The Young Elites by Marie Lu (2015-08-25)

This is not a satisfying story. Not once did I smile while reading this. No humor, no joy, just anticipation built on foreboding and a strange fascination of the twisted.

Adelina Amouteru is a girl whose soul has been twisted by years of mental and physical abuse from her father. When she finally hears him decide to sell her off as a mistress, she races off into the night on a journey that pushes her further down the road to darkness than she could imagine. Adelina’s story is one of a girl who desperately needs kindness, but is pulled on all sides by those who only see her for what she can do for them.

It has the epic feel that I’ve really come to love, complete with excerpts from fictional historical texts and a romantic theology to accompany or explain the powers of the malfettos. Although I felt like there was a disconnect between the gods and the powers, it was still interesting.

The dynamics of who Adelina is as a person are completely defined by her relationship with her younger sister, Violetta.

"Later that afternoon, I challenge Violetta to a race through the trees behind our home. I pick a route that is full of rocks and crevices, knowing full well that she has just recovered from a fever and is still weak. When Violetta trips over a root, skinning her knees, I smile and don’t stop to help her. I keep running, running , running until the wind and I become one. I don’t need my father to spin me in a circle. I can already fly."

This is so disturbing in the simple way it’s related as a memory of the girls as children. There is an ever-present duality between the sisters, light vs dark and a current of jealousy that sets me on edge.

The problem is that I didn’t really connect to any of the characters. I love the idea of the Young Elites but I didn’t actually feel like I got to know any of them – including the main love interest. I couldn’t exactly figure out why either of them was attracted to the other. I mean I get that he’s got an impressive title and they both have impressive powers but neither one of them had much of a personality that they showed to each other.

There just wasn’t enough interaction between the Elites to make me care about the way they treat Adelina or each other. I just don’t find her as compelling of a character as she could be. I feel bad for her, and am interested to see what she does, but only in an offhand “hey that’s different” sort of way. If I never actually found out what happened to any of them, I wouldn’t really care.

I’d probably recommend this book to someone looking for something dark and more epic in feel, but only if they asked for that specifically!

I actually read this book before I read Marie's Legend Trilogy. The premise seemed really interesting, and it had great reviews, so I figured why not? A lot of reviewers have summarized the plot for you, so I won't do that. But here's an honest, critical analysis of the book:

Story Premise - 5/5
The premise of the story is very interesting. A plague sweeps through a country leaving behind a group of survivors with super powers. Because they are both different and powerful (think X-Men), the everyday people are scared of them. This causes a group of the mutants (or in this book, malfettos) to band together and form a society called the Young Elites. They battle against the forces of evil and oppression for their rights, but aren't afraid to kill to get what they want.

Execution of the Story - 5/5
Without giving away any spoilers, I think that Marie did a fantastic job carrying out the plot, character development, twists, and how everything came together at the end. The world building was cool, but we could have used a little more info. For example, we can guess from the last names and general style of language that the setting is an Italian-like fantasy world, but we know very little about this world, even by the end of the book. That minor grief aside, I absolutely loved the storyline and the main characters. But more on that later.

Ending - 4/5
Quite frankly, this book could have ended a couple of chapters before it did. The big fight scene was actually about 5 chapters from the end, which was fine, except for the drag that followed. Speaking of the big fight scene - that was a jaw dropper with a spectacular twist. I definitely did not see that coming. Afterwards, there was a good bit of emotional contemplation as Adelina thought through what had occurred. Some of this was necessary, but we probably could have cut out a good portion of it. The epilogue was fine, and got the point across, but it also could have easily been shortened. We really didn't need all those details.

Characters - 5/5
If you like deep, rich characters that you get deeply attached to, then this is a book for you. Of course, this emotional attachment comes with a price (i.e. screaming "No! No! Don't do it!!!" at the characters in the book), but that's one I'm willing to pay. Adeline herself is very deep and has a lot of inner struggles. I love how this gets built on throughout the whole story. Her sister, while seemingly a flat character in the beginning (though we didn't see much of her, so that was ok), actually had a nice twist and some good development towards the end. Enzo was a good character, possibly a little bit of a stereotypical prince who has been wronged and wants his revenge, but that's fine. But Raffaele, oh my goodness - what a deep, dark character. He seems so straightforward and gentle at first, but develops quite interestingly at the end. Bottom line: lots of good character development, all around.

Writing Style - 4/5
I have to knock off points here for the lack of world building, as I mentioned briefly above. But other than that, the writing was superb. I am not usually a fan of books that are written in the present tense, but this was written so well that I hardly noticed it.

Originality - 3/5
The whole mutants being turned on by society and seeking to fit back in storyline is hardly a new one. X-Men is one big name that comes to mind, and then I'm told by my husband that Sanderson's Mistborn series is also based on a group of people who get ill and then develop special powers. So that's not terribly original. But aside from that, Marie really makes this her own through the character building and overarching storyline, so I can't fault her too much there.

Overall Rating - 5/5
If you aren't a fan of young adult fiction, you probably won't like this book. Likewise, if you require a lot of world building, you likely won't like this book either. But if storyline and characters (which in my mind are the most important aspects) are important to you, then yes, you should read this book. Why am I giving it a 5/5 when the world building is lacking? Simply because the storyline and characters more than make up for it. To be honest, as I was reading this book, I didn't even notice the lack of world building until I finished it and started thinking more deeply about it. Marie proves that you don't have to have a well-defined world to write a good story with rich characters, and I am very impressed by that. Do I hope there is more world building to come? Most definitely. But I can't justify giving less than 5 stars to a book that kept me so hooked that I literally couldn't put it down.

Zoe's Review - When I got this book I was not sure what to expect from it. This book is about Adelina. She has markings from the blood fever. These markings set her apart from everybody. Her father is always angry and when she finds out what her father has in store for her, she decides that it is time to leave. When Adelina runs, everything goes wrong and she ends up in the care of a new group of people. They are called the Young Elites and for once they might accept her as a person and not just as something to be used. I found this book to be interesting, but I did not like the world that was created. It was too abstract and the book was more about the character development and did not invest in creating a world for the character to exist in. Something that I did like about this book is the perspective of someone who struggles to not be the evil and darkness. Even though I did not like the world that was created, the characters stuck with me even after I finished reading it. The ending was very shocking. If you liked the book Storm Siren by Mary Weber you will like this.

Maci's Review - The Young Elites by Marie Lu is about a girl named Adelina Amouteru and her struggle to find a place to fit in. Adelina was marked by the blood fever when she was four years old. Her Mother died of the fever, but Adelina's sister came away from the fever unmarked. Adelina's Father thinks that Adelina is useless marked, he can not marry her off, but he has heard that the marked sometimes have unearthly powers and he wants to discover and use them. So he uses cruelty and hatred to try to make her use powers. Until one day when Adelina is trying to run away she accidentally kills her Father. Adelina is then hunted by the Inquisition to be burned at the stake. But she has a chance. The Young Elites are interested in her. The Young Elites are a group of people marked by the blood fever who have come away with unearthly powers. I would recommend this book to anyone who does not necessarily always want the good side to win.

If anyone would ask me what I thought of Marie Lu's sexy new book The Young Elites, i'd reply with five words: dark fantasy at it's finest. I absolutely could not put this book down! It was like X-Men meets Game of Thrones meets Throne of Glass meets Cruel Beauty meets.. arrghh nevermind. Why don't I just give you five reasons why The Young Elites deserves that five-word praise? Here we go..

1. The Malfettos. A decade ago, a deadly illness called the Blood Fever swept through the nation, killing thousands of people. The few who survived the fever, mostly children, were left with strange scars that marked them as outcasts and bad luck to society. However, 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.

In an X-Men kind of universe, the Malfettos would be the mutants. Shunned by society and deemed as "bad luck" as an excuse to hide the king's negligence in ruling his kingdom, innocent malfettos have been killed left and right. That doesn't make them weaklings though- most of the Young Elites are pretty kick-ass! What I loved about the malfettos is that their origin was never fully explained and there's still so much secrecy surrounding the Young Elites.

2. Adelina Amouteru. Adelina -freakin- Amouteru. Don't let her regal name fool you because this girl has gone through hell and back, losing her mother to the Blood Fever and having to spend her whole life answering to her abusive and sadistic father's beck and call. Because of her harsh experiences, there is a great darkness inside Adelina that threatens to consume her and will not hesitate to kill. Adelina isn't the typical heroine protagonist- she's clearly drawn to evil and darkness, and her heart calls out for vengeance no matter what the means, but there's this tiny spark in her that tries to control the darkness. She's pretty bad-ass if I do say so myself.

“I am Adelina Amouteru. I belong to no one. On this night, I swear to you that I will rise above everything you’ve ever taught me. I will become a force that this world has never known. I will come into such power that none will dare hurt me again.”

3. The Dagger Society. When the Inquisition held Adelina at the stake for the murder of her father, a group of Young Elites whisked in and saved her. Basically the X-Men of their world, The Dagger Society dedicate their lives to reinstating the rights of the malfettos and overthrowing the king and queen. Led by a sword-fighting fire wielder named Enzo Valenciano, the group sees murder as a means to an end and will kill anyone who gets in their way. I loved reading about them and their different abilities- there's Ezio with his ability to control fire, a male courtesan who can sense the abilities of other malfettos, a windwalker who can control air, a girl who can steal the will of any animal, a boy who can bend any object to his will, and one of the greatest fighters the world has ever seen.

Adelina trains to become on of the Daggers and this opens up whole different worlds for her, and in turn for us. Through the society, I was whisked to a world with flying manta rays in the sky, a beautiful pleasure court, underground tunnels, and devious plots.

4. The plot and world-building. Marie Lu packed everything into this book: darkness, family, magic, powers, action-packed swordfights, sexy romance, deception, betrayal; most of the plot is centered around political intrigue packed with a lot of players. I never knew what was going to happen next and I couldn't stop turning the pages. She weaved a whole new seamless world to perfectly back all of it up, too. I learned something new about their world as the story progresses, and it opens up a lot of roads leading to places outside Adelina's kingdom- places I can't wait to read more of.

5. The epilogue. THAT EPILOGUE. THAT SNEAKY SNEAKY CLIFF HANGER EPILOGUE. I can't say much without spoiling, but it's definitely a massive game-changer! A few hints? Princess. Different Kingdom. Prince. Underworld. Confused? I am too! And I need book two right this instant!

So yup, those are the five things that instantly made me Marie Lu's slave. Anything for book two. ANYTHING. Kidding aside, or not-so-kidding aside, The Young Elites isn't perfect, but it's a definite must-read for people looking for a dark fantasy with political intrigue and a fast paced adrenaline-filled plot.

Oh. My. Goodness. Marie Lu, you are Queen. I read The Young Elites about a year ago and absolutely loved it. I just reread the book in anticipation of the third book in the series and it was even better than I remembered. Lu creates such an incredibly complex world with deeply twisted and entertaining characters.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of what the country calls "the blood fever" and she is left with a permanent scar. She is also left with a strange gift that she discovers in unfortunate circumstances. She is forced to run from her home land and is given the opportunity to join a community of others with special abilities, called the Young Elites. As the days pass with the Young Elites, Adelina is forced to ask herself if she can trust them.

Lu created such a magically dark work where the readers have to constantly ask themselves who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. Adelina is such a strong female lead, attempting to find herself in her new abilities all while trying to fit in and save the ones she loves. I just love this story and how it is so different from every other book out right now. There are no cliches and there isn't a single part of the story where you can say, "I saw that coming".

If you are in the market for a young adult book with lots of twists and turns and maybe a few "anti-heroes", then The Young Elites is for you! Pick it up now and read the first two books in the series before the third hits the shelves in October.

I listened to this on an audio book and I was very glad I did or it might not have held my attention in the beginning.
Though I felt that Lu, did a good job of catching the readers up with what is going on in Adelina's world, it just wasn't very interesting to me. I have mixed feelings on Adelina as well.

Part of me felt it was a brave thing to do, to give the protagonist a deformity, it would definitely stand her character apart from others and help readers to connect on more of real level, but part of me felt like that branded her character in a negative way, because most other protagonists are perfect by reputation. Adelina was not a very stable character but I hope to see her become more stable in books 2 and 3. She has had a rough childhood and is just coming into her own. However, it's still a little annoying to read about a girl who can't make up her mind, about anything.

I thoroughly enjoyed some of the terminology in this book. Malfetto's isn't a term I've ever heard before and it was a refreshing term to calling mutants, well, mutants. Lu, has a way with words, that's for sure.

The other protagonist Enzo, is a dream to have as a character to focus on. Your heart is drawn to him and you only want to see him happy and prosperous.

Teren, the antagonist however, is not one to be desired. What a ruthless character with no real justification as to why he is the way he is, at least not one that I understood to well. A Malfetto himself, he has turned on his own in order to complete a personal agenda. I don't like him at all, though Lu wrote him rather well also. I really felt like I knew him and at many times I wanted to jump right in and smack him through the pages.

Many unexpected things happen and with this, The Young Elites has drawn me in. The ending is one to make you ready and go buy The Rose Society, like right now. I plan to. Thank goodness The Midnight Star is due out soon, so I won't have to wait long for that one either. I do recommend this read for those who love fantasy.

Ohh my I've been pretty busy at home since I had knee sugary and recovery from my knee sugary now I'm going through physical therapy, so that is taking up my time from reading. I am really behind on my reviews and my reads that I've been reading three different books at the same time too catch up on my reads. But before my sugary I went too the library too pick up some books too read when I was recovery from sugary, and I saw that my library had the whole Legend trilogy but I was kind of spoil on that trilogy. So I decided too check out The Young Elites first and see if I like it and or not because I hear amazing raving reviews about Marie Lu books. And Ohh boy her books deserve all the hype there are absolutely fantastic and heart wrenching books, I have a gut feeling that this series is totally going too break my heart too pieces. This is my very first Marie Lu book that I read and I am very addicted too this series too. I absolutely and totally love and enjoy this book so much. That I couldn't stop thinking about it when I finished reading it. Now I am not going to go into any details about the Young Elites because I think everybody knows what this book is about. But I felt so terribly bad for Adelina Amouteru I know I know she was a very shellfish and very dark and unlikable character. But I still felt really bad for her for everything that happen too her with the blood fever and what her cruel father put her through. You see Adelina has really bad abandonment issues that's why she does not have friends and she not that close too her little sister even though she really cares about her sister deeply. But she feels really hurt and anger towards her father who has been nothing but pure cruel and abusive towards her ever since she had the blood fever when she was only a child. He truly didn't care for Adelina at all and that's why she is the way she is and I really don't blame her for acting and being the way she was. But after one night everything change upside down for Adeline, and she truly fond her secret dark powers that has been calling too her. Along the way she find the Dagger Society who were malfetto with different powers like her. But she also find some secrets that would change everything about herself, her sister and about the Dagger Society. And I am going to stop right here I really do love and enjoy The Young Elites even though I know this series is seriously going to break my heart and have my emotions all over the place. But I can't wait too read the Rose Society next! If you haven't read a Marie Lu book I highly do recommend her books there are really fantastic and very addicting reads that you will not stopping thinking about her books after finishing reading them!

4.5. Well, this was definitely not what I was expecting to read. That said, I remember why I love Marie Lu. She's not shy about putting her characters through emotional and physical hell. She's not scared to break the mould and create a brand new world with intense characters, dangerous stakes, and a thousand twists you won't see coming. Right from the get-go, we're thrust into the dark life of Adelina Amouteru. Immediately you know she's not your typical heroine. She's not traditionally beautiful and has a devastating dark power–– a power that gets her the attention of the rebels of the Daggers Society. I was captivated by this book and am so excited about what comes next. The world is incredible and detailed, the action is intense, and I love how things just keep going wrong. Maybe that's sadistic of me, but I enjoyed it (the ending aside). As mentioned, the characters are unique. Adelina is temperamental and dangerous and while she's the main character, I can't help but wonder if we're seeing the rise of a villain? Watching her lose control of her powers is thrilling, and seeing what it costs her is devastating, especially at the end which takes a major twist. The side characters are complex and diverse, especially Enzo and Raffaele. Teren, wicked as he was, is also a very interesting character to watch. The whole story was dark and deadly and exciting. I'm aching to see what happens next!

Oh my, what a world Lu has created! In TYE universe, a mysterious blood fever ravaged and destroyed a third of the population, and the surviving children came out marked in different ways. While it may seem like science fiction or dystopia, the world is more aligned with fantasy. The magic in the world is contained in everything, and the Young Elites can draw on it to create as they are aligned. Adelina, who from her childhood had been mistreated by her father and looked down upon for being scarred, has never known kindness except the one from her younger sister. Her love for her sister is still tainted by the fact that their father sees the younger one as more valuable to him, since she is beautiful and can be profitable for him. As for Adelina, he torments her in an effort to bring out her powers, and that kind of violence has nurtured the darkness in her.

As the author says in the acknowledgements of the book, this is the story of a villain, not a hero, and it shows in how unpredictable and unconventional the plot is. Adelina only sees people using her for their benefit, and kindness without strings attached is not a concept she has experienced. She, however, on meeting the Dagger Society, starts hoping for it, but there is also the fact that she is being hunted and cannot let her guard down. She is drawn to the leader of the Dagger Society, but is also afraid of his wrath if he finds the truth about her. Adelina’s path, wherever it may lead, is sure going to be an interesting one. She shies away but also embraces her darkness; she is ashamed but also revels in causing pain – and this alone would have made her a complex character. But it is also the way in which she forms relationships with others, and the way the others treat her that add an extra layer of depth to her character.

As for the world, I loved how it incorporates an entirely new culture, and draws on it to create the elements of their magic. The alignment stuff was pretty interesting, and opens up a whole mythology around it. I, however, felt the repetition of it a bit annoying – we get it, she aligns with fear and rage, and power, the latter because she was devoid of it her entire life. The ending was shocking, to say the least, but the epilogue really made me interested in the possibilities this world could contain. Very excited to read the sequel!

The Young Elites by Marie Lu
????☠??♛
A gorgeous, dark, and stunning story of betrayal and magic.

