REVIEW: LEGEND by Marie Lu

Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Series: Legend #1
Genres: Science Fiction, YA
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Release: 2011
Source: Paperback
Pages: 305

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BLURB: 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.

LAURA's REVIEW

EXPECTATIONS: I came across this book by going into the book store where my aunt works and it was actually the one she recommended to my brother. Too bad he's the little one so I took it first. Sorry not sorry bro... I read it in an afternoon though!

Okay okay it may seem like a copy of The Hunger Games but it is not. IT IS NOT.

THE WORLD: It's set in post-apocalyptic United States where a corrupt, not fair government does whatever it wants whenever it wants and of course there is a huge gap between rich people and poor people. Basically the VIPs vs scums.

CHARACTERS: In this world lives our main female character June Iparis, a 15 year old girl who scored a 100 on the exam that determines people's future jobs (A-Levels much?) and she is one of the highest VIPs because yeah she's such a promise. On the other hand, there is "Day", a 15 year old boy who lives in the streets after failing the already mentioned exam so he has to steal food and gets into fights with the government's officials... he's wanted-rebel number 1. Day and June have nothing in common until June's brother, Metias, is shot and murdered so she goes on a rant to find the person who killed her beloved brother. Any guesses? Hint: who would the government like to get rid off?

As always, nothing goes as planned and things get twisted and they end up having to team up in order to save humanity, well no only US population because US is always in trouble while all the other countries managed handled the apocalypses very well, anyway things really get interesting because the past is revealed and you get to know the characters more in depth.

GOOD: Day is my plus number one. His character, his background story, his intentions... everything just fits and flows perfectly with him. You are not allowed to love Day by the way, he's mine but you're allowed to get annoyed with June because it's normal, she can be annoying at times. I will keep this short because I don't want to spoil anything...
Oh wait! Did I say that unlike other dystopian books in Legend series other countries are mentioned as well? It's a plus point.

BAD: I read the book a long time ago but I don't remember having any major problems, I already said June can be annoying at times but she gets better in the next books. Character growth.

OVERALL: Phenomenal job Marie Lu. Bravo. I don't need to say anymore. Please please please read it! It is a very good series I swear.

HANNAH's REVIEW

EXPECTATIONS: I found out about this book from Laura's review and got it but it took me forever to actually pick it up. 

THE WORLD: It is a post apocalyptic world that we often see in dystopian fantasy. The government is corrupt, majority of people suffer from hunger and the few entitled ones lost their humanity ages ago. 

CHARACTERS: As Laura already mentioned two main characters are June and Day and they come from different backgrounds. Now if I read this book in 2011 when it came out I probably would have loved it, having it read however today I was most of the time bored. The characters were predictable and very shallow, their story was extremely repetitive and used in other books million times before. I know I know it has been 7 years since this book is out, many different books have been written so when it came out it was not that bad. But then again Matched by Ally Condie was released in 2010 and even Hunger Games in 2008 so you cannot say that this book was really that unique in 2011. Besides I have read Warcross, a new release of 2017 of Marie Lu and I am sorry but it reads exactly same as Legend and it has exactly same story development and type of characters. So I think my problem does not here really lie with a fact that I am reading this book 7 years after it came out but I have a fundamental issue with the writing of Marie Lu in general. I just really do not think her characters are interesting or inspiring. 

ROMANCE: I do not care, I mean really I have read this book a few months ago and I so do not care for it that I don't even remember much of the story line without looking up the notes. 

GOOD: If you are into traditional dystopian old school writing this might be perfect pick but if you are like me and is constantly on a look out for new things then...

BAD: Unoriginal. Repetitive. Shallow story or one dimensional characters. 

OVERALL: It was an alright read, neither impressive nor something I really hated. I will definitely not remember the story after another month or so. 

What do you think about LEGEND?