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cedrisc's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book hard to put down. Although it wasn't really unique in the plot, I like the world the author has built. I could easily picture it as a tv series. Will probably read the next installment.
sunlightandstories's review against another edition
2.0
This is one of thoes addicting books were there's a lot of things you don't like but yet you still really enjoyed the book and you end up reading the whole series because you have to know what happens. My biggest complete is that the two point of views were not distinctive, Day and June often seemed like the same person I understand why there were two point of views it just wasn't executed very well. I'm not a big fan of the writing in general but this was her first book so hopefully it will get better. I did really like the story but I don't think I'll continue withe this seines
ananya_08's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
twigsssl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
3.5
dancingreader00's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this. I have honestly no words on how to really describe this book.... I mean.... So many feels
infinite_kay's review against another edition
4.0
In some aspects Legend doesn’t distinguish itself from most YA dystopias : teen heros battling an evil government, a touch of science fiction, lots of action, a touch of danger and voilà! Those who are tired of the genre might not find it the most refreshing novel, but as someone who loves dystopia and isn’t tired of it yet, I found Legend to be one of the best dystopia novels I have read in the last twelve months.
First of all, I thought the writing was great. I’d say simple, to the point, while carrying emotions in a believable manner. The novel is told both from June and Day’s point-of-view, and I thought the author did really good in writing them in a distinctive manner – and not just because they were printed in different fonts (though this was a nice touch)!
As for June and Day, I liked them both. Day is by far the easiest to love, strong and beautiful and charming, while Jude starts off a little less likable. Because of that though, I found her journey much more captivating, as there is a real change in her behavior and her thoughts from start to finish. Day’s weakness for his family revealed his vulnerability, which made him all the more lovable. Paired together, the two had a great chemistry that didn’t feel forced.
Also, it needs to be said : yay for no love triangle! Marie Lu proves that you can write a great romance between two characters, with lots of tension, without forcing a third character into the mix. I did think there would be a triangle with Thomas, but the author used him as a mirror of society for June, which I thought was a lot more interesting.
As for the plot and the secrets uncovered, I thought they were fairly predictable as the author gives a lot of hints along the story. This being said, I didn’t feel it took away from my enjoyment : I liked how June and Day uncovered the facts and how it was, in both cases, linked to their personal history.
Legend was a fast-paced novel that I really enjoyed. Government conspiracy, technology, intriguing secondary characters also played a role in getting me hooked to this new series. While this chapter of the story concludes itself, I felt I was only reading the beginning of a bigger story – and I am really looking forward to discovering what comes next for June and Day.
First of all, I thought the writing was great. I’d say simple, to the point, while carrying emotions in a believable manner. The novel is told both from June and Day’s point-of-view, and I thought the author did really good in writing them in a distinctive manner – and not just because they were printed in different fonts (though this was a nice touch)!
As for June and Day, I liked them both. Day is by far the easiest to love, strong and beautiful and charming, while Jude starts off a little less likable. Because of that though, I found her journey much more captivating, as there is a real change in her behavior and her thoughts from start to finish. Day’s weakness for his family revealed his vulnerability, which made him all the more lovable. Paired together, the two had a great chemistry that didn’t feel forced.
Also, it needs to be said : yay for no love triangle! Marie Lu proves that you can write a great romance between two characters, with lots of tension, without forcing a third character into the mix. I did think there would be a triangle with Thomas, but the author used him as a mirror of society for June, which I thought was a lot more interesting.
As for the plot and the secrets uncovered, I thought they were fairly predictable as the author gives a lot of hints along the story. This being said, I didn’t feel it took away from my enjoyment : I liked how June and Day uncovered the facts and how it was, in both cases, linked to their personal history.
