Legend

Reader: Meghan
Age: 17
Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Penguin
Pub Date: 11/11
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens Top 10: No
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Legend has an interesting, if ill-defined setting (a future in which the United States government has collapsed and given way to several smaller republics waging war over the land that was the continental United States) that borrows heavily from Joss Whedon's Firefly series. This book's world is so much more interesting than the characters, but details of the setting are obscured behind a forced, uninteresting romance and an interesting, if poorly paced, plot.
Compelling aspects of the book: Once the plot picked up – about midway through the book – and more details about the setting and the war being fought, I found myself drawn into the book against my will. Several other people had read and liked Legend, so I picked it up at their recommendation. The first 150 pages are devoted to a forced, uninteresting, and highly predictable "Romeo and Juliet" romance. I was so frustrated that I nearly stopped reading, but I kept it up because I wanted to know more about the world and about the schemes being hatched by background characters. I thought the actual story was solid, even if the writing and characters were not.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: Yes
Reasons why you were disappointed with the book: The characters in Legend are prone to overly detailed descriptions of their clothing and mental states. Most emotion is conveyed through plainly worded statements rather than in their actions. The two lead characters seemed like cardboard cutouts rather than people, and the only reason they started dating was because the plot said so. I think the book would be stronger without the gratuitous romance and alternating first-person perspectives. In general, the writing is pretty weak, lots of telling rather than showing and some fairly clumsy foreshadowing.
Cover: I personally like the cover of this book, but I think it's slightly misleading. It accurately represents the setting of the novel, but it, and the blurb on the back, make the book seem a lot more masculine and action-packed. The book, in my mind, is much more about relationships and would probably appeal more to girls than to guys.
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 4P Broad general teen appeal
Comments: The soldiers in this book wear capes as part of their combat fatigues. I was so distracted by how awkward and impractical a cape would be during combat that I was taken out of the story every time they were mentioned. Hasn't the author seen The Incredibles? NO CAPES.