Book Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

Prodigy (Legend, #2)
By Marie Lu
January 29, 2013
Putnam Juvenile
384 pages
Source: Around the World ARC Tours

Synopsis
June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—-June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?( Goodreads Summary.)

** Warning!

Spoilers for Book #1 in the series, Legend, ahead! 

You have been warned!**

My Take On It

Earlier this year I read Legend, by Marie Lu and was entertained by this book that everyone was comparing to The Hunger Games. It's an apt comparison. Both are dystopians with a post apocalyptic setting; both feature kick butt heroines; both are full of action;  and  both speed along at a very quick pace. Like The Hunger Games,  I found Legend  to be a page turner. Both are true dystopians, introducing a world that has gone awry, but in such a way as to make the reader squirm because it all seems very, very plausible. Dystopians, at least the good ones, are meant to get under our skin. Legend did this, presenting a future United States that has been split in two by natural disasters and civil war. And smack dab in the middle of this conflict are two characters who, despite being complete opposites in terms of their upbringing and place in society, manage to come together, fall in love, and challenge the very foundation on which they were raised. I did enjoy Legend, the story wasn't completely original, but there were aspects that I found to be unique. The book did not end on a major cliffhanger, but it did end open enough that I knew I would be back for more, anxious to learn the fate of the two protagonists, Day and June.

Prodigy begins right where Legend leaves off. June miraculously saves Day from execution  (at the expense of his bother John who takes the firing squad's bullets in his stead) and the two escape Los Angeles aboard a Vegas bound train. Day's leg is seriously injured, but both he and June are determined to locate the Patriot group again in hopes of rescuing Day's younger brother Eden. 

From the very beginning of the story, it is apparent that things are strained between Day and June. Exhaustion accounts for some of this, but there is something else going on. Day seems distant, and instead of hashing things out and actually communicating with each other, both remain close mouthed about their thoughts and feelings, exacerbating the problem even more. 

This lack of communication is the first problem I have with Prodigy. Like Legend, Prodigy is narrated by both Day and June, so we the reader are given first hand knowledge of what they are thinking versus what they are saying, or not saying, in this case.  Prodigy is one of those books that frustrated me from the start because the breakdown in communication between Day and June was so absolute and rigid, there was not even the slightest instance of them attempting to be forthcoming and open with each other.  I used to think that this type of thing occurred because it had to. Mixed messages and poor communication moves the story along and provides conflict between characters. But I recently read and reviewed a book  that handled this particular problem much differently, allowing the main characters to talk to each other and actually work towards a resolution. And guess what? It worked beautifully. It didn't slow the book down and it didn't detract from other issues at hand. It made the story and the characters seem more authentic and more reasonable and it was such a relief! So my point is this: that ploy of having two characters, particularly two characters that are in a romantic relationship, stumble through a series of mishaps and miscommunication as a way to spice up a romance or provide conflict is, in my opinion, completely unnecessary and rather annoying. I'm not saying that miscommunication doesn't occur in real life, we all know that is definitely NOT true, it's just that seeing it repeated over and over unnecessarily is fast becoming a pet peeve in my reading. It not only makes me want to pull my hair out and roll my eyes, it detracts from the storyline and just feels wrote. It least it did in my reading of Prodigy.

That is not to say that there weren't parts of Prodigy that I enjoyed. One of the things I really love about this series is that the gender roles are reversed a bit when it comes to Day and June. Both are important characters, and each have their own strengths, but I really like that June is the soldier and that she is the resident expert on professional butt kicking. I like that June is the one who shows Day a few moves when it comes to disabling opponents. That's not to say that Day is some helpless oaf. On the contrary, his speed, agility, and fearlessness make him a force to be reckoned with. 

I think this role reversal also carries over into their (very) different personalities. June is analytical and rational, trained to always be assessing the situation and calculating the odds. Day, on the other hand, is the more emotional of the two. His fearlessness and bravado is borne from his deep love for his family and friends and his adamant belief in justice trumping all. 

