Champion: A Legend Novel

Honestly when i first got this as a christmas present from my best friend i thought it was not going to be a good book based on its cover. I know I know horrible of me. I read the series in a matter of 3 days. This has got to be one of the most amazing trigly I have ever encountered. Its nothing like you would expect from a regular trilogy. Before I even knew what was happing i feel head over heels for day and june absolute blindly in love.This book has wormed itself into my soul and is probably there for good. As an older sister i recognized the need to protect my younger sibling with everything I have, i can so relate that to Day and Eden. It takes a lot for me to cry when reading a book and let me tell you it has happened very seldom, and i was bawling like a baby. These books draws you in from the first line and don't let you go. This book is not your typical love story its complicated and real, they have real raw feelings for each other, ladies and gentlemen buckle yourselves up for a crazy love roller coaster . I myself an avid book reader recommend this trilogy to anyone and everyone who reads. Words cannot describe how intricate the plan is what careful and creative time it took to think this plot out, it just boggles my mind congratulations to you Mrs. Lu you are an utter genius and should be given an award for staying true to the overall theme of these amazing books. CAUTION AHEAD CONTAINS SPOILERS!!! Lets vent a little shall we? OK so first off what the hell is wrong with commander Jameson. that is one evil jerk, nothing but bitterness and ice are etched in her soul and i just hated her with all my heart, each time she shot Day a little peace of me was chipped away. Tomas i started to feel kinda bad for Tomas at the end. but then i remembered get a back bone!! you loved Metias... and then killed him. Are you serious? All because of a command?! but as I said i felt bad for him and was glad he died with honor and dignity. Day Let me start off with how day captured my heart from the very first chapters of Legend. After 8 torturous months apart while Day was getting his treatment for being sick ( crushed my heart) June invites him personally to the ball, obviously an offer he cant refuse, he accepts. The first time they see each other again was in a ball, when he sees June in that stunning, gorgeous, dress he falls for her all over again. The way he couldn't forgive June for his families deaths was...real and it gave the book a real feel to it. now im all for June and Day 100 % believe me. With June only having a few months to live he knows he cant take anything for granted. In the middle of the war Day races for Eden (of course he would) and each time commander Jameson shot Day my heart got ripped out and stomped on, i sobbed with June as she flung herself over his unconscious body and wailed. June Now im soo into kick a** leading ladies. I love June. I Love how she can disarm a fully grown man at the age of 16 without so much of a blink, I love how she loves Day very much but carries the guilt with her about his family. I love how she always puts others before herself. You could see how much she loved Day when she flung herself over his body and wailed as if her life was ending. The ending got me real bad i was sobbing!! When she sits by Days bed waiting for him to come out of his coma everyday it made my heart swell. Then when he woke up and didn't recognize her my heart had been pummeled into a lump. i cried some more. Then when he asks if he knows her, she replied no, even thou how much she loved him she knew it would be better for him if she was out of the picture.I cried some more. Epilogue leaving the book off like that made me very very angry such a good trilogy and such a horrible ending then i read the epilogue. it summed up perfectly how things should have gone, it was very short and sweet, but not short enough to leave it without important details. ok so 10 years later its Junes 27 birthday , it explains her past birthdays with friends, her first birthday without Ollie (SO SAD!!), she even dated the Elector for a few years but then broke up with him because she could not love him like he needed her to. So its her 27th birthday she visits Metias at his grave, and hears that Day is in town with Eden, she is wondering around the lake sector and sees an older Day and Eden, Eden spots her first but does not say anything to see if Day will recognize June, he gives her a lingering look but nothing more, hurt and frustrated June walks quickly ahead fighting tears, when she hears footsteps thud behind her, it was Day (Daniel) saying she looked familiar again June claimed not to know him for his own good but in his eyes she saw that the wound she had caused with the death of his Mother and Brother, had healed. No longer hurt, he claims he lost something and he has found it again by looking at her. Probably the most brilliant ending to a series EVER was Daniel ( no longer going by Day and going by his REAL name) says "its you" to witch she replies " Is it??" he says staring into her eyes "theres a fog around you and I would like it to clear" He reaches out and takes her hand..... " Hi" he says " I'm Daniel" 'Hi" I reply " I'm June" So probably the best ending in HISTORY! as i said i recommend this book to anyone who has a heart and is breathing. This book changed me andI'm positive it will change you too. This series is worth it. You will not be disappointed. Thank you Marie Lu for such an amazing gift.

