Representation: N/A
Trigger warnings: Death of a person, pandemic mentioned
Score: Six points out of ten.
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That's it. I finished The Declaration Trilogy. Here's a recap: I read The Declaration, the first in the series, one year ago, but it ultimately disappointed me. One year later, I read the second instalment, The Resistance, but that underwhelmed me. I picked up the final part, The Legacy, hoping it would be an improvement over The Declaration and The Resistance. It wasn't.

It starts (more like continues) with two new characters, Jude and Sheila who lead The Underground while Peter and Anna hide in Scotland. In Pincent Pharma, a character tells Richard Pincent that Longevity failed because a virus killed someone. Soon, the virus spreads into an epidemic, infecting and killing hundreds more people, leading them to question Longevity. It doesn't work as promised anymore. It can't make one immortal or reverse aging, so what's the point of taking it? The Legacy is the best out of the three, but the author still could improve it. Like The Resistance, the characters are boring and hard for me to connect or relate to them. The pacing in book three was as atrocious as the previous two as the first 200 pages had nothing much happening in them and only in the last 80 pages did something happen. At least the concluding pages and the epilogue where Longevity is long gone and the world returned to normal finished The Legacy on a high note. ( )

a good conclusion with great unexpected plot twists ( )

2.5 stars. A serviceable end to the trilogy, not as good as The Resistance. ( )

I loved loved the beginning. To me the book should have stayed with that concept. it did not need the action like we had in book 2 with the underground. it was interesting enough to me what would happen once a virus became active in this world. It was such a great idea. People who had use the medicine suddenly becoming sick. a virus, what would happen. Now we get the same kind of thing as what happened in book 2. Again Anna is taken but peter and his half brother manage to get into the building. I also thought the ending was very unrealistic especially the role that Derek Samuels appeared to have played. The trusted soldier of Richard. He wanted the underground to win but tortured and killed so many people and lets not forget many children. The ones he wanted to save? Sorry a bit unbelievable. 3 stars this time. ( )

So, this is the end of the Declaration series as it currently stands and I found The Legacy to be a moving and befitting ending to a series that has kept me on my toes, questioned philosophical and ethical matters and delivered them in Gemma Malley's beautiful writing.

However, it has to be said that the first three quarters of the novel would have given it three stars. I did enjoy the story and the development of Jude but it didn't have the panic and urgency that the other two books did, I found it quite slow at times. Also, I don't think I will ever like Anna or Peter has characters. Anna is whiny, pathetic and behaves like a 5 year old, I can't find any kind of endearment towards her. Equally, Peter is moody, selfish and at times seemingly sexist also; there is a sense that the men must protect their women in this whole series which aggravated me. By the way, Sheila is an awful character.

So, how did the last quarter redeem itself? Well, the ending was fantastic. Seriously, I never saw the twist coming, I even feel confident in pointing out there's a twist and that you still won't see it coming until the last minute. I want to say more about the ending and the revelation that came about but I simply won't ruin it for other readers, but trust me that the slow start is worth every paragraph.

The genre is questionable. It is in some ways a science-fiction novel because of the future society, longevity drugs, etc, etc. But it is a lot more focused on relationships and people than the science aspect. It doesn't lack much for it but it would of course be better if the people were likeable, which most of the time they are not. And aside from the ending, I think my favourite part of the book is when Julia and her husband make the decision to die naturally together, I found it incredibly touching and just a really sweet sideplot. I can say that I hope this isn't the last we hear of Gemma Malley.

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