It’s here, its here, its finally here!
And okay, Prodigy totally released back in January and I haven’t even had to wait a year, like you do for most books, but I was just so excited that Champion had finally released. I downloaded it to my Kindle as soon as I was able to, and spent the next three hours, devouring the novel.
This was a finale worth waiting for, and I can’t wait to dive into it, so let’s do it!
Champion by Marie Lu
GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository
Genre:
Young Adult, Dystopian
Part of a Series?:
The third and final book of the Legend Trilogy
Please keep in mind that while there will be no spoilers for Champion, there WILL be spoilers for Legend and Prodigy. You can read the review for the first book, Legend, by clicking here.
You May Like if You Liked:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth
Age Recommendation:
14+
Plot Summary:
From Good Reads:
The explosive finale to Marie Lu’s New York Times bestselling LEGEND trilogy—perfect for fans of THE HUNGER GAMES and DIVERGENT!
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 one again. 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 he has. With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s best selling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.
The Bad:
This is going to be so insanely vague, that if you haven’t read the book, you’re not going to know what I’m saying in the slightest. But if you’ve read the book, you’ll understand. Something happens in the end, something very dramatic, and a certain character’s reaction just…it bothered me a lot. It did seem very fitting to the character, but I think I was still in the immediate emotional reaction and I could barely deal with it myself, and the certain character’s reaction just surprised me. The more that I think about it, the more that it makes sense, especially for that character, but I think I expected more. Maybe I’ve been still stuck in the dramatic and emotional ending of Allegiant, so that’s why I reacted this way. Marie Lu’s ending was perfect for HER story, and HER characters. I think the lack of emotional reaction from a particular character just rubbed me the wrong way.
The Good:
There are so many reasons why I think Marie Lu is the top notch writer of young adult dystopia, and it really culminates in this finale. She takes everything and brings it all together in this final book, and she does it so beautifully. I was so incredibly satisfied and impressed with this book.
The relationships that Marie builds is so incredible. It was enjoyable to watch June and Day’s relationship in this book, especially after the lie that Day told at the end of Prodigy. Day is dying and he tells June that they aren’t going to work, and the book starts off with them in two very separate lives. The way they are brought together, and the way their friendship and relationship evolves in the book is so real, and raw, and beautiful. It all seems so real, and mature. The other relationships and connections are so real too. Day’s relationship and commitment to his brother Eden. His friendship with Tess. Even the relationships between June and Thomas, and Commander Jameson, even Ollie, all are so real, and they hold you in the novel.
And the world building skills! Her world building skills are SO beyond amazing. She is able to create an intricate dystopian world. She builds each country so realistically, and the interactions between the different countries are so well thought out. We had already had the Republic of America and the Colonies, the two countries of the former United States, and we get to meet Africa as a power in the world, and Antarctica as well. Antarctica was especially interesting to learn more about, especially their weird system of…life. Its sort of like…a video game, or even like a real-life version of the Sims. Its an incredibly intricate and detailed world, which what makes it so real and compelling. I hope that we can return to this world later, perhaps through the eyes of other characters besides June and Day.
Oh, can we just talk about all the action in this novel? So much action. You have the Republic on one side and the Colonies on the other, and involvement on other countries, and its just awesome. I liked it in both points of view, because Day has all that passion. He’s not a soldier but he has done a lot against the Republic and so he does everything with so much effort and passion. Then there’s June, who is a soldier, who is trained for this sort of thing, but now she has so much to fight for, and it all comes together for some great action scenes.
Finally, I loved the end of it. The reactions of a particular character aside, I thought it was incredibly real, and bittersweet. It shows the maturity of the characters and the maturity of her series too. Its so different from any ending that I’ve read before but I loved it. There’s so much maturity in the ending, I can’t say that enough. Marie’s novel, and series, stands on its own two feet, without help. The ending surprised me, in the way that a really great ending can, but I loved it. I am looking forward to re-reading the book soon. It will definitely be re-read.
Rating:
4.5 out of 5 Stars
Recommended or Not?:
If you’ve read the series already, then definitely dive into this final novel. I absolutely positively loved it and thought it was an incredibly fitting ending to the best YA dystopian series out there. Marie Lu builds a beautiful, broad world and its an addiction until the very end. If you haven’t picked up this series yet, you definitely need to.
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I hope you enjoyed this week’s Book of the Week!
Don’t forget that you can check out other featured books here, and read all my other book reviews here.
Happy Reading!
I felt the exact same way about said unnamed character at the end. But I’ll gladly put up with that instead of having to deal with what the ending could have been. My heart is still on the mend from Allegiant, and if certain events had played out differently (for at least three characters), it could have damaged me beyond repair. I needed some hope back in my reader life and this was perfect. One of my all time favorite series!!
Definitely. I think it sort of irked me but it didn’t bother me hugely. It wasn’t a book deal breaker. I thought the book was beautiful and a fitting end :)