Book Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

January 28, 2013 by 4 Comments

Prodigy by Marie Lu Prodigy by Marie Lu
Release Date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Source: BEA 2012
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action – Goodreads

Review:
Alright, so while I think I preferred Legend to this one, Prodigy wasn’t lacking in any way. Marie Lu easily allowed me to slip back into June and Day’s world and, wow, it was such a journey with them as they had to make difficult decisions and reaffirm their trust for one another.

June and Day are apart for most of the book, but it didn’t really feel that way to me because they have such a strong presence in each other’s lives that they always think about the other in a team mentality (and as more, too, of course). Their separate journeys are meant to lead to the common goal of assassinating the new Elector, Anden, but they couldn’t be more different. While June finds herself in the familiarity of the Republic, Day learns more about the ins and outs of the Patriots and their rebel operations.

Marie Lu continued to effortlessly switch between Day and June’s POVs and did a great job keeping me invested in both characters. While I’m usually so against POV changes, it actually works well for this series. In Prodigy, the narration switch moved the story forward and added urgency because they were both experiencing very different situations. Not only were the political aspects a contrast to each other, but it allowed me to be privy to what the other character wasn’t which, in turn, had me going “!!!!!!!” inside.

The romantic developments in Prodigy are…interesting. As mentioned, Day and June spend a lot of the book separated, but their scenes together had me loving them all over again. However, they did have other people step into the picture. I won’t get into specific spoilers, but I will say this: I could understand the romantic interest that June had, but Day’s? Ehhh, not into it and seemed to come out of nowhere for me.

Overall, Prodigy is a must-read and the ending had me going, “WOAHHH.” I fear Marie Lu will break my heart in the final installment of the series, but I’m sure I’ll love every word of it.

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Book Review: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

February 18, 2012 by 10 Comments

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
Release Date: September 29, 2011
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 372
Source: LAPL
Rating: ★★★★☆ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London, it’s the start of a new life at a boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago. – Goodreads

Review:
I can’t believe it took me so long to read this book! I had it out from the library months ago, but I let the loan date expire because I am the worst when it comes to those things. Then Lindsey posted her review and, since we agree on pretty much every book, I knew I had to read it and I knew I would enjoy it. And I did!

This is the first Maureen Johnson book that I’ve read and I have so say that I’m impressed! She did an amazing job setting up the atmosphere of London and Wexford, as well as detailing the history of Jack the Ripper. I’ve never been to London, and I’ve never lived at a boarding school, but it was very easy to experience Rory’s gradual comfort into both. The Jack the Ripper details never felt like information overload and, instead, had me wanting to find out more about this serial killer.

While I did like how Johnson realistically portrayed the media circus and “entertainment” surrounding the new murders, I have to say that I was a tiny bit disappointed by the creep factor. Maybe I expected too much, or maybe I’ve grown immune to the things that go bump in the night (ha, yeah right!), but nothing in the story really got my heart racing or gave me the heebie jeebies. The book was still great, but I was actually looking forward to some scary, thrilling scenes and they were just lukewarm for me.

The romantic storyline was something I felt lukewarm about, too. I liked Jerome enough, and I did enjoy their scenes together, but the spark that usually has me flailing over fictional couples wasn’t there. Lucky for me, I think there were hints for something more in the upcoming sequel(s). Fingers crossed!

The best part of this book? The characters! Rory was an awesome protagonist and she had such a great rapport with the side characters, namely Jazza and Boo. Boo was probably the biggest surprise of the book for me. When she was introduced I was rolling my eyes, expecting the worst, but she really turned my opinions around. Stephen and Callum were welcome additions to the cast, too, and I loved to see their layers peeled back as the story progressed.

While I was enjoying the book, I remembered that it was the first in a series and I found myself thinking, “Eeek, how can this be expanded and still be good?” Thankfully, Maureen Johnson has more imagination than I do and I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens after the turn of events in the last chapter. This is definitely a new favorite series!


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Book Review: Legend by Marie Lu

November 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Legend by Marie Lu
Release Date: November 29, 2011
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 336
Source: ARC from Comic-Con
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. – Goodreads

Review:
I’ve been rather unimpressed by some of the dystopian books popping up in the past year, but Legend definitely stepped up to the plate with its awesome.

Set in a future Los Angeles, Legend grabbed me from the very beginning. I loved being able to clearly imagine landmarks that I’m familiar with in this new environment. Who doesn’t love to see a little destruction of their city in fiction? I do wish there had been more history on the formation of the Republic, but the rest of the story was so good that I’m willing to wait and see what information Marie Lu supplies in the next installments.

I usually hate alternating POVs, but Marie Lu knows how to make it work with Legend. The transitions were seamless and I never felt that switching between the two characters stalled the story. I won’t lie, though, I was a little alarmed to discover that Day and June were only 15. Eeek, so young! However, that little detail was easy to overlook as I continued to get to know them. June is a prodigy and at the top of military rankings. Day, on the other hand, while equally smart, is from the slums and the most wanted criminal. Despite the difference in their upbringings, they share in having similar motivations and the two together made an incredible team. Legend definitely set up the beginnings of a romance, but there were more important things going on so it wasn’t a large focus. That said, I’m looking forward to see how their feelings continue to grow.

Oh, and this book made me weepy! Congratulations, Marie Lu, you succeeded in breaking my heart. If feeling June’s loss of her brother wasn’t enough, there were a few other scenes that made me an emotional mess. I loved that, on top of all the action and fast pacing this book contained, Lu had the core of this story centered around loss, sacrifice, personal ties, and family. My heart definitely suffered but these themes made me love the book all that more.

The film rights for the book have been optioned and, um, yes, this would be brilliant to see on the big screen. Bring it! I don’t usually like to say “Fans of (fill in the blank) will enjoy this” but, as a fan of both, I do think fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent should be as equally gripped with both the energy and heart of Legend as I was. For me, this book was definitely a standout from a lot of recent YA dystopian releases and I’m eager to see the story move forward in the rest of the series.


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