Review: Champion - Marie Lu

Champion
Marie Lu 
Series: Legend, #3
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
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I remember when I first found Legend as a Kindle Daily Deal, and I absolutely loved it. After that, I read Prodigy as soon as in came out and anxiously awaited Champion, the series finale. Unfortunately, I have this bad habit of putting off reading series finales (I have trust issues), so while Marlon read Champion right away, it took me over a year and a half to get to this one. I am so incredibly happy I finally committed to reading Champion because it was absolutely amazing and such a satisfying conclusion to this series.

Going into Champion, I didn't entirely know what to expect - after the end of Prodigy, the reader is left with a lot of questions, wondering what the fate of these beloved characters will be. Champion does not take place right after Prodigy but rather several months later. The situation is very different from where we left the characters, and it definitely set up a different dynamic for some of the relationships as the story continued. I really enjoyed seeing the way June and Day interacted throughout Champion, especially considering what happened at the end of the previous book. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Day and his brother. We didn't get a lot of opportunity to see Day as a brother in the previous books, so I really liked seeing his interactions in Champion. Another interesting relationship was that of June and Anden. Their relationship definitely took a different turn from Prodigy and became more complex, like the situation they were put in to.

Besides just getting to see more character and relationship development, Champion also had an exciting, action packed plot. I was absolutely absorbed by Champion as soon as I started reading, and I never wanted to put it down. Marie Lu was able to create such exciting and shocking moments, keeping me guessing until the very end.

SINCE I MENTIONED THE END, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY FEELS. I had so many feels at the end of Champion - feels you can only understand once you have experienced them. Marie Lu ripped my heart out and stomped on it. Then she ran over it with a truck. Then she stabbed it a few more times for good measure. THEN, once I thought I was dead, she used magic and brought me back to life and restored my health and filled me with joy. It was kind of like a "first they're sour, then they're sweet" type of moment, and yes, I did just compare Marie Lu to a Sour Patch Kid. But, seriously - I'm not even kidding about the end. I cried all through the last chapter and the epilogue and for like 15 minutes after that because I had SO. MANY. FEELS! The ending of Champion was absolutely perfect and appropriate for the series. Marie Lu is a magical sorceress of perfection. I'm not sure that makes sense but it doesn't matter because THAT ENDING.

Overall, if you couldn't tell, I absolutely fell in love with Champion as I read it. It was the perfect ending to a series I fell in love with - even more perfect than anything I could have dreamed up. I absolutely recommend this series to all lovers of dystopian - the world is just so interesting, and the characters are so real - and if you've never read a dystopian but you like action and good books, definitely try this series out! Champion is definitely one of my favorite series finales of all time.

- Kiersten

What's your favorite series finale?

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