Book Report: “Legend” By Marie Lu

The book that i read was Legend, by Marie Lu. The book takes place on a dystopian Los Angeles divided between two warring countries: the Republics and Colonies. Daniel “Day”, Altan Wing & June Iparis both grew up in the dystopian Los Angels of this time. Day was raised in the Los Angeles slums while June grew up in the wealthy sector. Day is the first character in the book. His family knows nothing about him (except his older brother John). Inspectors are checking their home for plague. Day steals a cure from Eden’s older brother to treat his younger brother. Day successfully obtains a remedy, but June’s brother, Metias is there to catch him.

Thomas, Metias’s best friend, soon comes knocking on June’s doorstep and informs June of her brother’s death. June is shocked by the news. It becomes her mission to track down Day and bring him pain. She begins her journey in the slums, where she bumps into Day. After Thomas shoots Day’s mother, June captures Day during a showdown in Day’s home. June uncovers what Metias had been researching and how the Republic works. She confronts Day and learns that Thomas is the one who killed Metias.

After June returns home, she goes to the website and looks at Day’s Trial results. The Trial test is taken by the Republic’s citizens when they turn ten. It determines what jobs they will be given. Those from slums are more likely to score low, and those from wealthy sectors higher. There has only been one student who achieved a perfect score on the Trial: June. Day reveals later that scientists are experimenting in order to determine why a ten-year old is inferior than another ten. June finds out that Day scored the same as her, which is 1500. She isn’t alone.

When she digs deeper into Day, the researcher discovers that Day was sent to a camp for children to be murdered after his perfect score was covered up by the government. Day was used as a subject for experiments to discover why he excelled over others. June is able to save Day from being executed because she knows he’s innocent. John Day, Day’s older brother, dies during the execution. Day and Juni start searching for his younger sister, Eden. I learned from this book to always search for the truth. Information may not contain the entire truth.

This book had many things that I enjoyed. June and Day were two characters who seemed to be opposites, yet they both wanted the best for those they cared about. The lies told by the politicians to the citizens was fascinating. They did this to maintain control. The book was too violent for me. Thomas, for instance, killed Day’s mother cold-blooded to lure him out from hiding. The government also spread the plague among its citizens to use as a weapon in war. But first, they wanted to see how it affected a person.