📑 Review: Legend by Marie Lu

Synopsis:

"What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets." - From Goodreads

Rating: 🐲🐲/5

Review:

Despite the fact that I liked this book, I had several issue with it when I finished it. First and foremost the "whodunit" plot line was predictable. As soon as Metias gets killed, I figured out who did it. Secondly, I felt like the secondary characters lacked depth and development, specifically Thomas and Kaede. I didn't quite understand a lot, if any of their motivations and I found myself getting irritated with them whenever they showed up. Thomas' sudden interest in June seemed to come out of nowhere considering how he acted towards her at the beginning of the book.

Finally, I wish there was more world building. I understand that this is dystopian and set in LA, but I felt that there was something missing from the descriptions of the city itself, other than there were 'high rise' rich districts and the poor district, and how the society worked, that would have helped to make the novel more engrossing. Things were hinted at, the floods/hurricanes for example, the Trials, but how this dystopian society came to be was never really explained, and neither was the appearance of the plague or why there was a Trial/how that started.

I know that the latter is part of the plot, but part of me feels like, considering the part it played in the lives of both characters, there should have been more of a set up. I'm not sure yet whether I'm going to read the second book or not. Day and June were interesting enough (though even they had their bland moments) and I am really curious about the Elector's son (despite him only being there for two seconds, he intrigued me much more most of the other characters combined), but unless the world is fleshed out more, I don't know if I can invest myself further in the story.

I *do* highly recommend her other series, The Young Elites, though. That one had me hooked.

If anyone has read Legend let us know what you think in the comments below! Comments also open to further book/movie/show recommendations, anything you’d like to see reviewed, or general feedback. We’d love to hear what you have to say!