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mj_86's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Gun violence, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Car accident
khakipantsofsex's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
geooo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The good parts about Legend are the pace, it is very fast paced, easy to read and it is addictive and somewhat entertaining.
So that's that. Now, the bad parts about Legend. Spoiler alert! There are many.
The writing is basic and perfectly fine. However the plot, the world building and the characters are terrible. The amount of plot holes in this book is truly astronomical.
The world-building is truly terrible. Nothing about it makes sense. What we know is that we are in the Republic of America with a population of around 20 million people. Floods and volcanic eruptions brought us where we are today. We are participating in a way against the Colonies. For a long time we have been under dictatorship, under Elector Primo. There are the Patriots who are against the government, but they are barely mentioned. In this world at the age of ten, children take the trial, an exam combined of three parts: an interview, a physical part and a paper exam testing the children's knowledge. Based on the score, the highest being 1500, which only our main mcs have been able to achieve it, of course, and the lowest 1000. Anything under that is failing. Depending on your score you either go to the top highschool and college, either go to regular highschool and college, or you are barred from highschool and just go to work, these are mostly poor people. The children who fail are sent into child labor camps. But surprise, surprise! The are actually experimented upon, and then killed or just killed from the beginning. Day, our mmc has managed to escape them, for some reason.
There is also a plaque (or more*), that is never fully described. We don't know why we go to war with the Colonies, who even are they, the war is happening in the background and is supposedly very important, but we know almost nothing about it. Also we know little to nothing about the Patriots. Despite all of these treats the worst enemy of the government is Day, who bears that title not because he is a killer or something, but because he makes them look weak. How can you have all of these issues, but still consider a 15 year old child your worst enemy.
The government is supposed to be these powerful entity, but a 15 year child keeps embarrassing them, from what June has said they have relations with the police, a random child can enter this hospital with guards surrounding it and steal and get way.
They are evil for no reason, they just kill people left and right because they want to.
However the worst thing they do is create plaques. So they have underground farms, when the animals get a virus, they take it and make a vaccine. Then they put it in the water of certain sectors and give vaccines to the other. They do this to learn how it affects people and when they are done they secretly vaccinate the affected ones, who haven't been killed. They do this to create biological weapons against the Colonies. Why do they do this instead of just finding some people and testing on them? Why are they killing their own people? They are in a war, they need manpower. How can they sustain underground farms, but they don't have enough electricity or cctvs? At least at the beginning, when they could have used them to track Day, but suddenly at the end of the book they exist. Marie Lu spent the entire book describing the military uniforms instead of making sure her book made sense or developing the world building.
The characters have no depth or complexity. They are one dimensional, without any personality. If the author tried to give the two mcs any motivations, she didn't do this with the side characters. They exist only to serve the mcs, to be evil for no reason or to give the mcs some emotion, they have no real motivations. They are as interesting as carbon.
Anyway, the worst thing is that the mcs do not make sense.
They are supposed to be geniuses, the only people in that country to have a perfect score. They are supposed to intelligent people, but that isn't shown. Marie Lu thinks that just because the mcs can notice details and put together information they're smart.
Day has escaped being killed in those labs at 10. How? It is never said.
You cannot tell that between the ages of 10 and 15 Day survived on the streets without any help. That is unbelievable on another level. Plus not only he did that, but also became the most wanted criminal in the Republic. That he manages to get into a bank in ten seconds and steal a lot of money, that he manages to beat trained soldiers all the time, when he himself didn't have any training, that he torched to squadrons of fighter jets, that he grounded airships by crippling the engines, and that he can climb at least 5 stories under 4 seconds. Bfr! That's just ridiculous.
So he is supposed to be this prodigy, but he bets around 1000 notes, when he knows that he needs that for his brother's medicine, knows how hard is to get money and loses them.
June is also supposed to be a genius and a good fighter, but not as agile as Day. How do you engage in street fighting and put yourself into attention when you're supposed to be undercover, to find Day.
The plot is nonsensical, dumb and predictable. It is every ya dystopian book ever. Nothing new.
And all the dumb details. June says that because of the direction the sewer cap is turned in, he (Day) is left handed. But in the previous chapter after Day got into the sewers the soldiers followed him, wouldn't they be the last ones to use the sewer cap?
June also says at a moment that all that Day did was for the people, but she never mentioned how he helped them before, just his crimes.
The government wants to get Day in a trap and he knows this, but he still goes there and does nothing, just talks, doesn't even try to get the meds. What was the point?