Break my heart, why don’t you? Honest to goodness, this book wrecked me. A story about malfettos (people who were scarred or marked during a disease, and some gained powers in the process). More often than not though, malfettos are discriminated against and killed. Enter the young elites and the Dagger Society. The ones with abilities and the ones who want to overthrow the government and make it a better world for everyone. Our protagonist—of course—ends up being one of these people.
This is a story where the protagonist is a villain, but then again, you could spend hours arguing that statement…which is why this book is so brilliant. Ultimately, I would say Adelina is more of an anti-hero than a villain, so I commend Marie Lu on creating a character who is sympathetic despite making some terrible decisions or having a more “evil” centered core rather than a “good” one. There were two events toward the end I NEVER saw coming, and for that, I cried.
Enzo was lovely. Raffaele, lovelier. And the other characters were great, too.
Even better, The Young Elites is written in a world that’s very close to the Italian Renaissance period, but of course, with magical powers and such. The details were gorgeous, dark, and stunning. My favorite scene was probably the dancing scene, but that’s all I’m going to say about that. (I know. I know. I’m a sucker.)
I definitely look forward to The Rose Society.
All that being said, I found the beginning a bit slower than I would’ve wished, so I would suggest readers to keep marching forward through that first half. In Lu’s defense, when I thought about it afterward, I enjoyed that Marie Lu showed the gradually growth of the protagonist’s powers as she learned overtime, rather than simply having the character gain powers and use them perfectly without any practice. The only other note I want to include is that this is written in first person present, which isn’t my favorite perspective, but Marie Lu is a goddess. Just something to keep in mind if you like third person or past tense more.
~SAT
Recommended to: young adult fantasy readers who enjoy darker elements, Italian Renaissance type settings, and anti-heroes or villains as the protagonist.
Favorite Quote: Beauty and pain go hand in hand.

Favorite Quote:
"The gods gave us powers, Adelina, because we are born to rule."

I feel like Marie Lu just ripped my still beating heart out of my chest and left my soul to drown in sorrow.

It's hard to describe my feelings. I barely know where to start. The Young Elites grabs hold of you and refuses to let go. It's dark, mesmerizing, so different from the YA I'm used to. Can one even really describe this as YA?

The characters are breathtaking. Adelina. Oh my. I can't even call her a heroine because she's...just not. She is dark, twisted, she revels in the pain of others and the darkness inside of her is terrifying. She is cruel and her power intoxicates her. I know I would actually rather her not make it through the series. As terrible as that sounds, I want her to die. Honestly I think it would suit the ending and the overall tone more if she DID die in the very end.

Enzo. I have no words. Mysterious, powerful, calculating imperfect, perfect, sometimes kind, sometimes cruel. All I can say is that Marie, you crushed my sould and I can only imagine based upon the epilogue that it will be continuously crushed until I am but a husk knowing that this book was the end of me. Come on, that epilogue with Maeve, just more suffering for everyone is to come. How could you do this to us Marie? I hate you. In the way that I love your character so much...but I hate you.

Raffael. I wasn't even expecting him to play a such a huge part. With so many males in the cast I was expecting a love triangle but instead I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked his character. I kind of wanted to have a Raffael in my life.

Teren. I also kind of want him to die. Is this a running theme? So many characters in this dark book that I want to see burn. Literally. I want him to burn. Particularly by Enzo's fire.

The world was devastating, wondrous. Marie's writing is sublime. Her descriptions, the way she pulls you in. I devoured this in two days. It would have been less if I didn't have work stopping me from devouring it.

The book goes for a significantly darker theme. It's pretty depressing in many parts. I feel the need to go read something adorable so that I'll be happier after that ending. Yet it calls to you. I have to know what is going to happen. I know it will wreak havoc on my heart. Yet I have to know.

I loved it. It was so different, it was dark and I can't root for the main character but yet...I still want her to get past herself. Win against her inner darkness. End up happy...and preferably dead.

I'm amazed and horrified and I love it. I'm in awe of how incredible of an author Marie Lu is. She really knows how to twist your feelings around and stomp on your heart. She's a magician, always making you feel like you understand where the trick is going but then slamming you with something completely unexpected. This book made my heart both soar and ache at the same time. The Young Elites is incredible beyond words.

Structurally, this book is outstanding. The writing, plot, world-building, character and development are all through the roof. What makes it tilt is how much this book twists the reader around. It's common in YA novels to read about a protagonist that is hated and/or mistreated by everyone. It's also common in YA novels to feel bad for her/him and hate the society that the main character inhabits. Instead, at times I found myself on the side of the society that fears and hates Adelina. She is probably the most complex and interesting character I have ever read in my life. I'm struggling so much trying to make up my mind about her. However, I'm pretty sure that this is what Marie Lu intended for this character and that makes me just want to bow down to her.

The Young Elites deserves all of its hype it gets. It wraps you up in the darkness that stirs inside Adelina and you won't be able to escape it.

Full Review: http://www.bookrambles.com/2015/07/the-young-elites-young-elites-1-by.html

What! I loved this! Why is this not just as popular as legend?? I felt like this was more complicated than that, more immersive. But it has been a while and many books ago that I read the legend series. This book was unputdownable. Seriously so juicy and raw. Also so, so believable in its personal nature. Like you really get so drawn into this character. Marie really knows what goes through the mind of an abuse victim, all the second guessing of oneself, the blame, the hatred. So sad and so emotional. In her Acknowledgments she says this is a story of a villain but I hope not. I hope it's a story of someone that others think is a villain but in the end shows them all that just because you come from bad doesn't mean it defines you.

My rating is a 4.5.

I've read Marie Lu's previous book Legend which is a dystopian/sci-fi YA. I picked it up because it kept showing up on my students' reading logs and I wanted to know what the buzz was about. I thought it was a neat concept and I could see why my students enjoyed it very much (middle school level), but the development between June and Day did not quite ring true for me. I didn't continue with the rest of the series, so I don't know if their development improved.

When I heard the author had a new series coming out, I was wary and I wasn't sure if I'd pick it up since my feelings for her other series was lukewarm at best. But, The Young Elites is a fantasy YA which is my favorite genre and the premise sounded promising.

I'm glad I gave this story a chance.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much Marie Lu's writing style has improved--richer descriptions and world building details. Perhaps she's more suited to fantasy then dystopia stories. I also became invested in Adelina right away. Mistreated because of her malfetto status, she's broken emotionally and physically. The reader can't help wanting things to get better for her. The twist is that she has a darkness to her character that's sinister and cruel. I really liked the way the author developed Andelina's character, so that we understand her conflict between making good choices or giving into the darkness in her. I enjoyed reading in the Acknowledgements that Marie Lu struggled with this story in the early stages and it was because she was trying to write a Hero's Journey. A friend recommended writing it from Adelina's point-of-view (which at the time she was a minor character) and realized that the story was actually about a villain, Adelina. I loved this take on the story.

I also enjoyed the conflicts in the plot. I'll admit that the one with Teren had me put off a little because I thought the author was treading in love triangle territory and I'm so over that troupe. I'm so glad she didn't and I was surprised and impressed with what happened with Adelina's conflict with Teren.

My favorite character was Raffaele. I have to give the author credit for creating such a dynamic character. He was one of the most sought after courtesans and his gift was reading and manipulating other people's emotions. His sex is male, but the author did a fantastic job creating a character who did not identify male or female; Rafaele seemed to take both aspects of male and female gender expetactions and make them his own. His character was compassionate, empathetic, and caring. It's not until the end we see another side of him that we realize he wasn't the person we thought he was.

There was a lot of action and conflict that made for a very fun read. But, if I'm being honest, the Epilogue was probably the best part for me. Of course, it probably would not have had the impact it did without Adelina's story, but I'm am really excited about the introduction of the new characters Crown Princess Maeve and her brother Tristan. We were lead to believe that Queen Guilianna and Teren were terrible, but I think Princess Maeve and Tristan will give them a run for their money.

I recommend this to readers 13 years old and up. Language is clean, but there are scenes of violence from Adelina's childhood, when she uses her powers, and near the end when Teren and Enzo fight.

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https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/21658115-jennifer

Unfortunately, I was taken in by all of the positive reviews about this book: The Young Elites, by Marie Lu. I kept hoping and hoping to the very end that it would get better, but it didn't. Don't get me wrong, the book is well written for the most part (there could have been better character development), but my problem with the book was how dark and depressing it was. If you like that sort of thing, then this book is for you, but if you don't, DON'T READ IT, I wish I hadn't.

I am 22 years old and I love to read, but when I pick up a fictional book that promises adventure I hope to finish it feeling better than when I started. Reading is a reprieve from the hardships of reality, from the stress and burdens of everyday life. Reading takes me to other worlds, introduces me to amazing people, and lifts life’s burdens for a little while. That was not the case with this book. It was filled with hatred, violence, cruelty, pain, darkness, and death. It sickened me how so many of the book’s characters took pleasure from inflicting pain onto others. It left me feeling horrible by the time I was done.

I will say that the author is a skilled writer and she painted vivid pictures in my head, but the relentless negative emotions came from every character in the book and left me feeling depressed. It's not just that the book was filled with darkness; it was that it was sustained continuously throughout the story and seeped from every character in the book—including Adelina (the main character) and even her seemingly sweet sister Violetta. There was no reprieve. Even the seemingly positive events in the book (like being rescued and finding others like herself) were colored by deceit and cruelty. The characters were too twisted. I would not recommend this book, but then again, I don’t enjoy watching Horror films either and I know there are many people who do enjoy them. So, if you like Horror and cruelty masked by a suspenseful adventure, this is the book for you.

Original Review at: www.awesomebooknuts.blogspot.com

I started this book not knowing what I was getting into. I find that when I do not read the synopsis of a book, I enjoy it better because I am going into something that with absolutely no expectations!

This book has soooo many aspects that I like to see in my YA books! Instead of a hero story this is a complex "villain" story where the main character is dark and physically scarred. All characters have some sort of "flaw" in their appearance. We have a great story with just the right amount of romance that doesn't overtake the story but is very light. Plus we have a beautiful and completely platonic friendship between a male and female character.

This story is about a girl named Adelina who was raised by a father who abused and tortured her. She lost an eye due to a feet that swept through her country and killed massive amounts of people but leaving lots of others physically scarred but with these scars came powers. You'd think the world would be crazy excited to have powers but with the scarring came a mental stigma that they called those who survived the fever and scarred are called "malfetto" who are hated, shunned, and even feared due to their "imperfections." Adelina is such a person and her father tried to use that to his advantage and hurt her in order to get what he wanted.

One night after fear of being sold to a man to be a mistress, Adelina flees, which ends up her killing her father in self defense. She is then captured, charged with murder and sentenced to death by fire. She is saved by a group of people that have survived the fever, who are marked, and have powers. And they call themselves....The Young Elites...

The leader of this group is named Enzo, an exiled prince who wants to take his rightful throne back and will do whatever it takes to get it back. I liked him a lot because he isn't "weak" he is strong and perfect for his role.

The Young Elites are after one thing, and that is to take back what is theirs. A place in this world. Adelina

learns the night of her father's death that she does have powers and her powers are wielded by the darkness that surrounds her. She tries to be the hero, the good person but because of everything in her past and the darkness within her, her powers are frightening because of what it takes for Adelina to use.

My favorite however is the relationship between Adelina and Rafaelle who is a male courtesan, who outside of his "work" he is kind, smart, and overall good. Yet he senses Adelina and the darkness that surrounds her. Although he is a beautiful person, he treats Adelina with the kindness she never had, the only light she felt came with "no strings attached." He hates what he does but it's done with a purpose in mind and that is to further The Young Elites plans to help Enzo recapture the crown.

Overall this book was new to me and I really enjoyed it. I really hope for a redemption when it comes to some characters in this new trilogy.

Sexual Content: moderate (PG-13ish some kissing, understanding of the job of a courtesan and what it entails with either sex)
Language: moderate
Violence: moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: mild

The Young Elites gave me chills. It was a dark read--not necessarily because of the content, but because of the darkness that the main character had inside her. Betrayal, loneliness, and vengeance weren't pulled back in this book, and that took a huge toll on the characters.

I read this one in one sitting because I absolutely could not get myself away from it. I was absorbed, captivated. When I finally had nothing left to read, the state of my brain was a combination of the following thoughts:
- !!!!!!!
- NEED. SEQUEL.

I was pretty much speechless! I wasn't expecting to be wowed by this one as much as I ended up being. It was exciting! And it was put together very well. My initial rating was 4.5 stars rounded down to 4 because of the world building (more on that later), but I switched my rating maybe ten minutes later. The Young Elites was one of those books where, when my thoughts calmed down a little, I looked back at and thought, "whoa, I just read a fantastic book." In this case, I was especially wowed by Adelina's story and transformation. It's the main reason I decided to round my rating up to 5 stars.

Adelina was such a dark character. Darkness ate away at her throughout the book--she had a personal battle with it. It was damaging her and turning her into a completely different person. She felt used. Alone. Rejected. No one wanted her, and when they did, they wanted something in return. That coupled with her dark childhood made her struggle deep-seated and seemingly impossible to overcome. Her darkness and resentment and negative feelings built up, up, up, and I'm afraid it may get too high for her to come back down to her real self. It was interesting to see how Adelina changed, but it was also pretty sad.

As for the other characters, I loved Raffaele. so. much. Not gonna lie . . . I really wanted him to be a love interest. Adelina just seemed to have more chemistry with him than with the other guy. That was probably why the romance didn't knock me off my feet (though I still liked it). I was rooting for the wrong guy! I was impressed with Enzo when he was introduced, but it took me awhile to really warm up to him. Violetta (Adelina's sister) was memorable despite not being present in many of the scenes. She was very gentle and timid--the opposite of Adelina, which made for a startling contrast between the two.

The abilities were EPIC. They were impressive and easy to picture because of the vivid descriptions. Awesome displays of power occurred early on, and it made it easy to be swept away in the story.

THE YOUNG ELITES is an amazing and incredibly exciting start to this new series by Author Marie Lu. The world is fascinating, the story is darkly alluring, the characters are intriguing and dangerous and fierce. It is riveting. It delivers the unexpected. It is guaranteed to make you eager to dive into the next installment in the series. It is a thrilling and imaginative and immensely entertaining read.

The blood fever left Adelina Amouteru disfigured, branding her a malfetto, making her an outcast, someone to be despised, someone to be feared. Even more so after the rumors began to circulate of the existence of malfettos with extraordinary abilities.

Yet, no matter how fearsome they were rumored to be, these gifted malfettos were deemed valuable. So much so that her father hoped to be able to capitalize on that value. But no matter how hard he pushed her, or how cruel to her he was, Adelina could not call upon any powers. She felt a darkness growing within her, but no gifts emerged. She was not exceptional. She was not one of the Young Elites.

Or so she thought, until she was caught attempting to flee the future her father arranged for her. Because she didn’t just imagine the shadows that struck fear in her father’s heart, she created them.

Marie Lu created a world that is governed by fear, where those who are different are ostracized, targeted for violence, used to further the agenda of a power-hungry queen and a zealot of an inquisitor. She introduced characters who range from anti-hero to villain and gave them abilities that enable them to dispense dark justice, create chaos, inflict pain, spread terror.

The author does not promise readers a happy ending. She did not create heroes and heroines and saviors. The battles are not between good and evil, but between evil and not-quite-so-evil. The motives are greed, vengeance, power. The outcomes are brutal, destructive, deadly, jaw-dropping. The result is a stunning and chilling and deliciously dark and breathtaking story.

Readers who prefer their characters a bit devious, a touch menacing, not always well-intentioned, yet wickedly appealing will fall instantly in love with THE YOUNG ELITES. Secrets, blackmail, deception, betrayal, deadly plots, lethal confrontations, and mass executions make for an edge-of-your-seat and electrifying read. And with the promise of new characters, a new setting, a new society, this series is an absolute must must-read.

It’s been a while since I had read a dystopian/high fantasy book and I hadn’t realized how much I missed this genre. Marie Lu’s Legend was one of my all time favorites so I had a feeling this would be a gem as well. I was right.

This story is a layered tale of power struggles, betrayals, and loyalties… from the malfettos, to the King’s Inquisition soldiers, to the The Dagger Society. It’s also told in several POVs, which sounds like it would be distracting, but it actually came together and wove a crazy and frightening world that entangled me from the beginning.

Adelina, the heroine is a serious kick butt girl. She is physically flawed yet so beautiful. Somehow Ms. Lu wrote her in a way that made me want to look at her, and I know I’d be hypnotized if I saw her in real life. Not only does Adelina have an outward conflicting appearance, she also struggles with so many things internally. I loved watching her sort through all her feelings as the story progressed. While she does embrace a darkness by the end, I don’t think she could have done it any differently. I can’t wait to see what she does next, I have a feeling she will truly be a force to be reckoned with.

Enzo. swoooooon. The first time Adelina saw him she described his eyes as:

“hard, midnight dark, but alight with fire”

Right there, my friends…I was sold. He is powerful, brave, brilliant, tough, and still has a bit of a heart left that left me clawing at the pages to get more of him. Le sigh.

And then there’s Teren. Teren is that villain that I hate, yet there were times I would glimpse at him and think… maybe? I still loathed him overall, but he had a complexity to him which made me realize I probably don’t really know much about him at all. I will be curious to see what he reveals next as well.

The relationship between Adelina and many of the other characters are all slow to progress as trust is gained, or never attained in some cases. Of course every single time she had an interaction with Enzo I was on the edge of my seat.

So….the ending….this is where I knocked off a star. I’m sorry, it’s just my personal policy when I get SO UPSET. No it’s not rational reviewing but I can’t help it. The rest of the story was definitely a 4.5-5 star through and through…just THAT. *cries* I can’t say any more because it will spoil. Someone just hold me, please.

However, if you love a good dystopian, one where the world is crazy and horrifying yet you can’t look away, this is a must for your TBR!

Happy reading!

"Be true to yourself...But that's something everyone says and no one means. No one wants you to be yourself. They want you to the version of yourself that they like".

I love this book. I really love it. Is it perfect? Again, no nothing is but it is pretty fantastic.

High fantasy has been my recent obsession. If it has decent reviews I am going to read it. This was completely worth it and managed to keep things fresh, action-packed, quick-faced and fluid. I love the characters, I love the setting and I cannot wait to read more.

