Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

Prodigy (Legend #2)
by Marie Lu
Published January 2013
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary from Goodreads: 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?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action.

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Prodigy is the sequel to Legend, one of my all time favorite dystopian novels. I didn't think it was possible, but I liked Prodigy even more than Legend.

It's been a couple years since I read Legend, and I was a bit worried that I wouldn't remember everything that had happened. Well, I didn't exactly remember everything, but Lu added subtle reminders throughout the first few chapters of the book that didn't feel like a recap but really helped me get back up to speed.

Guys, duel narration is my favorite. Absolute favorite. Lu handles the narration so well that, had I been reading Prodigy at a normal speed instead of lightning fast, I wouldn't have needed ink to be different colors for each narrator. Day and June have such distinct voices that it's always apparent which one is narrating. Each chapter flows seamlessly into the next, despite the differing narrators, which pretty much meant that I never wanted to stop reading.

In Prodigy, Lu continues to paint a picture of the world Day and June live in. Their world is one of my favorites, because it's not a place vaguely resembling the United States; it is the United States. A few of the places Day and June go to are Vegas and Denver. There are multiple discussions about how and why the United States turned into the Republic and the Colonies, as well as the differences between the two and the implications. I really enjoyed these explanations and never felt as though I was given more information than I could handle at once, nor was I bored. 

I think my only complaint here is that, though the voices of Day and June are distinct and enjoyable, I wish there had been more development for both of the characters. Maybe that will come in the next installment, but it felt like both of them were stuck, unsure of which direction to go. There are a few big decisions made, but they are largely circumstantial, not internal.

Prodigy is a fantastic sequel and also does a great job of setting up for the third book, Champion. I absolutely cannot wait to complete this trilogy!