BOOK review
Started on: 8.June.2015
Finished on: 8.June.2015
Finished on: 8.June.2015
Title : Life Before Legend (Legend, #0,5)
Author : Marie Lu
Author : Marie Lu
Publisher : Putnam Juvenile
Pages : 38 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication : 2015
Pages : 38 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication : 2015
Rating: 3/5
*for those who haven't read the trilogy, this review may contain spoiler.
Review for Legend (Legend, #1) by Marie Lu here.
Review for Prodigy (Legend, #2) by Marie Lu here.
Review for Champion (Legend, #3) by Marie Lu here.
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Life Before Legend is a short novella written by Marie Lu about the main characters' lives three years before the events in Legend occurred. Day was a boy roaming on the streets of the slum sectors, trying to survive each day while fighting hunger. And then he came across a girl named Charlie, who spotted him stealing food. Day ended up working for Charlie's father in exchange for the food he stole; and he felt like he belong again. So when the Republic harassed Charlie's father, Day went out and distracted the Republic soldiers stealthily. On the other hand, June is the most popular prodigy in the whole Republic when she entered university at the age of twelve. She had to deal with the older students who kept bothering her; but June always managed to stand her ground. And back then, June always had Metias to rely on.
"When you’ve been poor all your life, you never really think it could be any other way. And sometimes you’re even happy, because at least you’ve got your family and your health and your arms and legs and a roof over your head."
To be completely honest, I'm a little bit disappointed by this novella because it definitely wasn't what I expected. I don't really care about the story behind Day's first kiss or June's first day at college. I will probably be more excited with the idea of Life After Champion—if it exists. But comparing the two stories inside this novella, I prefer Day's story because I think we get to see the reason why he started his legendary acts on messing with the Republic. And I also think what he did for Charlie was the very first stunt he's ever done towards the Republic.
As for June's story, the only thing that felt special in that story was June's interaction with Metias—because we don't really get to see it much in the trilogy. But even that aspect wasn't heartwarming enough to make me love this short story. June's strong character and amazing skills is already displayed quite a lot in the trilogy, so it wasn't very surprising to see June's reaction to those who bullied her.
“The things that make you special will give you all kinds of advantages in life, but they will also hold you back and expose your weaknesses.”
In the end, I still enjoyed this short novella quite well because I get to see my favorite characters from the trilogy again. But story-wise, it doesn't really add anything new to the trilogy. I was actually hoping to find some important / unknown aspect about the story being revealed in this novella. Even so, this short prequel doesn't reduce my love for the trilogy. And if you're a fan of the trilogy, it wouldn't hurt to give this prequel a try ;)
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