Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Legend by Marie Lu

44 reviews

joymia24's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Murder, Grief, Death, and Gun violence

rebeca_readss's review

adventurous challenging hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I’m staring to like more and more the dystopian books. Really loved this one! I felt a connection between me and June because I feel like I would have made the same decisions as her. Decisions in boys too :)) 
The story had some plot twists that i wasn’t expecting to happen and I loved that but I was sad too. 
Can’t wait to read the next ones 🥰🥰

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Death of parent

thedanicaperson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, Police brutality, and Violence

emilyellen07's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Classism

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, and War

marissasa's review

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This YA novel based on a dystopian republic of the former America was one that while grabbed my attention enough to want to finish, definitely felt like something I would've enjoyed a lot more in middle school. I was interested in the world-building and political intrigue around the manufactured plagues and the idea that the government was hiding a lot of secrets, but I couldn't find myself caring about the main characters. June is very much the typical female YA protagonist who is super young (15) but somehow smarter, more skilled, and more experienced than everyone around her and although it makes sense for her characterization as someone who was born into wealth from government affiliation and was trained from a young age to be a solider like her brother, it also made for a very calculating and unemotional point of view to read from that I couldn't connect with. Day is also a typical male YA protagonist counterpart who is somehow cunning, charming, knowledgable, and a famous criminal despite also being super young (15) and I didn't find myself rooting for him nor believing in the connection between him and June as anything deeper than physical attraction. I will finish the series eventually simply because I want to see the fallout of their actions and see how they will challenge the government or uncover more about their secrets.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Gun violence

revolutionwithoutdancing's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, Torture, War, Grief, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Death

deideo's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Police brutality, Gun violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

snazzysie's review

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Legend was an interesting read that had me hooked from the start; it was impossible for me to read just one chapter in a sitting, and had I not been reading multiple other books over the last few months, I probably would've finished it much quicker, as it is fast-paced and the chapters are relatively short. I enjoyed the story being told in the different perspectives of the two main characters. I wouldn't necessarily consider the characters lovable, however maybe it's just the upsetting circumstances they were put in that didn't particularly bring out the best in them. Speaking of, the futuristic world Marie Lu has built in this book is truly scary. What's maybe most scary is that it's not that far off from the world we live in now. Of course it is much more harsh and extreme than our common first-world cities today, and it surprised me that Los Angeles was the city she chose to portray, considering the attitude of the population in the book is very patriotic and military dependent. 
I would've preferred the story if it had been less violent, especially considering the main characters are 15-year-olds, but I did still appreciate the rebelious-uncover-the-truth-and-fight-back-againt-the-government kind of vibes (reminded me a little bit of The Hunger Games in this way, how different sectors are treated differently, the rich against the poor, which was given more depth with a perspective from the inside in Legend). <spoiler kinda> I also liked the twist with the reveal of a secret enemy. 
This was a solid read, 4 stars, but don't think I will continue with the rest of the trilogy. I feel like the ending satisfied me enough, and I'm not that interested <spoiler kinda> in June and Day's life on the run, or the problems they might face now that they are in a relationship>, but I did enjoy the writing style, and have other books by Marie Lu that I'm looking forward to reading :) 
age rec for 15+

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, War, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Child abuse

ghostsversion's review

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Okay so initially I had this at 4⭐️ but to be fair it was three years ago and people change. Now first off why were Day and June fifteen? I mean sure, it can be a commentary of how corrupt governments force children to mature early, but at the same time I don’t think

having June be “pursued” I guess by men in their 20s was necessary. They weren’t really normalized, but they weren’t condemned either.

Anyway, I must say that the first person POV really threw me off at the beginning for some reason. Also the constant info dumping about the world building didn’t help matters. But you know as the plot moved forward, you noticed it less and less. Overall, I guess I liked this but it wasn’t like the best of the best. We shall see what the rest of this series has in store.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Murder, Gun violence, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Child death

Minor: Car accident

eviem111's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I felt like the last 125 were very fast paced and i read it quickly cause of how good it was but the first half of the book was quite slow for me, however still enjoyable. Also i feel like the 2nd and 3rd books could be A LOT better but i don’t know if they will be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, and Police brutality