Legend by Marie Lu

Legend by Marie Lu

Day is a notorious criminal who has been living on the streets of Los Angeles for the past five years, after failing his trial at ten years old. Everyone takes their Trial at ten, those who pass are sent to different schools based on how well they scored. But those who fail are taken from their families and sent to labor camps. Or so everyone has been told. Day has escaped from a lab after test were conducted on him. Afraid to go back to his family he began living on the streets. June, on the other hand, is the only person to have scored a perfect 1500 on the Trial. She is a prodigy, set to graduate from Drake University and become an officer for the Republic at fifteen years old. Now she is on the hunt for Day after he is accused of killing her brother, Metias, a Captain in the Republic. Though she is successful in her search, information that she obtains from Day and clues that she uncovers while on the streets make her question the Republic. The plagues that ravish the different sectors no longer seem coincidental. The actions of her Commander force her to investigate the death of her brother and the foundation of the Republic.

                Legend is an interesting novel with an original plot line focused on two individuals with opposite upbringing, social standings and fate. Both June and Day are likeable characters whose lives have taken unpredictable turns. One is fighting to survive while the other is climbing the social and career ladders at incredible paces. When these two characters collide both are tested to their limits. Day begins to question the decisions he made when trying to protect his family. June questions her undying and unwavering support for a government that may be deceiving the majority of the population. One begins to search for the truth while the other is in the fight of his life.

                With Legend Lu created a dystopian novel that serves itself well as an introduction to a trilogy. I’m not sure whether or not that’s a good thing. I enjoyed this novel but it took me longer than I expected to be invested in the story. It wasn’t until near the end of the story, when more of the background of the Republic came into play that I started to really like this novel. It became obvious then that there were more layers to the Republic, their feud with the Colonies, and the “myth” of the United States that simply had not been breached. It peaked my interest. Before then I was simply waiting to see how June and Day’s relationship would play out. I plan on eventually finishing the series and I’m hoping the second novel will broach the topic more and explain the history of the Republic. If you enjoy dystopian young adult novels then I would suggest giving Legend a shot. I give it 3 out of 5 stars, simply because it took so long for it to begin to resonate with me. The characters were well developed and interesting but the world they lived in served as a background when it should have been a well-developed character itself.