This review and more can be found on my blog, The Library Canary: [...] The end of an awesome series is really bittersweet. I was so excited for this book, but also dreading it. I never wanted it to end. After rereading Legend and Prodigy recently, I decided that this is my favorite dystopian series I've read. And if you know me, you know how many dystopians I read. After reading a disappointing ending to Allegiant, I was so worried for this one. The last book in a series is so difficult. Ultimately it's the author’s book and it's completely up to them how to end their series, but still, as a crazy fangirl, I want it to end in the best way possible. I want everyone to get their happily ever after, but that's not always how it works out. So I started this book with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. I shouldn’t have worried. Marie Lu is amazing. This was such an awesome finish to the Legend series! I am so happy with the way everything worked out. There’s one thing I can’t decide about, but we’ll get to that. Holy action. There are so many crazy action scenes in this book. We get to see June and Day scale buildings. There are multiple bombings. There’s even a hand to hand fight that was epic! There’s so much craziness going on; I was on the edge of my seat the whole time reading. Marie Lu does such an awesome job describing her action scenes. I could easily picture everything unfolding in my head. There is still a massive amount of tension between the Republic and the Colonies in this book and it comes to a head at a certain point. S*** blows up (literally) and chaos ensues. The plague that Eden was infected with has spread through the colonies and they are demanding a cure. Their armies are about ready to run over the Republic and if they don't get help soon, they will fall to the Colonies. The Republic attempts to turn to Antarctica for help, but it won’t be easy to get them to agree. We actually get to go visit Antarctica in this book and it was one of my favorite parts. It was so interesting to get some information about the rest of the world. And Antarctica was so cool! The city sounded breathtaking. I wanted to climb inside the book and walk through the buildings right next to June. They also had some pretty kickass technology that I wanted to play with. Before we talk about Day and June, I want to take a moment to commend Marie Lu on the alternating POVs. Multiple POVs in a book is difficult to do and if you read my review of Allegiant, you know that it doesn’t always work. But Marie Lu pulls this off flawlessly. I never questioned which perspective I was reading from. Day and June both have such distinctive voices that I can always tell whose head I am in. Okay, now let’s talk about the romance. God, I love these two. They are so perfect for each other. Both smart, strong, analytical, risk takers. Day loves with such passion and I absolutely love that about him. And June has come so far from the first book. She has come from a blind follower to a young woman who makes her own decisions based on her own scale of morality. I absolutely love her character. Perfection. “You’re the scariest, most clever, bravest person I know, and sometimes I can’t catch my breath because I’m trying so hard to keep up. There will never be another like you. You realize that, don’t you? Billions of people will come and go in this world, but there will never be another like you.” –Day “Before me is the boy who has bandaged my wounds on the streets of the Lake, who has guarded his family with every bone in his body, who has stayed by my side in spite of everything, the boy of light and laughter and life, of grief and fury and passion, the boy whose fate is intertwined with mine, forever and always.” –June There were so many emotions in this book, so many feels. The ending ripped me to shreds. And I can’t decide if it’s in a good way or a bad way. I understand why Marie Lu did what she did and honestly I don’t see any other way she could have written it to make it work. But oh man, was it hard to read. I was literally sobbing. I’ve never cried so hard reading a book. The epilogue was perfect though. Beautiful, touching, exactly what I wanted it to be and it definitely made up for what had to happen at the end of the book. Although there was one part of the epilogue that literally made me growl (if you’ve read the book, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about). I am 100% satisfied with this conclusion to Marie Lu's awesome Legend series. These books are kickass. If you haven't started the series yet, what are you waiting for? All three books are out now! Commence the binge reading!

