Book Review: Champion by Marie Lu

Title: Champion Series: Legend #3 Author: Marie Lu Published: January, 2014 by Putnam Books for Young Readers (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: 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 unwittingly become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?

The final book in a trilogy can sometimes be a let down. It doesn't wrap things up, it bites off more that it can chew, or it just doesn't stack up to the others. But I am so happy to say that Champion was the perfect ending to this trilogy and a fantastic read. Marie Lu once again expanded the world, developed the characters, and wrap everything up with with a thrilling plot that had me engaged from beginning to end.

I'm such a fan of the characters in this series. Both June and Day are complex and interesting protagonists and I've really enjoyed their character arcs throughout the series. They have both really developed into amazing heroes that care for others and their countries. But at the same time they are far from perfect. Despite learning their lessons in Legend and Prodigy they still make mistakes and have to live with the consequences. But in this book they finally felt like heroes and I was totally rooting for them. I was also rooting for them in terms of the romance. I didn't ship it at all until this book. Maybe that's because it was just a fantastic slow burn, maybe it was because they spent so much time apart in this one, or maybe because I just didn't buy into until the high stakes of Champion but I totally ship it now.

And once again I loved Marie Lu's narrative style and the alternating perspectives. You are once again able to get inside both June and Day's heads. We get to know them better and on a personal level and see them through the other person's eyes. It gives you a well-rounded and more complex look at the characters. It also made the book more complex and interesting, the characters spent a lot of time in different places so the book had a more well-rounded look at the world of this book. It also created a really fantastic dramatic irony in the book. There was so much mystery which I loved. 

That mystery also extended to the plot of the book. With every passing book there has been more and more exciting action.  Champion was so thrilling. The stakes were higher and it felt like an epic end of the world as we know it kind of book. It was life or death. I was on the edge of my seat and I definitely cruised through this book much faster than the first two books. What I loved most was the fact that it took little hints from the first book and brought them back in with moments from the second book. It all came full-circle and wrapped up with an interesting and thrilling finale. Despite that I did found the pacing a bit problematic. It was like a roller coaster ride. There was tons of thrilling moments but then it would slow down. There were some ups and downs with some lulls at times but on the whole I absolutely loved the plot of this book.

And once again I loved the fact that much of the plot was about the dystopian world and the political intrigue. Each book we get to see more and more of the world and more of the politics involved. In Prodigy we got to see the Colonies and how different they are from the Republic, here in Champion that all came to a head. It was even more about who had the people's best interests in mind. We also got to see more of the larger global world which really cool and there was some really interesting stuff in Antarctica. But my favorite part was June's exploration of the politics in the Republic. I love the exploration of power and control in dystopian novels and we saw so much of that in Champion from all different angles. I really enjoyed the world and how it was developed in Champion.

On the whole Champion was conclusion of an interesting dystopian series. The characters continued to work their way into my heart, the plot was thrilling and full of action, and the world-building was complex and full of political intrigue. A great read and a great series.

I give Champion by Marie Lu 9 out of 10

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. This is far from my favorite dystopian series but it is really enjoyable and fans of the genre should definitely check this book out. I loved June and Day, I'm kind of sad to see them go. It's a thrilling series with a fantastic world.

Have you read Champion? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!