Champion (Legend #3) by, Marie Lu

Summary: He is a Legend.

She is a Prodigy.

Who will be Champion? 

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps Elect while Day has been assigned a high level military position. But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them once again. Just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything he has. With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.
(Via Goodreads.com)
Pages: 369

Release Date: November 5th 2013

Review:
     
If you have yet to read the Legend trilogy, I highly recommend doing so, it is my absolute favorite dystopian trilogy and I cannot recommend it enough. The writing, characters, world-building and everything about it is phenomenal. 

      
It took me about two days after I finished Champion, to process all the events that unfolded in the novel. That is not necessarily a bad thing; I was just mentally drained. I believe the main reason was because I didn't sleep much because I wanted to continue reading.

I loved the world map in the beginning of the book since the world is very different than it is now. The map was also depressing in how much chunks of land were missing compared to now. We also learn that the book takes place in the year 2132.

During Champion, Anden and June travel to Ross City, Antarctica. Firstly, Antarctica is basically a whole country of technology. When visiting, the guests have to wear special glasses that translate the language to English. They also have a point system. If I was a part of that world I would want to live in Antarctica. It comes across as a virtual game world. I would also want to live there because it is no longer a cold barren waste land, like Antarctica is now. I do question if they are Spanish. I say that mostly  because I could have sworn that one of the women was speaking Spanish until June put on her glasses. 

It was depressing when Thomas told June how he killed her brother. I guess since the first book that both Thomas and Metias, June's older brother, were gay and they had feelings toward one another. My prediction was confirmed, some had been in the other novel, but Thomas finally admitted his feelings for Metias. 

I did not expect June to be the cure for the plague the Colonies had spread in the Republic and in the Colonies. It turned out that it was from something the Colonies had injected her with when she and Day were in the Colonies during Prodigy. I would have never thought that would would help anyone, but June did get better. 

The Colonies and the Republic finally had it out. Most endings in dystopian novels do not end well since the world is so messed up. I thought that the government issues were solved nicely. Most dystopian novels way of life stays the same. But the Colonies and Republic got over their differences and tolerated one another. It was shocking at the end when some of the Republic's people spent time in the Colonies without any trouble.

When Day was shot by Commander Jameson, I expected the worst. I was almost positive he was going to die, I had assumed he would throughout the entire book since he was dying from the hole in his hippocampus region of the brain. Therefore, I had expected the worst. Especially right after Day was shot and saw his dead Mother. That triggered memories of another book where the main character died and he/she (I will not disclose who it is) went with their mother to wherever you go when you die. So, you can see my worries and concern of this scene. But, instead of Day dying and going with his mother back to his father and older brother, John, he survived both the bullet wound and the surgery on his brain. I was ecstatic that he lived, but depressed when June was told that the operation was on part of his brain that stored his memories and he will forget most of the events that had occurred over the last year or two. This included all his memories of June. But ten years later, when Day and Eden return to the Republic from Antarctica, Day recognizes June.
      
Most of my issues with dystopian trilogies are that the world is usually not resolved or fixed by the end of the trilogy. That usually occurs because it is not possible to resolve a world in three books. Marie Lu actually resolved a world within three books. The government and world is not perfect, but what country or government is.  With that said, I was still not completely thrilled with the ending. It had nothing to do with the world it was based in, but how we left Champion. To me the book is still open-ended. Anyone can assume that Day and June will get back together but the question is how and when. Since Day does not have all his memories of June, will she tell him of their past together? I hope that Marie Lu will come out with a novella set after the epilogue because I was not satisfied. I wish the ending would have included more than June and Day reuniting and getting reintroduced to one another. I wish it would have shown more years down the timeline and where they were and how their relationship was progressing. It annoys me that Eden, Day's little brother, did not slip up or say something about June to Day, especially when Eden was still a little kid. I figured Eden would have told Day about June after Day lost his memory of June.  It seemed like something Eden would have done.
      
Also included in the epilogue were the events during June's other Birthday's. It was sad, but bound to happen, when the readers were informed that Ollie had passed away. I loved that dog! He may not have been that big of a character but he was always there for June when she was depressed. It was also interesting to learn that Anden and June had dated for about four years and they broke up because June could not love Anden as much as he loved her. But that was not too shocking since it was easy to tell that she still had feelings for Day. Anden should have never expected her to stop loving Day.
      
It turned out that the Champion was Day. He was the Champion of the people, which was not a surprise. 
      
Overall, Champion was an excellent ending to the Legend trilogy, the only thing I was unhappy with was the ending where Day and June were re-introduced. I thought that was how Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl would end. Champion was action-packed, suspenseful, witty, romantic,a quick read and includes lovable characters. Marie Lu's writing is brilliant. I highly recommend the whole trilogy to anyone.