Prodigy by Marie Lu
Hardcover, 374 pages
780L
My first thought at the end of this story, “Effing A, WTF?!?” I think that about sums it up.
If you’ve read Legend, you know that the world this story inhabits is post-apocalyptic, following the melting of Antartica and the flooding of the coastal regions of the United States (as well as other parts of the world). The United States is split into two sections: the Republic, where Day and June live, and the Colonies, this seemingly-utopian place – and the people the Republic is fighting against.
The old Elector has died, and June and Day have been recruited by the Patriots to assassinate the new Elector. That should be interesting.
Watch the trailer below. If nothing else, it has some neat freerunning.
I think it wouldn’t be a dystopian novel written today if the main characters weren’t in some sort of love triangle. Although, in this case, I think it’s more like a square. And throw in that twist at the end? It could never be simple, could it?
Note: there are spoiliers below. Just so you know.
I like that the chapters alternate between Day and June. It adds another dimension to the story, as they both have challenges and motivations independent from one another, and having both perspectives shows the complexities of understanding other people and those motivations.
I did think the stark differences between the Colonies and the Republic provide an interesting commentary on our state of existence. We’ve seen the Republic for two books now, so we had a pretty good idea what to expect in terms of how propaganda and misinformation are used to spread fear and encourage compliance (for the most part). But I didn’t expect the Colonies. The first glimpse we get is of this spectacular place, the utopia that people in the Republic talked about. And I was ready to be disappointed. Then we find out that everything is corporatized and that’s just scary. There’s a line from a Papa Roach song, I can’t remember what the song title is, but it’s on the album Infest, that goes “the things you own own you.” That’s what I can’t help thinking about now that I’m looking back on what the Colonies are all about.
If you’re late with your monthly payment to the police, it doesn’t matter if someone steals all your stuff. You’re on your own. And failure to pay can result in being reported to whatever corporation you work for which could then result in termination of employment. So that makes me wonder, since we only saw the pretty facade of the Colonies, what happens when people are terminated from their jobs and can’t pay the corporations for goods and services? Where do they go?
I hope this is addressed in the next book. We’ll see. I’m pulling for the reunification of the United States under the leadership of Anden, but I think restructuring is going to be a pain.
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