Legend

So, I picked up Legend after [b:The Young Elites 20821111 The Young Elites (The Young Elites, #1) Marie Lu https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1407318399s/20821111.jpg 25217978] successfully roped me into reading more of Marie Lu's works. Some people warned me that Legend is “not as impressive” and that I might be disappointed if I expect it to charm me as much as The Young Elites did.It didn't disappoint.In terms of depth, Legend is rather light and has gradual world-building. There are no info dumps, and the details come in small bits and pieces. But it's fast-paced, action-packed, and comes with quite an intriguing mystery too—making it hard to put it down. I finished around 70% of this book in one sitting, that's how engrossing it was for me. Then again, I really like Marie Lu's writing style, so maybe this book matches my taste.I loved the two main leads, Day and June, right from the start. They're both perceptive, cautious, and think things through before making any decisions. Day is a very devoted person who would do anything for his family, while June is a bit judgmental at first—which is understandable due to her upbringing—but has a good heart. I didn't really feel their romance when it started, but it grew on me. While it's more on the subtle side because of all the things going on, the chemistry is definitely there.Insta-attraction? From the first sight.Insta-love? Not exactly.There are also complaints about how quickly Day and June, at the young age of 15, put the clues together in nearly every situation, but honestly? I don't see anything wrong with that. It's more refreshing than anything else to have sharp protagonists, actually. That, and they're both prodigies with perfect Trial score so that makes sense to me.So far I feel that there's still a lot more to explore as far as world-building goes, but it looks like the world will expand more in the next books. The story takes place entirely in the Republic here, so I'm looking forward to see what seems to be Day and June's next destination―the Colonies. Now that they're on the same side, I hope we get to see more interaction too.Well then, excuse me as I move on to [b:Prodigy 13414446 Prodigy (Legend, #2) Marie Lu https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1336254717s/13414446.jpg 18712554].