From Legend is the intriguing first book in The Reeve series. The book primarily follows Logan Hale, The Reeve - a sherriff-type character - of the city of Beldenridge. The world is an alternate version of our own. In the distant past of this world, alchemists went too far in their experiments, something went horribly wrong, and a variety of mutated plants, animals, and humans have led to a dark and gothic current day, lacking technological advancement and stunting the growth of civilization. The story takes place in the year 2017 somewhere in North America, but is utterly foreign. The writing is atmospheric and compelling and the characters are very interesting. Being the first in the series to come, this book does a lot of set up, starting with a mysterious death that leads Logan on a wild chase for answers. Sprinkled throughout the current-day narrative are flashbacks to some years prior, which offer bits of context for both the world and the characters experiencing the flashbacks. Although the flashbacks feel very frequent and somewhat disruptive early in the book, they become less-so as the story progresses, and I found myself missing them as they did.

If you’re a fan of gothic settings and stories I’d recommend checking this one out. Fans of Batman will find Logan a familiar sort of character, though certainly unique as well.

5/5, From Legend was fascinating and compelling, always making me want to read more to see what would happen next. I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here. ( )

I've enjoyed other books by this author (so I'm able to say this is one of my favorite authors) and I was excited to see not only a new book by this author but a new series as well. That said, once I started reading this, I realized it is a genre that I don't read often, so I don't know how qualified I am to review it, but . . . here goes.

I liked having both a strong male and a strong female protagonist. Both remind me a bit of Batman in the sense that they seem to have learned and honed their skills and created gadgets to allow them to do things (like climbing buildings). I wasn't entirely sure if all their skills were learned/honed or if some were inborn/supernatural.

Both have strong feelings about defending the city and will do so until they are exhausted or dead. Logan is recognized by the city government and citizens as their protector. Amelia is more on the vigilante side of the equation--though Logan obviously respects her skills since he chooses to leave his city under her protection when he goes out to scout.

I wasn't sure if we were going to find the Wojiin to be villains or to be misunderstood beings who felt threatened. That isn't answered (for me at least) though I do wonder if there are any ties between Clara and the attack on this particular city.

Logan's relationship to Clara was a bit confusing to me. Sometimes his memories pulled me out of the book--I'm sure I was probably supposed to get more from them than I did. I was able to eventually figure out that he loved her but also felt he had to take the Reeve position, something that would keep him tied to the town. Clara didn't like that he took the Reeve position and left him. I wasn't sure if his visions of her were really imaginary--and if they were, was she trying to help him or hurt his cause? Or if she really had gone over to the "enemy". I guess we will find out more in the next book in the series.

I had thought that Logan and Amelia might get together either in the Batman-Robin-like professional sense of a mentor and ward or romantically--but that didn't occur in this book either. (Maybe in the future? A reader can hope.)

I also wasn't sure if the Higher Aggregate was supposed to be God (or another higher power) or an idol or a demon or something else entirely. (As I said, I don't often read this genre.) The fact that Logan's mother took to work when the Wojiin attacked and wasn't hurt/injured/killed made me wonder if there was something more behind the idea than what I had thought.

All in all, a satisfying start to a new series!

Disclaimer: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. ( )