The floods have come. A killer plague has started making its way across North America. There is no more United States -just the Republic. There are those who call themselves the Colonies and those who call themselves Patriots: both are enemies of the Republic. But no one worries about them much. The Republic has it all under control.
Day is the most wanted criminal of the Republic. No one knows his real name or what he looks like - his finger prints have no match in the database. All anyone knows is that he seems to be working alone against the Republic and he never kills; only cripples the Republic's war front. Until he's found breaking out of a hospital, looking for plague medicine.
June has passed her Trial with a score of 1500/1500. No one has done that. Ever. She is a prodigy. Even so, she has a knack for getting into trouble. Her brother Metias, a captain for the Republic, tries to keep her in line. Metias is the only family June has left and she does not want to disappoint him: but she can't help it that her school does not train her to the fullest. One day she will join her brother at the war front. Until then, she is forced to wait up for his return on the nights that he is deployed.
The captain Day stabs is Metias Iparis, older brother of the Republic's prodigy, June Iparis. Day could have sworn the knife only went into the man's shoulder. The report June receives is that Day stabbed Metias in the chest, and now her brother is dead. June has sworn to avenge her brother's death and Day has sworn to take care of his family and procure for them a plague cure. In a twist of events, both find themselves relying on the other and putting their trust in one another. But what happens when one puts their trust in the wrong person?
What initially drew me to Legend was my need for a new dystopian novel, but soon I found myself immersed in the world of June and Day. Both points of view are included in the book, and both are equally compelling. The story resonates elements found in the the current books making up the dystopian reader's shelf next to The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), Matched (Ally Condie), and Divergent (Veronica Roth). However, Legend is also a book that can stand alone.
There were a few disappointing factors found in Legend, one of which is that the characters don't fully develop/develop too quickly. But since only so much can be fit into a 300 page novel, I guess that is to be expected. Another factor is that some of the plot was not fully wrapped up, but I'm hoping it will all become clear in Marie Lu's sequel, Prodigy, set to come out in early 2013.
I give it a 3 1/2 out of five stars. I'd say 3 3/4, but that would just be way too confusing.
What initially drew me to Legend was my need for a new dystopian novel, but soon I found myself immersed in the world of June and Day. Both points of view are included in the book, and both are equally compelling. The story resonates elements found in the the current books making up the dystopian reader's shelf next to The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), Matched (Ally Condie), and Divergent (Veronica Roth). However, Legend is also a book that can stand alone.
There were a few disappointing factors found in Legend, one of which is that the characters don't fully develop/develop too quickly. But since only so much can be fit into a 300 page novel, I guess that is to be expected. Another factor is that some of the plot was not fully wrapped up, but I'm hoping it will all become clear in Marie Lu's sequel, Prodigy, set to come out in early 2013.
I give it a 3 1/2 out of five stars. I'd say 3 3/4, but that would just be way too confusing.
