Title: City of Legends

Author: Cheyanne Young

Pages: 262

Genre: YA Fantasy/Science Fiction

Release Date: 02 February 2016

From Goodreads: "Maci Knight has grown up in the shadow of legends. Her father and her brother, Max, are Heroes, worshipped by humans and Supers alike for their strength and valor. All she’s ever wanted is to follow in their footsteps, to fight villains and protect humankind. But Maci has a secret—one that could change everything. Maci had a twin sister who died the same day they were born. In their world, one twin is always good, while the other always eventually turns evil. There’s no way to tell which twin will go rogue . . . which means no one knows if Maci will suddenly become a villain. The closer she gets to her eighteenth birthday, the more she has feelings she can’t control: Violence. Rage. Revenge. Maci wants to be a Hero. But she may not have a choice."

Thank you to NetGalley and Alloy Entertainment for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review!

City of Legends is the start to one of the best trilogies I have ever read and without a doubt one of my absolute favorite series of 2016, and possibly all time. Where to even start with this roller coaster of a book!

Maci Knight is the daughter and sister of two very famous Supers, who are both worshiped by humans and Supers alike. She has always wanted to follow in their footsteps and fight crime; she knows she is meant to be a Super just like them. But Maci has a secret: she's a twin. In the Super world, when it comes to twins, it is a fact that one will be good and one will eventually become a villain. With her birthday quickly approaching and her chances at being a Hero on the line, can she control the feelings of violence and rage that are starting to take over? Or will she turn villain?

Before I begin my uber-professional review of this book, let me just say oh my god oh my god oh my god this book. Now back to your regularly scheduled professional book review.

The very first thing that caught my interest about this book was the cover. It's bright, engaging, and makes me immediately interested in what the book was about. The title is a close second, because let's be real, how could you not be interested in what a book called City of Legends is about, right? By the time I read the synopsis, I was hooked. A book about superheroes is one that I have yet to come across, and this seemed like the perfect book to read to change that. Plus, the entire trilogy was available and I can't resist a good read-a-thon! If I remember correctly, I read all three books in just about a week, give or take a day.

Maci was such an amazing character throughout this book. She was strong and driven and believed in doing the right thing no matter what. I loved how sure she was of herself and her ability to be a Hero and how she refused to give up her dream no matter what was thrown at her. She took risks and tried her best to prove that she was Hero material despite some of the dangerous situations she was presented with. When she discovers that she is not only a twin, but the only surviving twin, she does start to question herself and wonder if she's the good or evil twin. All through the book she struggles with feelings that a villain would have, and yet still tries her best to complete missions and save people. When the city comes under attack by villains, Maci never stops trying to help save her family and her city, despite people thinking she's the one attacking the city. Just, kuddos to Cheyanne for writing such a strong female superhero character.

One thing that really stood out to me was the romance aspect. Normally, I find in a lot of YA books that whenever romance is involved, it's...over the top. But with Maci and Evan, I found that there was a really good balance, not too lovey-dovey but definitely still a hint of attraction between the two. There was never a moment where I was rolling my eyes due to some cheesy romance scene, but more like smiling because they were both so dorky together. I did get a kick out of how Maci was initially attracted to one guy, but when Evan stepped in, she was immediately all about Evan. That's just teenagers in a nutshell and it was fun to see that even superhero teenagers can act like that in this world.

Speaking of worlds, can we please talk about the world building? I found it interesting that the Supers lived in an underground city that looked out over the Grand Canyon, completely separated from the humans. It made me curious as to why, but when I read parts of the story where Max would get recognized when going into the "human world," I understood why. In this world, Heroes are very famous, and would get constantly bombarded with fans if they were to live where humans lived. If they're always having to meet and greet with human fans, they'd never be able to fight and capture villains. Also, Supers have pretty advanced technology that they're constantly developing, as well as villains that they have to keep locked up, so I could see why they kept themselves secluded. I also really enjoyed how descriptive the writing was, and how the author gave a fairly decent amount of backstory to help the reader understand the world they're reading about. The plot was great, maybe a bit slow at times towards the middle, but by the end I was absolutely dying!

City of Legends is a powerful and memorable beginning to a trilogy of books that will certainly leave you wanting more. With strong characters, an engaging and exciting plot, and a twist ending that will make you want to immediately pick up the second book, The Valiant, City of Legends is the perfect pickup to cure the need for a good YA superhero book!