Title: Champion
Author: Marie Lu
Series: Legend #3
Genres: YA, Dystopia, Sci-Fi, Romance, Action
Published: November 5th, 2013
Read: February 2016
Rating: ★★★★
My Copy
Publisher: Penguin Books
Cover: Paperback
Purchase Location: The Works, London
Goodreads Summary: 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 peaceful existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government's elite circles while Day has been assigned a high level military position.
Prequels:
My Review
Where should I start? This book was heartbreaking from beginning to the end. In comparison to the first two books in the trilogy this one was much more action packed with all the war going on. And FINALLY (!) we find out what year we're in. I can't stand reading a book without knowing what year it's placed in because I just need the reassurance of time. When June and Anden travel to Antarctica (which reminded me more of a game than an actual serious country) we figure out June's birth date and because she's 17 years old now we only have to add that number to 2132 and tada: 2149. Nearly a hundred years after the United States broke up into the Republic and the Colonies. Finally I can relax.
But no. With all the war going on, the traitors killing Republic soldires, the plague spreading and whatnot I can't relax. I'm being haunted by the constant fear that someone else is going to die. With Day's prognosis it's most likely going to be him... BUT phew. He didn't die. Thomas' death though... I haven't forgiven him for his past crimes (as hasn't June), but at least he died trying to redeem himself and doing some good for the Republic.
From the beginning I was scared that this would turn out like Allegiant. I really didn't want to have to deal with another death I couldn't get over. June and Day's seperation from Prodigy was heartbreaking enough. The one that followed at the end of Champion literally made me cry. Thankfully, the ending was so sweet! With Day's memories gone and him not remembering June I can understand that she didn't want to hurt him all over again in revealing that she was responsible for part of his family's deaths. My hope never died, though. And them finding themselves again was the most beautiful scene in the whole trilogy! I love dystopian novels with (kind of) happy endings!
A thing that still bugs me, though, is that we never learn more about the trials. We find out in Legend that Day actually scored a perfect score, yet he was sent to the test labs with other children who probably also all scored 1500/1500. I really wanted to know what was up with that, but sadly my questions were never answered.
