Legend by Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. – Goodreads

If I’m being totally honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this book. I got it over 6 months ago (almost a year actually…) & have never had the desire to pick it up. I think that the whole ‘dystopian’ thing has been super overdone & I just didn’t feel like getting into another series like that. But I’m so glad I did!

I love Day and I love June. They are such good characters and so similar in so many ways. I’m genuinely curious about the things that their government is doing and I love that there are so many familiar terms (Congress, Los Angeles, etc.). Incorporating those made it so much more realistic to me, like something similar could actually happen. I love how different it was from the typical dystopian novel, and even though I could predict a few things (like Day & June’s relationship), there were still quite a few surprises (like Thomas…) and I loved that. It’s SO refreshing to read something that feels familiar with new twists. I can’t wait to see what happens in the rest of the series.

I gave Legend 4/5 stars on Goodreads and I’ll be picking up the next book in the series soon. I definitely recommend giving this one a shot!