{Top Book Pick} Prodigy by Marie Lu

Book: Prodigy by Marie Lu
Publisher: Penguin (2013)
Format & Pages: Paperback, 356 pages
Series: Legend #2

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?

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

I’m happy to report that all the things I loved from Legend that made me gave it 4 big stars despite my qualms about it are still very much present in this book. First of all it’s still as exciting as ever, with a plot and events that chug along like a nicely-oiled train. I also love how more distinct Day’s and June’s voices have become in this book. Using alternate points-of-views to narrate one continuous story sometimes creates this danger of having the characters sound exactly the same, but a more polished effort from Marie Lu in this second book makes it apparent that Day is the more emotional narrator and June the more logical.

The differences in their personalities and the way the think, act, and react were explored more thoroughly, making me very clearly see that June and Day are not at all as similar as I initially thought. Probably the only thing they actually have in common is their deeply-rooted sorrows. I feel sadder when June allows it to wrap itself around her heart because she typically shows so little vulnerability. I also really loved the interactions between Day and June, especially all thoughts of doubt and the way they question each other’s motives and feelings. It really shows me the youth of the two- the lack of maturity you could say- and somehow puts reason to my question of why Marie Lu chose to make them 15 in the story.

In fact, it seems as though all my complaints about the first book were addressed in this second one, starting with the vagueness of the world building when it came to the Republic and the Colonies. I asked for a map, she gave me a map. I asked for a brief history lesson of how the United States of America broke into two, she gave it to me too. I was pretty happy with the scenarios I managed to form in my mind that helped me understand, or at the very least differentiate, the Republic and the Colonies.

Now as I have mentioned before, I simply am NOT sold on the romance aspect. Not only did I have a hard time believing a bunch of 15 year-olds would know what deep, almost-lusty desires were like, it was a bad case of insta-love between June and Day for me. I honestly still can’t find much of a solid foundation for how that happened. BUT the funny thing is Marie Lu addresses that here as well, using Tess as she confronts Day, asking him how he could possibly believe he has fallen in love with a girl he has only been acquainted with for a month or so; who practically represents the elite sector he hates so much. I don’t particularly like Tess but she made so much sense at that moment. I know a lot of other people took issue with the insta-love too so I’m pleasantly surprised that it seems Marie Lu actually took into consideration the stuff we reviewers said.

My only major peeve about the book really is how my favourite character gets effing killed off! I think my mouth stayed in an O-shape of shock until about 5 pages after the fact. I could not believe what had just happened. And then at the end is another explosive revelation that basically makes me want to pull my hair out in another fit of WTF– you sly Marie Lu, you! All I can say is that I am relieved beyond words that I decided to wait for book 3 to get released before I decided to buy both books together. I had a feeling this would happen, and to be fair the ending of book 2 wasn’t even an actual cliffhanger. It tied up that chapter of the Republic’s history rather nicely, setting the reader up for the next phase of things to come. And yet there still is that element of a cruel surprise.

That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this for being a quick, exciting read. It’s the kind of book you can and would want to finish in one sitting. Neither June nor Day allowed themselves to lose sight of their personal goals despite having thoughts of each other at the back of their heads, making the societal unrest the centre of the story rather than the romance (thank God).

It’s too easy to love a novel where the characters are interesting, the pace is electric, and the story actually has a point. But beyond the story, the novel speaks to me a lot about the characteristics of society. It shows how most people are just soooo quick to believe whatever glittering words are fed to them just to escape the unhappy reality of their discontentment, they don’t even bother verifying the facts. In a more shallow level, it also establishes how crazy politics actually is. As a dystopian novel, this does its job. But then you insert the exciting fight scenes, chase scenes, flying scenes, and you’ve got yourself one hell of an edge-of-your-seat action-driven novel that is just soooo hard to put down!

Now a couple of questions for ya’ll who have not yet read the third installment:

Do you find Tess endearing, annoying, or just plain creepy with how aggressive she is with Day? I mean, what is she– 12? 13? And as a follow up question to that…
Would it have made any difference with the romance aspect within the story if the characters were made a little older?
Ages aside, do you ship the Day X June tandem, or do you, like myself, kind of think that June X Anden make a better couple? What about Day X Tess?
Do you actually trust Anden or do you think he will show some sort of hidden nature the moment June and Day let their guards down?
Lastly, does anybody know if Hollywood is thinking of making a movie out of this? ‘Cause they have made adaptations out of bad books and REALLY bad books before but the Legend series would make a really great series of movies if done right.
Really really lastly, who would you pick to star as the main characters? I don’t know that many young actors so I would love to hear your ideas. Here are my picks for the starring roles from my very limited list (mixed up the heritages of the characters didn’t I?):