Release Date: January 29th 2012
Pages: 384
Genre: Dystopian
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Synopsis: 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.
Meeting Marie Lu and snagging Prodigy were two of my top priorities at BEA and I was so happy to accomplish both ! It’s seems so long ago, but here I am with a Prodigy review. Sequel reviews can be hard, but I promise a review that is spoiler-free for Prodigy and only slightly for LegendProdigy picks up right where Legend left us; The Republic’s prodigy and the legend, June and Day, find themselves teaming with up the Patriots and this rebel group only wants one thing from Republic’s most famous fugitives; to start a revolution.
As a sequel, Prodigy is a good balance to Legend. Lu keeps strings from the previous book threaded into the pages and expands the world created in the first book. We delve into exactly how the Republic and the Colonies were formed. I actually think adding this explanation works better in the second book because then we don’t know anymore than the characters do.
The relationship between the characters are fleshed out and explored more in this novel. And while there is a healthy amount of Unresolved Sexual Tension, Almost Kiss and Will They or Won’t They, June and Day are still forced to recognize that at the end of the day, she ruined his life and destroyed his family.
In the parts she was in, Tess came into her own as a character and matures past the girl happily at Day’s side. One of my favorite scenes is when Tess confronts Day about his feelings for June and in the process, she questions her own worth. She goes off about how June can’t seem to do wrong, how June will always be accepted and beloved no matter what side she belongs to, but Tess isn’t afforded the same value. I thought this was a realistic sentiment and provided a nice perspective.
I’m really interested in how Lu will end the series. Will this be the typical YA dystopian where good triumphs evil or will this be the classic dystopian where the characters learn they can’t change everything?
Filled with plot twists, cliffhangers, and revelations, Prodigy is everything you expect from a dystopian sequel and more.
Side note: Day’s POV is printed in blue in this book. It was pretty easy to read the colored text, but it had this really weird effect on my eyes were it would make the black text look burgundy-ish
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I’m a lifelong reader who started blogging about YA books in 2011 but now I read in just about every genre! I love YA coming of age stories, compelling memoirs and genre bending SFF. You can find me talking all things romance at Romance and Sensibility.