Legend by Marie Lu

Title: Legend

Author: Marie Lu

Quick Synopsis: (taken from Goodreads)
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

General Thoughts: Just to be clear, I love dystopian novels. They're probably my favourite types of books ever. Legend, while not particularly mind blowing in any specific way, was nonetheless a great read, and totally worth the time I put into it.

My Favourite Part: The writing. And the secret scientific surprise. There is a clear distinction between the two narrators voices, which always gets an author bonus points. Day sounds like a street-wise kid who's had to fight to survive, as he should, and June's military training really comes across. Also, the names in this book. Day, June/Junebug, Metias. I particularly love Metias's name, probably because it sounds like "Matthias", which is one of my favourite names. Also, June's last name, "Iparis", is fantastic. There's also the matter of connecting with Day and June. Both of them are very easy-to-relate to characters.

My Least Favourite Part: The predictability. There were some parts that took me by surprise, which was nice, but overall, in the general arc of things, I pretty much guessed all of the major things that would happen, which was not so nice. I'm one of those people who do not like easy-to-figure-out plots. Not knowing what comes next is part of the enjoyment of reading a book. If I wanted to know what happened next all the time, I'd go read my history textbook.

Scale of 1 to 10: 7.0