“Sometimes, the sun sets earlier. Days don’t last forever, you know. But I’ll fight as hard as I can. I can promise you that.”
Wow. It has been
quite some time since I first joined Day and June in their
mind-blowing escapades, but in the days leading up to my
first COVID vaccine, I felt compelled to follow-up with the stars of the
plague-focused Legend series, so
naturally, I reached for Marie Lu's
Champion.
Intriguing? Yes. Did it live up to its predecessors?
Negative; but it was still enjoyable.
Day and June have not seen each other in three months. Though
each pines for the other,
distance seems to be the answer for survival - especially with
Day hiding a secret, life-threatening illness from his beloved {he's dying as a result of Republic experiments}, and June making moves in the political world working alongside
Anden as a
Princeps Elect. The Republic is
finally on a path of
success for the people, with a
peace treaty with the Colonies on the brink -
and then things turn sour.
With just days left before the
treaty is signed, there is an outbreak of a new plague strain throughout the Colonies - a strain
far deadlier than the previous - that pushes the Colonies to declare war with the Republic. Though from the outside the Republic appears strong and powerful; they are
lacking in both
weaponry and combatants, and require an alliance if they are to survive - which very few territories are willing to even consider. The only option for survival?
Hand over a plague cure or fight.
While
Prodigy, for me, started out
very slow and then picked up;
Champion presented the opposite problem: it
started strong, petered out a bit, picked up again then continued in that
ebb and flow motion until the final page was turned. Part of me feels that this was just an
extension of problems that had begun for me within the pages of
Prodigy - such as my growing lack of interest in
Day and June, and the stronger focus on
politics. That said,
Champion did have its moments.
While June was completely uninteresting for me until the
final chapter, there was a
hint of Day's old, charming spark sprinkled throughout the pages that kept my hope alive; whereas Anden, whom I had actually enjoyed in
Prodigy became
incredibly boring.
TBH, the two standouts in this installment were
Eden and Pascao - Day's younger brother, and the loyal Patriot runner, respectively. These two are the main reason I
muddled through the endless passages of political talk, and stuck with the story until the end. Well, them and the
Antarctica experience, which is
brief, but
so awesome to read about due to the
virtual reality aspect.
Though not as
thrilling as its predecessors,
Champion is an intriguing continuation of the series; but, it is not,
as many thought, the conclusion. There is now
Rebel, the fourth installment, and I, for one, cannot wait to get my hands on it - if only to see more of
Eden and Pascao!
Star Rating: ***1/2
xx