This book is dark, sexy, haunting, spell-binding and filled with a vengeance.

Adelina joins the ranks of a growing number of amazing, kick-ass female leads. But in more ways than one she is markedly different. Her story is a darker one, filled with years of mistreatment, abuse, jealously and manipulation. She is constantly in search of a place where she belongs and when she thinks she's found it things take a treacherous turn. This book seems to be a glaring reminder that in life almost everything and everyone has a price. No one gives you something without taking something in return.

All of characters, too many to discuss in detail one by one, are unique and interesting in their own ways. And our main characters especially are well-developed. Not everything is revealed I'm sure, but enough so that we grow to care and understand them more.

Whats more Adelina has a complicated relationship with them all.
Enzo, the boy, the prince whom she truly did love. But for some reason we're left to wonder if he ever completely loved her.

Raffaele, a boy Adelina trusted above everyone else, believed in and whom I believe, although its never said, she loved in a way. She may have loved Enzo dearly, but she said so herself, Raffaele was the one she believed she could confess everything to. For me that speaks volumes about how she feels/felt about him.

Teren is a self-loathing, destructive force to be reckon with. In many ways he and Adelina have quite a few things in common. Honestly speaking if they had met different it would not shock me if he'd been able to convince Adelina to join his cause. Because the thing about Teren is although he is wicked. He believes what he is doing is just. He is a complex, which I love.

Violetta is the sister Adelina, loves, admires, care for, but there is also envy and resentment mixed in. Their relationship is a complex one, but in the end all they truly have is each other.

A line to remember this book by: "Be true to yourself...But that's something everyone says and no one means. No one wants you to be yourself. They want you to the version of yourself that they like".
“Everyone has darkness inside them, however hidden".

This wasn't really at the top of my list but after practically seeing it everywhere and my friend suggesting that I read it ASAP, I just had to make way for it. And I'm glad I did, because this is definitely one of the best books I've read this year.

A decade ago, blood fever swept through the nation and killed thousands of people. Some survived, but they have markings that identify them as one. They are branded as malfettos. But there are some... some who came out of the sickness with more than markings. They have powers. People call them the Young Elites, feared by everyone and unaccepted by society.

Adelina, our main protagonist, is a malfetto. She lost an eye when she was sick, and has silver hair that changes color in the light as a marking. She was abused by her father, as malfettos are said to bring misfortune to everyone, and therefore favors her sister because she's the perfect one. Possibly the only survivor of blood fever that doesn't have any marking at all. Adelina, while being close to her sister, also nurtures a great deal of resentment with her.

Needless to say, she grew up hating the world (though she didn't know it then) and thinking that nobody would accept and love her. That alone could make anyone develop a darkness in them. And Adelina was no exception.

Adelina being physically imperfect is enough for me to give this book a minimum of 3 stars without even reading it. Maybe I just don't read a lot these days, but it's rare to read a book with a protagonist like her. Not only is she one-eyed, she’s also harboring a great deal of darkness in her. And when I say a great deal, I mean a freaking great deal. If it weren't for Teren Santoro, I would really think that she's actually the main antagonist of this story. Nevertheless, it made me love this book more.

It also didn't hurt that I feel like I was reading X-Men at some point. Specifically when Adelina first came to the hands of the Elites. She's like Jean Grey in Uncanny X-Men #1. I know, I'm a nerd. Anyway... back to my review.

Enzo... oh, how I love this guy. Well... I do find him a lot scary, ambitious goals and all. But of course, it made the scenes with Adelina all the more fun. Speaking of X-Men... he's like Professor X and Magneto combined. World domination (well, that's a little exaggerating, but still) but with loyalty and compassion for his Elites.

And then there's Teren. Who's one hell of a psycho. Well... more like he has a twisted way of seeing things. And that made me realize that he reminds me of Tahereh Mafi's Warner in the Shatter Me series in those early days, before the back stories and all. He's crazy in love with his queen, though, and would do anything and everything in his power to serve her.

I really thought that this would be a battle of good and evil inside Adelina. And at first, it was. But after that last few chapters... I am incredibly excited to see what the future holds for her and the rest of the Elites.

Review Originally Posted At: www.FictionForesight.com

An Amazing 5 Stars!

The Young Elites is everything you could hope for in a fantasy novel, and so much more!

A Quick Summary:

The Young Elites is a nickname. Not so long ago a deadly disease, known as blood fever, swept through the lands. It ravaged the young and old, rich and poor, male and female; unbiased in its destruction. It left sorrow, poverty and chaos in its wake. But that wasn’t the end. There were some that were lucky. Some that survived.

Those who recovered from the fever were forever marked. Whether it was that their hair shifted colors, or that they had marks on their skin, something about them changed. People felt bad for these individuals. It was considered a tragedy… in the beginning. However, things started to take a turn for the worse. The economy tanked, and the populous was suffering. There was a need to place blame. That’s when the tragedy became a curse. Those who survived were known as malfetto’s. Treated as abominations, they became “the problem” with the world. But the fever didn’t just take, it also gave. Some of the malfetto’s developed powers. Abilities that were not of this world. These people were dubbed “The Young Elites”.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever: A malfetto…cursed. Her father was abusive towards her. He blamed her for her family’s decline in status and wealth. She was treated as a lesser, as a taint on her family’s former good name. After an accident occurs, Adelina learns that she too has an ability. That she too is a Young Elite.

The Dagger Society is a group of Young Elites, who have band together to fight the injustices done to malfettos by society, and more importantly, the crown. It is their goal to see the crown turned over to one of their own, so that change may finally come. When the group and Adelina’s paths cross, things start to get interesting.

Can Adelina trust these Young Elites? Can the Young Elites help Adelina control her own astounding ability? Will they succeed in their mission? So many questions! You’ll simply have to read to find out.

The Good:

You know before I even get into the good, I just want to say that this is going to be difficult for me. Honestly, I think this is one of the best reads that I’ve picked up in the better part of a year. There was just so much that I loved here, I easily think this book has made it into my top 20 all-time-reads list. And for a person whose life revolves around books, professionally and personally, that’s saying something.

Enough of all that, let’s get on with it.

Let’s start with something rather unique. The story. That’s not to say that the story is brand new, a completely new concept never done before. Far from it. In fact, this type of story is rather common place. The “unique” aspect is the story’s point-of-view. Adelina isn’t your typical character. She’s not exactly what you would call a good guy. Then again, she isn’t exactly what you would call a bad guy either. At least, not yet. It’s her darkness that leads her to do things your typical protagonist would adamantly avoid. However, it’s this darkness that made me fall in love with Adelina’s character. She’s so conflicted because the power that’s inside of her relies on the darkness, that she actually craves it. The moments when she’s the most frightened are the moments when she’s the most excited and almost happy. It feel’s like your inside the mind of a well-meaning serial killer of sorts. It’s completely messed up and yet so damn intoxicating.

Looking at the book from a writing standpoint, Marie Lu has me in awe. You know those books that draw you in from the very beginning. The kind where you feel like the author looked at everything you like and decided to write a book just for you. That’s how this book felt for me. The way the words just flowed from the page gave me goosebumps. My eyes couldn’t move fast enough, but I didn’t want to tear through the book because that would mean it was over! Such conflicting emotions.

I loved that each character was treated very carefully. You can tell that none of them were created just to fill a void. Even the smaller characters had page time, and you got to learn a little about everybody. I mean it’s been quite some time since a side character was a favorite of mine, and yet that damn Rafaelle took my emotions and ran with them. I mean I’m rooting for him. I think? I’m just nervous he’s going to stab in the back when I’m not looking.

I love magic. For those of you who have read any of my reviews, this would come as no surprise to you. In this book, the magic is awesome. The way that the abilities were described both passively and in the moment made them feel almost real. In my head I could clearly picture everything that was going on, and for me that’s a big deal. I have to be able to picture it to enjoy it.

Along similar lines, I loved the fact that the abilities were tied in to emotions. Most of us readers have seen this time and time again, but not usually in this way. Typically the idea is that your emotions affect your powers by means of their strength. As in when a character is upset, their control wanes and they either become useless or insanely powerful. That’s not to say this isn’t true here as well, because it is, but there is more to it than that. In this case, your emotions seemed to play a part in what type of powers you received. Or at the very least, they played a role in that because of your powers, you aligned more with one set of emotions. Some characters align with fear, and so fear makes them more powerful, while others align with joy and so fear makes them weaker. It was quite an interesting play on an old system.

Finally I loved the plot. I know the story is old and it’s been done before, but Marie Lu still threw in quite a few curve-balls that made it not just interesting, but truly engrossing. There were points in the story where I honestly didn’t know where we were headed or what to expect next. With characters that aren’t black and white, good and evil, the twists are all that much more surprising. I was literally on the edge of my seat for a good third of the book. Heck even the parts that were slow still had me captivated because the story-arc was just so damn good!

Oh and is it wrong of me to hope that Adelina becomes an evil overlord? This damn book seems to be bringing out a dark-side in me!

The Bad:

You want to know the bad? It’s quite obvious, and it has me more enraged than almost any other negative I’ve ever listed. It’s something so horrendous, so revolting, that I almost can’t bear to type it. Just thinking about it has me up in arms. Well your still reading so you must really want to know. Here it is: The Rose Society (Aka The Young Elites #2) doesn’t release until October 13th 2015. There I said it. You’ll have to excuse me for a moment while I attempt to meditate my murderous rage under control….Goosfraba…

And to those who’ll say “It’s just like every other YA novel”, or “It’s unoriginal”, I say the following: tell that to my uncontrollable emotions!

Overall:

After I finished The Young Elites I immediately went out and purchased this book, it’s follow-up The Rose Society, and Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy. The funniest thing, I didn’t even read what the other trilogy was about, I just bought it. That’s how much I loved this book. That’s how much I loved Marie Lu’s writing. Simply amazing! For those of you who can’t believe I hadn’t read Marie Lu’s other series yet, I understand now. I was so naïve. May the literary world find a way to forgive me.

So if you can’t already tell, this book was a home run! Almost everything was spot on. Sure there’s a bit of room for improvement, there always is, but I don’t even care. It’s: emotional, magical, fun, action-packed, thrilling, romantic. It’s just….so….ugh never mind…too many emotions.

I can’t figure out if I’m craving a movie, or if I’m praying against one! I just couldn’t take the destruction of this book.

(www.FictionForesight.com)

In a fantasized version of Renaissance Italy, those who survive the dreaded blood fever find themselves gifted with magical powers. These young survivors call themselves the Young Elite; everyone else calls them malfettos, the cursed. For young Adelina Amouteru, her power is the ability to create illusions so powerful they can drive people to distraction, or even bring about death. When her untrained powers inadvertently bring about her abusive father’s unsavory (but well-deserved) demise, the malfetto-hating Inquisition Axis arrests her and sentences her to death.

Enter the Dagger Society, a group of Young Elites lead by the mysterious youth, Enzo Valenciano. On the day of her scheduled execution, Adelina suddenly finds herself rescued by Enzo, and relocated to the Daggers’ hideout. There, Enzo offers her a chance to join the gang and hone her abilities. She accepts his invitation, but is dismayed to find that many of the Daggers don’t trust her, and actually fear her for her power. As she struggles with her own insecurities and fears—fears that fuel her abilities, and could lead to more death—she finds that the ambitious lead Inquisitor, Teren Santoro, has discovered her whereabouts, and is now threatening to kill Violetta, the sister she left behind, if she does not agree to spy on the Daggers for him.

First, the good: there’s a lot of impressive stuff in here. There’s a splendid fantasy world, lots of adventure, and an ending that will tempt even the most jaded of teens into checking out the sequel. But personally? I think it could have been so much better.

On her site, the author explains that The Young Elites is the beginning of an origin story for a villainess, which, I have to admit, is a pretty neat idea. However, I’m of the opinion that Adelina (the heroine/villainess in question) gets to her desired destination just a little too quickly. Does she really have to go bad by the end of the first book? Why not the second? Or even the third? As anyone who’s seen Star Wars can tell you, it took Anakin Skywalker three whole movies to go from bright-eyed innocent to menacing villain.

I’ll complete my laundry list of complaints by mentioning the criminally underdeveloped supporting cast, and the obligatory romantic pairing between Adelina and the hot guy, which felt rushed in its development.

So, my opinion? It’s okay. Entertaining, but certainly not spectacular. Recommend for Ages 15-Up, and for fans of Lu’s earlier Legend trilogy; fans of X-Men, and other areas of fantasy.

When the blood fever swept through the lands, the loss was alarming. Though children survived when adults perished, the fever changed them, altering their appearance. To most, these survivors, called malfettos, are considered inferior, unfit for normal society. To others, malfettos are meant to be feared, even revered, for some have acquired strange and fantastic abilities. They are known as the Young Elites.

Adelina Amouteru is a malfetto, but no ordinary one. Forsaken by her father, she has no choice but to escape before she is sold. Adelina’s abilities are made manifest during her escape, resulting in death. At her sentencing she is rescued by members of the Dagger Society, a group of Young Elites, bent on taking the crown. Now Adelina must prove her abilities make her an asset, but the darkness inside her may put everyone around her in danger.

The strongest feature in Marie Lu’s The Young Elites is its protagonist Adelina. She has grown up with a father who regards her with nothing but contempt. Continually pitted against her sister, Violetta, Adelina harbors thoughts of resentment and distrust. Her emotions are often contradictory; consequently, there are two versions of the protagonist fighting for control. Adelina is a dichotomy of altruism and malevolence, of strength and fear. Her gift is a personification of the darkness hiding inside her, which makes her both powerful and unpredictable.

Adelina is not the only flawed character in this novel. Teren, the Lead Inquisitor, tasked with hunting down the Young Elites, has very twisted motivations. And though he is presented as the main antagonist, I cannot help but view him as a puppet in another villain’s scheme. I do wish Lu had spent more time developing Enzo’s character. As leader of the Dagger Society, he is fierce and skilled, but I found his stoic attitude to be a little cliché. I don’t mind brooding characters as long as I, the reader, have insight into his or her psyche. I puzzle over the fact that though The Young Elites is told from several different perspectives, Enzo’s own is largely unexplored.

The Young Elites is full of action and explores the consequences of emotional abuse in an unforgiving world. Without giving anything away, the ending to this one does make me curious about the direction Marie Lu will take her characters in the next installment, so I will be checking out the sequel.

I have very mixed feelings about The Young Elites. On one hand I loved the world, but on the other I thought that there was a distinct lack of plot.

In an Italian-based society, fever has destroyed a nation and left behind either death or marked children called malfettos. Some of the marked children have manifested powers, and some of them have banded together and are known as the Young Elites. The other citizens fear and hate the malfettos, and a government group called the Inquisition is tasked with destroying the Young Elites.

At first, I really liked Adelina. She's dark and angry, and I thought she would make a great anti-heroine. Even as bad as her life has been, she refuses to be broken. But, as the story goes on, she doesn't ever really evolve past her anger. It's more like things happen to her and she lashes out in fear and anger, instead of proactively trying to change her situation, either with her power or her intelligence. She's also quite selfish and unaware of anyone else's problems but her own. She seems quite worried about her sister in certain points in the book, yet she also hates and is extremely jealous of her sister. A lot of her actions were based on simply what was easiest for Adelina, and to hell with anyone else, including those she "loved". I hope we see a lot of character development in the sequel. There is a dark badass lurking in Adelina. She just needs to take charge of her power and her future, instead of letting events happen to her.

The reason I am willing to give the second book a shot is that this felt just like a set up to the world. Like the first book in a lot of epic fantasies, where nothing really happens to the characters except that they journey all around the world. Instead of journeying all around the world, Adelina is exploring her powers, and the reader is learning all about the world. There are a few plots which seem to go nowhere, or end in tragedy. And there was a plot device which I think I have come to abhor - blackmailing the lead into betraying a confidence. It also leads to the other plot device I hate - betrayal or miscommunication that could have been avoided with a simple conversation. Does anyone else want to scream at characters to just talk to each other??

When I finished the last chapter before the epilogue, I was just confused. It felt like nothing was accomplished in the book. It didn't feel like the Young Elites had done anything to better their position from the beginning of the book. The epilogue kind of adds a few plot twists, but it wasn't enough to satisfy me. Also, I'm not sure that I like something that the epilogue implies; it feels like just a magical fix to the situation. However, the epilogue also introduces a new character which I think I'm going to love, Mauve.

The world-building really makes The Young Elites stand-out novel, because the dark world with powerful but scarred children is an imaginative one. But, the lack of plot really diminished my enjoyment.

Review originally appeared on Bibliophilia, Please at: http://www.bibliophiliaplease.com/2014/10/review-young-elites-by-marie-lu.html

To satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received an advance copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The story begins with Adelina, who is a survivor from the blood fever, but she was left with strange markings, but she was also left with a mysterious and powerful gift. Adelina's hair turned silver, her lashes pale and she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. There is a name for people like her, MALFETTO and in some parts they are not wanted.

It's the time of Kings and Queens and where power is everything. Malfettos are blamed for everything bad that happens; the poverty, starvation, everything. And because of that the Inquisitors take them out whenever they can. Adelina's own father thinks that she is worthless and that she ruined her family name and because of that his faith is not a good one.

The first chapters were pretty good, you had action and Adelina started off as someone who was not afraid to fight for what she wanted. But after she is rescued by the Elites (a secret society of malfettos with gifts) she becomes kind of boring for a few chapters.

Yes, in those chapters she brings you back to her childhood and explain the reason why she is feeling the way she does. But I felt like she just complaint so much for a while and wasn't really doing anything to save her sister, or to learn more of her powers so she could seek revenge.

The Dagger society welcomes her with open arms and they start training her.

Characters? Well, there is Enzo who is a member of the Dagger society but also the rightful heir to the throne, but he was banned from it since he was affected by the blood fever and became a malfetto. The main mission of the Dagger society is to assassinate the King and make Enzo the rightful King that he is. But things do not go according to their plans and everything changes. I really liked him, but I think I was wishing him to be a little more like Day, which I know it's wrong, everybody is different, but I wish he was a little more out there.

Then you meet Teren Santoro who works for the King, or should I say the Queen. His job is to look for Elites and kill them. But he hides a much darker secret of them all. He also has Adelina's sister in his hands and uses that to get information out of her.

