September 19, 2014

Champion by Marie Lu (Legend #3)

Sometimes, the sun sets earlier. Days don’t last forever, you know. But I’ll fight as hard as I can. I can promise you that.
-from Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lu

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This review contains spoilers for Legend and Prodigy

Champion is the climactic ending to Marie Lu's dystopian Legend series. Taking place almost a year after Prodigy left off, The Republic of America is making great strides toward resolving a lot of the problems that made it corrupt due to its new leader. But when a peace treaty with the Colonies of America falls through because of a plague outbreak in the Colonies, the Republic needs to call upon the help of Day and his brother Eden again. When Day and June reunite, they must put their past aside to help save the new Republic.

While I didn't love Champion as much as I loved Prodigy, this was definitely a fitting end to a great trilogy! The story begins somewhat aimlessly to me, with peace talks one minute and then the Colonies making illegal attacks on the Republic the next. I wasn't sure who to trust and I didn't know if Lu intended for me to be so disoriented or not, which made it feel aimless. Similarly, the romance of June and Day seems a bit disjointed as well. There is one climactic point emotionally that I loved, but the following chapter seemed to eradicate any progress made between June and Day. I was really frustrated with that, even if I could understand it (I know, I make no sense but I'm avoiding spoilers!). There was just too much resentment too quickly following such a beautiful scene.

Despite those frustrations, I really did enjoy the movement of the book and the evolution of not only the characters, but the Republic society as a whole. There is so much growth seen in this system that I have not seen in any other dystopian books which I think sets this series apart. Through the leadership of Anden and the encouragement of Day, the Republic slowly shifts into a government that the people support, love and are willing to fight for which is so different from the Republic in Legend.

My favorite theme in this book is that of sacrificial love. Many of the characters must sacrifice something for the greater good of their society. Early in the series we see many characters sacrificed for standing against the Republic, but in Champion the characters are given the opportunity to sacrifice themselves for a better government which gives a different dynamic to their sacrifice. Day must contemplate sacrificing Eden for a plague cure (which may not even be his call to sacrifice at all). Day sacrifices his relationship with June for her well-being. There are many more that I won't spoil, but this book calls into question what you would sacrifice for the greater good and what you would sacrifice for the ones you love.

The end of this book and series was truly one of the best I've read. Everything comes full circle and while we've seen a lot of  loss throughout the series, there is also so much hope with the ending. While I'm sad that it's over, I'm so satisfied with the end and can highly recommend this series to any fan of dystopian fiction!

Bottom Line: While it was a little bit aimless at times, it was a wonderful book and a fulfilling series-end! 4/5 Stars.

1 comment:

  1. "Sometimes, the sun sets earlier. Days don’t last forever, you know. But I’ll fight as hard as I can. I can promise you that." - i freaking LOVE this quote.

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