Legend
Publisher: G.P Putnam's Sons, Penguin Books
Pages: 305
Published: November 29, 2011
SUMMARY
Legend is a futuristic, dystopian themed novel featuring two teenagers June and Day. These two characters live in futuristic Los Angeles, where your rank in society is determined by the test all children are required to take. If you pass this test, you are accepted into one of the country's top universities. If you fail the test, you are escorted from the country and taken who knows where. Our young female protagonist June Iparis is the only person known to receive a perfect score on the test. Day, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky and failed to pass his test. But instead of accepting failure, Day decided to rebel against the country's capital and became their most wanted fugitive. Of course, the two meet and soon discover that the capital is not as trustworthy as they say.
REVIEW
I would not call Dystopian one of my favorite genres, so I had fairly low expectations entering this book. But this book took me by complete and total surprise; and I am very happy to give this book five out of five stars. I absolutely love how the characters and the plot stick out from other dystopian novels. I loved the plot because of how original and smart it was. I also love how this book has a bit of a (murder) mystery involved, and how it played right into the plot's hands. I also loved all of the characters; June was a very strong female character, and likewise, Day lived up to the role of the leading male character. Finally, this book includes the aspect of duo perspectives; one chapter is told by June, the next comes form the perspective of Day. Sometimes alternating perspectives can be tricky because the reader can feel that too much time is being centered toward one character, and vice versa. But I did not feel that way in this book; I felt that both characters lived up to their roles of delivering their P.O.V to the audience. And that is all I have to say about Marie Lu's Legend; definitely read this book if you are looking for a fresh, clever approach on the dystopian genre.
