One of her biggest inspirations was Les Misérables, basing her characters of Day and June on the police inspector Javert and ex-convict Jean Valjean in the movie.
[3] In an interview with Judith Pereira from The Globe and Mail, Lu explained that watching Les Misérables drew her to adapt the criminal versus detective narrative to make it a teen version.
[5] Additionally, Lu drew inspiration from events in East Asia such as the Eugenics movement in early 20th century Korea and the Tiananmen Square Massacre in China.
[3][6] In an interview with Rick Margolis for the School Library Journal, Lu revealed that her experiences while living in China and being at Tiananmen Square hours before the massacre indirectly shaped the novel by changing the way she saw things.
[4] Legend is set in a flooded, fortified, and futuristic version of Los Angeles, ruled by the totalitarian Republic of America.
The novel centers around Daniel "Day" Altan Wing and June Iparis, two 15-year-olds on opposite sides of the economic spectrum.
June Iparis is a military prodigy, born into an elite family, and groomed for success in the Republic's highest circles.
She is the only person to have ever scored full marks on the Trial, a comprehensive test administered at age 10 to determine the child's future role in society.
Day learns that his younger brother, Eden, is infected with the Plague, a disease that periodically ravages sectors of the Republic.
Later that night, June is informed by Thomas, an officer in the Republic and Metias's childhood friend, that her brother was murdered by Day.
Metias left a coded message for June, revealing that their parents were murdered for discovering the true purposes of the Plague: a method of culling the weaker Republic populations, and a biological weapon against the Colonies.
[7] Young Adult fiction is classified as easy to follow without being overly simplified, allowing all age groups to enjoy it.
[10] Susan Carpenter, writing in the Los Angeles Times calls Legend "a taut and exciting romp for all readers with enough inventive details to keep things from becoming cliché",[11] and The New York Times' Ridley Pearson called it "[a] fine example of commercial fiction with razor-sharp plotting, depth of character and emotional arc.
"[12] In the University Wire, SUNY Oneota student Claudia Corneyea reviewed the novel, writing, “This novel has everything a young adult dystopia is expected to have: an avenging heroine, a loving bad boy and a corrupt government that brings them together.”[13] A review in Bookmarks magazine has a mixed position on the book citing the rapidly moving plot as enticing but has draw backs because they believe that the characters are not fully formed.
Godfrey stated, "We have a fantastic script, and we had Jonathan Levine who directed Warm Bodies, but because he had just done a YA book, he’s kinda like, 'I’ve got to do something different.'
[16][17] In July 2018, it was announced that the film and television rights have been acquired by BCDF Pictures with Joseph Muszynski hired to write the script.