The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)

CUE WORLDS LONGEST BLURB!

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.

This book is basically The Darkest Minds meets Legend meets very angry people. It was a lot darker than I had initially expected. Which was good, the characters could be pretty stereotypical, so the sudden descent into darkness was a great kick in the butt. 

Stylistically the writing was very MARIE LU! Visual, almost like a screenplay, lots of action and reaction with little dialogue to break pace and I liked that, its one of the most endearing things about her writing. It flows and it has a way of creeping into your mind and you don't realise your reading rather than watching a film until you put the book down. 

As a protagonist Adelina is...difficult. I don't necessarily like her or dislike her. I'm rooting for her but I don't know in what sense. Okay, I was definitely rooting for her and Enzo...I think, because the relationship was short lived and then he was you know, dead. So I had a fleeting "Okay get the guy" moment, when she grabbed his necklace and kisses him. That was hot. I root for her when it comes to her sister but there's also a lot of bitterness there. It makes it hard to fully be with her. I think she's this victim in some sense but then she can also kill someone just like that and she does, and then she lies constantly sometimes out of fear, but also something else. Something that puts me on edge when I want to trust her.  She's incredibly complex, so complex I'm never sure how she'll react or what she'll do and I bloody love that. I hate knowing a character, or having so much given away that I can predetermine what she's going to do throughout the entire novel. I like to be surprised but I also like feeling like these surprises are realistic, not just surprising me for shock factor. Lu did this and it was great. 

Enzo was underdeveloped I think, he shouldn't have died, he was a character I felt could have given more. Although this is fantasy so who says he's really dead? Adelina's sister I thought was very interesting. It was a classic moment of unreliable narrator in which Adelina paints her as she sees her, so the audience assumes that's how it is, then when she's forced to look at it with objectivity, she is much more. I thought it was lovely, the way she was the other half, the light to her dark, she was the one who could take her powers away, especially seen as Adelina is very volatile. Raffele I didn't quite believe. I struggled with the sudden "Oh he never liked her" thing when he was sweet and kind and nurturing and the one person she felt at home with. This is why I have trust issues because either that guy is the greatest actor in the world or he wasn't written well enough for me to find that believable. He's also unbelievable gorgeous and perfect yet not the love interest...did not make sense. 

The narrative felt very closed, like it was all held within a 3 mile radius which was kind of suffocating but it worked. I got a sense of a real life, people don't normally slip across continents every couple of days, but then the epilogue threw me off. I understand it was for "buy the next book" purposes but we suddenly end up with new characters on a new continent with no idea what's going on. When the burning questions were about what became of Adelina. The ending was strong and I liked the quotes at the beginning of every chapter, it really moved the story forward with little work. 

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, it flowed and pulled me in immediately but also being exciting and different enough to keep me guessing. I don't feel like this is a book I can comment on without sequels (which are years away...great) because it doesn't so much feel like a cliffhanger, more of an abrupt end. But I enjoyed it enough to give it 4 out of 5 stars. So it's doing something right. 

Happy Reading.