Legend was a fast-paced novel that I really enjoyed. Government conspiracy, technology, intriguing secondary characters also played a role in getting me hooked to this new series. While this chapter of the story concludes itself, I felt I was only reading the beginning of a bigger story – and I am really looking forward to discovering what comes next for June and Day.
nevermarcy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
idratherbereading542's review against another edition
4.0
Legend is, according to it's author, inspired by Les Misérables -- a more modern day version of course. I really haven't read or seen Les Misérables so I can't really compare that as much. But it's about a girl and a boy from two very different worlds whose paths cross and intertwine until finally their paths merge.
This was a good story and I got through it pretty quickly (which is always a good sign for me). The beginning was a bit slow, but once you got into the meat of the book it started to get more and more interesting. With attempted prison escapes, government conspiracies, and everything in between it's bound to be fast paced, which is how I like my books. So that was really good.
What I didn't like was that this book swaps between June and Day's point-of-views, which isn't so bad and I actually like in some books. But the problem is that BOTH of their POV's are in the first-person. If it wasn't for there being a different colored font for Day than for June, then it would've been hard to keep track of whose head we were inside. But the font variation did help in that sense. However, the gold font used for Day was at times hard on the eyes. This entire aspect I found to be kind of distracting throughout the book. I think it would've been better just do them both from the third-person.
But aside from that it was a pretty good book. Some of it was a little too much military inspired for my tastes. I love a dystopian that has government conspiracies. But at times I just wasn't digging the whole military aspect of it. Despite that though discovering some of the conspiracies and terrible things going on inside the government they think are the good guys was definitely interesting to see unfold.
Overall though, it got super interesting near the end there and made for a great lee-way into the next book. I can't wait to see what happens. It was a fast-paced dystopian with lots of questions and mysteries to ponder but not enough to make you tear your hair out with wondering the answers (which can be good or bad, depending on your preference lol).
This was a good story and I got through it pretty quickly (which is always a good sign for me). The beginning was a bit slow, but once you got into the meat of the book it started to get more and more interesting. With attempted prison escapes, government conspiracies, and everything in between it's bound to be fast paced, which is how I like my books. So that was really good.
What I didn't like was that this book swaps between June and Day's point-of-views, which isn't so bad and I actually like in some books. But the problem is that BOTH of their POV's are in the first-person. If it wasn't for there being a different colored font for Day than for June, then it would've been hard to keep track of whose head we were inside. But the font variation did help in that sense. However, the gold font used for Day was at times hard on the eyes. This entire aspect I found to be kind of distracting throughout the book. I think it would've been better just do them both from the third-person.
But aside from that it was a pretty good book. Some of it was a little too much military inspired for my tastes. I love a dystopian that has government conspiracies. But at times I just wasn't digging the whole military aspect of it. Despite that though discovering some of the conspiracies and terrible things going on inside the government they think are the good guys was definitely interesting to see unfold.
Overall though, it got super interesting near the end there and made for a great lee-way into the next book. I can't wait to see what happens. It was a fast-paced dystopian with lots of questions and mysteries to ponder but not enough to make you tear your hair out with wondering the answers (which can be good or bad, depending on your preference lol).
yazaleea's review against another edition
4.0
My rating : ★★★★☆
(Almost exactly) 10 years ago, 13 year old me discovered Legend, the book that made me into the avid fantasy/YA reader I am today. I did read books before this one (a ton) but it really stayed with me: Guess I have always been a hoe for enemies-to-lovers-let's-destroy-the-government-and-now-kiss and it started here!
I did reread the series each time a new book was released but after that, the trilogy remained in my brain as *the* YA books that really left its mark on my childhood and my career as a reader. As I grew and the way I consume fiction changed, I was terrified of the thought that maybe my childhood faves were, in fact, terrible.
When I received [b:Rebel|42121526|Rebel (Legend, #4)|Marie Lu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557505626l/42121526._SY75_.jpg|65927270], the last entry of the series, on my birthday (thanks Steph <3), it was the perfect opportunity to uphold the tradition and reread the whole series before discovering the final book. The thing that happened with Marie Lu and NFTs kinda put me off but I decided to leave it aside and go for it.
