Gingerbouf Does Books

Legend by Marie Lu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this more, as everyone else seems to, but I just can't give it more than three stars. It just didn't grip me as much as other dystopia set titles have, which is always going to be a problem when jumping on a bandwagon. And this is a category with a lot of awesomeness in it.

It's hard to pin point exactly what didn't quite click with me. There was no racing pulse or eagerness to read the next page or the next chapter. I also found the characters a little lacking. A bit too perfect in June's case, or maybe it wasn't that. Ah I don't know, for me it was difficult to empathise with her, or even really like her. The romance that blooms also felt a little forced, like it didn't quite come naturally. It could also get a bit cringe worthy at times, with all the talk of 'her lovely face', or his 'beautiful eyes'. Even the bad guy referred to the male lead as 'her beautiful boy'. It was like, ok, we get it, they're both stunningly, stupidly good looking, enough already.

That aside, there was a decent story in there, and it has piqued my interest enough that I will probably read the next one, whenever that decides to appear. There are some big changes in the future that Marie Lu has created and I would very much like to find out what happened. And who doesn't love cheering for the underdog?!!

So final thoughts. If you've not read many future-set YA novels, then I can almost guarantee that there'll be something in this that you'll love. For a seasoned vet like me though (wow, pretentious much?!!) I was looking for a bit more, excitement, emotion...? Can't say exactly what, which is frustrating, but there was just something missing for me.

There is nothing more annoying than not being able to describe why a book didn't really do anything for me. It feels plain wrong.

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