The Legacy - Gemma Malley

Okay so normally people post 'In My Mailbox' on a Sunday but well I finished this one this morning so too bad. Bad timing I guess but oh well.
This is the last one in the amazing dystopian trilogy of The Declaration series involving a future Earth without disease and death. Bit different, right?
Of course, I might have spoilers in here for those that haven't read the last two books so...if you haven't, go to my review on the first book, The Declaration or the second, The Resistance.

Synopsis: Longevity, the drug that helps you live forever, protect you from disease, is failing. As they lose their effectiveness, a deadly virus is sweeping the world and everyone is looking at Pincent Pharma for the solution to the Missing people that suddenly disappear off the streets of London. Richard Pincent, the head of the company and son-in-law to the creater of Longevity drugs, claims that the Underground have contaminated a batch of the drugs which causes uproar and chaos as angry mobs kill those that are known as sympathisers or Opt Outs of the Longevity drugs. Someone knows what is truly happening - but who? The cast from the other two books: Jude, Peter, Anna, Shelia, Pip, all join again for the last and final battle against the organisation of Pincent Pharma that preserves life but does so much to deny that right...


Review:
This is truly the final chapter of this trilogy that in short, got me interested in the dystopian genre overall. This is set in 2125 - so 114 years before our time at the moment. There is no suggestion that this could never happen. Someone could make drugs like this to have eternal life. Someone could be making them, right now. You read other books in this genre and yes, part of it could happen but it's now Earth. It's a futurisic completely different place based loosely on Earth. That is the most interesting aspect of this series. It could happen and the way Gemma Malley has written this amazing trilogy is as if it is normal life. When she describes Jude and Peter walking around London, it sounds like they are and it sounds exactly, from living on the outskirts of London myself, like it is now - without the virus and the drugs of course. Nothing much has changed - just the whole eternal life element.

This for me, is the best in the series. I suppose in some ways it has to be. There is the original cast of characters that have been in it the whole way through - Peter, Anna, Jude, Shelia, Pip, Richard Pincent, Hilary Wright. Now, I know the characters as if they were real especially Anna and Peter. However, there are also new characters - either returning from past books or completely new and original ones. Gemma Malley makes them all different - all have a different voice and opinion on what is happening. For example, Julia. The Legal that hid Anna and Peter in the first book - she's back and is in a good chunk of the novel. That's what I love as well about this book; it's told through the same characters but broken up and sometimes overlap.

There are the obligatory surprising twists and turns to Gemma Malley's novels and this is no exception. The ending is one of the best yet for me and although in some ways it seemed...rushed (?) I think it mostly because it all happened so fast. Those that have been firm followers of this series I think shall end this novel with a smile on their face and happy with the outcome. I don't want to give too much away...sorry.
If you've never read this series, don't just read this one. I've read reviews on this book on Goodreads slating it - it's only as good as I make out if you read the other two first. They do refer to events in the past two books.

Overall, this is another brillant dystopian novel of Malley's and a great way to end one of my now favourite series. I'm glad it took a while to get my paws on this one - it was worth it. My advice: give it a read....but find the Declaration first!

I give it 5 out of 5

Author's Website: http://www.gemmamalley.com/
Pages: 272
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Challenges: BBC (British Book Challenge)

'the big screens, the plastic made dreams, say you don't want it...'

I saw The Legacy by Gemma Malley today in one of those lovely corner shop bookshops, The Lion and The Unicorn Bookshop in Richmond. 


I WANT IT SOO BADLY. 
IT'S BEAUTIFUL. 


whoa. So yeah. I want it. 
Oh and I sorted out my Halloween Hermonie Granger costume, I'm so happy with it. There will of course be pictures, don't worry. :)


Also I have some big fetish for One Night Only's new song, Say You Don't Want It, hence the title... Watch it, Emma Watson's in it, she looks gorgeous as ever.
And then there's The Wanted. Ahhhh...they are lovely aren't they? 

When I saw them at the Help the Heroes concert :)

The Resistance - Gemma Malley

To any regular followers, they will remember my excitement and loving for the first in this fantastic series, The Declaration. To see my review on that, click here.
WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOLIERS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE DECLARATION.

Anyway, that was a great book. And because I really wanted to know what happens next, I looked on the council Libraries website, typed this in, saw it was avaliable at three of my local libraries. Then, realising it was a Sunday, and that libraries are annoyingly closes on a Monday & Sunday, I was so happy when I realised that one of these open every day! I mean...that's never heard of in Library world. So I got the bus there and like they say the rest is history.
Anyway, it's due back today so I thought I better write a review as it's sitting next to me.

First Sentence: Overhead lighting, bleak and uncompromising, shone down in the small room like a prison guard's searchlight, picking out every speck of dust, every mark on the cheap carpet, every smudged fingerprint on the window sill.

The year is 2140 - a couple of months after the events of The Declaration. Having escaped the horrors of Grange Hall, Peter and Anna are living freely on the Outside, trying hard to lead normal lives, but unable to leave the terror of the Declaration—and their experiences as surpluses—completely behind them. Peter is determined to infiltrate Pharma Corporation, which claims to have a new drug in the works; "Longevity+" will not just stop the ravages of old age, it is rumored to reverse the aging process. But what Peter and Anna discover behind the walls of Pharma is so nightmarish it makes the prison of their childhood seem like a sanctuary. Shocking, controversial, and frighteningly topical, this sequel to Gemma Malley’s stellar debut novel, The Declaration, will take the conversation about ethics and science to the next level.
(From Goodreads.com)

    I thought that The Declaration was good but this I think was much much better. Most of the story is taken from Peter's point of view, unlike only Anna in the first one. To be honest, I think he was much more interesing, there's more mystery behind him, things we don't entirely know about. In this one, they also focus on Richard Pincent, Peter's grandfather and the founder of Pincent Pharmas, the main maker of Longevity. We find out more about Peter and the company and about the past actually. There was new characters, Jude, Maria, Dr Edwards. And the oldies, Anna, Peter, Pip. All have things about them, that we keep you hanging on, wanting to know more.
In addition, I think it was also better because it was longer. It's 317 pages, unlike the 200-odd of The Declaration which I must admit, did have a few tedious bits (This had none at all). I love books where you're constantly finding things out and this is definitely one of them. Things are said that could have two meanings, to keep you guessing. There were also things I guessed right, which made me happy.
Gemma Malley has successful made this novel so she is always playing with the reader's mind and opinions which is an incredible skill. I know I'm going on about how it's written, but really, it does kind of 'make' the book.
Unlike, other reviews I've read about this one, yes, the topic is quite hard-hitting and you do have to concentrate a bit, I think the excution was better than The Declaration.
But like most books, I think this one is prefered by different people. I would recommend this to anyone that likes a bit of guessing, mystery and finding out all the possiblities of the future.

I know through reading this series so far, I've thought about what my future could be like and could I be around for tablets that make you live forever, cure cancer. It's a nice thought and recently I have found myself in the middle of lessons thinking, 'In another life, I may not be here. What will it be like when I do die? Do I want to die?'

The idea of Longevity is very appealing, but if it was reality, would you actually sign The Declaration, and live a long life, forever?
What do you guys think - what option would you go for?


Author's Website: http://www.gemmamalley.com/
 
The Legacy, the third in the series is out now in Hardback.