Rafaelle is my favorite character by far. I don't know why, I just connected with him right away. He is part of the Dagger society and pretty much takes Adelina under his wing. I loved the friendship that he has with Adelina, it is so nice to see how a male and female can be friends.

Adelina's powers are something that the Elites had never seen before and they realize how dangerous she can be. I loved the last few chapters and I couldn't wait to finish listening to it to find out what would happen in the end. When the unexpected happens, everybody's world is turned upside down. Especially for Adelina, the Daggers want her out of their society, but for the first time in the book I saw Adelina doing what I wanted her to do from the beginning, FIGHT for what she wants and believes.

Ok, I was just about to spoil the book, but I am not going to do that.

There is a big cliffhanger in the end and I loved the little Epilogue, it was just perfect to get you interested in the next book.

I have recently finished reading the Legend trilogy and I really had high hopes for this book. Did I hate it? NO way. Did I love it? I'm not sure yet, I do give it a 3.5 stars. I know some people may not agree with me, but I wanted more of what happened in the end to have happened earlier, did I just make any sense??? No clue.

Will I read the next book? Heck yes, I will. With new characters coming aboard I cannot wait to see what is going to happen. And I am really hopping to see Adelina be a kick ass character, no more feeling sorry for what happened to her, I just want to see her fight and use her scary, dark powers.

Have you read The Young Elites? What did you think of it?

This book did not turn out like how I thought it was going to turn out.

The story follows a young girl by the name of Adelina. Adelina is a malfetto. She was marked by the blood fever that passed through and killed a third of the population. Mallfettos are seen as cursed. They are bad luck. Adelina's dad tries to get rid of his "bad luck", but Adelina finds out and flees. He catches up to her, and weird stuff ensues. For she is actually not just any maletto, but a Young Elite. Young Elites have unheard of abilities. Everything kicks off from there as Adelina realizes the truth about herself.

This book reminds me a lot of "Shadow and Bone" by Leigh Bardugo. They're almost in the same twisted universe. (That book is really good by the way and I totally recommend it).

I loved watching the story progress. Though, at points, it didn't seem like anything was going on. Just chilling around the court doing nothing basically.

I feel so bad for Adelina. My heart aches for her. I really hope her lot improves in the next book. Otherwise, the darkness is going to swallow her whole.

(Minor Spoilers)
The Young Elites is a darker fantasy version of The Darkest Minds. Okay well it is to me anyways. This is why...POWERS. Sickness/disease/plague.

The difference bet-><-ween the two though Ruby and her friends stuck together.

The Young Elites makes you root for the bad guys. I know you're thinking why the hell would you do that right? The Young Elites is not a heroine book. The MC does not walk out of this story fulfilling some awesome destiny. She doesn't save the day. Nobody praises her with gifts and riches. This book is for those who love villains. I can't say that I'm proud of any of the characters. They all had crappy motives. They all used one another to gain something else that would better benefit them. Heroes don't do that. I know it sounds like I'm against the book, but I'm actually not! I loved Marie Lu's writing and the way she twists her characters. Not one of them seemed to live a happy childhood. Even ones that did...didn't. You'll understand if you read it. One can't truly be happy if there are secrets hidden.

I can say while I wasn't proud of the choices the characters made that in some situations I can see why they did what they did. My family would come first over strangers any day (even if I couldn't stand them at times.) I think I definitely had a love/hate relationship with all the characters. While none of them were weak, they're actions spoke words. If I had to choose one I would say Enzo was probably my favorite because he believes a little bit more in Adelina than the others.

I enjoyed Marie Lu's Legend (I only read the first book. The other two are on my shelf) It was one of the first Dystopians I read besides Enclave and Divergent. Just like that this is one of the first Fantasies I've really read and got into. (I should really read Graceling or The Girl of Fire and Thorns now.) Usually the world building just seems so far-fetched, and I get that it's suppose to, but I spend time trying to figure it out that I don't enjoy what I'm reading. So I try to not focus so much on the names and places, and more on the story at hand. Once I did that...it worked.

The ending for me pretty much sucked because I wanted a satisfying ending for certain characters. It just means I will be waiting impatiently for the second book which is The Rose Society.

When I first seen The Young Elites on Goodreads, it didn’t peak my interest at all. Then, shortly before it’s release I read The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas and realized that I wanted to read ALL THE FANTASY and suddenly, I couldn’t wait to get my grabby hands on this one and dive in.

Adelina is awesome, she really grew on me throughout the book. She did have negative qualities, seeing how she is very dark and has this underlying rage, but it all spawns from her terrible childhood and you cannot help but love her. Enzo was hot. No pun intended :P I quite enjoyed him and even though he came off as such a hard*** he had a soft interior. The other Elites I was quite fond of as well, for the most part. And Adelina’s sister… ooh, I loved her too! I actually thought the characters were great, and quite fleshed out with there being so many of them, and only getting a bit of time with each one. Adelina’s character building was also prominent throughout the story which plays a huge part in my overall likeness factor, especially in a story such as this.

The plot was awesome. It was fast paced and kept me engaged and interested the entire time. I was shocked at several points throughout the story, and there were quite a few emotional punches which are another factor that makes me fall in love with a story. The worldbuilding was great, I didn’t feel confused (which can happen with fantasy for me) and I felt like I knew this world and could picture it while reading the story. And the powers of the Elites… fantastic. I love magical elements and this didn’t fail me in that area.

And, Oh. My. God. The ending nearly killed me. I cried so freaking hard I had to take my glasses off, which is the ultimate kind of Lauren cry :P My heart seriously HURT after that ending. I can’t even write this without feeling like I’m going to cry honestly. I was just so SAD for Adelina. When she talks about how she is the one that nobody wants… spare me. It’s heartbreaking. And then, well, you know. The other part that happened… tears folks expect tears.

Despite the sadness, I LOVED this book wholeheartedly! I am 100% invested in this series, and I cannot wait to read The Rose Society. The epilogue (which can be totally hit or miss in my opinion) just completely prepares you for the next book, and I am so excited to see more of these new characters!

The Young Elites is a phenomenal start to a series. Great characters, fast-paced plot, interesting world and MAGIC! Highly, highly recommended.

Check out my blog for more reviews, I post 2 every week.
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*SPOILER ALERT*

Adelina is only 16 and is a malfetto, someone who survived the blood fever and now has markings. Hers are silver hair and that she lost an eye. Her father hates her and loves her younger sister. At the beginning of the book, her father sells her, she finds out and runs away. Her father chased after and she uses powers of illusion that she never knew she had. She is captured. After being held as a prisoner, she is taken to be executed. She barely escapes with the assistance of her powers and The Young Elites.

Enzo is the leader of The Young Elites and also the rightful heir to the rightful King to the throne. Although banned because he was also affected by the blood fever. He plans to take back his throne but something horribly wrong...

I went into this with no expectations whatsoever. I've never read anything else by this author - Marie Lu. I can say I felt bad for Adelina, her father hates her and sells her to a man. That is seriously messed up. It really plays up the saying that the youngest is always the favorite. Adelina's little sister gets everything.

She finally decides that she has had enough and runs away, though everything gets worse from there. She kills her father and almost dies by being burned alive.

She is saved by The Young Elites and taken to their safe haven and slowly begins her training. Teren finds her though and he says he will kill her younger sister if she doesn't help him take down The Young Elites. So our girl becomes a spy to save her sister.

Everything goes wrong from there, people die and there is a pretty big twist that I didn't see coming. It's a book that really stuck with me. It left me thinking about it long after I put it down. I will say it's not a book I will read again though. I loved that the author told a story from the villain's point of view but I just couldn't connect.

Also, I love romance. I have insane love for a book with cute romance. This had a couple kisses and a few feelings. Nothing cute and I don't even see how she could like him when she barely knew the guy!

My final thoughts are simple; I would read this book, but get it from the library or borrow from a friend. I wouldn't waste the money.

I’m a sucker for fantasy and ever since I read the description for author Marie Lu’s The Young Elites I knew that I had, had, had to check it out. I’ve read the first two novels in the author’s Legend trilogy and was blown away by how awesome they were. That being said I had some pretty high expectations for The Young Elites and hoped with all of my heart that they would be met. I’m not surprised by saying that they were met a hundred percent.

The Young Elites takes place in Kenettra, a world divided into the Sunlands, Sealands and the Skylands. When the Blood Fever hits Kenettra, Adelina Amouteru, her sister and her mother are stricken by the illness. It claims the life of their mother as well as Adelina’s eye, but both of the sisters survive. Now a Malfetto, Adelina is nothing more than a burden on her family and there are rumors that Malfettos like her have survived the Fever and gained powers beyond their wildest imagination. These people are known as the Young Elites and are being hunted by the Inquisition Axis. When Adelina murders her father with the assistance of her strange abilities, the Inquisition prepares to burn her at the stake.

However the Young Elites save her life and take her to meet with the Dagger Society, a portion of the Young Elites that is dedicated to inducting people like Adelina into their ranks. There she meets the charming Raffaele and the Young Elite’s Malfetto leader and Prince of Kenettra, Enzo. But what once begins as an adventure meant to make Adelina a stronger version of herself and a weapon in every sense of the word turns into something else entirely. Her loyalties will be tested, loves will be put on the line, and inevitably nothing for Adelina will ever be the same.

The Young Elites reminded me a lot of Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy. While the plots are totally different and the fantasy realms they’re set in are nothing alike, The Young Elites’ Adelina reminded me a lot of Bardugo’s Alina Starkov. And that isn’t just because their names include some of the same constants and vowels. Adelina is introduced to us as the daughter to an abusive father who has been forced to grow a hardened skin because of her Malfetto status. She can be sadistic, she can be a naturally good person, and above all she’s a special snowflake. Adelina and Alina share the same way of thinking but unlike Alina, Adelina embraces the fact that she’s a special snowflake. And I adored that in spite of some of the after effects it has on her character.

Kenettra is a place that I totally want to live in and go to if it were ever possible. Author Marie Lu does an amazing job of describing this new world she’s built. I have a very clear, very vivid idea of exactly what Kenettra is supposed to look like. I’m a huge fan of world-building and love when an author can create an entire world and give it its own lore, beliefs, creatures and the like. Reading The Young Elites gives readers the opportunity to enter a world unlike any other and become completely immersed in it.

Don’t even get me started on Enzo and Raffaele. It is seldom that a novel can describe a character alone and have me falling in love with them. No further actions necessary. (I can be pretty vain when it comes to characters). Lu’s descriptions of Enzo and Raffaele are golden. They’re both physically gorgeous but as the novel progresses we find out that one of these boys is a total sweetheart and needs to be protected at all costs (Raffaele) and the other is a badass who could probably rip you in half if he so desired (Enzo). I liked that there wasn’t a love triangle and thank goodness because I was getting that vibe at first, and that both boys didn’t have their priorities set solely on romance.

Raffaele is a, for all intents and purposes, prostitute and Enzo is the big bad leader of the Young Elites. They’re close friends and Adelina’s presence doesn’t change that. Even when her romance with Enzo begins to bloom both characters motives don’t change. I’m thankful for getting to read a novel where love doesn’t suddenly warp everybody’s minds. I absolutely despise when characters are reduced to nothing all because of a little bit of love.

With an ending that left me dying for more, I would recommend The Young Elites to any readers who want a novel that they will finish in one sitting. Any readers who want a novel that is action and fantasy and romance should also give this a read. And if knowing that I think this is one of the best novels released this year also piques your interest, then you should also give this a look.

Oh my!! I seriously loved this book....it's dark, gritty, and the main character is not the good heroine. Oh no she's the bad guy and I sorta love her :D

The Young Elites by Marie Lu is the first in a new dystopian, fantasy series about a group of young men and women who have special "gifts" granted to them from surviving the blood fever as children. Our main character, Adelina Amouteru, is arrested after accidentally killing her father one night when she was running away. On the day of her execution, she is saved by a group who call themselves the Dagger Society and like her have powers or magic from surviving the blood fever. The problem, Adelina didn't know she had powers until the night she killed her father. Now she has to learn how to use them and fast! Terren, leader of the Inquisition Axis, is hunting her and the Daggers down and he won't stop until they are all dead.

I love Adelina! She is a scary chick! All her life she's been told she's a disappoint by her father for being a malfetto (a child that survived the blood fever marked/scarred/changed). With the fever, her hair turned to silver and one of her eyes was removed. Some malfettos were rumored to have powers and because Adelina had none, her father ignored her, taunted her, provoked her, and abused her in attempts to bring powers to the surface. This is enough to break anyone! And for our Adelina it does. She is constantly haunted by her father's ghost, and her powers (when they finally surface) are fueled by fear. This takes her to some very dark places. She questions herself constantly, knowing that the pain she inflicts isn't right, but taking pleasure in causing it.

Then there's Terren. He is a powerful young man in a high position with the court. Terren is ruthless, but not cruel. And he finds Adelina fascinating. However he is obsessed with finding the Dagger Society and hunting down all malfettos to purge the country of them. But he's hiding a big secret. Honestly, I had figured out his secret early on, but I won't spoil it for you ;) Trust me you'll understand his character much better!

And finally Enzo, or the Reaper, leader of the Dagger Society, crowned prince, and rightful ruler of the country. He has his own obsession and plans to use Adelina to get it. Enzo plans to take his country back by force and help the malfettos, especially since he's one himself. He is ruthless, cunning, and driven, but with Adelina he finds himself enchanted and unable to focus.

The entire story centers around the Dagger Society taking back the kingdom and training Adelina how to use her unique powers. The author has created a whole new world and I'll admit that in the beginning I was more than a little lost. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a futuristic world or a historical fiction. Then I realized it wasn't set on Earth at all...my bad! Once I realized this, the book flowed well and I was amazed at how intricately Adelina's character plays out. We see a broken girl at the beginning of the book who slowly progresses into a young woman with power and the ability to take on anyone. And she does!

Overall I thought the book was great! At times the flow lagged a bit, especially when Adelina would berate herself over her feelings. For the most part though, there was plenty of action and plot twists that I didn't see coming. And the ending...I'll admit I may have shed a few tears for our bad girl. Then the epilogue...eep! I can't wait for the next in this series to come out :D

The Young Elites surprised me in quite a few ways. From what I’d heard of the concept, I was expecting something in a modern or a near-future setting, maybe dystopian or post-apocalyptic, since when you think of teens dealing with superpowers, that tends to be the popular setting. But to have it take place in a secondary world, a fantasy setting, was unexpected. Magic exists in dozens of ways in fantasy settings, but YA fantasy seems to be a less common thing now than YA dystopias or sci-fi, so when I was presented with something a little more to my reading taste than I expected, I was pleased.

For much of the book, my opinion wavered between thinking it was a good book but had little to make it stand out from others (aside from the general quality of writing and storytelling, I mean; I suppose that alone can make a book stand out), and from feeling deeply bad for the main character, Adelina. Scarred by the blood fever that swept through the land years ago, and left with strange powers as a result, she is a malfetto, deemed worthless by most and an outright curse of society by others. For a long time her power did not surface, no matter how hard her father tried to influence them by a twisted mix of kindness and cruelty, physical and emotional abuse that made me cringe, until the night he decides to sell her into marriage to cover his own debts, cutting his losses on a “useless ugly daughter.” Then her powers manifest, taking the form of darkness and illusions that can kill, bringing about the death of her father and her subsequent capture and planned execution.

Enter the Dagger Society. Made up of people called Young Elites, malfettos with powers, who rescue Adelina and seek to use her to further their goals of overthrowing the current monarchy that declares them all to be cursed and the downfall of society. Enter the Inquisition, who want to use Adelina as a spy to learn about the Dagger Society’s plans, offering her a chance at redemption in the eyes of the gods if she helps eliminate the blight on the world, and who hold her sister captive as incentive. Adelina is torn between her need to save her sister and her growing attraction to the leader of the Daggers, Enzo, and is caught in the middle of a huge mess.

Adelina is an amazing character, in no small part because she is not your typical YA heroine. She has trauma, and that trauma affects every area of her life. She spent much of her life in an abusive family situation, with her father seeking to use her for what powers he thinks he can draw out of her. She transitions to a situation where two opposing groups seek to use her for their own gains. She is dark, her power born from pain and fear, and she has a desire to hurt those who hurt her, viciously and vindictively, and that is what sets her apart from others. Most YA protags, especially females, may have their hurts that make them tougher but ultimately they are still good. Chaotic Good, maybe, but there’s still that aspect about them. Adelina is more Chaotic Neutral, doing not what she does because it’s good or because she truly believes in one group or another’s goals, but from self-interest, and ofter from blind anger and for retribution rather than justice. Reading Marie Lu’s notes at the end about how she wanted to tell the story of a villain rather than a hero makes this even more interesting, since it works well to humanize villains and show them as people who can arise from the hurt and abused who are tired of letting that pattern continue and who are granted the power to stop it.

And the ending? Heartbreaking. And I can’t go into details here without letting loose a whole stream of spoilers, which would ruin much of the book for those who haven’t read it yet but still want to. All I’ll say is that however much The Young Elites may lean on tropes now and again, just about everything in the last few chapters was unexpected, and I didn’t foresee it at all! Which is impressive, and shows that Lu has some good skill at telling the story that needs to be told rather than telling the same story that everyone else already has.

The Young Elites is a quick read, made all the quicker for the good balance of action and emotion, since even the slower scenes of the book are revealing and do much to move the plot along. Little in here is filler. And it should be said that I didn’t experience my usual annoyance with the first-person viewpoint. I find that often with that viewpoint it takes much of the tension away from scenes that are supposed to be brimming with it, because you know, on some level, that the person you’re following will come out okay. Or at least won’t die. So throwing them into crazy action doesn’t actually do much to raise the tension of the story. But many of Adelina’s scenes did not involve throwing herself into danger, and when they did, it wasn’t the sort of danger that could turn deadly, so that problem was eliminated before it even began. Nicely done!

