Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Legend by Marie Lu

14 reviews

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

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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

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

3.5 ⭐ CW: gun violence, police violence, torture, death of a child, death of a parent, sickness

Legend by Marie Lu is book one in the Legend trilogy. This was a YA dystopian scifi about a fractured America. I typically like dystopian novels and this author, but this one didn't do it for me. I didn't really love the characters, there wasn't quite enough world-building, and the plot was super predictable. 

We follow Day, a boy living on the streets of the Republic doing a Robin Hood kind of thing and causing trouble for the military and government. The Republic's poorest districts are riddled with plague, and when Day tries to break into a hospital to steal a cure for his sick brother, already the most wanted criminal, he becomes embroiled in a plot that tangles him with June. June is a prodigy, and when her brother is killed she is given the task of finding the killer, Day. 

While under cover, June gets to know Day, but still gets him caught by the military. They both realize that there is more going on than meets the eye. June realizes that maybe her government isn't as innocent as it seems. As I said, this plot was pretty predictable. I knew where it was going the whole time, so the twists lost their impact. The romance also didn't do it for me. It was kind of insta love, and shallow at that. I just don't think the story was well executed. 

I don't think I'll continue the series. This was a disappointment, considering I loved a couple of Lu's other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Police brutality, and Death of parent

lcravella's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was very fun to read. But it was sad. The characters were very well explained in this book. Lots of action in it. So if you want a very good book to read read this one.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, and Death of parent

no

haley49's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I loved everything about this book from the pacing to the characters to the plot. The only nitpicks I have are about gaps in world building and that emotional beats aren’t given the space to have lasting impact but I think that’s just the fast paced narrative. I can’t wait to read the next book(s).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bookishchef's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Torture, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Confinement, Vomit, and Colonisation

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

emily_smith2007's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 

Legend 

Maria Lu 

Los Angeles, California, The Republic of America: He is Day; The most wanted criminal. She is June; the Republic’s prodigy. 

The United States is long gone and now divided into two. 15 years old June Iparis was born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s Wealthiest sectors. 15 years old Day was born in slums. He is known for his crimes against the Republic, but his motivation isn’t as malicious as it seems. 

Neither of them seem to have reason to ever meet, but when June’s Brother, Metias, is murdered she swears to avenge him. Day becomes the prime suspect. 

On the run and under cover they meet by chance. They are both intrigued by each other. Neither of them knows the others past. Can they put two and two together? 

Day is in a race against time, he must protect his family. The Republic is filled with plagues and has been for a long time. The rich and elite get vaccinations each year but the poorer section of the population is left to fend for themselves. 

The Republic is brutal, militarised and nationalistic. However, is there something ever more sinister? How far will the Republic go to keep things hidden? 

The book is told in the dual perspective of Day and June, which I loved. It does hit close to home because of how the Plagues are a key point. It almost made it even more real to me as aspects were very similar to Covid and lock down. 

I will give it a 4/5 (8/10) stars, because I really enjoyed it. I loved listening to it on audiobook, the narration was great. I loved the characters and their energy. The contrast of societies was really interesting, I liked the juxtaposition that it gave the story. I also enjoyed the fact that the romance was a prominent story line but there was also lots of other story lines. It didn’t feel like it took over. 

I would recommend this to 12/13+, anyone that enjoyed The Hunger Games,  and anyone that wants a book that has a hint of mystery but has a much bigger plot. If you feel like reading a book with strong characters in that aren’t perfect, If you enjoy Dystopia, romance, law and army’s/war then I think you will enjoy Legend. Even if you just like the sound of it give it a go. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

marissasa's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This YA novel based on a dystopian republic of the former America was one that while grabbed my attention enough to want to finish, definitely felt like something I would've enjoyed a lot more in middle school. I was interested in the world-building and political intrigue around the manufactured plagues and the idea that the government was hiding a lot of secrets, but I couldn't find myself caring about the main characters. June is very much the typical female YA protagonist who is super young (15) but somehow smarter, more skilled, and more experienced than everyone around her and although it makes sense for her characterization as someone who was born into wealth from government affiliation and was trained from a young age to be a solider like her brother, it also made for a very calculating and unemotional point of view to read from that I couldn't connect with. Day is also a typical male YA protagonist counterpart who is somehow cunning, charming, knowledgable, and a famous criminal despite also being super young (15) and I didn't find myself rooting for him nor believing in the connection between him and June as anything deeper than physical attraction. I will finish the series eventually simply because I want to see the fallout of their actions and see how they will challenge the government or uncover more about their secrets.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tays_books's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Torture, War, and Classism

Minor: Vomit

ghostsversion's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Okay so initially I had this at 4⭐️ but to be fair it was three years ago and people change. Now first off why were Day and June fifteen? I mean sure, it can be a commentary of how corrupt governments force children to mature early, but at the same time I don’t think

having June be “pursued” I guess by men in their 20s was necessary. They weren’t really normalized, but they weren’t condemned either.

Anyway, I must say that the first person POV really threw me off at the beginning for some reason. Also the constant info dumping about the world building didn’t help matters. But you know as the plot moved forward, you noticed it less and less. Overall, I guess I liked this but it wasn’t like the best of the best. We shall see what the rest of this series has in store.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Car accident