Generation One takes place shortly after the war against the Mogadorians ends during of United as One, where a special academy is built in order to train the humans who gained Legacies during the war. A few of the characters were involved in battles during the war, as well as some new ones who are introduced for this series.
I found this book to be a very quick read, and it was enjoyable to read. The author does a good job at showing how the world has been affected by the Mogadorian invasion, as well as showing how not everyone agrees with the best way to deal with the aftereffects of the war. I really liked all the characters as well, even though it took awhile for me to like some of them (mainly Nigel and Isabela), but by the end, I was rooting for all of them.
One of my biggest issues with this book, however, was that there were multiple perspectives throughout the book, and I felt it was too much. The original series did have multiple point of views, but I can't remember there being more than 3 (maybe 4 in one book) in any particular book. This one switched perspectives between 7 characters. That, along with incredibly short chapters (which I did like), made the writing seem almost a little choppy because it switched back and forth so quickly.
My other issue was how I think it took too long for anything to really happen. The first half of the book was still introducing characters and introducing them to the academy. I felt that this just dragged out the book and made it longer without really adding much value to the story being told. It wasn't necessarily hard to get through, just a little boring.
I definitely enjoyed this book overall, and I am looking forward to the rest of the series, but there was something missing that I can't figure out how to explain that the first series had and this one didn't. Also, this is purely wishful thinking on my part, but I was hoping that more of the surviving characters from the first series would make more (meaningful) appearances, but that didn't really happen. Didn't take away from my enjoyment, just something I wanted. Hopefully we see more of them later in the series!
For anyone who was a fan of the original series, I definitely recommend this book. I think there is a lot of potential for the rest of the series to grow and expand, and this book did leave off on a bit of a cliffhanger. If you haven't read the original series, I recommend reading that first, as there are things in this book that might not make as much sense if you haven't read those books first.