I can’t wait to read the sequel when it comes out. Lu has set up a wonderful villain for us to follow, an antagonist in a protagonists’s wrappings, and I want to know how the rest of the story unfolds. It’s easy to see that The Young Elites was merely setup to a larger and further-reaching tale, and there’s a lot that still needs to be resolved, so I’m joining the crowds that are eager for the sequel’s release so we can continue with Adelina’s story. Lu has got herself a new fan here, and one that definitely recommends this to those who are seeking a YA fantasy that is familiar and fresh all at the same time!

As Legend Triliogy fan, Imwas not going to miss out on a new Marie Lu series. Do not let my 4 star rating turn you away. This is a great book. I enjoyed the read and the character development. The character development is important yet takes up much of the book. A little less would have been nice but it is the first book in the series/trilogy.

No matter how I say this I'll get bashed for it so here it is: while I grasp that the world is changing and same sex relationships are more accepted and visible for our eyes I grow weary of every show and/or book inserting a same sex couple for the sake of political correctness. This not a judgment. It an FYI for unsuspecting parents buying for their teens, that's all. The writer is amazing & the story is stellar.

There is a good deal of action once it gets moving. It takes off a little slower than Legend but this story line needs to based on understanding the main characters lot in life.

I look forward to the following books. With the solid foundation of this one, they are sure to be stellar.

This book right here is not about a hero, it's about how a villain is made and that's the essence of The Young Elites. It's everything I loved about it. Marie Lu crosses all boundaries of predictability and goes into the uncharted territory of shock and awe that many seldom cross. The Young Elites is the amalgamation of everything I've come to adore about the fantasy genre; the violence of Susan Ee's Angelfall, the sweeping world of Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass, the wickedness in V. E. Schwab's Vicious and that something that sets The Young Elites apart from every other.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever that took her left eye and marked her as a malfetto. It's not a victorious survival for she is marred for life, and on the continent of Kenettra, being a malfetto is akin to a death sentence. Stripped of respect and his reputation as a merchant, her father went to extreme lengths to make Adelina show powers not of this world, to be worth something. To be a young elite. The constant abuse of his father, the love he showered her younger sister Violetta with, and the final straw which drove her to the edge. Adelina escapes from his prison only to constantly find herself behind more and more bars.

Teren Santoro is the Lead Inquisitor, working to eliminate all malfettos and always on the lookout for the young elites. His character surprised me the most. He is one of those who despises malfettos and he's wicked to his bones. Self-righteousness drives him which is revealed through the changes in perspective. Teren's definitely someone to fear because he doesn't spare anyone who crosses him, least of all a malfetto who dared defy him. So seeing him on par with Adelina is something to behold.

Enzo Valenciano is the leader of the Dagger Society, one of the groups of young elites who hope to find more like them and plan to bring down the king and queen. There's not much we get to know about him; he's no open book and I preferred it that way because of the events that took place. There's so much mystery surrounding him and all of his scenes with Adelina were underlaid with such power and sensuality that I wanted more.

The violence in the story is so well-crafted that I could feel the delicious darkness inside Adelina and oh, what darkness it is! It churns and churns and builds up into something that's mindblowing. But the darkness is not limited to Adelina, oh no every character is dark and I supposed much of it is because of the kind of world they live in and what they have to endure on a day to day basis, I just know that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The secondary characters are well-defined especially Raffaele who I adored but it was Spider that I loathed. The next installment in the series is definitely going to be bigger and more badass and I just can't wait to delve back into the world of The Young Elites. Marie Lu decided to wrench my happiness away and now I'm not quite sure what to make of that ending. And oh, that dagger on the cover? It actually shows up in the book.

We all carry our scars around, and they affect every decision we make, but what if every scar was on the outside? In Marie Lu's The Young Elites, the malfettos suffer the shame and ridicule and persecution of their entire society thanks to a plague that scarred them but didn't take them. But society isn't ready for those who survived and have become The Young Elites.

The plague ravaged the world, killing the adults it touched. Many children survived, however, they were left far from unscathed. Many were deeply scarred. They are now called malfettos, the abominations. To make matters worse, some malfettos have developed abilities that rival the supernatural. While Adelina's father was appalled to have a daughter who was a malfetto, he at least would have preferred her if she developed powers and was of any use to him. Instead, she was completely useless and a shame to their entire family on top of that. When she runs away after he sells her as a mistress to a local business man, they are both surprised to discover that she is indeed talented, even though her talent wasn't one that could help him...

Scheduled to be executed by the Inquisition, Adelina isn't going to fight her fate, but when the Young Elite rescue her, she finds out dark secrets she never thought could be true. Enzo, the leader of the Dagger Society (Young Elites) is the malfetto prince the royals said had perished. Now he wanted the throne back from his greedy, cold sister and her malfetto lead Inquisitor. To be part of the Dagger Society, Adelina must prove her worth, but her powers are dark and mysterious. She feels a connection to most of the Elites, but even they are unsure how her powers will play out. As she advances, so does the war on malfettos. Children and harmless women are dragged into the street and executed, but the Daggers have to pick their perfect moment to attack. If they don't, they could lose everything.

While I really loved Lu's first series, Legend, it had some moments that ran a little slow. After reading the first book in this series, it is clear Lu has gained a little experience under her belt and chose to pick up the pace, because this was one heck of a book! This historical fantasy goes above and beyond to hold a readers attention, and Adelina is the ultimate of anti-hero. She doesn't fully understand her power, but she does know she likes the strength it gives her over others. She isn't a bad person by any means, but after years of torture at the hands of her father, she definitely has a well-deserved dark side. But she is also kind and caring. She loves her sister unconditionally and will go to great lengths to save her, even test her own limits of right and wrong. And her relationships with the different Elites are so different and unique, you see layer and layer of depth within Adelina's character with each page you turn.

The story itself is also unique while still being familiar. Super powers in young adults? Not terribly original. The way Lu does it? Pretty freakin' great! My only concern was the lack of real world building, which was a problem in her last series as well. If a world is developed on the page in the same level of detail as in the writer's head, I should be able to picture what each scene looks like, but with Lu's books, I often find myself surprised by a piece of the setting because it doesn't fit with other details I have gleaned. That means there are definite gaps in what she is giving us. It is a fine line between too much and too little world-building, and that is one thing Lu should work on for the sequel to Young Elites. Everything else she has in spades!

It feels like I have waited forever for this book. And now I have finally gotten to read it. I always knew I was going to love it, but I was nervous about starting it as well. It was different from what I was expecting. Which was all kinds of awesome. I ended up really loving this book. Which just makes me really happy.

But oh. I'm not sure about my feelings for The Young Elites. I really loved this book. But a few things bothered me. Yet I didn't hate it. Not at all. Which is why this book is a five star for me. Because I loved it. And I didn't want it to end. The writing is stunning. The story is all kinds of amazing. Just really good.

But then there is that ending. It is so evil. And happened in a surprising and cruel way. I knew it was coming, but not how it happened. And just. That was mean. Yet written pretty awesome too. But yeah. There are hints about what may happen. And it better happen. It better. Otherwise I might end up being very sad for a very long time. Which is just all kinds of depressing. Anyway. The ending. It is evil. Yet fitting too, in a way. It made sense. Probably. Or not. It hurt my heart, anyway. But I have hope. I just. I wish Adelina had been more trusting. And told people the truth. I hated how she lied all the time. I'm not pleased with that. And then she thought the worst right away as well. I don't blame someone for not trusting her. As she was a bit dark and not in control of herself. She made so many bad decisions that I did not like.

Yet. Yet I really did love Adelina. She is an awesome character. And oh so broken. I love to have my favorite characters to be broken. And I just loved reading about her past, and how kind of awful it was. It could have been worse, but yeah. It was bad enough. And though she is broken she is also strong. And I adored reading about her. But at the same time, she does some awful things to people. And I'm not sure I like her all that much, lol. I both love and hate her. Either way, she is an awesome main character.

There are a whole bunch of characters in this book. Some I really hated. Like Teren. I'm not sure about him. I will never like him, but he is an interesting character to read about. But yeah. A person that I will not ever like. Sigh. Then there is Enzo. Whom is the love interest. And there is just so little romance. Sad face. But what is in the book is pretty awesome. Anyway. Enzo is an amazing character. I adored him. A bit scary. And his powers. Sigh. All kinds of awesome. Yeah. I really loved Enzo. My favorite.

Then there is Raffaele. I thought he might end up being a love interest, making it a triangle. But Marie told me no love triangles in these books. But yeah. I worried. Because he is the most beautiful. And he makes Adelina feel things. Hmph. But there is nothing there. Just a cute friendship. Sort of. There is no romance or lust just some feelings. Which made me happy. Yet. I ended up really loving Raffaele. And I want all the best for him. But yeah, I do not want him with Adelina. Not ever, lol. He's amazing, though.

There are too many characters for me to mention. Just know that I enjoyed reading about them all. Adelina also has a sister. Whom I really enjoyed reading about. Couldn't decide if I was supposed to hate her or love her. But yeah. I grew to love her. As she is a pretty amazing character too. And I cannot wait to get to know her more as well. Sigh. I just felt like this book was way too short. I want to know more. I need more. About all the characters. About the evil ending. About the amazing plot. I need it all.

I could say so much about the story in this book. But I shall not. Just a few small things. It is all kinds of perfect. It is different and so so good. I loved the world it is set in. I loved the different things. I just loved all of it. I loved reading about the damaged young people. About the Young Elites as well. It was all so so interesting and I just need to know more. I do. I am seriously dying to read book two. Hoping the next year will move fast. I won't say more about this plot. Just that I loved it to pieces and I need more.

There are so many things I loved about The Young Elites. The writing is stunning. The characters are broken and dark. The plot is exciting and surprising and scary at times. This book is just all kinds of amazing. And I'm so glad that I finally got to read it. I need you all to read this book as well. Because it is different and just so good. I loved reading about Adelina. Though she is so dark inside. I just hope she's able to change. Sigh. Yet I love her darkness as well. Though, maybe a little less of it, hih. <3

Disclaimer: This copy of ARC is obtained from the publisher in exchange of my honest review.

A dark and compelling story.

The background of this book is about a group of gifted kids with super power who form the Dagger Society and be called as The Young Elites by the public. These kids are also called malfettos as they have marks on their body as a result of a deadly disease which kills a lot of people in their nation. The time of the story is not stated clearly, but it looks like it happened in the medieval era.

The heroine of this book - Adelina Amouteru is one of the malfettos, the survivors of the blood fever. Her father always thinks that she is bringing bad luck to the family because she is a malfetto and he always abuses her mentally and physically. This is the major reason that the darkness dwells inside her which gives her strength to her unique power in the later part of the story.

Adelina joins the Dagger Society after she is rescued from being burned alive after killing her father using her undiscovered power. She undergoes a series of training in order to learn how to control her power and to help the society in fighting the king of their nation.

In the book, the most parts I can read is how Adelina gathers her fear and darkness in her soul in order to be able to use her power. In my opinion, these parts may be too much and redundant. Apart from her own internal dialogues, she'll have the illusions of her father talking to her and causes her emotions to stir.

As I read through, I would imagine that Adelina will become the most powerful member in the group and she is able to control her darkness but the ending surprises me. She failed and caused a massacre that she couldn't believe she has done it.

The POV of this book is written mainly focusing on Adelina's perspective. In some the chapters, they'll focus in the other main characters as well. I always love multiple POV as it'll make the story richer and not single layer.

I rated this book a 4 stars right after I finished reading it. But at a second thought, I changed it to 3 stars because I don't have the anticipation for the 2nd book in the series. By reading the epilogue at the end of the book, I'm guessing that Adelina starts her own society and venture to another nation. It's still a good read and the epilogue could be a cliffhanger to make you want more from the book but it just doesn't work on me.

I'm amazed at how much The Young Elites surprised me. Of course, I couldn't expect less from author Marie Lu, whose Legend trilogy knocked my socks off. This book is however the start of a series with great potential. There's no doubt about it that I fell in love with the world at first sight, but I also managed so love so many other aspects of this book it's hard to believe. In short terms, 'The Young Elites' is almost everything how I imagined it would be, and still surprised me in many ways.

Marie Lu got rid of many YA-clichés, it makes the novel stand out even more than it already does. Gone is the annoying but heart-wrenching love triangle. No more female protagonists who are nothing but special. This book takes the high road and still resembles George R.R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, yet on the aspect of deaths. It's clear that Lu isn't afraid anymore of killing off characters, whether they have a role to play or not. I won't spoil the fun for anyone, but do take my warning: be careful who you get to love. Deaths are so unexpected in this book, it's like anyone could die at any moment. If I may talk about a certain death in this book, I loved that it happened. I really do. There would have been a whole storyline for the character and could have been used for later books. What the author does here is taking a serious risk of killing off a character who could have been a great addition for the rest of the series. This is also the reason why I'm definitely going to be reading the entire trilogy. I'm so curious now to see what happens next.

There's not much to be said when it comes to the romance in The Young Elites. It's so light it's barely even palpable. Yet what you do feel, makes you swoon every single time. It started off beautifully and a little predictable, but there's nothing bad to be said. There was obviously no need to fill in the book with only romance and focus the story around it. It came when the book was already halfway through, and from the moment I've read such a scene it made me want more. Though it stayed in the background and still made me swoon, deserves a round of applause.

I don't believe in love at first sight. Then I wonder, when did I then fell in love with the world? A combination of high-fantasy and dystopia with influences from Victorian times, the renaissance and Venezia, what's not to love? In my opinion, this was such a clever thing to do and makes the book even more original. I do have to keep in mind that this is only the first book of a trilogy, and therefore there's still a lot of world building to be done. It's only now that Lu has set the tone of the world for her book, but with much more to come. She's left many other options open for possible adventures and plot twists I won't see coming. I look forward to seeing more of this in the near future.

The characters are especially what made The Young Elites so great. Every one of them, ranging from characters who you get to see a lot like Enzo and Rafael, to minor ones like the Daggers or even the Queen, the type of villain you can't but love. The same goes for Teren, although his situation and characters are a little more extraordinary. He's not your everyday villain, so to speak. With each Teren chapter, you'll get to know more about him. Sooner or later you'll discover that Teren is just a young man who does things, either good or bad, for the woman he loves. The woman who manipulates him. He's does what he's been told is his right, and because of that Teren is a character you'll adore. He has a story of his own, and while there's a lot of him you learn in this book, I have a feeling that the next two book will reveal even more.

Adilena was the typical coin with two sides. The side I love and the one which frustrated me on many levels. In short words, she got on my nerves for pretty much the most part of the book, or just the middle part. I loved who she was when the story got off a flying start, and the person she became when the book ended. She goes through immense character development, and I appreciated it. What I didn't love so much was the deal with her sister. I won't go into details because spoilers, but keeping secrets from everyone and being manipulated the whole way through isn't a smart thing to do. I understand the girl had difficulties, but what she did made me want to rip my hair out of frustration. It dragged on for a while and also explains the four stars. I'm crossing my fingers for her to not repeat herself, but looking at the end of the book I have a strong feeling she won't.

When The Yong Elites could have been a five-star book, it remains a fabulous start for a series just as good as Legend. The story started off amazingly and the ending left me wanting more. I'm in love with almost every character, and I long to discover the unique world Lu has created. I'll be anticipating this more and more with each book to come.

I slowly felt in love with Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her writing, but when I first read Legend I liked it but didn’t love it. But I was hooked after reading Prodigy and let’s not begin how much I loved Champion. Every new book I read of hers, I felt more in love with her. When my dear blogger friend Nancy from Ravenous Reader loaned me her copy of The Young Elites, I was overwhelmed. I freaking loved it! All Marie Lu’s fans will be overjoyed when they read The Young Elites! It is such a phenomenal read! Packed with actions, this book will have everyone wanting more.

Scared of her father, Adelina never stood up to him. She let him used her. He was such a mean bastard that didn’t deserve to have such amazing daughter. He didn’t care for her, he was blinded by the fact that she was a malfetto. To his believe, Adelina was an abomination. See many years ago a deadly illness left some crippled and killed many, including Adelina’s mother. From those that survived there are a few that were left with special abilities, these were named “malfetto”. And they are not wanted. Many seek them to kill them. Though Adelina is mistreated, she never revealed any sort of ability – which is why she lived this long. Until one night, she had enough. That night she escaped only to be confronted by her father minutes after. Something bad happens and now she is running away from the “authorities”, only to cross path with a group of malfettos. Now she must learn how to develop her powers and fight against those that wants to kill her.

God, I loved this story! I am a huge fan of the X-Men and this reminds me so much of the movies! Adelina is one tough cookie and I loved her powers. Though she couldn’t choose a side, though she betrayed, she was willing to fight back for her rights. I have to be honest, I don't blame her. This chick has trusting issues. I would be too, if I were treated the way her father treated her. But though she is broken and unsecured, she is changing. I can’t wait for the second book and read more of her! (Ha! And this is not even out yet). It will be a loooong torturous year! I can’t wait to have my copy in hands! Marie Lu is definitely an auto-buy!

I’m a sucker for fantasy and ever since I read the description for author Marie Lu’s The Young Elites I knew that I had, had, had to check it out. I’ve read the first two novels in the author’s Legend trilogy and was blown away by how awesome they were. That being said I had some pretty high expectations for The Young Elites and hoped with all of my heart that they would be met. I’m not surprised by saying that they were met a hundred percent.

The Young Elites takes place in Kenettra, a world divided into the Sunlands, Sealands and the Skylands. When the Blood Fever hits Kenettra, Adelina Amouteru, her sister and her mother are stricken by the illness. It claims the life of their mother as well as Adelina’s eye, but both of the sisters survive. Now a Malfetto, Adelina is nothing more than a burden on her family and there are rumors that Malfettos like her have survived the Fever and gained powers beyond their wildest imagination. These people are known as the Young Elites and are being hunted by the Inquisition Axis. When Adelina murders her father with the assistance of her strange abilities, the Inquisition prepares to burn her at the stake.

However the Young Elites save her life and take her to meet with the Dagger Society, a portion of the Young Elites that is dedicated to inducting people like Adelina into their ranks. There she meets the charming Raffaele and the Young Elite’s Malfetto leader and Prince of Kenettra, Enzo. But what once begins as an adventure meant to make Adelina a stronger version of herself and a weapon in every sense of the word turns into something else entirely. Her loyalties will be tested, loves will be put on the line, and inevitably nothing for Adelina will ever be the same.

