu last year at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and I simply knew that I had to buy the book and read it. Though the book did not live up to the hype for me, I still ended up enjoying it.
Let me start off with what bothered me about Legend (I know...I usually describe the negatives towards the end but I feel like I need to address them first). First, Day was completely unstoppable. How was it possible for a fifteen-year-old to be constantly risking his life and surviving with only a few scratches against trained soldiers? Either he had more lives than a cat or all of the Republic's soldiers sucked. Next, June too was unstoppable yet very clueless. It was hard to imagine such a bright and athletic person to have no idea as to the horrible things the Republic was doing even when it was right there in front of her. It took journals from her brother to convince her that there was something fishy going on. Lastly, the romance between June and Day...really? They spend three to four days together and all of a sudden they are in love? I guess that's believable for teenagers but I really dislike any type of instant-love stories. I felt that their romance could have been furthered develop in the other books instead of being forced into this one. The romance was the greatest pet peeve that I had in this book and I think I would have liked it even more if it were left out.
Now that I got that over with, let me explain the things I liked about it: the motivation behind Day and June's actions, the sinister behind the Republic, and the action towards the last part of the book. Despite how I felt about June and Day, they were still pretty good characters. I understood why they did what they did for their loved ones. If I were in their shoes, I too would have pretended to be dead in order to find ways to provide for my family and I would also have chased after my brother's killer. Next, the Republic's evil schemes as to controlling its people raised my curiosity. As more and more was revealed about the Republic's actions, the more and more I became obsessed to understand why they were doing those things. Finally, the last part of the book about the escape had me gripping my book. I was not expecting how things turned out. At first I was not too interested in continuing the series but after reading the last few chapters, I changed my mind.
As a whole, this was not a bad book. It did not live up to the hype as I was expecting but I did find myself getting immersed in Legend's world. I am looking forward to getting my questions answered in the next book. I rate this:
This book was voted for my TBR read for the month of April. I know...I'm late. But better late than never!
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