Why Legend Wasn't Quite My Champion

Marie Lu knows how to write action scenes that hold your attention, I'll say that much. But just how good is her Legend trilogy?

Legend
Legend is a bit of an odd one in terms of enjoyment. I can't say I enjoyed it, but I also can't say that I didn't enjoy it. I'm ambivalent towards it but have enough curiosity to find out what happens to June and Day in the next book. Things just moved at a very fast pace that didn't really allow me enough time to understand the Republic fully or get to really know and like the characters. Nothing was ever described or explained and our two main characters sounded exceedingly similar. Thank goodness their chapters were written in different fonts. The story itself wasn't overly complex - or even that thrilling - and I guessed all the major plot points very early on. The fight scenes managed to keep me hooked, though. I wouldn't class this as a bad read, but I wasn't totally on board with it. Especially when the romance kicked off. Just for once can we have a dystopian series that doesn't involve romance? Please?

Prodigy
I found Prodigy to be less enjoyable than Legend, and I was still very confused at the end of it despite the fact that things do start to be explained in more detail. I couldn't get my head around the Patriots and their mission, and the whole thing about Metias' death seemed more complex than it needed to be. There was also a bigger focus on the romance in this and I really could have done without it. It was angsty and cringey from the get go and I just didn't care for it or feel the chemistry between Day and June. I actually didn't care much for Day and June period. June seemed to change opinion and loyalty very quickly for someone so smart, and her cold, calculating nature did a complete one-eighty and she became very emotional. Day also did my head in with ending every single question with 'yeah'. A small thing, but a really bloody annoying thing. I also just found this to be quite lazy, too. It felt as if there was a lot of back-tracking to cover the world building and a lot of the time we ended up seeing the same scene from both perspectives. Overall? Not impressed by this.

Champion
Champion picked up a little bit as it was much more angsty than Prodigy and seemed to regain the snappy pace that was lost in the second book. The first few chapters were a little slow and the longer ones did feel a little dragged out to me, but overall the pacing was a lot better. I don't know whether it was just because I marathoned the series or because it was incredibly fast paced, but everything felt like it was taking place in a matter of days rather than months. This wasn't helped by the fact that I didn't feel like there was much character growth or development, either. However, there was plenty of action in the series finale thanks to the war between the Republic and the Colonies, which I found to be the most enjoyable part of Champion. When I go into a dystopian book I want fighting and action, not romance and teen angst. Despite the fact that I did enjoy this more than Prodigy I was still just as confused by everything and thought that there was no real explanation for anything that had happened. Everything that happened was so convenient and perfect and nothing seemed to go wrong, or if it did it could be easily fixed, and I just... couldn't get into it. I think I've just reached the point where I'm over the dystopian genre.