Mark This Book Monday: Champion by Marie Lu!!

This week's Mark This Book Monday starts with a review for the final book of a series that I binge read during my vacation time. And I'm glad that after waiting for a while, I finally read this series!

As with the previous books of the series, it is part of two of challenges: the 2014 Series Challenge and the Dystopian Reading Challenge 2014!

Champion by Marie Lu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Reading a trilogy back to back is always a fantastic experience and this time it was not an exception. As this is the final book I will do my best to keep the review as spoiler free as possible but you can expect some spoilers from the previous books.

Since Prodigy ended in such an emotional wrenching way, I started Champion hoping to get some hope to the rather bleak prospects we were left with, but things started getting even worse soon. Day and June are again separated and reading each other's POVs with the knowledge that one has and the other hasn't... it is hard to read.

Then Day is called back to the capital to help save the Republic, and he finds out that things in a very bad situation for the Republic, and know that he knows the Colonies are not the utopia he once thought... he will try whatever is in his power to help save the Republic so it can be changed from within.

Champion is full of emotional crippling moments, neck-breaking action and a lot of political maneuvers. The political bits felt the less interesting of the lot, even if I enjoyed the visit to Antarctica since it expanded our knowledge of the world. I was happy when June left her Princeps post and started working as a field operative again, because that clearly was when she felt the most comfortable.

The final chapter was very hard to read, I kept on thinking that it was too cruel to end like that, after all the fight and all the suffering... And then we get the epilogue that made me cry some more and also left me with a heart full of hope and all the warm fuzzy feelings!

A very fitting ending for this series, even if all the political bits were not my favourite, this is still a very solid book to end a great dystopian series. Well deserved 4 stars!



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Mini Reviews: Life Before Legend and Darla's Story!

Today I'm here with a pair of mini reviews for two novellas that are part of two series. Both novellas are also part of my Dystopian Reading Challenge 2014.

Life Before Legend by Marie Lu

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Life Before Legend are two short stories about Day and June, when they were both 12 years-old. These stories provide a bit of background story on both of them, even if the insight that they offer is not as game changing as other novellas I've read for other series.

We see June's first day in college as a 12 year old, and we see more of her insecurities, because she wonders if she'll fit in at college any better than she did in her previous schools. This is a June that is as brilliant as the one we know but that is still trying to fit in, even when she fears it'll be more of the same. We see more of her relationship with Metias which I really like, and we see her assert herself and resign to be a loner once again.

Day's story also provides a different kind of insight. He's already on the run and already fighting the Republic in his own way, but he isn't the famous Day yet. This is the story of his first kiss, but also the story of one of his first big hits on Republic officials. We see how Day wants to make things right and why he thinks the Republic is wrong and not just by what happened to his family.

We learn more about June and Day and how they became who they are in Legend, but it's not a must-read novella to help us understand them better. A 3 star read.



Darla's Story by Mike Mullin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had started Ashfall when I read this novella, but I had read only a pair of chapters when I saw that this one was sort of a prequel, and I decided that I had to read it first. And I'm very glad I did, cause it helped me understand Darla so much better when we meet her in Ashfall!

Darla lost her dad a while back and since then, she's had to juggle school and work in the family farm to keep going, since her mom retreated inside religion.

They're both at the farm when the eruption happens, and they deal with all the horrible effects as best as they can. Once the initial shock is past Darla's very practical side and her mechanical abilities prove a blessing for them both and they start thinking of long term planning. Then one day a visitor arrives at the farm and despite Darla's misgivings, her mother wants to help. I was so very much with Darla in this one, cause the old lady was either delusional, in denial or gone cuckoo, and all the kindness that Darla's mum was showing her wasn't doing her any good. And the lady proves Darla right by running away with their stuff.

It's no surprise that by the time that Alex ends up in the farm's door, Darla feels very hostile against new people landing there in need of help.

A very relevant novella to the character development, that show us where Darla is coming from and how she became the Darla we meet in Ashfall. 4 stars for this one.



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Friday Reads: Prodigy by Marie Lu!!

As the next entry for this week's Friday Reads I have the sequel of Legend, the book I reviewed in the previous Friday Reads entry. Binge reading a series has the advantage of saving you agonizing waits and you feel like you've never left the world you're reading about!

As with Legend, Prodigy is part of both my 2014 Series Challenge and the Dystopian Reading Challenge 2014!