Yet for all their differences, Day and June have a lot in common too. Both are celebrities in their own inner circle. June, being the military's best and brightest, and Day, who is akin to Robin Hood, fighting the corrupt government for the sake of the downtrodden people. In fact, one of my favorite parts of Legend  is how Day and June are perceived as rebel heroes. This is echoed in Prodigy as well, especially with Day, who gets to finally let the world know he wasn't executed and that he is alive and well and ready to continue the fight. There is a stirring speech in Prodigy, in which Day holds the people of Los Angeles, and the Republic as a whole, completely in the palm of his hands. June is a powerful figure, but Day is an enigma. By the way, want to read an awesome quote from Day's speech? Head over to The Midnight Garden's new feature Quotable YA. You can find it HERE. :)

Another commonality: both Day and June have suffered terrible personal losses. And these losses aren't swept under the rug in Prodigy. June continues to mourn the loss of her parents, and especially her brother Metias. And Day, who lost nearly his entire family in Legend, wants more than anything to find his brother Eden and his friend Tess. And yet these personal losses, and the circumstances in which they occurred, draw Day and June together while also pulling them apart. 

I love the complexities of both these characters. Of the two I think I most love Day, I love how open he is, how true he is in his convictions, and his boundless affection for all those he loves. But for some reason I was drawn to June's narration more than Day's in Prodigy. It's odd. I connect more with Day on the whole, but June's story was the one I looked forward to reading the most. 

Like Legend, Prodigy moves along at a breakneck pace, and there is a lot of action involved. Without giving away too much of the plot, Day and June are able to make contact with the Patriots who agree to help them both, but at a price. The two are almost immediately separated, both sent off on their own leg of the Patriot's secret mission. 

One of the things I liked most about Prodigy is that we finally get to learn more of the back story of the Republic and it's war with the colonies. We also get a closer look at the reasons why this conflict occurred in the first place. We return to the Republic and are re-introduced to it's new leader, Anden, who has inherited the seat of Elector Primo following the demise of his father. We get to travel to the Colonies themselves, which is very enlightening. We meet new faces and we are reunited with old ones as well. We get to know the workings of the Patriots from the inside, meet their charismatic leader Razor, and some other standout members (Pascao I am thinking of YOU.) There are plenty of twists and turns, some predictable, some not, and the story arc continues to move along, developing and evolving as it should. 

One note: the huge sacrifices that we witness in Legend are considerably muted in Prodigy. That is not to say that there isn't death, in fact one pretty important character does die in Prodigy (and I'm not talking about the former Elector Primo.) But the soul shattering sacrifices we read about in Legend, June's brother Metias and Day's mother and brother John, are not repeated. I guess this is a good thing but I can't help but feeling that the book was not nearly as riveting because of it.

While I enjoyed the world building, which is definitely stepped up and improved, I can't help but feel a little let down by Prodigy in some ways. First, I see the makings of a possible  love triangle setting up in the final installment, and actually it could be one of those odd 4 way love triangles (read the book: I think you'll immediately recognize the four people I am thinking of.) And Prodigy ends with a startling revelation. Well, it's startling in a way, but the fact that it is being thrown in there at this particular time is really not so startling. In fact after it happened I immediately rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath "OF COURSE."  

But perhaps the biggest disappointment I have is that even though I like the story and I like the characters of Day and June, I still somehow feel detached from them too. Their romance is okay, certainly not mind blowing, but I understand that this series, again like The Hunger Games, is not necessarily meant to be romance driven. Yet I feel a bit shafted when I read it anyway. Maybe it is just the way Prodigy is told. Maybe the distance between Day and June is supposed to make me feel remote and uninspired. Maybe I am supposed to be questioning their relationship, as they are throughout the book, supposed to be questioning whether the two should even be together. But by this point in the series, I don't think so. I feel that even with their differences and with their inner struggles I should still be rooting for them. And I am, in a way. But I still feel disconnected when it comes to them. I feel as though their hearts aren't in it, so my heart isn't really in it either. It's an odd feeling, and a disconcerting one.

So in summation, I'm rather conflicted in my feelings of Prodigy. In many ways it is a successful second-in-a-series book. The plot moves along, there are some twists and turns added in, some questions are answered but more are asked, and the characters continue to develop and mature. But a disconcerting sense of detachment pervaded my reading of the book. It is a feeling I can't quite explain but still can't shake. Will I be back for more? Absolutely. Cliffhanger endings and possibilities of a 4 way love triangle aside, I couldn't NOT find out how it all ends for Day and June. I like this story too much to give up. I just hope that Lu will be able to bypass some of the predictable pitfalls that many dystopian books seem to stumble into these days.

Read the first chapter of Prodigy HERE. 

Find author Marie Lu here:  website/ goodreads/ facebook/ twitter

Check out more reviews of Prodigy:

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A Book Obsession