genre: dystopia
rating: 5/8 tentacles
Legend is set in what appears to be the future America, divided and at war. When June, a wealthy orphan and child genius, loses her brother, she is hastily graduated from military school and put on the trail of his killer. Robin Hood type rebel Day, wanted by the Republic for a series of criminal offenses, struggles to procure expensive medication for his family when a never before seen strain of plague infects his brother. Through chapters alternating between these two characters' POVs, readers watch as Day's and June's lives become more and more entangled, drawing them closer to uncovering a horrible secret they never imagined their country was keeping.
June and Day are both authentic, likable characters. Day is a refreshing switch from the smoldering man-whore love interest. He is compassionate and vulnerable and comes across like a mostly regular person. His super powers are agility and cleverness. June's stubborn patriotism clashes nicely with Day's disillusioned deviance, although her child geniusness comes off a little false. She's cool, but she's no Ender.
The plot moves consistently forward and Lu provides us with enough details about the setting to craft a new and intriguing world identity without bogging down the story. However, there's a lot of telling where there could be showing, which--if remedied--would create much more complexity. Maybe I'll find you an example when I have the book in front of me. There are also several passages (and this is a pet peeve of mine) that describe June's outfits and makeup in detail. Nothing wrong with this except that these descriptions are--in general--inserted where tonally inappropriate, where they interrupt the pace, or where they cause inconsistencies with voice. Also I don't care. For example, this is not something that Day would pause to describe to us (he does). Maybe to notice June's dress or her fancy military uniform, but would he describe her makeup? It felt weird.
Legend is not the most innovative novel--it is another story of two teens struggling against the secretive and oppressive government of a futuristic class-based society--and the writing is functional if not extraordinary. However, my interest in the characters and the mystery of the plot were enough to keep me reading late into the night, and I plan to start the sequel immediately.
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