Prodigy (Legend series – Book 2)

(Note: This is a review of the second book in the trilogy and, as such, contains many spoilers, revealing significant events, details, and characters. I advise you to read the review of the first book first. You’ve been warned 🙂)

The second book picks up right where the first one left off. Dan and June manage to escape the Republic’s pursuers. But the price they paid was too high. Dan lost his older brother (who willingly sacrificed himself to save Dan and June), and there’s still no information about his younger brother, Eden. June, who discovered the true circumstances of her brother’s death, turned her back on the Republic and was marked as a traitor.

However, Legend and the Prodigy soon make contact with the Patriots, who are ready to provide them with assistance, but in exchange for their cooperation in the fight against the Republic.

Enter the mysterious Razor, an influential Republic military officer who is, in fact, the leader of the Patriots. Our heroes discover that the Patriots are funded by the Colonies and share a common goal: to overthrow the Republic.

The news of Elector Prime’s death and the succession of his son, the charismatic and gentle Anden (who has definitely caught the attention of both June and Dan), further complicates the situation in this already unstable Republic. For the troubled people of the Republic, Dan is both a national hero and a martyr (people still live under the illusion that the Republic executed Dan). Moreover, rebellions against the new Elector and Senate (who are in conflict with each other) are becoming more frequent.

It’s at this point that Razor and the Patriots offer Day and June very dangerous missions in order to save the Republic’s people.

June is tasked with returning to the Republic, getting close to the new Elector, and proving her continued loyalty to the Republic. She must also convince Anden that her betrayal was actually in the Republic’s best interest, making him vulnerable. Meanwhile, Dan joins the Patriots in sabotage missions and simultaneously shows both the people and the Republic’s army that he is still alive and well. All of this is in pursuit of their ultimate goal: for Dan to assassinate the new Elector on the planned day of the attack.

I must admit that Marie Lu has continued to maintain a good pace in the adventures of our heroes in this sequel. In fact, it seems to me that I read this book even faster than the previous one. 🙂 And, most importantly, the sequel answers many questions from the first book.

Finally, we learn what led the Republic to become so militantly inclined and the true state of affairs in the Republic and its relationship with the rest of the world, which isn’t as rosy as the Republic presents it to its people.

We also learn more about the Colonies, their way of life, their system of government, and their view of the Republic as an enemy.

And let’s not forget, now we can see how the Patriots operate in practice. In the first part, we only got a glimpse of what they could do, and now we’ll learn a lot more interesting and (somewhat) unexpected things about them.

Of course, the icing on the cake is the relationship between our two heroes. It’s enough to say that there’s a significant tension and, uh, “electricity” between them. They are aware of the emotions they have for each other, which bring them closer. However, there are some undeniable facts that separate them. And I’ll just “throw in” that their relationship is further complicated by Tess and the young Elector Anden. Here, the author delves even more into their inner (emotional) struggles and dilemmas, as well as their reevaluation of everything that has happened to them. And when a significant event goes wrong…

The impressions of “Prodigy” are positive. The pace of the story has not decreased (in fact, it’s even more dynamic). There’s a lot of action as well as (emotional) drama, interwoven with details about the world in which this trilogy takes place.

What I particularly like about Marie Lu is that she doesn’t skimp on descriptions to bring the characters and the world closer to the reader. You can already vividly imagine Dan and June, the Republic, the Colonies…

The style and writing approach remain unchanged (the events constantly switch between Dan and June and vice versa)… and there’s no need to change it. 🙂

All in all, by the time you read this review, I will already be deep into the final part of this trilogy. Just to see if I’ll finish it by the end of this year, so we can sum up the impressions. 🙂

TO BE CONTINUED…