Legend by Marie Lu
Legend by Marie Lu
Legend is a dystopian novel by Marie Lu and the first of a three book series. It’s set in a futuristic version of Los Angeles, ruled by the totalitarian Republic of America. Our main characters are June and Day, who are practically opposites of each other. June is a military prodigy, born into an elite family, despite the death of her parents in a mysterious car crash. Day is an infamous criminal from the poor slums of the city. Realistically, their paths would never have to cross. However when June’s brother, Metias, is murdered, Day is the prime suspect.
June hunts for Day, posing as a street urchin. When June is stabbed in a fighting ring, Day rescues and heals her. Both of them are unaware of each other’s identities; June doesn’t recognize Day as the man she was supposed to be hunting down and Day isn’t aware that she’s a Republic agent. They befriend each other and eventually develop romantic feelings. However, June eventually realizes who Day is and reports him and his family to the republic, imprisoning Day and indirectly getting his mother killed in the process.
Day insists he is innocent of Metias’s murder, and June begins to realize that she may not know the full story behind her parents death and the dirty secrets the Republic is working to hide. The rest of the story follows Day and June’s journey as they investigate the truth and fight for their lives.
The book starts rather slow, but once the two characters meet the plot takes off. I really enjoyed this book- I read it as a required book in middle school, but I decided to revisit it recently. It’s very well-written, and I think the premise is very interesting. I am always a big fan of a good dystopian book, and it follows a pretty typical dystopian format, with the totalitarian government and highly defined social hierarchy. I also like that the story is told from both points of views.
The one minor complaint I have is about their ages- I said this in a previous blog, but I don’t like how young the characters are- both Day and June are fifteen. It’s an unrealistic age, and they both act and are written to seem much older than fifteen. However, it is still a great read and I would recommend it to anyone interested!
- Hannah
Hi Hannah! Great job on this post, I also read Legend for a middle school class but I'm feeling inspired to revisit it. Also, I agree with you, 15 is pretty unreasonable for a Republic Agent and most wanted fugitive. But overall, this is a great post, keep it up!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! This seems like a pretty good dystopian novel, and I would be lying if I said I was not interested. I liked how you mentioned that the characters act and were written to seem much older than their actual ages. This problem is prevalent in many fiction novels, but there are some books out there that do not have this problem. I also liked your summary of the overall story. Also, what does "street urchin" mean?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE LEGEND!!! Just like you, I had to read this book for a middle school class and it had me so enthralled I found myself reading the entire series outside of class! This post does an excellent job of summing up the book and I enjoy your review of it. Like Maryalice said, it's really inspiring to reread it. I think one of my favorite parts of the book is definitely the characters and the relationship between June and Day. From what I remember, both of their characters have a very well-developed backstory and it is well-written. It's even better how we get it from both perspectives of the characters and the format of the book itself is really unique. I do agree and think it is odd that they are only 15, but many novels face this problem to where I have to stop for a minute because I realize I'm the same age as them!! I would encourage you to continue reading the rest of the series but I will say it kind of drifts off of the main premise and focuses more on June and Day themselves. This was a great post and left me feeling quite nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteHannah, your review is fantastic! This appears to be a wonderful dystopian novel, and I enjoy dystopian fiction, so I'll definitely add it to my reading list. I appreciated how you pointed out that the characters act and are written to appear much older than they are. Although this issue is prominent in many fiction novels, there are few exceptions. I also enjoyed your explanation of the main plot.
ReplyDeleteNice review Hannah! I remember skimming through this book back in middle school, but I never had the chance to read the entire story. Seeing this review reminded me of how interesting the plot was, and I would be interested in finding time to read the rest of the book.
ReplyDeleteGreat book review! You do a good job of explaining the plot without giving too much of the plot away. I also read the book in middle school. I agree with your point that the character’s ages are unrealistic but I found many other things that are unrealistic in the book. I found that the book was somewhat boring. Besides the major plot twist later in the book, every scene is predictable. If I did not need to read it for school I would have stopped reading the book after the first chapter. I would say there are much better books out there than “Legend”.
ReplyDeleteThis book is one that is on the top of my reading list mainly because I love the author's writing style. I loved your review, it was informational and descriptive. Overall I look forward to reading this book.
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