An Unexpected Alliance
Author: Marie Lu, Publisher: Peguin Group, 2011, 305 pgs.
By Joshua Lombardo, Ms. Stewart, LA: Per. 3
Daniel 'Day': is the the Republic's most wanted criminal. He is 15. He steals money and medicine for his family. He needs to steal a cure vial for his brother Eden. June: is a 15 year old prodigy who is the only one to have a perfect score of 1500 on her trial testing. She looks forward to having a career in the military, but when her older brother Metias is killed later, she begins to investigate who killed her older brother. Metias: June's older protective brother. He is a Captain in the Republic. He is protective because his parents (June's also) died in a car accident. Despite his great military career, he becomes suspicious of the Republic, and leaves vital information for June to find. Thomas: is Metias's best friend and formal driver. He has romantic feelings for June, but she is put off by how violently he treats civilians when his job calls for it.
Plot Summary:
The story is set in Los Angeles in 2130 A.D. in a post apocalyptic environment. There is the Republic that is fighting with the Colonies. Also, in this fighting is a rebel group known as the Patriots. Day scored a perfect 1500 on his test, but the Republic brought down his grade. They lied to him saying that he didn't pass the testing. The reason the Republic lied to Day is because Day comes from a poor neighborhood, and they wanted to know how he passed the test. They were going to experiment on him, but before they could, Day later escaped. Day's brother Eden suffers from the plague. That is why he steals medicine for him.
June scored perfect on her test too, but because she came from a wealthy family, she was given the opportunity to go into the military. Thomas seems jealous of Metias, and also seems jealous that June's brother is so protective of her. June's brother is a great Captain in the Republic. Her brother Metias ends up getting stabbed while guarding a hospital. Before he gets killed, he leaves June messages stating how he now distrusts the Republic. June seeks out to find two things: Who killed her older brother Metias, and what does Metias's messages mean?
She has a hunch the killer might have been Day. June goes undercover as a beggar, and heads to the slums to find Day. After investigating, June gets into a Skiz fight, and she ends up getting really hurt. A stranger takes her to his hideout, and ends up taking care of her. What she doesn't know yet, is that the stranger is actually Day. She ends up really liking this stranger. June eventually finds out that the stranger is Day. When she finds out that she has fallen in love with her brother's killer, she is now conflicted about what she should do. She ends up turning him in to the Republic. She later regrets her decision, and tries to get him free.
Conflict:
Day and his family were arrested. During the arrest Thomas ends up killing Day's Mother. That sets Day into a rage. They shoot Day in the leg, and he wakes up in prison. Day tells June that he did not kill her brother. June goes back and reexamines the evidence. She realizes that there is grease on her brother's rifle handle. The same grease Thomas had on his forehead the night her brother Metias was murdered. Thomas also was at the hospital that same night. She now knows Day was telling the truth. June made the wrong decision and feels guilty. She now knows that Day could've never killed her brother. She now feels that her brother's killer is Thomas.
Day is now in prison and the punishment for his crimes is death. June makes a decision to try to break Day out, and help him try to escape death. June asks the Patriots for their help to get Day out. Nothing goes according to plan as Commander Jameson moved up the execution date. Day's older brother John poses as Day at the time of the execution. John gets executed. John did this so June and Day can run away together.
Quotation Expaination:
June says to Day, "I never did ask you about your street name. Why Day?"
Day responds, "Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it in one day at a time. You try to walk in the light." I chose this quote because it explains Day's character. It shows even though he has been through a lot, he still remains positive.
Book Review:
I thought the book was pretty good. I would rate it three out of five stars. I like that it was in a post apocalyptic era, but I think it needed a bit more action. I really liked the characters, especially Day. He genuinely was a good person that just had a hard life. Overall, I enjoyed it, even though I do think it was slow at some parts.