Kim Deister
Champion was the original end to the Legend trilogy, although at the time of this review, a fourth novel, Rebel, is available. I’ve loved the premise of this series, and I’m sad to see it coming to a close! Day and June really made these books for me. Their characters are so different from one another, which creates such a great and interesting dynamic between them. And I loved that, along with all their good traits, they are flawed as well. June is everything I love in a YA female protagonist. She’s strong and capable, she’s fiercely independent, and she’s got a strong moral center. And Day is equally as wonderful. He loves fiercely and everything he does is guided by that love. For Tess, for June, for his family. And that creates situations in which his loyalties are at odds. That adds such a great angst level to the story. There were so many questions leading into this book, and I felt that Champion really answered those questions perfectly. The pacing was great, the story exciting. And the characters maintained their true selves to the very end. However… the ending. While I appreciated it, it was so bittersweet! Was it the ending I thought I wanted? No. But I felt it was right for the story. The world of Legend was fraught with tragedy and pain, so in many ways, the ending was more than could be reasonably expected. So even though my tender heart thought it wanted something different, the ending was true to form for the world. My recommendation: This is a great dystopian series, with fabulous world-building and amazing characters! A definite recommend!