The Young Elites reminded me a lot of Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy. While the plots are totally different and the fantasy realms they’re set in are nothing alike, The Young Elites’ Adelina reminded me a lot of Bardugo’s Alina Starkov. And that isn’t just because their names include some of the same constants and vowels. Adelina is introduced to us as the daughter to an abusive father who has been forced to grow a hardened skin because of her Malfetto status. She can be sadistic, she can be a naturally good person, and above all she’s a special snowflake. Adelina and Alina share the same way of thinking but unlike Alina, Adelina embraces the fact that she’s a special snowflake. And I adored that in spite of some of the after effects it has on her character.

Kenettra is a place that I totally want to live in and go to if it were ever possible. Author Marie Lu does an amazing job of describing this new world she’s built. I have a very clear, very vivid idea of exactly what Kenettra is supposed to look like. I’m a huge fan of world-building and love when an author can create an entire world and give it its own lore, beliefs, creatures and the like. Reading The Young Elites gives readers the opportunity to enter a world unlike any other and become completely immersed in it.

Don’t even get me started on Enzo and Raffaele. It is seldom that a novel can describe a character alone and have me falling in love with them. No further actions necessary. (I can be pretty vain when it comes to characters). Lu’s descriptions of Enzo and Raffaele are golden. They’re both physically gorgeous but as the novel progresses we find out that one of these boys is a total sweetheart and needs to be protected at all costs (Raffaele) and the other is a badass who could probably rip you in half if he so desired (Enzo). I liked that there wasn’t a love triangle and thank goodness because I was getting that vibe at first, and that both boys didn’t have their priorities set solely on romance.

Raffaele is a, for all intents and purposes, prostitute and Enzo is the big bad leader of the Young Elites. They’re close friends and Adelina’s presence doesn’t change that. Even when her romance with Enzo begins to bloom both characters motives don’t change. I’m thankful for getting to read a novel where love doesn’t suddenly warp everybody’s minds. I absolutely despise when characters are reduced to nothing all because of a little bit of love.

With an ending that left me dying for more, I would recommend The Young Elites to any readers who want a novel that they will finish in one sitting. Any readers who want a novel that is action and fantasy and romance should also give this a read. And if knowing that I think this is one of the best novels released this year also piques your interest, then you should also give this a look.

Oh my!! I seriously loved this book....it's dark, gritty, and the main character is not the good heroine. Oh no she's the bad guy and I sorta love her :D

The Young Elites by Marie Lu is the first in a new dystopian, fantasy series about a group of young men and women who have special "gifts" granted to them from surviving the blood fever as children. Our main character, Adelina Amouteru, is arrested after accidentally killing her father one night when she was running away. On the day of her execution, she is saved by a group who call themselves the Dagger Society and like her have powers or magic from surviving the blood fever. The problem, Adelina didn't know she had powers until the night she killed her father. Now she has to learn how to use them and fast! Terren, leader of the Inquisition Axis, is hunting her and the Daggers down and he won't stop until they are all dead.

I love Adelina! She is a scary chick! All her life she's been told she's a disappoint by her father for being a malfetto (a child that survived the blood fever marked/scarred/changed). With the fever, her hair turned to silver and one of her eyes was removed. Some malfettos were rumored to have powers and because Adelina had none, her father ignored her, taunted her, provoked her, and abused her in attempts to bring powers to the surface. This is enough to break anyone! And for our Adelina it does. She is constantly haunted by her father's ghost, and her powers (when they finally surface) are fueled by fear. This takes her to some very dark places. She questions herself constantly, knowing that the pain she inflicts isn't right, but taking pleasure in causing it.

Then there's Terren. He is a powerful young man in a high position with the court. Terren is ruthless, but not cruel. And he finds Adelina fascinating. However he is obsessed with finding the Dagger Society and hunting down all malfettos to purge the country of them. But he's hiding a big secret. Honestly, I had figured out his secret early on, but I won't spoil it for you ;) Trust me you'll understand his character much better!

And finally Enzo, or the Reaper, leader of the Dagger Society, crowned prince, and rightful ruler of the country. He has his own obsession and plans to use Adelina to get it. Enzo plans to take his country back by force and help the malfettos, especially since he's one himself. He is ruthless, cunning, and driven, but with Adelina he finds himself enchanted and unable to focus.

The entire story centers around the Dagger Society taking back the kingdom and training Adelina how to use her unique powers. The author has created a whole new world and I'll admit that in the beginning I was more than a little lost. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a futuristic world or a historical fiction. Then I realized it wasn't set on Earth at all...my bad! Once I realized this, the book flowed well and I was amazed at how intricately Adelina's character plays out. We see a broken girl at the beginning of the book who slowly progresses into a young woman with power and the ability to take on anyone. And she does!

Overall I thought the book was great! At times the flow lagged a bit, especially when Adelina would berate herself over her feelings. For the most part though, there was plenty of action and plot twists that I didn't see coming. And the ending...I'll admit I may have shed a few tears for our bad girl. Then the epilogue...eep! I can't wait for the next in this series to come out :D

The Young Elites surprised me in quite a few ways. From what I’d heard of the concept, I was expecting something in a modern or a near-future setting, maybe dystopian or post-apocalyptic, since when you think of teens dealing with superpowers, that tends to be the popular setting. But to have it take place in a secondary world, a fantasy setting, was unexpected. Magic exists in dozens of ways in fantasy settings, but YA fantasy seems to be a less common thing now than YA dystopias or sci-fi, so when I was presented with something a little more to my reading taste than I expected, I was pleased.

For much of the book, my opinion wavered between thinking it was a good book but had little to make it stand out from others (aside from the general quality of writing and storytelling, I mean; I suppose that alone can make a book stand out), and from feeling deeply bad for the main character, Adelina. Scarred by the blood fever that swept through the land years ago, and left with strange powers as a result, she is a malfetto, deemed worthless by most and an outright curse of society by others. For a long time her power did not surface, no matter how hard her father tried to influence them by a twisted mix of kindness and cruelty, physical and emotional abuse that made me cringe, until the night he decides to sell her into marriage to cover his own debts, cutting his losses on a “useless ugly daughter.” Then her powers manifest, taking the form of darkness and illusions that can kill, bringing about the death of her father and her subsequent capture and planned execution.

Enter the Dagger Society. Made up of people called Young Elites, malfettos with powers, who rescue Adelina and seek to use her to further their goals of overthrowing the current monarchy that declares them all to be cursed and the downfall of society. Enter the Inquisition, who want to use Adelina as a spy to learn about the Dagger Society’s plans, offering her a chance at redemption in the eyes of the gods if she helps eliminate the blight on the world, and who hold her sister captive as incentive. Adelina is torn between her need to save her sister and her growing attraction to the leader of the Daggers, Enzo, and is caught in the middle of a huge mess.

Adelina is an amazing character, in no small part because she is not your typical YA heroine. She has trauma, and that trauma affects every area of her life. She spent much of her life in an abusive family situation, with her father seeking to use her for what powers he thinks he can draw out of her. She transitions to a situation where two opposing groups seek to use her for their own gains. She is dark, her power born from pain and fear, and she has a desire to hurt those who hurt her, viciously and vindictively, and that is what sets her apart from others. Most YA protags, especially females, may have their hurts that make them tougher but ultimately they are still good. Chaotic Good, maybe, but there’s still that aspect about them. Adelina is more Chaotic Neutral, doing not what she does because it’s good or because she truly believes in one group or another’s goals, but from self-interest, and ofter from blind anger and for retribution rather than justice. Reading Marie Lu’s notes at the end about how she wanted to tell the story of a villain rather than a hero makes this even more interesting, since it works well to humanize villains and show them as people who can arise from the hurt and abused who are tired of letting that pattern continue and who are granted the power to stop it.

And the ending? Heartbreaking. And I can’t go into details here without letting loose a whole stream of spoilers, which would ruin much of the book for those who haven’t read it yet but still want to. All I’ll say is that however much The Young Elites may lean on tropes now and again, just about everything in the last few chapters was unexpected, and I didn’t foresee it at all! Which is impressive, and shows that Lu has some good skill at telling the story that needs to be told rather than telling the same story that everyone else already has.

The Young Elites is a quick read, made all the quicker for the good balance of action and emotion, since even the slower scenes of the book are revealing and do much to move the plot along. Little in here is filler. And it should be said that I didn’t experience my usual annoyance with the first-person viewpoint. I find that often with that viewpoint it takes much of the tension away from scenes that are supposed to be brimming with it, because you know, on some level, that the person you’re following will come out okay. Or at least won’t die. So throwing them into crazy action doesn’t actually do much to raise the tension of the story. But many of Adelina’s scenes did not involve throwing herself into danger, and when they did, it wasn’t the sort of danger that could turn deadly, so that problem was eliminated before it even began. Nicely done!

I can’t wait to read the sequel when it comes out. Lu has set up a wonderful villain for us to follow, an antagonist in a protagonists’s wrappings, and I want to know how the rest of the story unfolds. It’s easy to see that The Young Elites was merely setup to a larger and further-reaching tale, and there’s a lot that still needs to be resolved, so I’m joining the crowds that are eager for the sequel’s release so we can continue with Adelina’s story. Lu has got herself a new fan here, and one that definitely recommends this to those who are seeking a YA fantasy that is familiar and fresh all at the same time!

As Legend Triliogy fan, Imwas not going to miss out on a new Marie Lu series. Do not let my 4 star rating turn you away. This is a great book. I enjoyed the read and the character development. The character development is important yet takes up much of the book. A little less would have been nice but it is the first book in the series/trilogy.

No matter how I say this I'll get bashed for it so here it is: while I grasp that the world is changing and same sex relationships are more accepted and visible for our eyes I grow weary of every show and/or book inserting a same sex couple for the sake of political correctness. This not a judgment. It an FYI for unsuspecting parents buying for their teens, that's all. The writer is amazing & the story is stellar.

There is a good deal of action once it gets moving. It takes off a little slower than Legend but this story line needs to based on understanding the main characters lot in life.

I look forward to the following books. With the solid foundation of this one, they are sure to be stellar.

This book right here is not about a hero, it's about how a villain is made and that's the essence of The Young Elites. It's everything I loved about it. Marie Lu crosses all boundaries of predictability and goes into the uncharted territory of shock and awe that many seldom cross. The Young Elites is the amalgamation of everything I've come to adore about the fantasy genre; the violence of Susan Ee's Angelfall, the sweeping world of Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass, the wickedness in V. E. Schwab's Vicious and that something that sets The Young Elites apart from every other.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever that took her left eye and marked her as a malfetto. It's not a victorious survival for she is marred for life, and on the continent of Kenettra, being a malfetto is akin to a death sentence. Stripped of respect and his reputation as a merchant, her father went to extreme lengths to make Adelina show powers not of this world, to be worth something. To be a young elite. The constant abuse of his father, the love he showered her younger sister Violetta with, and the final straw which drove her to the edge. Adelina escapes from his prison only to constantly find herself behind more and more bars.

Teren Santoro is the Lead Inquisitor, working to eliminate all malfettos and always on the lookout for the young elites. His character surprised me the most. He is one of those who despises malfettos and he's wicked to his bones. Self-righteousness drives him which is revealed through the changes in perspective. Teren's definitely someone to fear because he doesn't spare anyone who crosses him, least of all a malfetto who dared defy him. So seeing him on par with Adelina is something to behold.

Enzo Valenciano is the leader of the Dagger Society, one of the groups of young elites who hope to find more like them and plan to bring down the king and queen. There's not much we get to know about him; he's no open book and I preferred it that way because of the events that took place. There's so much mystery surrounding him and all of his scenes with Adelina were underlaid with such power and sensuality that I wanted more.

The violence in the story is so well-crafted that I could feel the delicious darkness inside Adelina and oh, what darkness it is! It churns and churns and builds up into something that's mindblowing. But the darkness is not limited to Adelina, oh no every character is dark and I supposed much of it is because of the kind of world they live in and what they have to endure on a day to day basis, I just know that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The secondary characters are well-defined especially Raffaele who I adored but it was Spider that I loathed. The next installment in the series is definitely going to be bigger and more badass and I just can't wait to delve back into the world of The Young Elites. Marie Lu decided to wrench my happiness away and now I'm not quite sure what to make of that ending. And oh, that dagger on the cover? It actually shows up in the book.

We all carry our scars around, and they affect every decision we make, but what if every scar was on the outside? In Marie Lu's The Young Elites, the malfettos suffer the shame and ridicule and persecution of their entire society thanks to a plague that scarred them but didn't take them. But society isn't ready for those who survived and have become The Young Elites.

The plague ravaged the world, killing the adults it touched. Many children survived, however, they were left far from unscathed. Many were deeply scarred. They are now called malfettos, the abominations. To make matters worse, some malfettos have developed abilities that rival the supernatural. While Adelina's father was appalled to have a daughter who was a malfetto, he at least would have preferred her if she developed powers and was of any use to him. Instead, she was completely useless and a shame to their entire family on top of that. When she runs away after he sells her as a mistress to a local business man, they are both surprised to discover that she is indeed talented, even though her talent wasn't one that could help him...

Scheduled to be executed by the Inquisition, Adelina isn't going to fight her fate, but when the Young Elite rescue her, she finds out dark secrets she never thought could be true. Enzo, the leader of the Dagger Society (Young Elites) is the malfetto prince the royals said had perished. Now he wanted the throne back from his greedy, cold sister and her malfetto lead Inquisitor. To be part of the Dagger Society, Adelina must prove her worth, but her powers are dark and mysterious. She feels a connection to most of the Elites, but even they are unsure how her powers will play out. As she advances, so does the war on malfettos. Children and harmless women are dragged into the street and executed, but the Daggers have to pick their perfect moment to attack. If they don't, they could lose everything.

While I really loved Lu's first series, Legend, it had some moments that ran a little slow. After reading the first book in this series, it is clear Lu has gained a little experience under her belt and chose to pick up the pace, because this was one heck of a book! This historical fantasy goes above and beyond to hold a readers attention, and Adelina is the ultimate of anti-hero. She doesn't fully understand her power, but she does know she likes the strength it gives her over others. She isn't a bad person by any means, but after years of torture at the hands of her father, she definitely has a well-deserved dark side. But she is also kind and caring. She loves her sister unconditionally and will go to great lengths to save her, even test her own limits of right and wrong. And her relationships with the different Elites are so different and unique, you see layer and layer of depth within Adelina's character with each page you turn.

The story itself is also unique while still being familiar. Super powers in young adults? Not terribly original. The way Lu does it? Pretty freakin' great! My only concern was the lack of real world building, which was a problem in her last series as well. If a world is developed on the page in the same level of detail as in the writer's head, I should be able to picture what each scene looks like, but with Lu's books, I often find myself surprised by a piece of the setting because it doesn't fit with other details I have gleaned. That means there are definite gaps in what she is giving us. It is a fine line between too much and too little world-building, and that is one thing Lu should work on for the sequel to Young Elites. Everything else she has in spades!

It feels like I have waited forever for this book. And now I have finally gotten to read it. I always knew I was going to love it, but I was nervous about starting it as well. It was different from what I was expecting. Which was all kinds of awesome. I ended up really loving this book. Which just makes me really happy.

But oh. I'm not sure about my feelings for The Young Elites. I really loved this book. But a few things bothered me. Yet I didn't hate it. Not at all. Which is why this book is a five star for me. Because I loved it. And I didn't want it to end. The writing is stunning. The story is all kinds of amazing. Just really good.

But then there is that ending. It is so evil. And happened in a surprising and cruel way. I knew it was coming, but not how it happened. And just. That was mean. Yet written pretty awesome too. But yeah. There are hints about what may happen. And it better happen. It better. Otherwise I might end up being very sad for a very long time. Which is just all kinds of depressing. Anyway. The ending. It is evil. Yet fitting too, in a way. It made sense. Probably. Or not. It hurt my heart, anyway. But I have hope. I just. I wish Adelina had been more trusting. And told people the truth. I hated how she lied all the time. I'm not pleased with that. And then she thought the worst right away as well. I don't blame someone for not trusting her. As she was a bit dark and not in control of herself. She made so many bad decisions that I did not like.

Yet. Yet I really did love Adelina. She is an awesome character. And oh so broken. I love to have my favorite characters to be broken. And I just loved reading about her past, and how kind of awful it was. It could have been worse, but yeah. It was bad enough. And though she is broken she is also strong. And I adored reading about her. But at the same time, she does some awful things to people. And I'm not sure I like her all that much, lol. I both love and hate her. Either way, she is an awesome main character.

There are a whole bunch of characters in this book. Some I really hated. Like Teren. I'm not sure about him. I will never like him, but he is an interesting character to read about. But yeah. A person that I will not ever like. Sigh. Then there is Enzo. Whom is the love interest. And there is just so little romance. Sad face. But what is in the book is pretty awesome. Anyway. Enzo is an amazing character. I adored him. A bit scary. And his powers. Sigh. All kinds of awesome. Yeah. I really loved Enzo. My favorite.

Then there is Raffaele. I thought he might end up being a love interest, making it a triangle. But Marie told me no love triangles in these books. But yeah. I worried. Because he is the most beautiful. And he makes Adelina feel things. Hmph. But there is nothing there. Just a cute friendship. Sort of. There is no romance or lust just some feelings. Which made me happy. Yet. I ended up really loving Raffaele. And I want all the best for him. But yeah, I do not want him with Adelina. Not ever, lol. He's amazing, though.

There are too many characters for me to mention. Just know that I enjoyed reading about them all. Adelina also has a sister. Whom I really enjoyed reading about. Couldn't decide if I was supposed to hate her or love her. But yeah. I grew to love her. As she is a pretty amazing character too. And I cannot wait to get to know her more as well. Sigh. I just felt like this book was way too short. I want to know more. I need more. About all the characters. About the evil ending. About the amazing plot. I need it all.

I could say so much about the story in this book. But I shall not. Just a few small things. It is all kinds of perfect. It is different and so so good. I loved the world it is set in. I loved the different things. I just loved all of it. I loved reading about the damaged young people. About the Young Elites as well. It was all so so interesting and I just need to know more. I do. I am seriously dying to read book two. Hoping the next year will move fast. I won't say more about this plot. Just that I loved it to pieces and I need more.

