Legend by Marie Lu

"Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time."

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' 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.

 

I'd been hearing a lot about this one, and the synopsis reminded me of Divergent, which I loved, so I decided to check it out. (Literally. Thank you, library.)

There are so many dystopian books being talked about out in the YA market right now, it's incredibly hard to guess which books are going to be good and which ones just have a really fantastic publicist. Legend, fortunately, is one of those books that is just that good.

The book alternates the point of view between June, a teen genius, and Day, a boy renegade, who constantly on the run. (What's really intriguing is that when viewpoints switch in the book, so do the font and the text color—from black to gold. I'd never seen that before in a book, so, naturally, I geeked out over it.)

Anyway, I have to start out with the amazing characters. I don't know about you, but I've read so many books where the main character is supposed to be a genius or a total expert at something, and then, when it comes down to it, they really aren't. June is actually really smart. I loved being in her mind; she's constantly analyzing the situation she's in and making observations on the most minute details. 

Day, on the flipside, was great as well. I have to say that I loved that the alternating point of view because you get to be in Day's mind. There are lots of books out there that don't really flesh out the guy love interest, and his point of view really helped to do that. I loved that we got to see so much of him.

As for plot, I was kept guessing. What I expected to be the finale of the story happened in the middle of the book, and totally threw off my expectationns.

Like a lot of dystopian books, I would have liked a little more world-building. Let me make this clear: I've never really care to know how a dystopian world got where it is then from how it is now; I don't think every book needs to drone on about the history that happened hundreds of years ago. (Example one: The Hunger Games. Did it ever explain its history? No. Was it fabulous still? Absolutely.) What I wanted was more details on how their society works, and more about the world that the author had created.

This book is a fantastic choice for those dystopian lovers out there; I hope many more readers pick this one up so it gets the attention it deserves.

Read more reviews for Legend at:

Teens Read and Write and Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf