Title:  Life Before Legend:  Stories of the Criminal and the Prodigy
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher/Year: Penguin Group (USA) 1/15/13
Length:  48 pages
Series: Legend #.5

Overview

Find out more about June and Day in this never-before-seen glimpse into their daily lives before they met in Marie Lu’sNew 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.

My Thoughts

I really wanted to like this novella – i’m a HUGE fan of novellas since they give you a glimpse into characters and their lives that you dont get in the bigger book.  what happened here though, wasn’t that at all.  we get just a short chapter for each of them, and it’s just a snippet into a day or 2 for each as well so you don’t even really get into anything of any substance.  We get a preview into how Day’s mind ticks in terms of being a loner, but we don’t get the story on how his knee gets better since we know that it does to an extent since he scales walls and all that

We also only get the beginnings of the story of June – and hear about everyone’s perceptions on how she’s managed to excel and all that – which was nice, but still not quite enough.

so sadly, as much as i wanted to feel happy about this one, i’m really on the edge of 2-3 stars.  sorry Marie Lu, i really do LOVE the series itself, this was just a #novellafail in my eyes.  If any of my readers though think otherwise, i’d love to hear your take on the novella.