Review: Legend by Marie Lu

Legend by Marie Lu
Legend #1
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Published November 29, 2011
Hardcover, 305 pages

Overview:

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.

Review:

Recently, I've been reading a lot of dystopian books and needed a change, so I randomly picked up Legend, which has been on my shelf for over a year now.

One of my favorite things about Legend was that while it does fall into the apocalyptic/dystopian genre, it feels more like an action novel. The world-building is great (the idea of a Republic battling rebellious colonies, although something that's been done before, keeps its originality here), and once the story starts going, it doesn't stop until the end. Reading it almost felt like I was watching a movie--everything is very concrete and vivid.

I also really liked the two main characters, June and Day. They're from two very different worlds with very different stories, but it's not like one is more interesting than the other. Even though they are on "opposing," so to say, sides of what is happening, a lot of the time I was rooting for both of them. Also, their different chapters are told in separate fonts, making it easy to remember who's the narrator at any moment.

I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading Legend, but I really enjoyed it. Full of great character development and plenty of action sequences that kept me up late reading, this book was exactly what I was looking for, even if I didn't know it at the time. This one has been on my shelves for a long time now, and I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it, but I'm glad I finally did.

Overall rating: 4 of 5 stars.