I finally opened Legend two days ago, after convincing myself that I'd probably not enjoy it that much, that the gap between years of nostalgia and the reality would end up in a disappointing, underwhelming experience.
I am so, so glad that it was not the case at all: I had a blast. Yes, it's cliché YA, yes it's not perfect but I! Don't! Care! I had fun and that's why I'm reading books for.
//A little warning that my review is biased by the fact that I've read the next books, I remember how the characters will develop and the key twists the story will take. This is more of a "me revisiting them" that discovering any of these. Spoilers ahead!//
The Characters
June was the character I was so sure I'd hate. I thought I was going to find her annoying, in the way many leading ladies in YA are written as overly girlbossing, overly hardass with no substance. But to my surprise, I actually loved her alot? A "noble" genius that has to carry the weight of being the only genius her country has ever known, scoring her perfect score on the Trial that determines one's future in the dystopian nation they live in. Her development felt natural and logical to me, unlike many of her fellow YA leads that seem pushed into events and changes, enduring them rather than engineering them.
Day is another YA stereotype; charming, clever and cunning, a pretty face that hides a dark past; blah blah blah. He checks all the boxes for a male lead but that doesn't make him less endearing to me. He cares for his family and is ready to do pretty much anything to keep them safe. He acted as a not very subtle but still efficient foil to June's character:
Other side characters, like Tess, Day's accomplice and little sister-like partner, June's older brother Metias (I know he didn't appear often but I love him so much), the hot fighter Kaede were a really nice addition to the main cast and I liked reading about them.
The Plot
See, there's nothing too special about the plot: Girl in the system goes through an event that changes her life, she seeks revenge, she is confronted to the truth, her country is *gasp* evil and what/who she thought was bad turns out to be her only shot at challenging the giant that used to have her in its grasp. It's YA through and through, but I liked it. I liked how everything was put together, I liked to see the characters evolve and make things happen.
The romance between June and Day borders on insta-love, it's true but I like how it was framed as a hormonal teenage attraction that builds into something more as they're thrown into danger and revelations. Again, this almost superficial "love" is challenged in the other books so I definitely recommend reading the sequel if you want to see it happen. It didn't shock me or turn me off to see two teenagers finding e/o attractive and kissing.
Their relationship goes beyond romance though: it's messy and twisted and it starts off as a revenge scheme for June and then she meets that guy that sounds *nothing* like what she heard but she does something that will break him. But they're two people stuck in a web, two kids that don't know any better and I like how they move through issues, how they go forward. I just think that they're neat. The first book might at first portray their relationship like instant attraction - which is boring - but it develops into more than simply this, they change and events make them mature and it impacts the way they see each other: who to trust, how to trust? And I think it was done very well!
The Worldbuilding
The worldbuilding is probably the weakest element of this first volume. Many opposing factions are introduced, without being fully developed and the inner mechanisms of how the Republic works are mostly hinted at - it is a military, dictatorial-ish state that spells out "hello!! I'm a dystopian evil nation!!!". But I know that this will be well explored in the later volumes - Legend only gives a first taste, we are given some tools to understand the situation, not too much to the point it's confusing but maybe a little under what I would have expected for a first book.
Anyway, I am in love with this series; it will always have a special place in my heart's bookshelf and I am so happy that it's just as good as I remembered it to be. I love the characters and I love the world and I can't wait to continue my reread of the trilogy + discovering Rebel <3
(Almost exactly) 10 years ago, 13 year old me discovered Legend, the book that made me into the avid fantasy/YA reader I am today. I did read books before this one (a ton) but it really stayed with me: Guess I have always been a hoe for enemies-to-lovers-let's-destroy-the-government-and-now-kiss and it started here!
I did reread the series each time a new book was released but after that, the trilogy remained in my brain as *the* YA books that really left its mark on my childhood and my career as a reader. As I grew and the way I consume fiction changed, I was terrified of the thought that maybe my childhood faves were, in fact, terrible.
