Legend (Legend #1)

Overall Content
Severity
2.9

Language

1.6/10

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

0.5/10

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

1.2/10

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

10.0/10

Potentially Intense Themes

1.3/10

Legend (Legend #1)

Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths- until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
Excerpt taken from book flap.

Language 

H***- 10

S***-

A**-

B****-

F***-

D***- 6

Bas****-

Religious Cursing-

J****-

Chr***-

G**- 2

Derogatory terms etc-

Goddy- 5 (It’s goddy hot, no goddy clue)

Trot-5 (don’t get so close you trot)

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

A bar sells beer, offering some to a young man. He does not buy any. 

A young man steals a case of wine, sells it, but keeps one for himself and his friends. He takes a long swig, a young woman takes a small one. Then more. 

A young man is injected with a sedative for surgery. 

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

A young man thinks that it’s too bad he’s busy, otherwise he’d spend more time trying to get a kiss or three from a young woman.

A young man thinks about kissing a young woman or running his fingers through her hair. 

A young man wants to kiss a young woman. He gently kisses her, then pushes her against the wall and kisses harder. 

A man leans down to kiss a young woman, she moves before he can. 

A father kisses his pregnant wife for a long time. 

A young woman dreams of a young man kissing her, his hands in her hair and their chests pressing close. 

A couple share a small, brief kiss. Later they kiss again, then harder while she pulls him closer. 

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

A young man is wanted for assault, arson, theft, destruction of property, hindering war effort. 

A young man carries a knife on his belt. He also makes his own weapons such as slingshots. 

A soldier shoots a plague victim. “A volley of sparks engulfs the infected woman.” 

All soldiers carry high-tech guns that can shoot a target 3 blocks away. 

Two teens regularly steal and vandalize. Most is to be able to survive the streets. 

Students are taught how to load, unload and shoot rifles. 

Five are killed in a bombing. 

During a questioning, soldiers break a father’s two arms and bloody his face. In retaliation, his young son dips a ball of ice in oil then lights it and sends it through a window at police headquarters. He deemed it the perfect crime because he wasn’t caught and there was no evidence. 

A young man hides a knife in each boot. Then takes pig blood and smears his skin with it. He pretends he was stabbed. A soldier wants to shoot him. He tells him if he touches him again he will, “fill you with bullets.”  Later the young man grabs a doctor and holds a knife to his throat. Soldiers have guns on him. He steals something and a stray bullet grazes his arm. He jumps out a window and realizes he’s broken a rib, sprained an ankle and injured his arm. A soldier aims his gun at him. The young man throws his knife at the soldier and hits his shoulder. He is later reported dead.  He is found with a knife in his chest. 

A bombing has killed 6 soldiers. 

A policeman is found tied up with a black eye. 

A mother has bandages on her hands from cleaning out trash cans and broken bottles. 

A bar has illegal gambling. They might need to bribe the street police if they’re caught. 

Previously, a young man broke into a bank. One of the security guards tried to kill him. The guard said the vault lasers would cut him up. 

A young woman carries a gun. 

A young girl trips and scrapes her knees, blood forming. 

A spy is caught. He hangs upside down in an interrogation room and a leader has scissors in her hand. The boy arches his back and thrashes out in pain.  Blood falls off him onto the floor. When he thrashes, a leader stomps on his chain which causes it to tighten and choke him. She threatens to bomb his hometown. A soldier punches the spy’s stomach, he coughs up more blood. The soldier then threatens to cut off his finger. He then punches the boy again, causing a tooth to fly out of his mouth. The soldier looks to be enjoying this. He the “goes to work” on the spy.  Most spies kill themselves before being caught. 

Illegal fighting is bet on and a favorite past time in poorer cities. Sometimes police arrest people because of the betting and or their bribes. One young woman fights another and strikes her across the face, then with her fist. The young woman falls and hits her head on the cement.  A young girl gets pushed into the ring, this makes her the next challenger. Another steps in for the fight. They punch, kick, trip and fall. One wipes blood from her mouth. Then the other is stabbed in the side. In retaliation, she twists her arm and shatters it. After the fight, the winner runs away, some people grab her, and she hits her head on the ground. Someone sets off a dust bomb. 

A young man shoots a bullet from a slingshot and hits a man’s neck, causing blood to spray. He hits another man’s knee. Soldiers shoot guns at him. Then they shoot the young man’s mother in the head. They leave her body in the road in a pool of blood.  Her son relives the moment many times. 

A young man grabs a soldier’s gun but it is knocked away. A leader shoots his leg. Another soldier kicks him. He is then arrested. He wakes to blood on his shirt. A soldier hits him with her gun. Blood fills his mouth. She threatens torture for his brothers if he doesn’t cooperate. She lays out his crimes before him; robbing a bank, vandalizing, destroying airships, jets, tying up a guard, etc.  She requests a guard to cut off a prisoners fingers when she doesn’t trust his answer. She slams the prisoner’s head against the wall. Water is withheld. 

A young man remembers a needle objected into his eye when he was young. 

The butt of a rifle jabs a young man. He can see POW’s cuffed to a wall and screaming. He is bruised and bloody. Shots are fired in the air. People booing in a crowd are taken away by police. A soldier strikes him, making him kneel and he screams in pain. Fresh blood gushes from a large, swollen wound. He is sentenced to death by firing squad. Till then he is chained to a roof with little food and water. He slips in and out of consciousness. Blood drips out of cracked lips. His leg wound is swollen twice its size and it oozes blood. He learns he was experimented on at ten. The country extracted something from his eye and knee, then slowed down his heart and thought he died. 

A young man dreams of his friend being shot, then his friend seems to turn into his mother lying in a pool of blood. He wakes to doctors performing surgery on his leg. 

Protesters attack police. A soldier gets lacerations on his face. A young man is worried each protester will be arrested or killed. 

Soldiers fire into a crowd. 120 are dead. The ones not hit are arrested. 

A young man spits in a soldier’s face. The soldier hits him in the face, jerking his head and making spots appear. The soldier punches again, he tastes blood this time. The soldier threatens to kill his brothers, hits him and is knocked to his knees. 

A man was ordered to shoot a 10 year old girl and did. 

Soldiers are shooting crowds again. 

A young man steals a soldier’s gun and points it at him. Two other soldiers have guns on him. Shots are fired at him, he kicks a soldier in the head, a soldier hits him with his rifle, he goes down. A leader tells him about being able to kill a prisoner that tried to escape and how the firing squad would’ve been better. He bites her and she flings him against the wall, making him almost lose consciousness. 

A woman throws a dagger at a young woman. She later threatens to kill her if they’re followed. 

For hitting him in the face with a paper ball, a policeman gets out a knife and whips a young boy across the face with the handle. He then kicks him. 

A small bomb goes off. A young woman shoves a man and steals his knife. She knocks another man down and a man punches him. 

A man is taken to execution. As the firing squad shoots him, he convulses with each shot then lands facedown. This is all shown on TV. 

A bullet grazes a young woman. She is bleeding. 

Potentially Intense Themes

A plague has hit a city. Many are sick and dying. One boy is bleeding in his irises. 

Depending on how 10 year olds do on a test, determines their life. The lowest scores get taken from their families and given to the government. A lot are killed. 

Two teens have lost their parents in a car accident. Foul play is suspected. 

A young woman is asked to interpret the scene of her brother’s murder. She is then assigned with finding his murderer. 

A young woman looks over the photos of her dead brother’s body. 

Young children are medically experimented on. 

A hurricane is close. 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*