I won't describe the full plot in this review, because others have already done that. I have really enjoyed this trilogy, and my favorite things about the first two books are fully present in Champion too. Day's and June's characters are so well developed, and their voices are clear and authentic feeling (the chapters go back and forth between their two points of view.) I grew to care about both of them, and that hasn't happened with many of the recent YA dystopian trilogies I've read. The book has a lot of action - parts of this series read more like a martial arts or war book then most of the other dystopian series out there, because the battle scenes are presented in detail, and take up more of the book. The socio-political posturing between the various countries has also always been very good, with enough similarities to contemporary society to make this feel real. The plague part of the plot is interesting and although the science may be a bit sketchy, it worked for me. There is also a little more futuristic/sci-fi fun in this book, because June visits Antarctica, now a powerful country who could potentially ally with the Republic. Their entire society is set up with a points system in which inhabitants get real-time displays of the points they have accrued for good works and achievements on a virtual screen to the side of their vision, through an implant. June is given glasses to stimulate this (Google Glass anyone?) There's a little more to it, and it's all very well-drawn, and ended up being one of my favorite parts of the book. I had two disappointments, and this is the reason I didn't rate it 5 stars (and I do have MINOR SPOILERS in this part, so don't read on if you want to know nothing beforehand.) 1) I felt Lu kind of dropped the ball on the social/political side of things here - as I mentioned above, the negotiations and posturings between countries was interesting and well-done, but otherwise, there isn't a real revolution, i.e. any kind of democracy that sprouts or anything like that. The 'people' end up fighting for the Republic because of Day's influence, but it all just seemed a little stilted to me, as the Republic is still basically an authoritarian regime with Anden at the head at the end. That was hard for me to cheer for. I would have liked it more if it explored that a little more, with some sort of meaningful political shift. I felt the earlier books hinted that it might go that direction, but in the end it ended up being a romance and action series. That's fine if it hadn't hinted at more, so I was just a little bit disappointed with that. And 2) although I am OK with the ending, and the final Day/June epilogue did tug my heartstrings, having Day lose 2 years of his memory as the result of his illness, and conveniently forgetting everything bad June had done to his family, was just a little too contrived. Of course it all would have been in the news online - we are shown how 'wired' the world is when June goes up to Antarctica, so Day would have read all about his own life there (especially because he lives in Antarctica for 10 years!) So all of that part just went a little too Harlequin romance for me. I would have respected it more if Day and June separated for that time without any memory loss and simply healed from the damage and then were able to start again. But overall this is a well-written and exciting trilogy.

It’s been a little over a month since I finished Champion. I’ve put off writing this review because I wanted to let the ending sit. I always find it hard to write reviews for series enders. There is so much going on, and in a lot of ways, finishing a series is a private thing. You have to say goodbye to characters you’ve come to know over three books. That’s hard! June has grown so much over the last two books and it was interesting to find out just how much more she has changed as the Princeps-elect. It was a position she was ill-suited for but had thrust upon her. June was forced throughout the novel to play a political game and that isn’t her. I enjoyed watching her strive for excellence (which is her personality) and then come to terms with the fact that she couldn’t really excel in this environment. June had to decide what she really wanted after being told her whole life what to do. Then there is Day…*sigh* This boy has lost his whole family, is trying to care for his brother, be the hero to a crumbling country, and is dying! Then on top of that he loves June but is having trouble coming to terms with all of the obstacles surrounding their relationship. Day has it rough. I really didn’t think he was going to make it out of these situations. Lu’s writing shined during Day’s chapters though. Instead of feeling like the deck was stacked against him I felt like Day was competent, and was going to pull out a last minute victory, because that is what Day does. That brings us to Anden. He is not the Elector his father was and I loved seeing how he was steering the country in a different direction. The plot of Champion revolves around a plague, and an impending war with the colonies. Anden is crucial to solving both of these problems and I liked his portrayal as a strong leader. Lu also greatly improved on the world building in this finale. I liked the traveling the characters did. It was interesting to see how the rest of the world panned out in this dystopian series. The entire world wasn’t bleak which was a nice surprise. It further cemented the “North Korea” vibe I was getting last book. My absolute favorite thing about Champion was the epilogue. It is so difficult to end a dystopian series. Readers want a happily ever after but they don’t want it to be disingenuous, or to not match the tenor of the story. Champion ends beautifully with just the right amount of bittersweet and hope for the future. Overall, the Legend series is one of my favorite dystopian series. There is something special about June, Day, and this future Marie Lu has created. I have enjoyed every second of this thrill ride and can not recommend the series highly enough. I am now firmly in Lu’s fan camp and can’t wait for the next novel she writes!

