When you hear the words '
Dystopian fiction', you are likely to think of 'The Hunger Games' or 'Divergent' or 'The Maze Runner' or even 'Delirium' if you're a hardcore dystopian fan. But one series that I really loved but never seems to get enough attention is Legend by Marie Lu. Legend is the story of.................... oh wait
SPOLIER ALERT COMINGYOUR WAY
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ LEGEND, LEAVE NOW FOR YOUR OWN SAKE
So you've all read the books, right? Great.
So our story begins as one of the narrators, named Day looking out for his family during a plague inspection. We learn that Day along with Tess, his friend, live in the Republic, which is currently at war with the Colonies. We also learn that Day is a well-known criminal in the Republic. We get bits and scraps of information about the Republic, including the trials, where he hints at the true consequences if you fail and also, and here I quote, "No one's ever gotten this-well, except for this one kid a few years ago who the military made a goddy fuss over," which is referring to June Iparis, who is our other narrator. We end the chapter with the mysterious three line X on the Day's door.
We then come to the mentioned June, who is in the Dean office. We soon meet Captain Metias, June's brother and Thomas, a friend and she is dropped off at home while Metias leaves to go on Hospital patrol.
We cut back to Day as he breaks into the hospital for plague cures. Weird mark or not, the family had the plague, and he was determined to save them. Long story short, he gets into the hospital but isn't able to find the cures because they ran out. We also get here that Day doesn't kill. He could have easily stabbed someone with a knife but didn't. This gets really important later on the book. Speaking of later on in the book, Day throws a knife at Metias, leaving clues to his presence on Metias's last night and manages to escape.
WHICH FALLS INTO THE HANDS OF NON OTHER THAN THE REPUBLIC, which gets handed over to June, who is convinced that Day is her brother's killer. This is especially heart breaking for June because Metias was the only family she had left, for her parents died in car crash. There is also my personal favorite quote from this series, which is : I will hunt you down. I will scour the streets of Los Angeles for you. Search every street in the Republic if I have to. I will trick you and deceive you, lie, cheat and steal to find you, tempt you out of your hiding place, and chase you until you have nowhere else to run. I make you this promise: your life is mine. I think the reason I love this quote is because it illustrates how loyal June is to her family, to the one person she loved most, and it also drives what is the basis of the entire trilogy. It also shows that she not afraid to risk her good-role-model for what she believes is right, her unwavering determination.
June is sent on her first mission, to track down Day. First, as she knows that he needs cures, she sets him up by trying to lure him in by spreading a rumor that a person has plague cures. Day gleans some more information about this in a bar, where he meets Kaede, who will play a major role later in the story. After June fails to trap him with the plague cure, she goes on a mission to the Lake Sector itself, where she stumbles into a Skiz fight, which is an illegal gambling game where one bets on the winner. June, after taking Tess' place in a Skiz fight, runs out of the bar with Day and June.
Day and June meet each other, where they are described by each other, which is rather frank and funny at the same time. The story continues on when June finally figures out that Day is Day, followed by Day's mother getting shot, in which after Day surrenders. He is then taken into custody along with his brothers, where he is questioned by various people. Meanwhile, June finds out about the true nature of the Republic; it's use of the citizens as biological experiments. She also finds out that Day did not kill Metias; Thomas did, under the order of the Republic. This convinces June that the right thing to do is to help Day escape. She does this, but with the sacrifice of John, Day's older brother, and help from the Patriots, who are a group of people determined to bring back The United States. The story ends with a passionate kiss between our two main characters.
\
Frankly, I LOVE this series. It may be the fact that I also, pretty automatically love ANYTHING in the dystopian genre, but it may also be that the plot and the style writing is so exciting and action-packed. Besides, I am a big fan of bad-ass, strong, independent women who is undeterred by men, which June is pretty much the definition to. Not to say I don't like Day, either. Day is a passionate young man with a strong will and practically endless loyalty to those he cares about with just the right amount of humor that one cannot dislike him. I enjoying reading about these characters, they are very interesting and I'd like to see more of them. Thank goodness I have 2 more books about them.
Another thing that I ADORE about this is how fast the series escalates. As far as I've seen, aside from this series, most dystopian books give us one or two chapters amount the new setting. (No, disrespect to any other dystopian book, though, remember what I said about myself pretty automatically loving ANYTHING dystopian). That means it take some time for things to heat up. Not this one though, which takes the action right from the first page, and this is perfect for me, as I have very low patience.
In conclusion, this book is simply amazing, incredible, clever, funny, and pretty much every single positive adjective in the universe with dark, serious moments that tone out the book, which I recommend, since you have presumably read the books, you recommend them to anyone, as I'm sure they will not regret it.
If the person you're recommending it to hates long text, tell them to buy the graphic novel version of legend. It's accurate enough, but warn them to read the novels to get the full effect.
Thank you for reading. I hope you come for more Book Reviews!
-Sooyoung Jo, Age 12-
Assuming that you have read the book, I will continue.