There are so many things I loved about The Young Elites. The writing is stunning. The characters are broken and dark. The plot is exciting and surprising and scary at times. This book is just all kinds of amazing. And I'm so glad that I finally got to read it. I need you all to read this book as well. Because it is different and just so good. I loved reading about Adelina. Though she is so dark inside. I just hope she's able to change. Sigh. Yet I love her darkness as well. Though, maybe a little less of it, hih. <3

Disclaimer: This copy of ARC is obtained from the publisher in exchange of my honest review.

A dark and compelling story.

The background of this book is about a group of gifted kids with super power who form the Dagger Society and be called as The Young Elites by the public. These kids are also called malfettos as they have marks on their body as a result of a deadly disease which kills a lot of people in their nation. The time of the story is not stated clearly, but it looks like it happened in the medieval era.

The heroine of this book - Adelina Amouteru is one of the malfettos, the survivors of the blood fever. Her father always thinks that she is bringing bad luck to the family because she is a malfetto and he always abuses her mentally and physically. This is the major reason that the darkness dwells inside her which gives her strength to her unique power in the later part of the story.

Adelina joins the Dagger Society after she is rescued from being burned alive after killing her father using her undiscovered power. She undergoes a series of training in order to learn how to control her power and to help the society in fighting the king of their nation.

In the book, the most parts I can read is how Adelina gathers her fear and darkness in her soul in order to be able to use her power. In my opinion, these parts may be too much and redundant. Apart from her own internal dialogues, she'll have the illusions of her father talking to her and causes her emotions to stir.

As I read through, I would imagine that Adelina will become the most powerful member in the group and she is able to control her darkness but the ending surprises me. She failed and caused a massacre that she couldn't believe she has done it.

The POV of this book is written mainly focusing on Adelina's perspective. In some the chapters, they'll focus in the other main characters as well. I always love multiple POV as it'll make the story richer and not single layer.

I rated this book a 4 stars right after I finished reading it. But at a second thought, I changed it to 3 stars because I don't have the anticipation for the 2nd book in the series. By reading the epilogue at the end of the book, I'm guessing that Adelina starts her own society and venture to another nation. It's still a good read and the epilogue could be a cliffhanger to make you want more from the book but it just doesn't work on me.

I'm amazed at how much The Young Elites surprised me. Of course, I couldn't expect less from author Marie Lu, whose Legend trilogy knocked my socks off. This book is however the start of a series with great potential. There's no doubt about it that I fell in love with the world at first sight, but I also managed so love so many other aspects of this book it's hard to believe. In short terms, 'The Young Elites' is almost everything how I imagined it would be, and still surprised me in many ways.

Marie Lu got rid of many YA-clichés, it makes the novel stand out even more than it already does. Gone is the annoying but heart-wrenching love triangle. No more female protagonists who are nothing but special. This book takes the high road and still resembles George R.R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, yet on the aspect of deaths. It's clear that Lu isn't afraid anymore of killing off characters, whether they have a role to play or not. I won't spoil the fun for anyone, but do take my warning: be careful who you get to love. Deaths are so unexpected in this book, it's like anyone could die at any moment. If I may talk about a certain death in this book, I loved that it happened. I really do. There would have been a whole storyline for the character and could have been used for later books. What the author does here is taking a serious risk of killing off a character who could have been a great addition for the rest of the series. This is also the reason why I'm definitely going to be reading the entire trilogy. I'm so curious now to see what happens next.

There's not much to be said when it comes to the romance in The Young Elites. It's so light it's barely even palpable. Yet what you do feel, makes you swoon every single time. It started off beautifully and a little predictable, but there's nothing bad to be said. There was obviously no need to fill in the book with only romance and focus the story around it. It came when the book was already halfway through, and from the moment I've read such a scene it made me want more. Though it stayed in the background and still made me swoon, deserves a round of applause.

I don't believe in love at first sight. Then I wonder, when did I then fell in love with the world? A combination of high-fantasy and dystopia with influences from Victorian times, the renaissance and Venezia, what's not to love? In my opinion, this was such a clever thing to do and makes the book even more original. I do have to keep in mind that this is only the first book of a trilogy, and therefore there's still a lot of world building to be done. It's only now that Lu has set the tone of the world for her book, but with much more to come. She's left many other options open for possible adventures and plot twists I won't see coming. I look forward to seeing more of this in the near future.

The characters are especially what made The Young Elites so great. Every one of them, ranging from characters who you get to see a lot like Enzo and Rafael, to minor ones like the Daggers or even the Queen, the type of villain you can't but love. The same goes for Teren, although his situation and characters are a little more extraordinary. He's not your everyday villain, so to speak. With each Teren chapter, you'll get to know more about him. Sooner or later you'll discover that Teren is just a young man who does things, either good or bad, for the woman he loves. The woman who manipulates him. He's does what he's been told is his right, and because of that Teren is a character you'll adore. He has a story of his own, and while there's a lot of him you learn in this book, I have a feeling that the next two book will reveal even more.

Adilena was the typical coin with two sides. The side I love and the one which frustrated me on many levels. In short words, she got on my nerves for pretty much the most part of the book, or just the middle part. I loved who she was when the story got off a flying start, and the person she became when the book ended. She goes through immense character development, and I appreciated it. What I didn't love so much was the deal with her sister. I won't go into details because spoilers, but keeping secrets from everyone and being manipulated the whole way through isn't a smart thing to do. I understand the girl had difficulties, but what she did made me want to rip my hair out of frustration. It dragged on for a while and also explains the four stars. I'm crossing my fingers for her to not repeat herself, but looking at the end of the book I have a strong feeling she won't.

When The Yong Elites could have been a five-star book, it remains a fabulous start for a series just as good as Legend. The story started off amazingly and the ending left me wanting more. I'm in love with almost every character, and I long to discover the unique world Lu has created. I'll be anticipating this more and more with each book to come.

I slowly felt in love with Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her writing, but when I first read Legend I liked it but didn’t love it. But I was hooked after reading Prodigy and let’s not begin how much I loved Champion. Every new book I read of hers, I felt more in love with her. When my dear blogger friend Nancy from Ravenous Reader loaned me her copy of The Young Elites, I was overwhelmed. I freaking loved it! All Marie Lu’s fans will be overjoyed when they read The Young Elites! It is such a phenomenal read! Packed with actions, this book will have everyone wanting more.

Scared of her father, Adelina never stood up to him. She let him used her. He was such a mean bastard that didn’t deserve to have such amazing daughter. He didn’t care for her, he was blinded by the fact that she was a malfetto. To his believe, Adelina was an abomination. See many years ago a deadly illness left some crippled and killed many, including Adelina’s mother. From those that survived there are a few that were left with special abilities, these were named “malfetto”. And they are not wanted. Many seek them to kill them. Though Adelina is mistreated, she never revealed any sort of ability – which is why she lived this long. Until one night, she had enough. That night she escaped only to be confronted by her father minutes after. Something bad happens and now she is running away from the “authorities”, only to cross path with a group of malfettos. Now she must learn how to develop her powers and fight against those that wants to kill her.

God, I loved this story! I am a huge fan of the X-Men and this reminds me so much of the movies! Adelina is one tough cookie and I loved her powers. Though she couldn’t choose a side, though she betrayed, she was willing to fight back for her rights. I have to be honest, I don't blame her. This chick has trusting issues. I would be too, if I were treated the way her father treated her. But though she is broken and unsecured, she is changing. I can’t wait for the second book and read more of her! (Ha! And this is not even out yet). It will be a loooong torturous year! I can’t wait to have my copy in hands! Marie Lu is definitely an auto-buy!

My Rating 4.75/5 Stars

Synopsis:
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.

As a lover of high fantasy this synopsis pulled me in from the beginning! The idea of this story that Marie Lu wanted to convey is what makes a bad guy! Throughout the whole book I am rooting for the good happy ending with maybe a little bit of a twist to make the next book exciting! Do we get that? Well not the happy ending part! You will have to read it to find out, but this is not your typical story!

“Be true to yourself. But that's something everyone says and no one means. No one wants you to be yourself. They want you to be the version of yourself that they like.”
Adelina- The Young Elites By Marie Lu

The idea of a small group of people having powers and then being feared by the rest of a community is not unique, but for some reason it is a story line I am willing to read over and over again if it is done right.; and this is done right!!

“I hereby pledge to serve the Dagger Society, to strike fear into the hearts of those who rule Kenettra, to take by death what belong to us, and to make the power of our Elites known to every man, woman, and child. Should I break my vow, let the dagger take from me what I took from the dagger.”
-Marie Lu, The Young Elites

One thing I really loved about this book is the points of view that Marie Lu uses! Adelina's chapters are in first person. This POV really makes the story more dynamic because we can hear her thoughts and that really gave me another dimension of her character development. The other chapters that are focused on Enzo and Teren are from a third person POV, which was different, but I would have liked it to be the first person so I could hear their thoughts on what was going on around them.

“Some hate us, think us outlaws to hang at the gallows.
Some fear us, think demons to burn at the stake,
Some worship us, think us children of the gods.
But all know us.”
-Marie Lu The Young Elites

The relationship between Adelina and her sister is really the best relationship storyline, I have read in a book in a while! The relationship was so dynamic. I feel like in future novels Adelina's relationship with her sister might very well be her number one weakness

Finally the ending was probably the best part about this book! The epilogue was fantastic! It introduces a new character and potentially gives this whole series a completely new storyline! I cannot wait to read the second book that comes out in October of 2015 and will be called The Rose Society!!

Reason why I gave it a 4.75 The bare bones story line of the kids with powers is very over done so that knocked it down a bit, but I have yet to read a YA novel that is the story of the beginnings of the bad guy and the writing style both contributed to why I gave it a higher rating in the end!! Overall this story was so good!!

“Tomorrow, I will take on all of these things. I will be unstoppable.”
― Marie Lu, The Young Elites

MY THOUGHTS
This book was definitely not what I was expecting. I didn't like this book as much as I hoped, but I did end up liking it. The main thing that surprised me about this book was how dark it ended up being.

The book's world is so interesting! It takes place in a fantasy world with many dystopian aspects and kind of a resemblance to a renaissance Venice. The world-building was very well-done, though, as I said, very dark. In this world, there was a fever that struck and all the adults with the fever died, children who had the fever and survived (not all survived) came out of it with special abilities. They are called malfetto. All of them are marked in some way (EX: Adelina has silver hair). Malfetto are feared and often killed for suspect of being with The Young Elites. The Young Elites are a group of Malfetto that are aiming to take back the crown to its rightful owner.
The overall world in this book is just so extraordinarily developed!

The characters in this book are a very interesting mix of characters. You will not see any cliche characters in this book. All of them are very different than the usual batch of characters seen in YA books. I'll say this again: they are dark. An example would be Adelina, who has had such a hard life and she is full of such darkness. Another thing I should warn you about: Marie Lu is not afraid of killing off her characters.

There is a brief romance in this book, but it does not distract from the storyline at all. In fact, there is hardly a romance at all.

My only issue with this book is more of a "It's not you, it's me" thing. I just could not relate to the characters. Did I feel for them? Yes. But they just felt flat to me. Same with some of the story. Though, this book is in third person and I usually have that issue with third person books.

IN CONCLUSION
This is a very dark dystopian/fantasy, but very well-done. The world is very developed and the characters are a breath of fresh air compared to most YA books. I had issues with relating to the characters, but all-in-all, a great book!
I do recommend this book (and the Legend trilogy) and I will be continuing the series!

Think X-Men in a fantasy world living in a Renaissance era and you pretty much get The Young Elites . Only, this is so much darker. Marie Lu is right; The Young Elites is not a hero story. This is a story of a villain.

Adelina Amouteru did not survive the blood fever that swept her entire nation unscathed. The plague that killed her mother also took Adelina's left eye and gave her markings that distinguished her as a malfetto. Not just an ordinary malfetto, though. A Young Elite, gifted with a supernatural power that feeds off the darkness inside and around Adelina. This same gift calls the attention of The Dagger Society, a group of Young Elites that uses their powers for a secret agenda. When her and her sister's life gets threatened, will Adelina be able to call on her powers to save them? Or will it just endanger herself and those around her?

I dived into The Young Elites with high expectations because a lot of people have been saying great things about this book. I haven't read the Legend series so I had no idea how Marie Lu writes. Turns out she doesn't disappoint.

Kick-ass characters. Exquisite world-building. Awesome powers. Great action. Only the romance fell short, in my opinion. But that's totally fine with me, because I picked up this book for its promise of fantasy, cool powers and epic battles. I got those and more! The Young Elites has a really good plot, dynamic and interesting characters, and a story you wouldn't want to miss.

I liked everything about this book so I'm not going to enumerate the reasons why you should read The Young Elites. From beginning up to the last page, this book is perfection. And if it's even possible, it gets so much better because the epilogue promises more of Adelina Amouteru and the Young Elites. I will definitely be waiting for the next book! GO READ IT NOW!

"The Young Elites" by Marie Lu blends the darkly paranormal and a tragic romance into a fantasy that begins in the politically unstable atmosphere of Kenettra where some malfettos the survivors of a ravaging fever have been left with strange markings and powerful abilities. Adelina Amouteru is one of the disfgured with her silver hair, pale lashes and a scar where her eye used to be. Unlike her sister Violetta, an innocent and beautiful fourteen year old who's considered a valuable investment to their father, Adelina is spurned and abused.

When their father is killed and Adelina is arrested for murder by the leader of the Inquisitors, a fanatic who wants to see all malfettos disposed of, little does she expect to be rescued from a fiery death by Enzo Valenciano, a member of the Dagger Society, a sect of rebellious Young Elites. What Enzo sees in Adelina is her bitterness and fear, a darkness so profound that she can create illusions that terrify anyone she attacks. Her power is so unique and so dangerous that some of the Elites fear her and want her dead.

In this action-packed story Marie Lu sets the stage in Kenettra where the Queen believes her brother, the rightful king, a malfetto is dead. To stabilize the political atmosphere of the kingdom she has married a duke who's as unfaithful as he is a poor leader. To hide his ineptitude the royal court over the years has blamed the malfettos for any of their troubles and has used the power of the Inquisition Axis to persecute them. Where there's injustice rebellions arise but the Dagger Society is self-serving, protecting elite malfettos with powers they can use. The plot is dark and menacing as a power is being trained that is more dangerous than the Society or its leader could ever have imagined. Intrigue and suspense builds as events unfold in this intoxicating plot especially after Teren Santoro threatens Adelina with her sister's death if she doesn't reveal the identities of the Young Elites. But the romance blossoming between Adelina and Enzo at times seems manufactured. There's little chemistry between the two until he begins facing an uncertain future. Adelina draws closer to Raffaele, a consort at the Fortunata Court and her trainer until the truth undermining their relationship is revealed.

Although the plot is incredibly dark, hopeless and menacing the characters draw you into the pathos and calamity that plagues the lives of the young Elites, Teren and Adelina. Enzo Valenciano is the hard, unforgiving princely assassin who burns with anger and vengeance. Yet underneath his aloofness and rebellion there is a vulnerability and guilt that few can understand. Adelina Amouteru haunted by abuse is a broken sixteen year old who yearns for love and acceptance, but to many in the Dagger Society is nothing more than a risky asset. In contrast her sister Violetta is an innocent hopeful young girl with a rosy temperament who masks her own secret. Teren Santaro the lead Inquisitor is a cold and confident murderer whose as secretive as he is vicious. All the characters in this story add to the drama, passion and power that keeps the reader riveted.

Although as yet I can't say this is one of my favorite novels, it is well-written and mesmerizing and I intend to look for a future sequel.

The Young Elites is a fast-paced YA high fantasy that both plays with a lot of recognizable fantasy standards and also often subverts them. Unlike many fantasy heroines, Adelina doesn’t start off as an uncertain main character who learns a little along the way and grows into self-confidence. While Adelina learns and grows, as all good main characters should, her character growth breaks outside the norm.

See, Adelina is a dark and tortured character from the beginning, but unlike many, she knows it. She might still have some learning to do about her powers and how they manifest and what she’s capable of, but from a personality standpoint, she knows exactly who she is. Adelina is cunning and cut-throat, and she’s not about to let anything stand in her way–which is not to say she’s completely closed off to others. While Adelina is guarded, she will sometimes let other people in. She cares deeply about her sister and that plays out in the story over and over again, but Adelina has no qualms about who she is. She’s not a nice person, and she knows it, and I kind of love her for it.

I also really thought The Young Elites was well-paced and well-plotted. It was a little confusing to be thrown into the world at first, but Lu did a good job of introducing the reader and not relying on info-dumps for the most part(though I did feel like there was a little of this at the beginning). It doesn’t take long for Adelina to learn she is a Young Elite and what she can do–the whole self-discovery part of the plot happens extremely quickly in this one, and it works. It leaves more time for scheming and blackmail and growth.

At first the world in The Young Elites seems rather simple. There’s a blood fever, and it can have side effects of oh yeah, giving children who survive it, often with physical disfigurations, special powers. I was willing to go with this premise, though I had questions. Over time, however, Lu really builds up the world around Adelina and shows that this is a complex world filled with complex characters.

There are a few other characters that The Young Elites closely follows. I’m not going to get too much into talking about them specifically, but I wanted to point out that for characters who sometimes don’t get much page time, they’re remarkably well-developed. A few of them do get some significant chunks of the text, but I was still amazed at just how real they felt and how soon.

However, those characters also lead to my only real complaint with The Young Elites. Adelina’s chapters are told in first person, but then the story sometimes cuts to another character–and sections are all done in third person. This sort of point of view device was really irritating as a reader, because every single time there was a character jump it completely jarred me out of the story, and it felt like a way around having to really differ two character’s narrative voices. I would have much preferred it all be in first person or third person, and stay limited to that narration the entire time. It felt shocking to suddenly be pulled out of a first person perspective and into a third person perspective, and then back again. While the story of The Young Elites was excellent, this style of story-telling really hindered my complete enjoyment.