When I received [b:Rebel|42121526|Rebel (Legend, #4)|Marie Lu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557505626l/42121526._SY75_.jpg|65927270], the last entry of the series, on my birthday (thanks Steph <3), it was the perfect opportunity to uphold the tradition and reread the whole series before discovering the final book. The thing that happened with Marie Lu and NFTs kinda put me off but I decided to leave it aside and go for it.
I finally opened Legend two days ago, after convincing myself that I'd probably not enjoy it that much, that the gap between years of nostalgia and the reality would end up in a disappointing, underwhelming experience.
I am so, so glad that it was not the case at all: I had a blast. Yes, it's cliché YA, yes it's not perfect but I! Don't! Care! I had fun and that's why I'm reading books for.
//A little warning that my review is biased by the fact that I've read the next books, I remember how the characters will develop and the key twists the story will take. This is more of a "me revisiting them" that discovering any of these. Spoilers ahead!//
The Characters
June was the character I was so sure I'd hate. I thought I was going to find her annoying, in the way many leading ladies in YA are written as overly girlbossing, overly hardass with no substance. But to my surprise, I actually loved her alot? A "noble" genius that has to carry the weight of being the only genius her country has ever known, scoring her perfect score on the Trial that determines one's future in the dystopian nation they live in.
Spoiler
I liked to see her going from the Republic's prodigy that blindly trusts the institution that benefits her to discovering the truth about her family's tragic fate.Day is another YA stereotype; charming, clever and cunning, a pretty face that hides a dark past; blah blah blah. He checks all the boxes for a male lead but that doesn't make him less endearing to me. He cares for his family and is ready to do pretty much anything to keep them safe. He acted as a not very subtle but still efficient foil to June's character:
Spoiler
one is the Republic's Darling while the other has been abandoned and left for dead by the same institution.Other side characters, like Tess, Day's accomplice and little sister-like partner, June's older brother Metias (I know he didn't appear often but I love him so much), the hot fighter Kaede were a really nice addition to the main cast and I liked reading about them.
The Plot
See, there's nothing too special about the plot: Girl in the system goes through an event that changes her life, she seeks revenge, she is confronted to the truth, her country is *gasp* evil and what/who she thought was bad turns out to be her only shot at challenging the giant that used to have her in its grasp. It's YA through and through, but I liked it. I liked how everything was put together, I liked to see the characters evolve and make things happen.
The romance between June and Day borders on insta-love, it's true but I like how it was framed as a hormonal teenage attraction that builds into something more as they're thrown into danger and revelations. Again, this almost superficial "love" is challenged in the other books so I definitely recommend reading the sequel if you want to see it happen. It didn't shock me or turn me off to see two teenagers finding e/o attractive and kissing.
Their relationship goes beyond romance though: it's messy and twisted and it starts off as a revenge scheme for June and then she meets that guy that sounds *nothing* like what she heard but she does something that will break him. But they're two people stuck in a web, two kids that don't know any better and I like how they move through issues, how they go forward. I just think that they're neat. The first book might at first portray their relationship like instant attraction - which is boring - but it develops into more than simply this, they change and events make them mature and it impacts the way they see each other: who to trust, how to trust? And I think it was done very well!
The Worldbuilding
The worldbuilding is probably the weakest element of this first volume. Many opposing factions are introduced, without being fully developed and the inner mechanisms of how the Republic works are mostly hinted at - it is a military, dictatorial-ish state that spells out "hello!! I'm a dystopian evil nation!!!". But I know that this will be well explored in the later volumes - Legend only gives a first taste, we are given some tools to understand the situation, not too much to the point it's confusing but maybe a little under what I would have expected for a first book.
Anyway, I am in love with this series; it will always have a special place in my heart's bookshelf and I am so happy that it's just as good as I remembered it to be. I love the characters and I love the world and I can't wait to continue my reread of the trilogy + discovering Rebel <3
apfel_cake's review against another edition
4.0
really great setting, and the story theory was really cool. Loved Day, but I think both him and June could benefit from some character development.