Review: Legend

Legend by Marie Lu

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Usually, it takes me several chapters before a book really piques my interest, but The Legend is one of the exceptions. The book got me from the very first chapter and held my interest until the very last page. I especially liked the ending - for which I find the author commendable in being able to leave me wanting more, without the use of a cliffhanger.

There was a time when my interest dipped, because the sudden cheesy scene is so out of place in their situation, when they were supposedly scrambling for their lives (or for vengeance). I found myself rolling my eyes, but I realized later that the scene was essential in speeding up the pace of the story, which works fine with me.

There was also the issue regarding the characters. Their personalities are mostly similar in that they don't have a distinct trait to set them apart. And since the story was told using the first POV of supposedly two different characters, the similar "voice" could create confusion as to who really is speaking. The reader is left to his own devices to look for the clues - such as the format of the text, the use of the pronouns and the differences in their situations - which is not really hard to do, but it lessens the reading experience.

Maybe I'm being too generous at this time to give The Legend 5 stars, because I've recently read books which I didn't really like, but I was also able to overlook the problem with the characterization, since I reasoned that it's just the first book. I still have faith that the sequel would delve much deeper into the characters, while maintaining or maybe even improving the "tone" of the first.


UPDATE: Changed rating to 4.5 stars. 4 days have passed and I'm barely holding onto the exceptional stuff. Legend was enjoyable to read, but unfortunately it seems it will not stay in my mind for long. Unless it follows up with a great sequel.



View all my reviews