He is a Legend. She is a Prodigy. Who will be Champion?
 June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps-Elect, while Day has been assigned a high-level military position.
 But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them: just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything.
 With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

For my first post on this blog, I've decided to do a review of the third and final installment of a series that, despite all its imperfections, still holds a special place in my heart - the Legend series by Marie Lu.
I have to admit that, although I liked this series, I haven't been really that into it. The first book, Legend, was pretty good, but Prodigy kind of annoyed me, to the point that I actually contemplated not even finishing the series. But now, I have to say that I’m really glad I’ve done it and I’m actually planning on rereading it quite soon.

Before starting her career as a writer, Marie Lu worked as a graphic designer for the video game industry, which you can really notice in her world-building. Everything is elaborated just enough to keep the reader interested and yet not to take up too much of the book, and her descriptions are simple and flowy, yet picturesque at the same time. I especially liked the world of Antarctican Ross City, which she has created within this one, and which I would really like to find out more about.

The characters’ growth was one of my favourite aspects of this book. Both June and Day are older now, and you can really notice that in the way they act. They seemed much more mature and they acted reasonable most of the time, asking for help when they needed it etc. They also seemed to genuinely care about other people and I loved Day’s relationship with his younger brother, Eden. There were a few cute, brotherly scenes when they teased each other which really warmed my heart. Another thing that made me happy was June’s dog, Ollie. I love how he has been here from the first book and didn’t just mysteriously disappear after some time like most book pets tend to do. June constantly cared about him, brought him with her anywhere she could and always made sure he was evacuated and sheltered when needed. Their interraction just made me really happy and (*minor spoiler*) it broke my heart when it was hinted in the epilogue that he died. :(

There was less romance in this book than in the previous one, but what was there was much better than in Prodigy. You could just feel how deeply and genuinely June and Day actually cared about each other and I started really shipping them. There was that almost-love-triangle thingy about Anden (whom I really liked as a character btw; and I would love to read more about him) being in love with June, but it was pretty obvious from the start that June loved Day so it was resolved quickly. I generally liked how both relationships and the love triangle were dealt with in this story, without interfering with the plot and making the story suffer.

With all that, I soon found myself drawn into the story. The plot was interesting and dynamic and there was just enough angst and drama to keep me interested until the very end. Lu knows how to write good action scenes, with unexpected twists and witty remarks thrown in-between. It all led to an ending that was everything it should have been, but also more and, frankly, I loved it.

This series really went out of what I expected it to be when I first started it plus there is an adorable, finally not neglected dog character and I am truly glad I've read it. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who likes either sci-fi or dystopian books, or simply anyone who wants to give one of those genres a go. Trust me, you definitely won’t regret reading it.