Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

Title: Prodigy (Legend, #2)
Author: Marie Lu
Pages: 384
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Release Date: January 29, 2013

June and Day make their way to Las Vegas where they join the rebel Patriot group and become involved in an assassination plot against the Elector in hopes of saving the Republic.

My Thoughts: It's been over a year since I read Legend, the first novel in the trilogy. Legend was no doubt my favorite dystopian and one of my favorite books last year! I loved everything about it, and I eagerly anticipated the release of the sequel. Now having finally read Prodigy...

Unfortunately, it didn't do it for me the way the first book did. It was a much more different reading experience for me. While Legend was engaging and had me hooked from the very beginning, I felt detached throughout Prodigy. I had hoped that feeling would ease by the time I was halfway, and I really wish I could have shaken off that feeling entirely. However, it never happened. And it greatly determined how I felt about the novel overall.

I think I can pinpoint what exactly bothered me while reading. It was the characters. In my review for Legend, I go on and on, praising the main characters Day and June and some of the secondary characters. This time around the characters didn't quite work for me. In fact, they either irritated me or I didn't care about them at all. Even when something horrible happened, none of them could get me to shed tears or root for them passionately. (Except maybe Metias, but sadly he's not of the living.) My problem with June and especially Day in this book stems from the fact that after everything they went through in the previous book, it seemed all they could do was question each other and question why the other would want to be with them. I understand why they would have doubts though. They haven't known each other long, and they met through heartbreaking circumstances. That's something they brought up throughout the course of the novel. But for me, all that did was make it seem like what they shared in Legend wasn't...real. I couldn't bring myself to believe in their relationship this time around, which is sad because I loved what they had before.

Another problem I had with the characters AND the romance was how Day and June attracted other characters' attention. Yes, there might have been a bit of a love-triangle or even a square. I know these things happen, especially considering a lot of people look up to them, but it was a bit too convenient that both of them had specific characters vying for their affection. I don't want to reveal too much of what happened; however, I can't help mentioning that Tess, Day's best friend, was involved. And she really annoyed the heck out of me. She pretty much wasn't the same character I came to care for in Legend. It was a bit of a shock to be honest. Basically, the romance in Prodigy wasn't what I had hoped, and I feel everything that happened with it only caused unnecessary drama that I didn't find entertaining one bit.

In the end, Prodigy left me feeling indifferent and uncaring for the characters and their struggles. I know I'm being harsher with this book than others, but it's hard not to be when its predecessor was a favorite of mine. Although right now I'm not feeling particularly enthused for the final book in the trilogy, I think I might still read it. Just to get some closure. Hopefully I appreciate it more than this book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars