One of our TAB members recommended this to me, and I really loved that it's printed in blue ink with nifty illuminated letters to start each chapter. I was a little hesitant when I learned it was written by a 14 year old, mostly because the other books I've read (or tried to read) by teens ([b:Eragon|113436|Eragon (Inheritance, #1)|Christopher Paolini|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255586310s/113436.jpg|3178011] and [b:Truancy|2513286|Truancy|Isamu Fukui|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41TsuZOqfXL._SL75_.jpg|2520668]) weren't really my cup of tea.

I made it to page 16 and gave up. It SOUNDS like a 14 year old wrote it. Which is fine, and if that doesn't bother you perhaps you'll like the story, but it drove me crazy. I distinctly recall writing stories that sounded EXACTLY like this in little memo notebooks in junior high. True, they weren't 400 pages, but the language that sounds like a thesaurus vomited on the page and the lovingly detailed description of everything from eye color to tapestry patterns were completely familiar. There might be a beautiful story in these pages, I just don't have the patience to read it.

I think I should probably just avoid all books written by teens. Three strikes, you're out, yeah?

( )

It’s not that bad of a book. We can feel the author maturing and improving while the story comes alive. It’s easy to read and quite predictable but it can entertain you for a while. Although you kind of guess what might happen you still feel curious to confirm the end continuing the rest of the saga. While I read I was still obsessed with small details like in the entwined book, if it’s in another time and another world why is there Christmas? They don’t have the religion but they have Christmas? Little things that are supposed to characterize the environment and set you in the right atmosphere but somehow it makes you wonder how could those things happened. ( )

DNF'd at 22% (Start of Chapter 9)

I just wasn't able to get into this. The writing is very detailed and descriptive which I tend not to enjoy. We basically get a summary of the history of the world in the prologue and then are left to our own devices (or waiting for Alera to learn more).

The plot was also taking a while to surface (though I think I was just a chapter or 2 shy of reaching it).

None of the characters interested me all that much. Alera tries her best with what she has but she didn't capture my attention like I had hoped.

Check out more spoiler-free book and series reviews on my blog SERIESousBookReviews.com as well as read book series recaps!

Full Review: TBP
Actual Rating: DNF

Legacy è uno di quei fantasy cosiddetti “classici”. Senza draghi, vampiri e lupi mannari ci affascina e ci narra la “vita” di principesse e principi in un epoca diversa e un regno “lontano”.

Innegabilmente diretto a un pubblico piuttosto giovane (diciamo fino ai 15 anni), Legacy è, però, un fantasy piuttosto piacevole anche per un pubblico più adulto. Purché consapevole di “cosa” intenda leggere e soprattutto che non si avvicini alla lettura con grandi pretese. Data la grande pubblicità, soprattutto per il web, verrebbe da pensare di aver di fronte un nuovo caso letterario, invece no. E’ un libro carino, tiepido e dall’atmosfera “favoleggiante”. Abbiamo una principessa, un matrimonio combinato, un “prescelto” spocchioso e insopportabile e “l’altro” . Sì, perché Alera dovrebbe proprio sposare Steldor; suo pradre sembra aver deciso pur lasciandole l’illusione di una scelta. Lei non l’ama, non lo ritiene un buon erede al trono e prende tempo fra un un pasticcio e l’altro che, assieme alla sorella, la porteranno ad imbattersi nel misterioso e sicuro Narian, tornato in patria dopo essere stato rapito in fasce dal popolo dei Cokyri.

Potrebbe sembrare la classica favola sull’amore “plebeo” della principessa che, sdegnando il principe di turno, finisce per unirsi in matrimonio con il plebeo. Quasi, ma non del tutto. A metà libro avevo dato già per scontato il finale, demoralizzandomi un po’. Invece l’autrice mi ha sorpresa! Non c’è un finale “positivo” per Alera, non c’è “fuga” dalle responsabilità, né una scappatoia facile.

C’è una principessa che, nonostante i picchi di ingenuità (reduci soprattutto dalla giovane età dell’autrice, presumo), alla fine si sobbrarca i propri oneri e non lio scarica sulle spalle del primo venuto pur di “coronare il suo sogno” . Questo mi piace, è un tocco di amara realtà, di maturità. Molto probabilmente con i prossimi libri, il risultato, sarà comunque un amore fra Alera e Narian, non lo escludo ma credo che sarà piacevole leggere come si evolverà questa trilogia.

L’autrice scrivere bene ed ha un bello stile tranquillo e un po’ ingenuo. Francamente mi aspettavo di peggio, visto altri “colleghi”. Probabilmente la trama pecca, in alcuni punti, di ingenuità però si regge in piedi e non crolla sullo scetticismo assoluto del lettore che, nonostante in più punti si ritrova a sorridere indulgente, è comunque persuaso a continuare la lettura.

La parte grafica è assolutamente curata! Una delle cose che, l’ammetto, mi ha colpita enormemente è stata proprio la parte “fisica” del libro. La casa editrice ha curato l’editing (anche se in alcuni punti, ammettiamolo, avrebbe potuto fare di meglio! Ci sono alcune frasi che proprio non tornano in italiano) e ha creato un effetto “libro antico” frastagliando leggermente le pagine del romanzo e pubblicando un prodotto finito davvero convincente. Complimenti alla Sperling & Kupfer.

Riassumendo un bel libro, una lettura tranquilla e senza troppe pretese che, però, ci accompagna alla fine riuscendo comunque a mantenere viva la curiosità. ( )

Legacy is a story about a teenage princess. The princess, Alera, must marry before her next birthday and her husband will become king. Because of the role her future husband will play, her father the current king has chosen the best candidate for the job and Alera has little choice unless she can find another man that meets all of her father's criteria. And because this is a young adult novel about a teenage girl, she falls in love with the most unsuitable boy in the kingdom. She can not stand the man her father has chosen, but the boy she does love might be an enemy spy that will pull the country into war and prophecy says he will destroy the kingdom. This novel had a lot of potential. I liked some of the characters and most of the world building, but since the story is told from Alera's point of view only, the reader is getting all of the good parts of the story second hand, if that (since Alera is a woman and the details of running the country are the province of men). The reader is often stuck with Alera confined to her room worrying about all the action that is going on rather than seeing the action itself. The author, who wrote the story at age 15, does a good job of capturing teenage angst; however I doubt that she has enough life experience for her to develop Alera into a deeper character later on. The book end abruptly before any of the foreshadowed action occurs. It is less of a cliff hanger as much as just ending it after about 1/3 of the story is presented. There was absolutely no resolution of anything. The setting and story did have potential, although I was brought out of the fantasy world when the characters began to celebrate Christmas. I am so used to fantasy worlds having their own religions, even if they are loosely based on real world religions that the references to Christianity really pulled me out of the story. Overall, it was impressive given the age of the author, but did not rise above the teenage angst enough to give it more than three stars. ( )