Legend

Legend

By Marie Lu

G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2011. 305 pgs. Teen fiction

Summary:

Day and June come from totally different worlds, even though they are both citizens of the Republic of America. June has been raised as a privileged member of the elite class, a military prodigy who scored a perfect 1500 on her Trial--something that has earned her some special opportunities but also leaves her a little too precocious for her own good. Day, however, is a poor criminal, a Trial failure who escaped from the government and and now is working against them. While he's never gone so far as to defect to the Colonies (the Republic's enemy that makes crazy claims they used to be one united country) or joined the Patriots (a group within the Republic working against the military government), he gets in his punches when he can. His latest challenge, though, is finding a cure for the plague that has infected his little brother. As Day is trying to protect his family, June is hunting him, determined to bring him to justice for killing her beloved brother.

Review:

Told in chapters alternating between Day's point of view and June's, this book does a great job conveying the inequity in this society. Both Day and June are interesting characters, and this is a book that could appeal to both male and female readers. It's also a good dystopia for reluctant readers; some dystopias are kinda detail-overloaded (at least for a reluctant reader), but this one is deep enough without getting too deep (in a totally good way). I assume this will be the start of a new series, but it doesn't have a cliffhanger ending, either, so readers will be satisfied with it as a stand-alone, too.

4 stars. Clean read...I think. I can't remember any language and there is definitely no sex. Some violence, but not described in gory detail.