HOLIDAY HAPPINESS: Book Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

Title: Prodigy

Author: Marie Lu

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Release Date: January 29, 2013

Format Read: Paperback

Description from Goodreads: Injured and on the run, it has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Day is believed dead having lost his own brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic's most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they turn to the Patriots-- a vigilante rebel group sworn to bring down the Republic, but can they trust them or have they become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?

It took me a lot longer than four hours to read this one (curse you, responsibilities! *shakes fist at sky*) but I finally got it finished, and was once again pleased with Marie Lu and her story-crafting.

As I read, I texted the friend who loaned me the books, giving him my predictions and perceptions of certain things and characters as I read, and while I won't know the accuracy of some of them until I finish book three, I know that the ones that were answered in PRODIGY were right. Usually, this would bother me, as I hate predicting major reveals and twists, but for some reason I was okay with it on this one and actually enjoyed the fact that I'd been right. 

Day and June's continued activities were great, the story-line well thought out and delivered, and the plot just as tight as the first. I love how Lu uses side characters and ties them in in some important way, versus the way that most authors do-- creating characters to serve their purpose as extra characters without intending them to be part of the book in some big way. So many of the characters introduced as acquaintances with few spoken lines are used in some major way throughout the books, and it's so much fun to see them come in when you least expect it-- whether it's a good or a bad thing.

I give PRODIGY 4.5 stars. I enjoyed this one better than the first because it got more into the meat of the trilogy, as the middle book generally does, and really showed the direction that the story is going, as well as put the end-game into view. Dystopian revolt is the best kind of revolt, and if you enjoy it then you definitely need to get your hands on PRODIGY.

Just be sure to read LEGEND first.

Happily,

Stephanie