First, can we start with the map at the beginning of this book? OMG, so amazing, it made everything look more understandable and real and amazing, have I said AMAZING. Yeah, let's stop. The book starts off with Day updating us on what has been happening to him since he said goodbye to June on Prodigy. One of the updates that we get is of his health, and I am so glad that we get Day's point of view, so this way we know his true feelings about his health, Eden, June, the Republic and everything else. I don't want to spoil, so you just wait to read and fall in love, or should I say more in love with Day. And then we get an update on June and what decisions she made since the last book, like how she has accepted the position of a Princeps Elect.. With June we get to see what is happening deep inside the Republic, like the trials on Thomas and Commander Jameson (I hate that woman), the war, the plague and the politics. Yes there are some politics going on in this book, and we get to know how June truly feels about it and how that affects her decisions throughout the book. June and Day haven't seen or talked to each other in 8 months and they are forced to communicate because of a big problem that is happening and an even bigger one that's going to be happening if they don't get Day's help. When a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak may end that and start a much worse war, involving international help. We get to learn about different countries, and how evolved the world is outside the Republic. Day and June go above and beyond to help the Republic once again. I loved how great those two work together, how great their strategies are and how effective they are. Oh yes, we get to see the Patriots in action again, and Tess. Wow, Tess is so different in this book, I actually fell in love with her character. Ok, what can I say that doesn't ruin the book for others that haven't read? It's so hard, one thing ties to the other and I should just shut up and just tell you how great it is. I give this book a 5 out o5, without question. The last two chapters, I laughed, I cried, I hated what Marie Lu was doing to my characters and then I loved her for doing that. So many emotions...I have to say it, since my accident and not been able to read because of my PCS, this trilogy brought me back to loving to read, to transport me to those worlds and feel what the characters are feeling. Please, if you haven't read this series, for whatever reason, do read it, because you will just fall in love with it. The end was pretty awesome, I wish there was a little more, don't we all?

Boy, do I hate when a book series ends. Especially when it's a series that I love, one that is compelling and well-written. So needless to say, I'm a bit bereft that Champion marks the end of Marie Lu's Legend series. I appreciate telling your story concisely, but really, Marie? Only three books? The cease fire between the Republic and the Colonies has taken effect. Day is back to being regarded as an upstanding member of the Republic, being assigned a key military position, while June is now a high-ranking member of the government, the youngest Princeps-Elect, alongside the newly installed Elector Primo, Anden, who promises a much more benevolent and upstanding rule than his father. But these new roles for Day and June—and the sacrifices that brought them both to this point—have taken their toll on their relationship. Day is concentrating on overseeing his brother Eden's recovery, and dealing with his own health challenges. However, their time apart is short lived, when they learn that the Colonies blame the Republic for a plague outbreak, and this threatens the peace between the two countries. And the key to finding a cure to the plague may lie within Eden, but is Day willing to yet again put one of his loved ones at risk for the sake of the Republic? As the possibility of war hangs over their heads, threatening to destroy everything they've known, both Day and June are forced to make difficult decisions about their next steps. Should Day concentrate only on his brother's recovery and taking care of his own health, or should he continue to help the Republic fight back? Is June's path one of leadership in the government, or should she go back to being a soldier? Can their relationship truly survive knowing how much has come between them? Champion was a terrific conclusion to this series. I've really grown to love these characters, the storylines, and the entire world that Marie Lu has created. The amount of thought that has gone into the smallest details really shows, and I truly appreciate that the characters remained fairly true to themselves the entire series. While it's hard to identify with the dystopian setting of the books, the characters aren't superhuman, so you can identify somewhat with their feelings and struggles, even if you're not facing the very destruction of your world. (At least not in the same way.) If you've never read any of these books, you're probably wondering what in hell I'm talking about. But I'd totally recommend picking up the first book in the series, Legend, because you'd be surprised how quickly you'll find yourself drawn into this world. I can't wait to see what comes next for Marie Lu. While I hope this is truly not the end of reading about Day and June, she is a really great writer, and I look forward to reading her future books.