Day also jumped from two and a half story, but doesn't have any lasting injuries because of it and he also has some former injury at his knee.
June says that when she was younger, her and her brother went and killed a runaway. Later when a soldier kills people for disturbing the peace she says that her brother wouldn't have done that. Yeah, sure! Tell yourself that.
She has little to no emotions when her brother was killed, when she and her brother killed someone and when she saw someone get tortured, but suddenly she gets all emotional for Day and his mother. Oh, please!
How is everyone giving her so much respect, why are they listening to her. She gives everyone soldier orders, and because of catching Day, the president comes and meets her. She is 15 and just achieved one thing.
As a soldier she is also acting dumb. She constantly questions orders and she steals a bomb. How does she even manage to do that?
When she searches for Day apparently the beggars give her every information she needs, just because.
Also the romance with Thomas is so unnecessary and was for shock value.
She mentions constantly that the police can question her if they want. Doesn't the military and the police talk to each other? She says that she has to go alone undercover because she would suspicious otherwise. Oh, please! How do they even let her go alone?
Also how did Day came to the conclusion that the plaque is man made? He had basically nothing to make him jump to that.
At the end of the book they sat that the Colonies may accept them, treat them as their own. How? They are traitors. The Republic wants them badly. Why wouldn't the Colonies use them as bargaining for something? The Republic would be dumb to accept, but everyone knows they're dumb.
The romance is bad. They have no chemistry.
There are a lot more dumb moments, but I am tired of writing.
So that's that. Now, the bad parts about Legend. Spoiler alert! There are many.
The writing is basic and perfectly fine. However the plot, the world building and the characters are terrible. The amount of plot holes in this book is truly astronomical.
The world-building is truly terrible. Nothing about it makes sense. What we know is that we are in the Republic of America with a population of around 20 million people. Floods and volcanic eruptions brought us where we are today. We are participating in a way against the Colonies. For a long time we have been under dictatorship, under Elector Primo. There are the Patriots who are against the government, but they are barely mentioned. In this world at the age of ten, children take the trial, an exam combined of three parts: an interview, a physical part and a paper exam testing the children's knowledge. Based on the score, the highest being 1500, which only our main mcs have been able to achieve it, of course, and the lowest 1000. Anything under that is failing. Depending on your score you either go to the top highschool and college, either go to regular highschool and college, or you are barred from highschool and just go to work, these are mostly poor people. The children who fail are sent into child labor camps. But surprise, surprise! The are actually experimented upon, and then killed or just killed from the beginning. Day, our mmc has managed to escape them, for some reason.
There is also a plaque (or more*), that is never fully described. We don't know why we go to war with the Colonies, who even are they, the war is happening in the background and is supposedly very important, but we know almost nothing about it. Also we know little to nothing about the Patriots. Despite all of these treats the worst enemy of the government is Day, who bears that title not because he is a killer or something, but because he makes them look weak. How can you have all of these issues, but still consider a 15 year old child your worst enemy.
The government is supposed to be these powerful entity, but a 15 year child keeps embarrassing them, from what June has said they have relations with the police, a random child can enter this hospital with guards surrounding it and steal and get way.
They are evil for no reason, they just kill people left and right because they want to.
However the worst thing they do is create plaques. So they have underground farms, when the animals get a virus, they take it and make a vaccine. Then they put it in the water of certain sectors and give vaccines to the other. They do this to learn how it affects people and when they are done they secretly vaccinate the affected ones, who haven't been killed. They do this to create biological weapons against the Colonies. Why do they do this instead of just finding some people and testing on them? Why are they killing their own people? They are in a war, they need manpower. How can they sustain underground farms, but they don't have enough electricity or cctvs? At least at the beginning, when they could have used them to track Day, but suddenly at the end of the book they exist. Marie Lu spent the entire book describing the military uniforms instead of making sure her book made sense or developing the world building.
The characters have no depth or complexity. They are one dimensional, without any personality. If the author tried to give the two mcs any motivations, she didn't do this with the side characters. They exist only to serve the mcs, to be evil for no reason or to give the mcs some emotion, they have no real motivations. They are as interesting as carbon.
Anyway, the worst thing is that the mcs do not make sense.
They are supposed to be geniuses, the only people in that country to have a perfect score. They are supposed to intelligent people, but that isn't shown. Marie Lu thinks that just because the mcs can notice details and put together information they're smart.
