Following the events of Legend, Prodigy starts off with June and Day making a run for Vegas in the hopes of allying with the rebel Patriot group when the unexpected happens – the Primo Elector dies and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic on shaky grounds, the Patriots want to seize the opportunity to strike back and ignite a rebellion. They take in June and Day and bargain with the two – Eden’s, Day’s younger brother, rescue and assistance with their escape to the nearby Colonies in exchange for the new elector’s assassination. June and Day, for lack of options, accept the rebel group’s conditions but as they set the plan in motion they uncover information, things that may just derail their plans.
Prodigy is just as fast-paced and thrilling as Legend. Marie Lu writes action scenes very well. Her version of the near-future world – the strict Republic and the commercially-fueled Colonies – is believable. I can actually imagine a country being divided that way, but let’s rather hope it doesn’t happen.
It still follows the original plot set up in Legend so readers won’t get lost or, at the very least, not too much. I actually put off reading Prodigy for a few months because I’ve been told that it ends with a killer cliffhanger and I already have Insurgent’s own cliffhanger of an ending to haunt me. I didn’t wish to add more to that but as always when it comes to books, I caved in. And here I am, not as much of a mess as when I finished Divergent’s sequel but still a mess nonetheless.
I am happy that we got a glimpse of the Colonies in this installment. It serves as a great point of comparison against the Republic. We are given two different worlds that are both good and evil at the same time.
Marie Lu’s characters grew and became more mature in Prodigy and for me it was the best thing in this book. June and Day both learned to look at their situation from different perspectives and not just through their own biased ones.
It was Tess, however, who made the biggest jump in this story. She’s no longer the little, vulnerable girl we were introduced to in Legend. Tess became self-sufficient and confident, even confident enough to make tough decisions of her own.
The author also gave her readers more insight on some of the other characters like Thomas, Kaede, Metias and most especially Anden. He was only mentioned once in the first book during that celebratory ball for June’s capture of Day but he took on a bigger role in this second book. I guess it is safe to say that Anden will still play an important role in the next book Champion, which is due out this November 5th.
Probably the only thing that I didn’t like much in Prodigy are the love complications. Somehow I felt like throwing Anden with June and Tess with Day was only done to rock the main’s already established connection. But that’s just me. I’m not that big on love triangles, let alone a square.
Overall, Prodigy satisfies. It is a good follow-up to Legend. I definitely recommend it especially if you’ve already read Legend. I can’t wait to get my hands on Champion and see what happens to this trilogy.
Rating: 3.5/5
In Between Book Pages 
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