What a lovely end to a beautiful story. (Spoilers) Can I just say how utterly relieved I am?? After the frustrating mess that was the middle of Allegiant ( a book that was only saved for me by the heartbreaking, honest study of grief in the final chapter..... although im still not sure if that death was justified) and the slow fade into Zombie apocalypse boredom and absolutely zero resolution in the finale of the Maze Runner series, I was beginning to wonder if trilogies are really a wise decision.. Why not write a single, well thought out story (Midnight Circus anyone??) But the thing is... I LOVE a series... When a story lodges itself in my soul I can't let go of it and a good series is an opportunity to hold on to characters and a world I've fallen in love with. So when I took amazon's word for it and dove into Legend it was with a fair amount of trepidation. I flew through the first and second book in a less that 24 hours and had fallen head over heels for Day and June before I realized what was happening. By the time I reached Champion I was casting desperate prayers to the god of trilogies for a worthy ending to this well told story. And I wasn't disappointed. Day's story in this book, quite simply, broke my heart. As a big sister I felt every inch of Day's love for Eden and his desperate need to protect him. The scene between the two of them on the kitchen floor not only highlighted their bond but spoke to those moments when you begin to realize that you need your baby siblings just as much as they need you. I have always appreciated that Lu was able to show Day's struggle with his feelings for June while still allowing him to make decisions motivated by love in regards to her. At the end of Prodigy I was anticipating the split but found myself relieved when the motivation for separation was primarily his illness rather than anger at June's betrayal in Legend and it's horrific consequence. It has been refreshing to watch these two characters decide to trust each other and repeatedly choose to do what is in the best interest of the other even when they are angry or hurt. Speaking of which....June...oh my goodness ...when June makes the decision to step out of Day's life I was emotionally ravaged but in that moment she became my favorite character I loved the maturity and growth her sacrifice revealed. I swear I kept hearing Florence and the Machine "Cosmic Love" playing in my head as I pictured her walking out of the hospital empty handed and into a future without Day. For me the epilogue was perfect (except that I secretly wanted to hear it from Daniel's perspective as well... ) While I loved June for selflessly giving up her happiness out of love for Day and in penance for her mistakes....obviously you always want the star crossed lovers to be together. And for me the epilogue was a lovely and fitting jumping off point for their future. All and all I was very, very happy with the end of this series... I didn't realized I loved these books until I was finished reading them for the second time in week and was flipping through all of my favorite chapters. This series doesn't exactly set out to teach a lesson the way that Hunger Games and Divergent do at the heart of them they seem to be a coming of age love story more than anything else but at the end of the day...that works just fine for me! Lord knows I have caught myself all week pulling apart paper clips at work and trying to fold them into rings (which is a lot harder than it goddy well sounds, yeah?)

Champion continues where Prodigy ends, with June accepting her position as Princeps-Elect after Day tells her this is the best decision. We also discover at the end of Prodigy that Day is dying as a result of the experiment from the Republic following his failed trial. This scene broke my heart and I was seriously hoping June would find out the truth quickly in Champion. The final war with the Colonies is quickly approaching, and we unfortunately see that the Republic is not the all-powerful empire they claim to be. They are outgunned and outnumbered and in desperate need of an alliance. There is also the issue of the plague ravaging the Republic. The entire city of LA has been quarantined, something that is virtually unheard of in the rich sectors. Our beloved characters certainly start this story in a desperate situation and I admit I did not see a happy way out for all of them. Champion is well-written and well-paced, just like the other two. While there is still great character development from Day and June, I think this installment focuses heavier on the plot and the war with the Colonies. Day continues to struggle with his illness and it becomes quite debilitating as the story goes on. One thing I appreciated about this book compared to the others was the world-building! We previously only saw cities within the Rebublic or the Colonies, but in this book we got to see Antarctica as well. Their city is definitely more technologically advanced and the citizens generally seem more content than the Republic. They also use a virtual reality that displays numbered scored above each person’s head. Every time you do what is considered a ‘good deed’ for the country, you earn points. June is intrigued by this concept and I certainly agree that it is very interesting. Lu also presents an interesting concept with the idea of the Colonies and the Republic. I appreciated watching Day’s transition from someone who would do anything to live in the Colonies to someone who defends the Republic. The old Republic was completely government-run with a heavy military influence, while we learn the Colonies consist of a completely decentralized government and is run by corporations. Both territories seem to be wrought with corruption and violence. Which is better? Is one the lesser of two evils? Luckily, the new Republic seems to want to address the issues of the old Republic. Lu’s expert world-building definitely had me thinking about June and Day’s world long after I finished the book. If you enjoyed the previous two books in the series, you will enjoy this one as well. It has all the familiar action-scenes and we see development from some supporting characters I really enjoyed- Eden and Pascao. Eden was so brave and adorable throughout the book and I love how Day would do absolutely anything for his younger brother. Pascao is our loyal Patriot runner who helps Day throughout this book. Although brief, I really enjoyed his action scenes with Day. Day and June continue to love each other and attempt to reconcile their differences as they fight to win the war against the colonies. And finally, that ending! It was a huge surprise to me and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first. After I had some time to digest it, I think I understand why Lu chose to end the series that way. I’m not sure I love it, but I also don’t know how else she could end it while still being true to each of the characters. Overall, I was very pleased with this series. I enjoyed the third book, but I still think the second is my favorite. I definitely recommend if you are a fan of dystopian books. I am sad to say goodbye to Day and June!

