Prodigy by Marie Lu

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.

Review:

So, I don’t know why it takes me so long to read these books I’ve been pining for! Seriously, I have like 3 sequels in my “TBR right away” pile that have come out months ago! What am I waiting for? I absolutely adored Legend. It was in my list of favorite YA dystopias. I guess I have to be in the right mood to read a book 2 in a series lately.

Any way, I was not disappointed in this book 2. I am such a sucker for these impossible romances. June is still used to her more well off way of life. And the money factor (even when both main characters have none) is almost always there. I kind of found this refreshing. It felt authentic whenever June had to accept her new way of living. And whenever Day saw her not eating something because she didn’t like it, I cringed along with him.

But more than the economic backgrounds of these characters, so much of everything is keeping them apart! The patriot group they finally get in touch with only helps them once they promise to help assassinate the new leader. And of course, the two love birds are separated when this happens. June is sent in to sort of seduce the new leader into trusting her. And Day is sent in on running/bombing missions.  There’s the constant threat of capture in the background. And capture now means torture and death.

Add that to June sort of discovering that the new leader is different, someone who actually hates the things she hates, and who has already been changing things (against the senate’s wishes) to gain the trust of the people. And then on Day’s side are all the stories of hope about the colonies, about a more unified country after the war is over. And the divide between the two main characters only intensifies.

There was a big twist (that I predicted only because I have read so many dystopias). And there’s a lot more action and drama in this book 2. The whole revolution idea was fascinating! Even more fascinating was actually getting to see behind the scenes of the standard revolutionary ideas/speeches. We saw the bombs being carried, the people dying, and the assassination being planned. Nothing was sugar-coated, and Lu really knows how to keep the suspense going.

The scenes that took place in the colonies were awesome and scary! The romance was sizzling in places, but for the most part took the sidelines to the action of the story –and this worked really well here. Things get a little more political in this sequel. And all of the characters are a little more broken and tired. There’s plane crashes, explosions, massive scheming, lots of pain, some love triangle beginnings (2 of them!), crazy escapes, and plenty of running for their lives for June and Day.

Again, Day has a different color ink for his point of view. It’s bright blue. And I’m pretty sure in the first book, it was gold. And both times, June’s point of view was normal or close to normal in color. And I’m still trying to put some kind of deeper meaning into why this is so. Why would the poor character have gold ink and then bright blue? Is the author trying to tell us something about his allegiances? Cause seriously, how expensive is it to print half your book in colored ink?

I read this book in one sitting. The action and suspense will have you up late reading. I liked the little bit of romance that was there. I liked getting to see more of this world. And the questions and dilemmas the main characters had to face were classic spot-on dystopia problems. I’m anxious to see where this all is going, and wow, that ending! I give it a 9/10, and I really recommend it to dystopia fans.