Day has escaped being killed in those labs at 10. How? It is never said.
You cannot tell that between the ages of 10 and 15 Day survived on the streets without any help. That is unbelievable on another level. Plus not only he did that, but also became the most wanted criminal in the Republic. That he manages to get into a bank in ten seconds and steal a lot of money, that he manages to beat trained soldiers all the time, when he himself didn't have any training, that he torched to squadrons of fighter jets, that he grounded airships by crippling the engines, and that he can climb at least 5 stories under 4 seconds. Bfr! That's just ridiculous.
So he is supposed to be this prodigy, but he bets around 1000 notes, when he knows that he needs that for his brother's medicine, knows how hard is to get money and loses them.
June is also supposed to be a genius and a good fighter, but not as agile as Day. How do you engage in street fighting and put yourself into attention when you're supposed to be undercover, to find Day.
The plot is nonsensical, dumb and predictable. It is every ya dystopian book ever. Nothing new.
And all the dumb details. June says that because of the direction the sewer cap is turned in, he (Day) is left handed. But in the previous chapter after Day got into the sewers the soldiers followed him, wouldn't they be the last ones to use the sewer cap?
June also says at a moment that all that Day did was for the people, but she never mentioned how he helped them before, just his crimes.
The government wants to get Day in a trap and he knows this, but he still goes there and does nothing, just talks, doesn't even try to get the meds. What was the point?
Day also jumped from two and a half story, but doesn't have any lasting injuries because of it and he also has some former injury at his knee.
June says that when she was younger, her and her brother went and killed a runaway. Later when a soldier kills people for disturbing the peace she says that her brother wouldn't have done that. Yeah, sure! Tell yourself that.
She has little to no emotions when her brother was killed, when she and her brother killed someone and when she saw someone get tortured, but suddenly she gets all emotional for Day and his mother. Oh, please!
How is everyone giving her so much respect, why are they listening to her. She gives everyone soldier orders, and because of catching Day, the president comes and meets her. She is 15 and just achieved one thing.
As a soldier she is also acting dumb. She constantly questions orders and she steals a bomb. How does she even manage to do that?
When she searches for Day apparently the beggars give her every information she needs, just because.
Also the romance with Thomas is so unnecessary and was for shock value.
She mentions constantly that the police can question her if they want. Doesn't the military and the police talk to each other? She says that she has to go alone undercover because she would suspicious otherwise. Oh, please! How do they even let her go alone?
Also how did Day came to the conclusion that the plaque is man made? He had basically nothing to make him jump to that.
At the end of the book they sat that the Colonies may accept them, treat them as their own. How? They are traitors. The Republic wants them badly. Why wouldn't the Colonies use them as bargaining for something? The Republic would be dumb to accept, but everyone knows they're dumb.
The romance is bad. They have no chemistry.
There are a lot more dumb moments, but I am tired of writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Death of parent
green_amaryllis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Torture
starr27's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Torture, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence, Car accident, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
rebeccaisabelle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I love the story line and the plot twists. I wanted to read more and more so that I could find out what happened which resulting made me finish the whole book in 2 days. Whilst reading the first parts of the book, I thought, "this would make a good movie, I'd watch that movie" and then I changed my mind when I read further on because I realised that John was killed and in a very gruesome way too. If I saw that in theaters I think I would feel pretty disturbed and sad about the loss . The characters are so young. The kind of things that they are doing at that age seems unrealistic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Confinement, Abandonment, and Classism
bones_jackson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Segue bem com a vibe de distopia de 2010, mas é muito bom, amei os personagens e a trama e eu quero muito saber o que vai acontecer com eles
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
chinomi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Alcohol
withlivjones's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Super fast-paced and thrilling, with some fantastic worldbuilding. I always eat up plots where the MC is forced to question their entire life because they thought they were one of the good guys but they’ve been working for the villains all along. The plot has lots of twists, which were a little predictable but in a satisfying way where it feels good to put all the puzzle pieces together. I did feel like the romance was a little insta-lovey especially at first but I did enjoy the dynamic between Day and June by the end. I’m super excited to see what happens next in the trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Grief, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
terrywho's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Besides the relationship being a bit too insta-lovey for my taste this was a lot better than what I remember from my YA dystopia phase back in 2014. The world is pretty basic but Day is a charming protagonist and I did like how much they committed to the deaths in the book. Let’s see if I actually finish the trilogy this time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail