Champion by Marie Lu is the last book in the Legend trilogy (or at least the original trilogy, I think Lu has added more books to the series) which is a YA dystopian looking at the balances of power and corruption.
The blurb on the front of my copy says that the series “blows the socks off the Hunger Games” and I don’t quite agree with that, but it’s definitely a fun series and one that you should totally pick up if you’re in the YA age bracket. I would’ve loved this when I was a little younger and I still did enjoy it now.
It’s a really interesting take on dictators and capitalism that I didn’t expect from the series, there are a lot of nuanced discussions that delve into the intricacies of different political powers and the impacts of capitalism on a society. I enjoyed that the series didn’t simply go for the basic discussion, and this depth is really ramped up in this final book.
Because this is a YA novel there is, of course, relationship drama. It has its faults, but it’s not awful and I did actually really enjoy how the resolution came about. It wasn’t as unrealistic and fairy-tale like as a lot of other YA fiction. I think Lu should be given credit for how she utilises standard tropes and expectations and yet adds diversity to this representation.
On CAWPILE I rated this: Characters: 7, Atmosphere: 6, Writing: 6, Plot: 7, Intrigue: 7, Logic: 7, and Enjoyment: 7 which gives a score of 6.71 and a 3.5* rating.
It’s not the best book I’ve ever read, but it is a solid YA dystopian that I’d happily recommend to any teens. I don’t think I’ll be continuing with the extra books in the series however. The original trilogy is enough for me.
Highlight here for trigger warnings: death, violence, gun violence, medical content, grief, war, murder, terminal illness, medical trauma, child abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, torture, police brutality, colonisation, classism.
Have you read this series, or anything else by Marie Lu? What did you think? I’ve still got Warcross on my tbr, as well as the Young Elites trilogy!
Abi of Pellinor 
Good to hear that the book goes beyond the standard discussion of capitalism! I’m not sure if I’ll pick it up (relationship drama is not my thing) but I’m glad you generally enjoyed this!
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The relationship drama is actually bearable, but I would only recommend picking it up if you really like the sound of the book overall haha
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