Marie Lu

Find out more about June and Day in this never-before-seen glimpse into their daily lives before they met in Marie Lu’s New York Times bestselling LEGEND series. As twelve-year-olds struggling to survive in two very different worlds within the Republic’s stronghold, June was starting her first day of school at Drake University as the youngest cadet ever admitted, and Day was fighting for food on the streets of the Lake sector. LIFE BEFORE LEGEND contains two original stories written by Marie Lu that give readers a sneak peek into the lives of their favorite characters in a thrilling new context.

Stories of the Criminal and the Prodigy

Life Before Legend

"Everything good about me, I learned from you," I whisper.

"Keep at it, Junebug— someday you'll shake the Republic to it's very core. You'll be absolutely unforgettable. I know it.

I bet the Republic hasn't seen the last of you.

I smile. No, I sincerely hope they haven't.

My feet feel heavy, but they don't make a sound.

Rachel Braithwaite

“‘Someday, someone out there will see you for the girl you really are. Someday, you’ll find someone who understands you.’”

“Everything good about me, I learned from you.”

“Your strengths might make you hard to approach, and might make your words sound uglier than what you actually mean, but they also make people look up to you. They admire you, whether you realize it or not. If you stop trying so hard to impress them, maybe a few will start warming up to you."

“You aren’t normal. The things that make you special will give you all kinds of advantages in life, but they will also hold to back and expose your weaknesses.”

“I’m not interested in what they have to say, and half of them don’t even understand the things I want to talk about.”

yes. running to avoid emotion is literally my favorite thing.

“I start to run. I run until my feet fly off the ground and my breath comes out in ragged, desperate gasps.”

“Keep at it, Junebug—someday, you’ll shake the Republic to its very core. You’ll be absolutely unforgettable. I know it.”

I bet the Republic hasn’t seen the last of you.

I smile. No, I sincerely hope that they haven’t.”

“I’m a floating soul, a phantom…I belong nowhere.”

“So many stories to tell. But I fold them away one by one.”

Beatrix Haase

I never know how to rate these since its a novella. I enjoyed it a lot more than I would think. You got to see June and Day in a different perspective. 

xoxo,
Bebe

brianna

4.5. i miss june and day so much this was cute

made my heart happy after champion ripped it to pieces 

Kimberly Burgess 

Cute expansion in their backstory-

"The things that make you special will give you all kinds of advantages in life, but they will also hold you back and expose your weaknesses."

diana

Stefanie Sugia

Life Before Legend is a short novella written by Marie Lu about the main characters' lives three years before the events in Legend occurred. Day was a boy roaming on the streets of the slum sectors, trying to survive each day while fighting hunger. And then he came across a girl named Charlie, who spotted him stealing food. Day ended up working for Charlie's father in exchange for the food he stole; and he felt like he belong again. So when the Republic harassed Charlie's father, Day went out and distracted the Republic soldiers stealthily. On the other hand, June is the most popular prodigy in the whole Republic when she entered university at the age of twelve. She had to deal with the older students who kept bothering her; but June always managed to stand her ground. And back then, June always had Metias to rely on.
"When you’ve been poor all your life, you never really think it could be any other way. And sometimes you’re even happy, because at least you’ve got your family and your health and your arms and legs and a roof over your head."
To be completely honest, I'm a little bit disappointed by this novella because it definitely wasn't what I expected. I don't really care about the story behind Day's first kiss or June's first day at college. I will probably be more excited with the idea of Life After Champion—if it exists. But comparing the two stories inside this novella, I prefer Day's story because I think we get to see the reason why he started his legendary acts on messing with the Republic. And I also think what he did for Charlie was the very first stunt he's ever done towards the Republic. 

As for June's story, the only thing that felt special in that story was June's interaction with Metias—because we don't really get to see it much in the trilogy. But even that aspect wasn't heartwarming enough to make me love this short story. June's strong character and amazing skills is already displayed quite a lot in the trilogy, so it wasn't very surprising to see June's reaction to those who bullied her.

  “The things that make you special will give you all kinds of advantages in life, but they will also hold you back and expose your weaknesses.”

In the end, I still enjoyed this short novella quite well because I get to see my favorite characters from the trilogy again. But story-wise, it doesn't really add anything new to the trilogy. I was actually hoping to find some important / unknown aspect about the story being revealed in this novella. Even so, this short prequel doesn't reduce my love for the trilogy. And if you're a fan of the trilogy, it wouldn't hurt to give this prequel a try ;)

Alex Hill 

I haven't gotten much time to read it but I finally finished it. It was good but nothing like the Legend trilogy.

Destiny J Tamayo

This novella has two snapshots, one from Day's first kiss another about June's first day of school. Overall I enjoyed it but it took me way to long to read for a novella. It wasn't because it was bad or anything it was just okay. This provided more background for the characters to understand why the characters acted the way they did in the first book. Overall I enjoyed Day's story more than June. In my opinion June just sounded like an over confident brat, and honestly I feel like she was still like that up until Champion. I'm not sure if the novella is worth the money but it's nice to check it out if you have nothing else to read.

Jess Houston

So, I decided to read LbL, before I read Legend (haha) and I am glad I did. I get to dive in, knowing I will love the characters, that even with that small glimpse of what is to come I will be hanging by my boot straps. I honestly cannot say who I like more at the moment, but I can say this will be an interesting read for me. :)

Jeremy Cote

Two really interesting stories on June and Day's childhoods. They both have really good plots, and I like the insight we get. It's not a necessary pair of short stories, but they were great to read.

Life Before Legend Stories of the Criminal and the Prodigy

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