Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Publisher/ Date: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books/ October 7th, 2014
Word Rating: Complex characters make this book.
Purchase: Amazon/ Barnes and Noble
I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.
Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.
Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.
Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.
It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.
The Young Elites is definitely some of the best fantasy I've read this year. The premise isn't exactly the most unique, but what drew me to the book was the nuanced characterizations in the story.
Adelina is not your typical YA fantasy heroine.
I feel like this statement has been thrown around a lot to refer to a lot of YA heroines, but Adelina really stands completely apart from most of the heroines I've read about.
Adelina is brave. She is resilient, she is a fighter. But more than that, it would be very difficult to call her good. And it is this very lack of "goodness" that makes her such a fascinating character.
In spite of everything, I feel a strange sense of glee. All this chaos is of my own creation.
There's a darkness inside of her that festers, and instead of going away, stays with her throughout the novel and becomes a driving force for her. She wants to hurt, kill, cause chaos. It's easy to see why others are weary of her but also easy to see why this darkness drives her, creating a story narrated by an anti-hero rather than a hero, which is something I've scarcely seen in YA.
Oh, and she has one eye. Which is totally awesome.
None of the relationships made me want to hit my head against something.
The friendship between Adelina and Raffaele, a hot male courtesan who's also really kind, is presented so, so well. His beauty and kindness is acknowledged by Adelina throughout the novel and in another book, this might have immediately set off my love triangle meter, but here, the friendship between a boy and girl is done the way it should be.
I also loved the relationship between Adelina and Violetta, her sister. I could relate so much to the jealously Adelina had towards her and I could understand all of the bad thoughts Adelina had for her, and yet I could also see exactly why Adelina protects her and cares for her.
Enzo and Adelina's relationship is never the main focus of the book, which is always a plus point. To be perfectly honest, I didn't really feel the chemistry between them, and I was left wondering until the very end whether they really even care for each other (which isn't as bad of a thing as I think I made it sound; in fact, I thought it added to the intrigue around both of their characters).
The plot always keeps you on your toes.
While the plot might not have been very action-packed, per se (there are several very well-written fight scenes, though), there were always a few subplots to keep you hooked.
And of course, the ending. I think I actually stopped reading for several minutes after getting halfway through that one particular event to collect myself before resuming.
I didn't really enjoy Legend by the author and gave up halfway through the second book of that series, so I didn't have incredibly high expectations for this book despite the hype. But Marie Lu does fantasy a thousand times better than dystopia (I mean that in the best of ways) and you will not regret picking up The Young Elites.
This review also appears in a guest post on Elfswood.
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