Legend by Marie Lu is a thrilling dystopian novel. It is one of four books in the series and is narrated by the two protagonists in the novel, June and Day. June and Day come from completely different backgrounds, one being wealthy and the other poor, and I thought it was very interesting to see how the characters' personalities were shaped because of that. June is a 15-year-old girl who is the only person ever to have achieved a perfect score on her trial. Each child in the republic is required to take the trial when they turn 10 years old to determine their future role in society. Day is a 15-year-old boy who lives in the poor part of the country called the Lake Sector. He failed his trial and was taken to a lab for testing but managed to escape and now is a criminal living in hiding. Both of these characters are clear protagonists and they are both so different from each other that it is fascinating to see how they handle different situations and work together. One of the reasons I was drawn to this book is because I always like reading about books where the characters are fighting a corrupt government and in this book, the antagonist is the government. I think that it always makes for an engaging story.

The setting takes place in the future Los Angeles, California which is also known as the Republic of America. There is a deathly plague spreading throughout the country and government officials make visits to households to see if anyone is infected. If they were infected they would have a red “X” painted over their door and had to quarantine. While reading this novel I made present-day connections to our current situation with the coronavirus and the novel's futuristic plague, comparing many aspects like mandatory quarantine and the fight for the cure. 

The plot of Legend was exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to keep reading to find out more. It kept me up for hours telling myself “just one more page”. The novel ended in a way that brought it to a satisfying close. I was very happy with the resolution and how things turned out for June and Day. One of the things I enjoyed about this book was the imagery that was included throughout it. For example, in many of the fight scenes, Lu does a great job recreating the fight in the reader's mind showing every move made and every punch thrown.

Two main themes are revolving around the novel. Rich vs. Poor and defiance of authority. These themes are shown throughout the entire story start to finish. The theme of rich vs. poor contrasts the two protagonists showing the differences of where they grew up and how their characters formed because of that. The defiance of authority is also shown right from the beginning through both Day and June but in different ways. Day is a criminal and because he is from the Lake Sector he relies on stealing for his family, his friend, and his survival. The book is also introduced with June defying authority but she is doing it for the thrill of it. I think that these were very fascinating themes to read about and they could also easily be related to our world today. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and will soon be reading the next three books of the series.