Legend - Marie Lu | Book Review

Legend (Book 1)

Marie Lu

Reviewed 12/9/2024

Rating: 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review (NO spoilers)

The world & concept of the Republic sounded intriguing, and the initial worldbuilding was good; the immersion of the writing was really what kept me reading, while I was not enjoying the characters. My previous experience reading Marie Lu had led me to the conclusion that she is very skilled at writing character dynamics, arcs, and complex relationships (see: Skyhunter duology). This book really did not have that, unfortunately.

Scroll down for review with FULL SPOILERS

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Review (SPOILERS)

This book was, in many ways, predictable and unsurprising. The government controls the mysterious plague? That’s definitely not a trope someone has thought of before. But I didn’t understand how Day came to that conclusion by looking at… red numbers stamped on a pipe and a door? Sure bud...

This leads me to my second-largest criticism of this book. Day and June are both rather overpowered characters. Athletic, skilled fighters, very, very smart, observant. They notice everything and figure things out very quickly. Their unheard of talents are not properly balanced with flaws or weaknesses. And while their dynamic as very opposite individuals was such an intriguing idea, they’re actually really, really similar. I think this culminated with June’s discovery that Day had also gotten a perfect score on his Trial. While he clearly has the brains for that, I liked him better as a below-average, struggling kid because that’s who the government and the system hurts the most; that's who the story targets as the victims of the narrative.

The biggest issue with this book, in my opinion, was the heavy-handed romance. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never liked reading romance, and I’m never happy when it’s interlaced with the main plot. But this was just getting to the point of absurdity. Their relationship at first was interesting: when June realized just who she was hiding with, and that the boy who saved her was the person she was supposed to be hunting. But practically every interaction after that was tainted with their internal monologues of being attracted to each other, and that ruined the book for me.

Finally, I felt like June’s reactions in general were fairly unrealistic. Discovering the blog Metias left for her, uncovering the mystery of her parents’ death and the purpose of the plague: it was the big, important breakthrough moment! Her entire worldview and understanding of the people and system around her was absolutely shattered, and I would’ve expected greater ramifications from that.

I will read the next book, because I am somewhat curious about how different the Colonies will be (if they do successfully cross the border). But beyond that? I may not finish the series. 

Note from future self: I did finish the series but didn't like it enough to write a detailed review on each of the books, so a review covering all 3 will be posted tomorrow.