Author: Marie Lu
Series: The Young Elites #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd.
Release: 2014
Source: Paperback
Pages: 355
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SYNOPSIS: 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.
LAURA's REVIEW
THE WORLD: this is an imaginary world consisting of several regions: we have
Kenettra, the main city of The Sealands, Tamoura, Domacca, and The
Sunlands all next to each other on one side, and Beldain which is the
main city of The Skylands that are on the other side of the sea. The
story doesn't mention them all but the important thing is that The
Sealands are ruled by a royal family (yes, it's a monarchy) and in the
end of the book it is hinted that The Skylands are ruled by a royal
family as well.
CHARACTERS: the main character is Adelina Amouteru, a sixteen year old girl
who survived the blood fever which apparently was a pandemic fever and a
lot of people died. Of those who didn't die, most were left with
markings (ranging from eye/hair color change to scars or marks in any
part of the body) and some also developed special powers. Of course,
Adelina has powers but that doesn't work to her advantage because apart
from being a malfetto (marked) now she has to deal with the Inquisition Axis which wants to burn her like a witch. Sounds familiar. As a main male character, we have Enzo Valenciano, the founder and leader of the Dagger Society, a secret group of malfetto with powers that work against the Inquisition Axis. Then, there is Teren Santoro,
who is an interesting guy but I hated him from the beginning... he's
the leader of the Inquisition Axis and dedicates himself fully to
murdering malfettos in the name of goodness and peace and the
royal family. It sickens me. I don't think he's crazy but definitely
brainwashed. Other characters are the rest of the Dagger Society (6 members) and Adelina's younger sister, Violetta Amouteru, who becomes an important character by the end of the book and will probably be a main one in the next book.
ROMANCE: And I will not forget about the romance. There are some romance hints
and one scene a bit more satisfying (not that big but better than
nothing) but the best part is that... NO LOVE TRIANGLE!
GOOD: what I liked most about The Young Elites was Adelina herself.
She's not the hero type... she seems to lean more towards the villain
side and reminds me of a female version of the Darkling (I love him
therefore I had to love Adelina too).
I also liked the way Marie Lu talked about the energy that feed the malfetto's powers. I hope she continues to describe things in that line.
BAD: my minus is the ending and it involves a huge spoiler. I will not talk about it here but you will be able to find it on my Goodreads review under the 'spoilers' tag
I also liked the way Marie Lu talked about the energy that feed the malfetto's powers. I hope she continues to describe things in that line.
BAD: my minus is the ending and it involves a huge spoiler. I will not talk about it here but you will be able to find it on my Goodreads review under the 'spoilers' tag
OVERALL: I give it 4 stars. I enjoyed it but there are many characters and
they're not developed in depth which, don't get me wrong, it's not that
bad because there will be other books but I would've liked to know more
about their background stories. The other half point is because of the
ending... I really hope she will fix it in the next book.
HANNAHCASSIE's REVIEW
THE WORLD: So first of all we are set back in time, back to Inquisition period. Basically people are scared and ruled by Inquisition but instead of usual witch trials we have Malfettos. They are pretty much children that survived blood fever and emerged with super powers. Actually I am amazed how close this all is to witches. But anyways, so yeah old times. We have a bit of court, a bit of arranged marriages and so on. I personally think the idea was amazing but it was not really developed, we could have had such an beautiful world but maybe in next books...So far I was not impressed. And also this whole Malfettos idea for me was one to one Shatter Me and their powers and whole they are abominations things and Inquisition ruling... seriously am I the only one seeing a mirror effect here? I am not saying Marie Lu copied on purpose but I also cannot help but compare.
CHARACTERS: We have a sorta Dagger society and there are few of them, actually Dagger society? Is this a new title, I swear I know Dagger Brotherhood from Ward books. Hmmm. Oh well. Anyways so main character is named Adelina...I was oh my I so was expecting a book about villains, well sorry this book has nothing to do with villains. It is about extremely annoying Adelina who 99% of the book is whinny and self pitying...I mean seriously? Hrr hate her. Then we have this supposed super hot angel like true prince Enzo who wants to gets his thrown back. Right....I guess it was no surprise I disliked Enzo even more than Adelina. I mean really, have we not had enough of this type of male characters? What else? Yeah Raffaele...probably the only character I kinda liked. Except for the ending, what the hell? Like really? Out of character much?! And finally oh no actually not yet, but yeah Teren, a biggest hypocrite of them all. No really if there were villains in this book then that would be Teren...a self centered and totally dillusional but villain all the same. And I am already sending the ending of his story...so not impressed. And now the last and the most hater character of them all -Violetta. Worst sister ever, no really WORST! Burn witch burn!
ROMANCE: Blaaaaaaaah how could anybody ever be into it? I liked the sudden turn for Enzo but the ending already told me it won't last long. How unfortunate.
GOOD: Not sure, I liked the blood part I guess and what happened to Dante and Enzo, yeah especially Enzo.
BAD: The ending was the worst. Like spoiler much? Makes me really think if I want to continue with the series.
BAD: The ending was the worst. Like spoiler much? Makes me really think if I want to continue with the series.
OVERALL: Okay so I was super disappointed, everybody was crazy about this book and I get this? It's not necessary bad it's just when you go expecting a lot and then just...well yeah. I might give it another try one day.
What do you think about THE YOUNG ELITES?