This is such an epic story line of triumph over evil, working as a nation and finding love in the most dangerous of times. The mind behind the book that is Marie Lu, should be celebrated no end. If there was an option for more than 5 stars I would take it! Through the tears and the screams of anguish anyone will undoubtedly experience, you will find a well polished, exciting and heart warming conclusion to the <i>Legend</i> Trilogy. I found myself holding a tentative breath at times getting caught up in the action. I don’t think it could have ended any better. It is so charming to read a really compelling story but at the same time you experience that all too inevitable feeling; that enormous detachment from knowing “it’s the end”. Lu has positioned the trilogy in such a way that, yes in fact it has ended, but has it come to the end of the road for Day and June? I really got into the characters this time around and was surprised at how much I connected with Day. It is evident the time Lu has spend on perfecting his softer more vulnerable side, his hidden daemons and inner conflicts. 'And yet, I can’t blame Day either. I try to put myself in his shoes. The republic tries to kill me as a ten-tear-old; they experiment on me before I escape. I live the next few years in the harshest slums of Los Angeles. I watch the republic poison my family, kill my mother and older brother with their engineered plagues, because of the public’s experiments, I’m slowly dying. And now, after all the lies and cruelty, the republic approaches me, begging for my help'. This quote sums it up for me. It’s like bang, bang, bang in quick succession. It’s one thing after another in Day’s life. But it appears that even though he was let down by the government he fights for, he still remains faithful. I must say that Lu has come a long way since <i>Legend.</i> I’m so glad that she has managed to improve her skills with her plot choices, character positioning and awareness of setting. The technology mentioned in this conclusive novel is outstanding. It is so brilliantly executed that they are immediately believable upon reading about it. Amongst other things, those extra refined details have got her to the place she is now- she has her fans screaming out for more. You only have to look at other peoples’ reviews to see this. Just a little message to the author: Lu, it wasn’t so much Day who won the heart of the people, it was you!

