Hey Jared,

So, do you remember when I said Legend might be the best YA Dystopian ever? Prodigy doesn’t live up to it, and I won’t be reading the last book in the trilogy.

Title: Prodigy
Series: Legend Trilogy; Book 2
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction
Audience: Teen/Young Adult
ROTS Setting: CU, Modern/Near-Future, Dystopian
Synopsis: Injured and on the run, it has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Day is believed dead having lost his own brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic’s most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they turn to the Patriots – a vigilante rebel group sworn to bring down the Republic. But can they trust them or have they unwittingly become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?
Recommendation: This series is In Dispute for me now. Caution should be taken with this series.

This book did not bring me happiness. This book did not entertain me. This book did not make me want to read the next book.

This book was boring. This book was classic YA emo. This book was not good.

And before you think I hyped myself up so I was bound to be disappointed, no. I expected a continuation of the first book, but literally everything I loved about it was twisted, corrupted or not even included until the end.

Day and June were amazingly balanced and realistic in the first book. The moment the second book starts it’s all drama and emotions. In Legend, they are active participants in the story. They make choices and do things, they are active agents. But that doesn’t continue, for three quarters of Prodigy they don’t do anything. They are passive elements of the story that have choices made and actions done to them.

All emotion and no doing.

Then on top of that, all the established characters have their personalities twisted to ramp up the drama. The core elements of what makes them who they are is corrupted. And the dual love triangle was nauseating and ill conceived.

The plot was meh. On a general level it was fine, but the details and execution were a bit off. It’s hard to tell what it would have been had they stopped feeling their way through the book and used their OP-ness to do stuff.

Lastly, nothing new is added or explained or shown in regards to the world and setting until the very end except for one bout of exposition halfway in.

In summary, I dragged the corpse of my brain though this lazy YA clone so I could be absolutely certain I wanted nothing more to do with this series. I can confidently chuck this book and the first off my shelves. Now there are two less books to move.

Robert

Links

• ROTS Review of Legend
• Marie Lu’s Official Website