Review by ninascozydayreads - Legend

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ninascozydayreads 's review for:

Legend by Marie Lu

4.0

adventurous inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Legend is a classic YA dystopian set up: we have a government that’s criticized for being corrupt and already a group of rebels opposing it. Furthermore (and this was frankly just a little confronting to read): there is a constantly mutating disease spreading amongst the poor people, called the “Plague”, which sometimes puts them into quarantine… yeah. The story follows two narratives: June, a outstanding girl from the upperclass of society, whose brother holds a high rank in the military, and Day, the nation’s most wanted criminal who acts as a future-day Robin Hood. He doesn’t kill, only sets out to help his fellow people who suffer under the brunt of the government.

To me, this story was rich. I enjoyed seeing the different perspectives from two different sides of the nation. One perspective that fully believes in its rightfulness because she has never had reason to believe anything else, and the other showcasing the oppression and hurt the government causes; it really made for interesting storytelling, where you can’t believe everything you see or read. I also liked how this way of narrative allowed for me to get to know both characters on their own, which was great for a first in a series, and then slowly watch their paths collide. I also really liked the characters in general; both were a bit hardheaded, but not annoyingly stubborn and their emotions felt real.

The book was fast-paced and action-packed with truly never a dull moment. There was constant suspense and as a reader it felt like you were headed towards something big without it dragging on for too long. I quite literally flew through this book. This was definitely aided by the writing, which was nothing extravagant but just as fast-paced and punch-packing as the story it narrates, which really compliments each other.

The romance was a classic enemies to lovers, which I apparantely like a lot more than I thought I did.. I truly can’t wait to read more of them. However, it did feel a bit too insta-love for me, which was a let-down.

Overall, I thought this book was great and I’m definitely going to read the rest of the series!

Content Warnings