Auf der deutschen Website der „Legend“ – Trilogie vom Loewe-Verlag kann man einen Test machen, ob man eher wie June oder eher wie Day ist. Soldat oder Rebell? Ich fand das ganz witzig, also habe ich die Fragen beantwortet. Der Test ist ziemlich leicht zu durchschauen, daher war das Ergebnis für mich nicht überraschend: ich wäre auf den Straßen der Republik zu Hause, wie Day. Nicht mal im realen Leben wäre ich eine gute Soldatin, wie könnte ich da je mit June mithalten? Zum ersten Mal seit ihrer Gründung scheint die Republik in eine bessere Zukunft zu blicken. Nicht nur schaffte Elector Anden die Tests und die Experimente ab, er treibt auch die Friedensverhandlungen mit den Kolonien aktiv voran. Diese werden jedoch jäh unterbrochen, als sich in den Kolonien ein tödliches Virus ausbreitet. Die Regierung ist überzeugt, dass die Republik dafür verantwortlich ist. Sie verlangen, dass Anden ihnen ein Heilmittel liefert, andernfalls drohen sie, die Republik anzugreifen. Doch die Wahrheit ist, dass es kein Heilmittel gibt. In seiner Verzweiflung sieht Anden nur eine Möglichkeit: er ersucht June, Day um Hilfe zu bitten. Sein kleiner Bruder Eden könnte die Lösung sein. June weiß, wie viel sie damit von Day verlangt. Wird er dieses größte aller Opfer erbringen können, um die Republik zu retten? „Champion“ hat meine Meinung von Marie Lu als Autorin bestätigt. Es ist ein tolles und würdiges Finale ihrer Trilogie, das Junes und Days Geschichte perfekt abschließt. Nach all der Aufregung im Vorgänger „Prodigy“ war ich ratlos, wie es jetzt weitergehen sollte, aber Lu hat wirklich noch einmal tief in die Ideen-Schatzkiste gegriffen und einen Abschluss konstruiert, der mich rundum zufrieden zurücklässt. Ich bin stark beeindruckt, dass die Handlung so natürlich wirkt. Alles, was in „Champion“ passiert, ist eine logische Konsequenz aus den vorangegangenen Bänden. Ich habe nicht erwartet, dass Marie Lus Geschichte so stimmig und rund enden würde. Als besonders herausragend empfand ich, dass sich die Autorin nicht auf ihrer Vorarbeit ausruht. Stattdessen baut sie das begonnene Bild ihrer Dystopie weiter aus, fügt neue Details hinzu und arbeitet es in einen größeren Kontext ein. Ihre LeserInnen lernen die politische Situation der gesamten Welt kennen, über die Grenzen von Republik und Kolonien hinweg. June besucht an der Seite von Elector Anden die Antarktis, die sich aufgrund der globalen Erwärmung zu einem florierenden, fortschrittlichen Staat entwickelt hat. Dort sind die Lebensumstände noch einmal völlig anders als in der Republik und den Kolonien; ich fand es spannend, dass Lu drei komplett unterschiedliche Gesellschaftssysteme nebeneinander gestellt hat, ohne sie zu offensichtlich zu vergleichen. Den LeserInnen ist es selbst überlassen, Schlüsse zu ziehen und zu entscheiden, welches sie am attraktivsten finden. Ich für meinen Teil würde die Republik wählen. Auch muss ich unbedingt anmerken, dass all die globalen Entwicklungen, die Marie Lu portraitiert, durchaus realistisch sind. Sie scheint das Weltgeschehen aufmerksam zu verfolgen, sodass sie nicht auf abstrakte Zukunftsvisionen zurückgreifen musste, sondern die Tendenzen der Realität in eine überzeugende Dystopie umformen konnte. Ebenso überzeugend empfand ich die Entwicklung der beiden Hauptcharaktere. Der Unterschied zwischen Day und June im ersten Band der Trilogie und Day und June in „Champion“ ist riesig. Sie durchleben eine wahrhafte Metamorphose. Sie werden beide erwachsen, wenn auch viel zu schnell und viel zu früh. Niemals wäre die June vom Anfang der Geschichte in der Lage gewesen, ein solch selbstloses Opfer zu bringen wie im Finale, obwohl es ihr schlicht und ergreifend das Herz bricht. Auch in meinem Herz hat es hörbar geknirscht, denn Days und Junes Beziehung ist von so viel Kummer geprägt, dass sie nicht spurlos an mir vorbeigehen konnte. Ich habe einige Tränchen für die beiden vergossen, doch zum Glück waren es am Ende hauptsächlich Freudentränen, denn trotz all der Schmerzen ist dieses sehr hoffnungsvoll. Marie Lu glaubt an die Liebe und daran, dass sie alle Gräben überwinden kann – manchmal braucht sie dafür nur ein wenig mehr Zeit. Was bin ich glücklich, dass ich diese Trilogie nicht nach dem ersten Band abgebrochen habe. Wie viel wäre mir entgangen, wie viel hätte ich verpasst. Ich kann den Hype, der um „Legend“ herum entstanden ist, absolut verstehen. Besonders mit dieser bestechenden Glaubwürdigkeit habe ich nicht gerechnet. Natürlich ist das Finale „Champion“ sehr dramatisch und vielleicht war es auch ein Müh zu viel des Guten, aber ich muss gestehen, Day und June haben mein Herz berührt und dadurch hat mich all das Drama nicht wirklich gestört, auch wenn es mir aufgefallen ist. Letztendlich darf man ja auch die Zielgruppe nicht aus den Augen verlieren. Ich kann euch „Legend“ guten Gewissens empfehlen. Marie Lu ist eine YA – Autorin, die mit beiden Füßen fest auf dem Boden zu stehen scheint und sich keineswegs in abstrusen Gedankenspielen verliert. Ich werde ihr Schaffen auf jeden Fall weiter verfolgen und freue mich bereits darauf, ihre neue Serie „The Young Elites“ zu lesen.

why isn’t it the same size as book 1 and book 2! this is frustrating.

AWESOME RECOMMENDED IT IS SO GOOD I LOVED IT YOU SHOULD REALLY READ IT it is GREAT BEST BOOK SERIES EVER

il libro è arrivato con 4 giorni di anticipo ed era in perfette condizioni. lo consiglio.