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Legend (Legend, Bk 1)
Legend - Legend, Bk 1
Author: Marie Lu
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 Da...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780142422076
ISBN-10: 014242207X
Publication Date: 1/29/2013
Pages: 336
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 32

3.9 stars, based on 32 ratings
Publisher: Speak
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

skywriter319 avatar reviewed Legend (Legend, Bk 1) on + 784 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A premise that sounds like a dystopian Robin Hood? You didnt have to ask me twice if I wanted to read this. Marie Lu provides us with a solid dystopian read in her debut novel that, while not incredible, still proves to be very enjoyable.

LEGENDs strength lies in Lus writing. Written in alternating POVs, Days and Junes voices feel completely natural: both of them have genius-level intelligences, which shows in the way they approach and analyze situations (a great relief from those YA novels whose main characters claim to be smart but then they do or think the most idiotic things). LEGEND will appeal to readers who like their dystopian books endearingly unsentimental, in the way Katniss is a reluctant but still beloved hero. Both June and Day are like that: they are very focused on what needs to be done, and do not exhibit the types of thoughts or behavior that normal teenagers do.

This makes it believable that they live in a world where violence is part of the job description. This is no half-hearted dystopian world: the government does things that leave even me shocked and uncomfortable. LEGEND will surely become one of those books that censorship-happy critics target due to its darkness.

The trouble is, LEGENDs violence does feel a bit gratuitous. Its not that I have qualms about violence in YA fiction; I love The Hunger Games, after all. Its more that I still struggle to understand what purpose the violence in LEGEND serves, except to make the government as scary as possible. But the revelation that June and Day uncover about the government is rather anticlimactic, considering all the setup. I feel more scared by less violence-proven fictional dystopian governments, such as The Givers, than I did by LEGENDs over-the-top controlling government.

While I adored June and Day individually, I felt like their romance left something to be desired. Here, I suppose, is where their age shows, for their mutual attraction seemed to arise more out of the fact that they each find the other to be different than anyone theyve ever met and less due to an actual liking of one another. Still, I did like them individually, and thought they were pretty well developed in that regard. I had no problem with those two as the main characters, but perhaps if the book hadnt been sold to me with such a heavy emphasis on an epic romance I wouldve been more impressed.

So LEGEND is not perfect, but solid writing and two sympathetic main characters make it a cut above most other dystopian YA out there. Dystopian fans will surely want to keep this on their radar, though perhaps toning down your expectations a notch will make it a better read for you.
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reviewed Legend (Legend, Bk 1) on + 11 more book reviews
I liked the parkour action mixed with the dystopian setting of the world.
merciersj avatar reviewed Legend (Legend, Bk 1) on + 71 more book reviews
"Legend" is one of the most balanced dual narrator books I have read on a long time. Our protagonists, Day and June, are from completely different sides of society. June is from a wealthy military family. Day lives on the street and spends his time committing rebellious acts against the government. Both characters are very well developed, and over the course of the story we are able to watch them grow and change.

Despite the fact that Day and June are from opposite sides of a conflict, Lu is able to make both sides have equally strong voices and justifications for their actions and choices. As I was reading Days perspective I would think, "Yeah, that totally makes sense, the government is a bunch of pigs, they deserve what theyre getting." Then the perspective would switch to June and Id be forced to see the consequences of what Day had done. Id immediately sympathize with the government. As impressive as the protagonists are, I wish the secondary characters were given the same amount of depth.

The plot is interesting and moves at a good pace. There are several twists that I never saw coming. Some of the twists were very predictable, however, the most obvious being the relationship between Day and June. Not only could I see it coming a mile away, I just didnt buy into it and felt like it wasnt needed. The meat and potatoes of the story is the conflict between the rebels and the government. The story should have stayed focused on that, but it seems to be a prerequisite that all young adult fiction have at least one relationship in it, if not several different ones.

Overall I really enjoyed this and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I hope that in later books we get to see more of the government and better developed secondary characters. Id recommend this to fans of dystopian fiction with corrupt governments, heavy on world building and plot with light romance.
reviewed Legend (Legend, Bk 1) on + 350 more book reviews
Not too shabby, but not too amazing either.
This book has two perspectives/narrators: Day, who is a 15 year old boy out to protect his family from a plague that is spreading about and June, who is a 15 year old girl who loves her brother and has zipped through schooling with perfection in a safe feeling environment. I don't want to give anything away, but they live in a "Republic" after something occurs in the US, as if the United States was something unknown.
Although this has some creativity involved in it, I don't understand how it seems credible either. I didn't even really get into this book until after the first 100 pages, but I think the ending was far too rushed and sloppy.
JoyReadsLots avatar reviewed Legend (Legend, Bk 1) on + 51 more book reviews
The first in another YA trilogy that fans of divergent, etc... may like. However I didn't think this one was early as deep and tended to be a little predictable. Not sorry I read it because it was a fast read and an interesting plot, but the depth of the story wasn't there and many of the 'twists' were predictable. I may read the next one at some point if the friend who loaned me this one has it to loan as well.
reviewed Legend (Legend, Bk 1) on + 134 more book reviews
Another entry in the ever-expanding YA dystopic genre, Legend was a decently-written book with an interesting concept but I didn't find anything about this novel to stand out (positively or negatively). It was a quick read and the story moved along apace, but I didn't feel a genuine connection with any of the characters or shocked by any of the plot twists. The story was frequently moved along by coincidences that seemed a bit of a reach. That said, if you're a fan of the genre there's no reason not to read this one. I don't think I liked it enough to read the other two books in the trilogy (Prodigy and Champion) but I wouldn't be opposed to reading something different by the author in the future.

Book Wiki

Series
Legend  1 of 3
People/Characters
June Iparis (Primary Character)
Day (Primary Character)
Metias Iparis (Major Character)
Tess (Average Character)
Thomas (Average Character)
(Show all 7 People/Characters)

Genres: