karen's Reviews > Legend
Legend (Legend, #1)
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so i did, i almost gave this book four stars. but then i said to myself, "self - you have to stop giving these YA dystopias your knee-jerk four star ratings just because you like the genre and you like to see teens in peril, you sick twist." and it's true. these things are pure candy for me to read. and i don't even care so much that the majority of them lack that believability factor. i tend to star-rate within this genre based on enjoyability rather than literary value, because i am neither a professional reviewer nor a teen.
but although i enjoyed this one so much, i gotta be more critical every now and again.
is this book fun? yup.
is the writing stellar?
well, that's the thing. it has great action sequences and a fine premise, but the characterization is a little weak.
it is told as a split-narrative between a young girl and a young boy. but their voices are completely interchangeable. not to the extent that you ever mistake one for the other, because their circumstances are completely different, howevs they do indeed sound like one character split into two. this would have been fine - two star-crossed lovers from different sides of the tracks that are in reality one soul split in two - oh true love and all that. but in order for that to work, there would have had to have been really strong secondary characters to show that the author had serious chops and was actively making that point. but all the other characters come from the avatar school of thought: "i am on this side of the issue so i am perfect and good." "i am on the other side of the issue so i am terrrrible."
some nuance wouldn't have hurt.
i just didn't get a good sense of individuality here at all. no one is complicated enough.
as a mystery novel in which the answers unspool at a reasonable pace and keep the reader interested, it is fine. more than fine. but when you sit down and start thinking about the characters themselves, you end up with beigey porridge.
as a retelling of les mis, which i am told this is supposed to be a nod to, it is completely unconvincing. seriously - if that is why you are reading this book, you are going to be mystified. if anything, it is more like romeo and juliet. the one with leonardo dicaprio and that chick from my so-called life. with more cage-fighting.
i'm not gonna lie, i had a great time reading this, but i think that if every book is going to be a variation on a theme, we gotta start raising the bar. because while this is fun, it is not really a game-changer.
i am not saying "don't read this," because this is a really high three, but the flaws have got to be addressed for the integrity of the goodreads.com community.
so - yeah - read this. but read it with some pop rocks and cherry dr. pepper, and an awareness that it's not going to stick to your ribs.
come to my blog!
but although i enjoyed this one so much, i gotta be more critical every now and again.
is this book fun? yup.
is the writing stellar?
well, that's the thing. it has great action sequences and a fine premise, but the characterization is a little weak.
it is told as a split-narrative between a young girl and a young boy. but their voices are completely interchangeable. not to the extent that you ever mistake one for the other, because their circumstances are completely different, howevs they do indeed sound like one character split into two. this would have been fine - two star-crossed lovers from different sides of the tracks that are in reality one soul split in two - oh true love and all that. but in order for that to work, there would have had to have been really strong secondary characters to show that the author had serious chops and was actively making that point. but all the other characters come from the avatar school of thought: "i am on this side of the issue so i am perfect and good." "i am on the other side of the issue so i am terrrrible."
some nuance wouldn't have hurt.
i just didn't get a good sense of individuality here at all. no one is complicated enough.
as a mystery novel in which the answers unspool at a reasonable pace and keep the reader interested, it is fine. more than fine. but when you sit down and start thinking about the characters themselves, you end up with beigey porridge.
as a retelling of les mis, which i am told this is supposed to be a nod to, it is completely unconvincing. seriously - if that is why you are reading this book, you are going to be mystified. if anything, it is more like romeo and juliet. the one with leonardo dicaprio and that chick from my so-called life. with more cage-fighting.
i'm not gonna lie, i had a great time reading this, but i think that if every book is going to be a variation on a theme, we gotta start raising the bar. because while this is fun, it is not really a game-changer.
i am not saying "don't read this," because this is a really high three, but the flaws have got to be addressed for the integrity of the goodreads.com community.
so - yeah - read this. but read it with some pop rocks and cherry dr. pepper, and an awareness that it's not going to stick to your ribs.
come to my blog!
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Reading Progress
January 27, 2012
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Started Reading
January 27, 2012
– Shelved
January 27, 2012
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Finished Reading
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Aly (Fantasy4eva)
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Jan 27, 2012 09:13AM
oh man, what a shame. i was hoping this would be more of a four star read for you. anyway, you going to review this. would love to know your thoughts on it Karen :)
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it's a really high three, though. so close to a four! i will probably have a chance to review it tomorrow.
Great review. It was a fun read, but it just wasn't all the way there. I almost gave it four stars too, but I had to reel myself in a bit and give me a reality check. LOL.
I agree 100%. I just finished this, and what you said about the characters seeming interchangable is very true. For the longest time I had a hard time thinking of June as the rich girl. They just both seemed like the street rats to me. I also really liked this book, but while reading I kept thinking it's nothing special. With so many dystopias out basically having the same ideas: plague, violence, with a hint of romance and blah blah blah someone needs to think outside the box.
i think the market has just been glutted and somehow i have managed to read every one. it's probably fine if you only read one or two a year. i may be overdoing it hahaha
I agree with you whole-heartily. I really love teen dystopian fiction too and it's hard not to get too excited about it, but... this one was more "meh" than "YEAH!"
yeah... i did get the arc of the second one at bea, so i am going to read it, but it feels less urgent that other books right now.
I agree thoroughly. Another thing I found quite annoying was how the reactions of the characters to certain events or situations are utterly unacceptable and unrealistic.
I love that you called this book like "Candy" - I call some of these YA typed books candy because they're sweet fun and gone quickly and don't leave much impression. Thanks for the review!
My thought exactly! I almost didn't write my own review for this book because I had nothing new to add lol
Couldn't disagree more. Lots of dystopian trilogies disappoint (Divergent and Matched, for example) but this is a great one..just my opinion. Thinking of using it in my classroom this year.
i definitely didn't like the matched trilogy (although i didn't read the third one), but i thought divergent was fun fun fun fun. this one i haven't given up on, but this first book didn't grab me right away, so i haven't gone out of my way to read the rest of it. i think i was just burned out on the genre, frankly.
This review perfectly sums up my thoughts. Sometimes I think that I give 4 star ratings because I love the genre. I really wish they'd let us do half stars like 3-1/2.
+1
Can't put anymore concisely than "YA dystopia with teens in peril". :-)
Perhaps having read Ender's Game has upped my expectations from that genre too..
Can't put anymore concisely than "YA dystopia with teens in peril". :-)
Perhaps having read Ender's Game has upped my expectations from that genre too..
Hi Karen!
Great review. I don't like dr. Pepper, but since you mentioned ribs, I'll have to eat it with some bbq ribs.
So far I like it. :)
Great review. I don't like dr. Pepper, but since you mentioned ribs, I'll have to eat it with some bbq ribs.
So far I like it. :)
"if anything, it is more like romeo and juliet. the one with leonardo dicaprio and that chick from my so-called life. with more cage-fighting"
Oh god that made me laugh! While I immensely enjoyed the Hawaiian-shirt wearing Romeo movie, it's a great way to describe this book. The concept was cool but the execution was a little offbeat. Great review! :)
Oh god that made me laugh! While I immensely enjoyed the Hawaiian-shirt wearing Romeo movie, it's a great way to describe this book. The concept was cool but the execution was a little offbeat. Great review! :)
Hi Karen! You will not know me as I am new to goodreads.I have read a lot.of your reviews. Some of them I totally agree with while other I do not. This review I mostly agree with. I love YA dystopian novels. With me is that I really enjoy the first books of dystopian series while the rest are just bearable or total junk. I have read many of you reviews and gotten good advice about books from you so I decided to friend request you! Do you think maybe you will concider it? :D ??