Monday, January 20, 2014

Champion (Legend #3) By: Marie Lu

Title: Champion (Legend #3)
Author: Marie Lu
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Shelves: Young Adult, Dystopia, Romance
Recommended for Fans Of: Kristen Simmons, Veronica Roth

Goodreads

Synopsis (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.

Review: After much contemplation, I have decided to write my review with spoilers. DON'T READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAMPION YET. I think it would be extremely difficult to attempt to not spoil this book, and since I just want to RAVE ABOUT MY FEELINGS, I have decided to include spoilers.

GUYS.

THIS BOOK.

THE FEELS.

THE EMOTIONS.

Why. Why. Why. I am so torn, trying to write my review. Okay, let me start off by saying just how scared I was to pick up Champion. It was literally sitting on my bedside table for two months, haunting me. I was TERRIFIED for what was going to happen in Champion. I loved Legend and Prodigy so so much. And I love Day and June so so much. You know that feeling of just being SO attached to a character that you just can't let them go? Yeah, that is me times a million.

What I'm trying to say is that I was afraid of Tess and Day ending up together. If that happened, I had threatened on Twitter never to read another book again. NO ONE MESSES WITH THE PERFECTION THAT IS DAY AND JUNE AS A COUPLE. Which is why I burst into tears when I read that in the very end, Day loses his memory and June walks away. 
I honestly wanted to put the book down, give it a 1 star rating, and walk away. BUT THEN, I guess the ending was okay. Honestly, I didn't really like the last couple of chapters of Champion. I definitely would have liked it a lot more if Day and June's future was set in stone. I honestly don't think it's fair, as an author, to know just how emotionally attached your readers are to your characters, and then end a book like that. This was why Champion was not a five-star book for me. I just could not deal with how Marie Lu ended it.

BUT THEN,  I have to admit that the epilogue gave me MAJOR FEELS. The only redemption for the ending came in the form of the epilogue, which raised my rating up from a 3 to a solid 4. It gave me hope for Day and June. The emotions Marie Lu put into writing the ending definitely shone through and IT MADE ME CRY TEARS OF SADNESS AND JOY.

I think the correct term would be extreme melancholy. Partly because I have no idea where Day and June are headed, and partly because this truly was the end. I'm going to try to convince myself that they go on to relive their love and spend the rest of their lives together. And that everything is going to be okay.

I had high expectations for this book. I really did. Legend and Prodigy were heartbreaking and perfection, and I was really really hoping that Marie Lu would not leave fans disappointed after reading this book. In all aspects, including the action, the plot, the characters and the setting, Marie Lu rocked it. But then the romance.... HASHTAG NO.

So yeah. After reading Champion I am an emotional wreck and this review probably made no sense but let it be known that I LOVE DAY AND JUNE UNTIL THE WORLD ENDS.

There. Now I'm done. Now let me just wallow in misery and leave me be.


Oh, and feel free to let me know what you guys thought of Champion. Just DO NOT be mean. Remember your manners. Last time someone left a mean comment on my blog, it did not end well.

xoxo,
Fiction_TheNewReality

7 comments:

  1. THE ENDING! I was so scared that Day was going to die. I wish the epilogue wasn't 10 years!! That frustrated me the most about the ending. I cried so much reading the ending T____T

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  2. Personally, I liked the ending. I mean I thought it fit June perfectly as a character & I cried majorly but it was understandable why she did what she did THEN THE EPILOGUE! I couldn't stop squealing and crying..
    The only thing was that I could not bring myself to read the entire book in one sitting (which is why it took me so long ><)

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  3. I read the the two first books last year, but I never felt any interest for the characters. I understand your feeling. The last book in a series you like is always emotional:-)

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  4. I read the whole trilogy too and i did tell you that the story will not disappoint you! XD

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  5. I 100% believe they go on to live happily ever after :)

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  6. Aww I'm sorry you didn't like it as much as you were hoping. I was also terrified to read it because the Legend trilogy is one of my favorite dystopians like ever, and I love Day and June so muuuuuch. I thought Champion was a great end to the series and I loved reading every second of it. That ending though. THAT ENDING. IT LEFT ME CRYING AND HEARTBROKEN AND FLAILING SAD FEELS. I CAN'T HANDLE THAT ENDING. IT WAS TOO HEARTBREAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL. I STILL CAN'T EVEN. I JUST CAN'T. *hides in a hole and cries forever*

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  7. I haven't read it yet, but I was spoiled already. Someone accidentally spilled the beans, so there isn't anything to spoil me on anymore. But the difference is you LOVED Champion and my spoiler did not so much. I haven't read it, so I haven't made my determination yet. I would think that I would love it though. I just know that I need to read it to see what I am going to feel about it. I think I will like it though.

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