Prodigy by Marie Lu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Being able to read Prodigy right after finishing Legend was a treat because I had all the details fresh in my mind. As always I'm going to try and keep it spoiler free, but expect spoilers for Legend because that's the nature of sequels!

We start right where Legend left us, with June and Day on the run, trying to contact the Patriots and get them to help Day with his injury. June is ready to give up everything in her former life to help Day and try to make amendments and Day has decided that the Patriots are the ones that can help them change the Republic.

The Patriots plan is to kill the newly elected Elector Primo, to start a revolution and change the Republic as it is. In exchange for the Patriot's help to finding Day's brother, they are asked to help. June will infiltrate the Elector's circle by returning to the Republic and Day will be the one to carry out the deed. But nothing is exactly as it seems, not the Elector Primo, not the Patriots and certainly not their plot.

Here the world builind is intense, since we see beyond the streets where Day grew up, we see more of the Republic and we even see some of the Colonies, and we learn that they aren't exactly the paradise and haven Day had dreamed of. There's a lot of political intrigue in Prodigy with quite a few unexpected twists in it too.

Day and June are still our main characters and the POVs we follow, but they're not the only characters that get developed. We get to know other players in this game much better than we did in Legend, and despite the hints at a love "square" we get, it was done in a very realistic way. It bothered me a bit, but never really took from the narrative and the main plot points, and in a sense, it also adds a bit more to the already high stakes.

For most of the book Day and June are separated because in this book and series romance never takes over the plot, the story and the fight never feels like an excuse to present us with the romance. Day and June do go through to some very hard times and revelations in Prodigy, and that changes them but also makes them more determined to do what they think is right.

The ending... well, the ending is not exactly a cliffhanger, but it is an emotional punch. You are left feeling quite horrible and hoping for something that will fix everything in the next book! Luckily enough for me, I had Champion right there waiting to be read!

Prodigy was a fantastic sequel, didn't suffer from the dreaded middle book syndrome, since we learn a lot of important information and the character progression is brilliantly done. Very much deserved 4 stars!



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Friday Reads: Legend by Marie Lu!!

I'm starting this week's Friday Reads with the first book in a series I've been wanting to read for a while, but that I had decided I wouldn't read until the last book came out. It still took me a while to get to it, but during my vacation time in Feb I finally had time to binge read the whole series!

This one is part of both the Dystopian Reading Challenge 2014 as well as the 2014 Series Challenge! I'm doing very well with the Dystopian challenge, as I knew I would, since I love reading dystopians, and I'm doing ok with my Series challenge. I have completed some series I didn't have in my original list, but I've also completed some I had there, so it's progress!

Legend by Marie Lu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had been pushing back reading Legend until I could binge read the whole series. I had read great reviews from fellow bloggers, but I had also read that the ending of Prodigy was if not a cliffhanger a bit of a big emotional hurdle. I'm glad I did wait but I'm even happier that I've read the books because I love dystopias and this is a great dystopian series!

Legend is written in dual point of view, and both POVs are complete opposites in the beginning. June is the Republic's darling, a young prodigy that has completed her military career and is ready to start in a position according to her status of privilege. Day is the Republic's most wanted criminal and he's always trying to help his family and do what he can to disrupt the government that he feels is unfair.

We get enough world building that shows us the kind of place the Republic is. A dictatoship of sorts, with one strong leader and a military that controls the lives of its citizens. Everything is controlled by the government, the housing systems, the media, the food. And the Republic is at war with the Colonies, its next door neighbour country (and other half of the former United States of America). Since we are in the Republic we also just get their edited version of history, and have very few knowledge of what happened to lead to the current situation.

The action truly starts when June's brother, Methias, is assassinated and Day is the main and only suspect. June is tasked with finding and apprehending him by infiltrating the lower class neighbourhoods.

Both POVs are very distinctive and show us the story more completely than it would have been otherwise. June is analytical and she's more focused on her anger because she's lost all the family she had. Day is trying to protect her family and save his brother's life but he doesn't stop being a kind boy that wants to help those in need, even if he's the most wanted criminal in his city & country. We see both June and Day changing while interacting with each other and by the end of the book, their perspective has certainly shifted and they are not the people they were at the start.

With plenty of action, character development and a fast narrative, this was a fantastic dystopian book and a very strong first book! Well deserved 4 stars!



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