Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lu - Review

❋ ❋ ❋ ❋

Champion, the final installment of the Legend Trilogy, in my opinion, is the best of the series.

Everything June and Day have sacrificed and done for the Republic starts to fall apart just as the country is on the brink of signing a peace treaty with the Colonies. There's a new strain of plague causing panic in the Colonies, while war heavily threatens the Republic border cities including Denver. The only way June can save her people means asking Day to give up the only thing he has left.

I actually felt a good deal more invested in the characters and their future than I did with Legend or Prodigy. Although I am still not 100% behind the romance angle, I cared a good deal more about Day and June as presented here.

I've commented before on the predictability of the series, and to an extent that still stands, especially when it came to Day's fate. I mean, I liked the bittersweetness and how it played out, but at the same time I was half rolling my eyes thinking "what a soap opera!" Now that I think about it, a lot of Day's story throughout would feel right at home on the soap opera of your choice. Anyways, I think I would have prefered the story without the 10 year flashforward epilogue, a little too much sap for me with that tacked on the end. There's just enough sap and a healthy dose of bittersweet hope in the final chapter for me to have prefered it as the ending rather than the actual epilogue ending.

All that said, Lu is brilliant at writing fast-paced action scenes and ratcheting up the suspense and tension. I think she's improved at successfully writing the two perspectives, as I was much less confused at points by who was speaking when. I enjoyed the world-building and getting bits and pieces into the history of the Republic and the Colonies. The stand-out for me was Ross City, Antarctica - the point system was an interesting touch!

Overall, I recommend Champion especially to those who are already fans of the series. You may want to check out this series if you like a helping of romance with your action-packed dystopia.


I read this from April 25 - 29, 2014 and my review is also on Goodreads.