Legend
Marie Lu
June is a prodigy who scored perfectly on her Test and is on a fast-track to military greatness. Day spectacularly failed his test and took to the streets to eek out a living and help his family as he can. Their paths cross when June’s brother Metias is murdered and Day is the prime suspect.
This was a clean teenage fiction with a tight-timed plot line and some chaste kisses. It was refreshing to read something that didn’t really want me to think too hard. I easily swapped between the perspectives of June and Day. Day watching over things actually reminded me strangely of Aladdin! Things often moved very quickly and so the characterisation sometimes suffered. The interactions between June and Day still seemed genuine though.
Ok, so I have to say it. The world-building sucks. I never got a concrete grasp on what parts of the world were ‘Republic’ and which were the ‘Colonies’. The pendant’s secret sort of filled in where the world was, but not really. But I wonder whether this was deliberate on the author’s part, because Day and June don’t actually know very much about what is going on in the world outside either. Perhaps the next book will illuminate things further.
I’m thinking a direct comparison to Divergent here in terms of the Dystopian world that is built. It’s not hugely different from the world we live in now, just with some subtle changes. I picked up this novel from a Goodwill store while I was still on my USA adventure. I liked the look of it enough that it followed me home, but I only just got around to reading it. Now, unfortunately, I need to get my hands on the next novel, especially as other reviewers on Goodreads have said that this series improves. 4 stars from me.
