Champion Review

Title: Champion
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Genre: Sci-fi

Blurb: (from goodreads) 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: 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. 

With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

Me: Trilogies, I've found, usually get worse and worse as they go on, until you get to the last one and you want to throw it across the room. (*cough* Mockingjay) Marie Lu, though, amazes me with her talent and what a phenomenal finale she crafts to her series, and the trilogy actually gets better as it goes on. 

The Ups: Everything. There are so many emotions coursing through my heart, so many thoughts I have about the story. Let's see if I can attempt to organize them all. 

The world that Marie Lu creates is so incredibly real. Not just beautifully described or easy to picture but frighteningly real. I can see our world now coming to the world she creates. The failure of what was once the United States, the rise of the countries Africa and Antarctica, the political and social  aspects, there are things in the Legend books that resemble authentic government today. The sectors, the difference between the rich and poor, the plagues, everything in the book has a genuine purpose. The reality of the novel is nerve wracking.

The characters are absolutely phenomenal. Day and June have such distinct voices, and it really enhanced the story, seeing it from both perspectives. Their struggles and pains were incredibly relatable and believable. The love between them wasn't stupid, but I could really feel the bond between them, and it was real and genuine and great. Anden was another of my personal favorite characters, because I think that he really had his struggles that he was trying to beat, and doing that while trying to save a country going to the dogs is heroic. 

The plot, oh my gosh. I actually cried in this book. And I didn't cry while reading TFIOS. So this is pretty much a super emotional book, man. There is just such a connection with me and the characters, and the overwhelming feeling of love and sympathy and pain for these characters made the journey through the book meaningful. 

The ending was beautiful, and I can't believe I'm parting with the Legend world. 

The Downs: I think that there may have been a very small amount of sentences and phrases that caught me off guard because they didn't seem to fit in with the characters and such, but it was very minimal.

Overall: The best final book to a trilogy that I have ever read. Also possibly the best science fiction book I've ever read. Absolutely amazing.

(Mini shout-out to my amazing friend Azaan for lending his signed copy to me...that takes courage and a heckload of trust.)

Rating: BMS!