The Young Elites started with a premise that should have been wonderfully distinct: disfigured heroine on an alternate universe planet, lack of soppy romance, and some political intrigue thrown into the mix. However, what we ended up with are a lot of character/setting cliches, safe rather than daring plot decisions, and a lot of logic holes that Lu didn't write herself out of before publishing. The result was a disappointment that failed to grab my interest at any point.

Story: On a world very similar to Renaissance Italy, a fever strikes the country for one year, killing many adults and maiming the young who survive. Those survivors are often left with physical scarring and are shunned by society as malfettos. But some survivors have found strange powers awakening within - they call themselves the young elites. When downtrodden Adelina, a survivor who lost her eye and found her appearance changed after the fever many years previous, is sold into sexual slavery by her father, she runs. The Young Elites save her - recognizing that she has a power. But she catches the attention of the lead Inquisitor - and he will use Adelina against the Young Elites in order to do away with their menace once and for all.

My first disappointment with the Young Elites was the very safe choices made by Lu with this very illogical world. It is based on Renaissance Italy but on another planet (e.g., descriptions of 3 moons rising). There are inquisitors and nearly everything else is fairly close to the renaissance, including names and other Italian conventions. So it doesn't make sense to me that they are speaking English but using Italian language conventions - e.g., "Mi Adelinita" Either they speak English or they speak Italian - not both. Also problematic for me is that we have inquisitors and Italian Renaissance but not Catholicism. It really feels like Lu took the safe/easy way out so as not to offend Catholics (Is anyone going to say the Borgias weren't wicked?).

Characters also had issues for me. Adelina is fairly broad as a character - either underreacting or overreacting to every situation so that I never really understood her character. Of course, the boys are all wickedly beautiful so nothing new there. Lu tries to give them some depth (they aren't quite prince charming perfect) but we never really get to see any depth or nuances in them.

Logic holes (such as the language melange) were frustrating. E.g., a story that relies on our main character being hunted but going about in plain sight doesn't make sense when you have a girl noticeable by having only one eye and white hair. I find it hard to believe ANYONE thought she would blend into society anywhere without being recognized immediately. Even more so in an upscale brothel that catered to the people she was supposed to be hiding from. But when you combine that issue with an x-men type of story where people develop strange powers, you have to make them really different and interesting. There's so much that can be done or imagined in this scenario and The Young Elites was such a let down in this regard. At one point, after the elaborate plot at the ending, there was such an easier "Indiana Jones just shoots the sword wielding guy and walks off" type of answer with those superpowersthat the whole ending was silly. A Wil E Coyote answer to the roadrunner.

Most problematic for me were the cliches. How many times do we have to have the 'character overhears her love interest saying he doesn't love her to someone else' misunderstanding before someone questions an author's writing chops? And during that scene, as I was listening to the Audible version, it became so hackneyed that I said out loud every give straight sentences of dialogue only to have the characters say the exact same thing. If I can predict dialogue, it's been done too often.

So while not a terrible book by any means, there wasn't a lot here for me to love and I pretty much went on autopilot while listening. Something to do the dishes or yardwork by since I wasn't going to miss anything important (or if I did, I've probably read it in another book anyway). Wasted superpowers and honestly a wasted setting (so much political intrigue from the Italian Renaissance completely wasted or never used in any depth).

Reviewed from the Audible version.

I was not ready for that. No, really. I wasn't. This is my first from Marie Lu and I didn't know that she writes like this. EPIC. I have no words about the writing. It's captivating and gripping and Marie Lu really deserves the hype she's getting if it's based on her writing alone. The pacing was a bit so-so to me. There was a part in the book where it lagged a little and I feel like asking 'OKAY SO WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT?' But other than that, I have no argument about the pacing. This book also has one of the best opening ever and it didn't let me go from the moment I read it. It was powerful and totally vivid. It intrigued me, affected me easily and made me see Adelina with awe.

I have a love hate relationship with Adelina. She is marked. She's a Malfetto. A malfetto is feared and seen as trash by the people in Kenettra. So because of that, Adelina is one of those people who are treated differently. Especially by her father. OKAY. Adelina is a very bitter main character. Her bitterness is so powerful that I can taste in her narration. I love that she's staying strong and that she can stand up on her own when she wants to. But I don't like how she thinks sometimes. THERE'S A WAR INSIDE OF HER and sometimes it's annoying. She just can't seem to make up her mind.

The characters here are well done. They all affected me in some way. Whether it's in a good or bad way, they all made an impact. Marie Lu knows creativity AND originality. There's nothing cliche about them and they're all fascinating. I think the characters is what I love the most about this book.

The plot didn't really give me that EPICNESS OVERLOAD reaction but it did get me excited and over the edge. I was a bit disappointed by some happenings in the near end. I mean, seriously, does Marie Lu hates happy endings?

Anyway, I trust this author now, so if certain things has to happen, then so be it. But the sequel better be more good than this one. By the way the book ended, I'm really looking forward to the second installment. It wasn't a cliffhanger but I was left with need! It was a thrilling and mystifying epilogue even though my heart was just ripped out.

I'm not gonna say anything about the romance aspect because I still don't know what to make of it. Honestly, I'm not even sure if there is one. Anyway, whatever happens to Adelina, I know that I want to be there to witness it. This girl is a chaos waiting to happen and I'm just waiting now. Hoping to meet more original and fascinating characters by Marie Lu. A bit more work for the world-building wouldn't hurt either.

When I first picked this one up, I had no idea this book would blow me away the way it did! I was immediately pulled in and I loved the setting in this one! Lu has done a brilliant job of writing fantasy and creating memorable characters and storylines.

I loved the characterization in this one. Adelina has this darkness and anger to her that is absolutely bone chilling. I can't even consider her the heroine of the story. She's more of an anti-heroine. She has been verbally and physically abused by her father for all her life, never knowing true affection like her sister. Having survived the blood plague, she has now been marked as a malfetto. Some malfettos have gained special powers from the plague, and they call themselves the Young Elites. They have formed a society in which they seek out others like them and work to restore the true prince to the throne. The loneliness that Adelina feels is just heartwrenching. Lu does a great job of showing us her layers and we get to see her vulnerability as much as her toughness.

The book alternates between three primary POV's: Adelina's, Enzo's, and Teren's. Multi-POV's can be tricky, but I felt Lu handled them really well. We are mostly with Adelina, as Enzo and Teren's chapters are quite short. I liked getting into their minds though, especially since Teren is viewed as the enemy! There is a lot of action and adventure in this one and a hint of romance too. I had some issues with the romance, as I could never tell if it was genuine or not because of the role someone else played in the past. I want to believe real feelings were involved, as I think Adelina just once needs to feel loved and wanted.

That ending though! OMG. I just.... I was left with my mouth hanging wide open in shock. I did NOT see Lu going in that direction and I'm STILL stunned. This was not at all a predictable read and I am so thankful for that. Not everyone is who they seem to be and the twists and turns are endless! I highly recommend this book to fantasy fans out there. The epilogue does a great job of setting up the next book in the series and I cannot wait to find out where Lu takes Adelina and the others!

After devouring Marie Lu's Legend trilogy I was eager to start her new series with The Young Elites. While it's definitely a LOT different than her previous one, it was still a decent read, if albeit confusing at times. We go from dystopian to fantasy set in the past, so there's that whole time shift to deal with, but there's also the dealing with new world building and new characters and just the newness, perhaps that is why I didn't love this one like I had expected.

Adelina is 16 and disfigured, she suffered from the plague early in life and it's left her scarred, missing her left eye and her hair is a silvery color. She's not really loved by her father and her mother is dead. The only one who cares for her is her younger sister. When she is accused of killing her father she is sentenced to die, but is rescued by Enzo, the leader of the Young Elites.

The Young Elites are a group of teenagers who all suffered from the same disease as Adelina and they too all have special abilities, powers that make them special and hated by society. Being a malfetto--one who suffered from the disease is bad enough, but being one with special abilities makes them even more hate. Which is where they form the Young Elites and basically try to help other malfettos out, but their primary goal is to kill the current queen and king and put Enzo on the throne, for he is the rightful heir.

Needless to say, this one confused me a bit. But again, it's possible I should've had a different read in between to help clear my head. It's a complicated world at the best of times with new statuses and society levels and rules to adjust to.

Adelina has a lot of self-discovery/character building to do as she learns to harness her abilities. She's seen as a monster by almost everyone, except Enzo and she's determined to be good and do good. But it seems even some of the other Young Elites aren't her biggest fan as she doesn't have a strong grip on her powers.

The story is told mostly through Adelina's point of view. The description mentions her, Enzo and Teren--one of our villains, but yet Adelina gets the most page time. In fact, Enzo only got one chapter point of view, which sort of confused me. Then there's also 2-3 chapters with Raffaele's point of view. He's another Young Elite who also sort of helps train Adelina in the beginning, but not throughout the entire book. Teren has only a handful of chapters as well. No more than 5 I'd say. And this totally threw me because based on the description, I kind of thought these three were pivotal characters. That we would have the chapters constantly changing back and forth between them all. But that didn't happen at all really. Only rarely was it not Adelina's point of view.

As far as action goes, it was rather good. There's a lot of battles and fights going on when it comes to the Young Elites and malfettos. The evil plots going all around. It's enough to keep things interesting and moving. There's plenty of shocking secrets that get revealed to keep you on your toes.

Romance...I'm kind of left befuddled with this one. At first, I thought I sensed a love triangle between Adelina, Enzo, and Raffaele...but that didn't really pan out. There's some "moments" between Adelina and Enzo every now and then but I never got the sense of budding romance. A few kisses were shared, but I never felt the love or the possibility of love.

This was a very dark story. One that leaves me with more than a few questions as to what just happened and what's bound to happen. It was still an exciting and well paced read, but I just never felt that spark like I did with the Legend trilogy. True, this is an entirely different kind of series we have going, but I was just hoping for something more! I might still read the next book when it comes out, in hopes of seeing it pick itself back up for me at least.

Overall Rating 3/5 stars

My Thoughts: Oh my flipping gosh!! I loved this one to pieces!!!! One of my favorites of the year! A freaking darn good read! I loved Lu’s Legend series but this one blew those out of the water!

We are introduced to Adelina who is the best female heroine in a long time! She is strong, brave, kickass, amazing!

Well, she’s been abused most of her life so when she gets in a rage with her father, she ends up killing him and goes on the run. She’s always known she was different. She’s a malfetto. But, shes always believed she has no powers.

There is a group of Young Elites, what people call them. They are a group of people who are also malfettos but they can do things, great things, powerful things so of course people are naturally afraid of them. They are hunted down and killed.

Well, Adalina is soon sentenced to death and the Young Elites come for her.

Oh, I loved each of them! I loved Enzo the most! He was so freaking awesome. I loved his attitude and the way he was. I loved him!!!! And so many side characters, and major character development!

I also liked Teren, even though I shouldn't. I think there will be more to him than meets the eye. I can’t wait to find out more about him.

I loved each of their abilities and I was thrilled to figure out what they were.

I just loved the plot, and the characters, and everything. I laughed, I wanted to cry, and now I need the next book! There is so much I could say, I could rant and rave about how amazing this one is but I want to save it for you! I want you to read it, and savor every minute! I don’t want to tell you what we find out about certain people. I want it all to be a surprise! I want you to laugh, to cry, to be frustrated, to want more.

I loved The Young Elites to pieces!!!

Overall: Did you figure out I loved this one yet? Oh man! One of the best I've read all year! I can’t wait to read more by Lu. I want to know where this series is headed. I must know. I could write pages and pages on this one, but I’ll leave it at this. READ THIS BOOK AS SOON AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!!!!!

Cover: Like it! Its mysterious but cute!

What I’d Give It: 5/5 Cupcakes
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Taken From Princess Bookie

I received a free ARC edition of this book through Goodreads First Reads. This review reflects my honest opinions of its content and may contain spoilers.

The Young Elites is a fantasy filled with characters motivated by darkness, anger, hate, greed, envy and, yet, a longing to belong. The conflict between the malfettos and the world that despises them, as well as the malfettos' own conflicts among themselves, reminded me of the dynamics between the X-Men, Brotherhood of Mutants and their world. Instead of being born with mutant abilities and markings, the Kenettran children became malfettos after surviving a blood fever that plagued the land. Lu brings an interesting spin to this by tying the malfettos' abilities to elemental and emotional energies that are linked to their gods.

Consistent with her Legend series, Lu's writing and world building are fantastic. The plot and characters are beautifully constructed. I enjoyed the story, but would have liked to see more light in the darkness. Star Thief's abilities, for example, intrigued me. Adelina's own hope and love are tainted by jealousy and her desire to control. Halfway through the book I so wanted Adelina to go rogue and bust out into the Kenettran version of Maleficent or the Snow Queen. Whether or not that happens, I won't say. You will need to read The Young Elites to find out. ;o)

I completely loved this! I knew very little going into this book except it was high fantasy and that people loved Marie Lu's books (I haven't read the Legend trilogy yet). The world building was beautiful, interesting, and differed enough from other fantasy that I really enjoyed it. The characters were AMAZING. So many morally grey characters, including our main character who has a lot of attributes typically assigned to a villain. I love the fierce and dark Adelina and her struggles with the darkness inside her. I loved the writing, although the switching between first and third person depending on the chapter was a bit off-putting. I understand why Lu chose to write it that way, though.

Altogether, this book was really good and the ending has left me seriously excited for the sequel!

Wow this book! This is the first story of Marie's that I have read where I didn't know anything about the characters beforehand (in Legend I had known an earlier version of Day which made me very fond of the series). Marie had been slightly brutal in the Legend series but this is a whole new level of brutal.

Adelina is a tortured girl; unloved, unwanted, used, and powerful. There is a darkness inside of her that is frightening, something you don't find in many main character. As a character-driven reader I wanted so much for Adelina. I wanted her to be loved, to find happiness, to belong. I believe that Marie's ability to make me root for a character with such darkness inside is a testament to Marie's skills as a writer.

The Young Elites is gorgeous. The world these characters live in is cruel and unkind to malfettos but when it comes to the descriptions, the style of dress, scenery, and characters (ehem the boys), it is stunning. This is a fantasy world I would love to see drawn out in artwork and movies. A gorgeous fantasy world filled with cruelty and unrest and teeming with stories to be told.

If you love dark stories, stunning scenes, and beautiful action this is a series to watch.

#k8approved silver award

I won an ARC of this book.

I received The Young Elites by Marie Lu from Penguin's First to Read program. Adelina Amouteru survived a blood fever that ravaged the people of hers and surrounding cities. As a result of the fever, several survivors are forever marked with visible scars or differences, setting them apart from "normal" people. Some of the survivors even possess powers, making them "Young Elites". After escaping death not only once from the fever, but again from being burned at the stake, Adelina must decide whether to join Enzo Valenciano and The Daggers, a band of Young Elites, or to side with Teren Santoro and the Inquisition Axis, the King's effort to search out and destroy all Young Elites. Who will Adelina choose? Will she be blinded by the dark vengeance brewing inside her?

Let me say, I really enjoyed this book. If you follow my reviews, I don't think you'll find many fantasy novels in my repertoire. I like the occasional fantasy read, but it has to keep me interested. This book did just that. It kept me guessing. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, here comes another twist. Sometimes I wanted to cheer for Adelina, and other times I wanted to slap some sense into her.

The characters were developed very well. They were realistic and each had their own qualities that made them believable. Some I liked, some I didn't, but it's the same in life. The descriptions were very thorough and helped me bring the characters to life in my imagination. I could picture their costumes and the scenes clearly. All in all, a very entertaining read. My first Marie Lu book, and probably not my last. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Marie Lu, or likes a suspenseful fantasy novel with twists and turns at every page.

4.5 Stars
Read my FULL review: https://pooledink.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/the-young-elites/

Join up with The Young Elites, swear an oath, train, commit, fall into the pulse-racing lure of what Marie Lu has to offer. But if you’re seeking a sweet rosy-cheeked story of a sad girl coming into her own then be prepared to only get half of that. Adelina comes into her own but it won’t be sweet or rosy-cheeked. Not for long anyway.

Set in a world reminiscent of Europe in its renaissance era and filled with gods, powers, and royals The Young Elites will hold a blade at your throat and drag you through the blood of justice from page one to the end leaving you gasping for breath and terrified for what will come next but you’ll notice that you’re also hiding a grin because that little strand of darkness within you is actually hungry for the chaos that is brewing.

Cheers.

From the author of "Legend" comes a stpry of power, history and betryal.

When Adelina finds out that she has powers like many young people all over her country, after the pass of a fever, she is led to be killed. The Young Elites save her and from there begins a story of discovering her powers but also taming the darkness in her.

The POVs are seperated into third and first, something I've seen a lot this year and liked it very much. Adelina is a girl with darkness in her. She is not your typical fluffy good girl, she bleeds, hates and has ambitions.

The setting? You could say that in many aspects it can remind you of Venice at Rennaisance with a touch of magic and X-men. The rest of the characters, mostly the Young Elites are not so much developed, but instead we have glimpses from Enzo, Teren and Raffaele.

In the end another POV is added and if you read the book, you can see the plot line which i hope will be developed at the second book! The "Young Elites" is a must read which continues Marie's talent on storytelling and opens well her debut on historical fiction, something harder than dystopian. :)

The Young Elites is an awesome book set in a alternative world were there had been a fever and many had fell ill. Most adults that had been sick died. Those children that survived came through it, different. They had a marking of some kind (usually) and had a gift, a supernatural power, which made them a victim of hate and fear. They were shamed, abused, hunted, and burned at the stake. A group of these kids joined together and they were the Young Elites. This is the story of how they save a girl that was marked but didn't know she had powers until she killed someone who was about to kill her. It is a great fantasy with all the superhero abilities, Inquisition men after them, the Royal family wanting them dead, and the young elites not trusting the new girl. Plot is full of unexpected turns and characters are well developed. Can't wait to read the next in the series.

Oh how I loved this book. The characters, the powers, the world. I enjoyed this one so much more than Legend. The only problem I have is that I fear what the end of the series might hold. Right now I am thoroughly enjoying the direction this story is taking, and I do hope it stays that way. This is something I’ve been dying to see in a female MC.

Raffaele reminded me a bit of Dorian Gray. Obviously I loved Raffaele. Enzo was amazing too, although to be perfectly honest, I could have done without the romance between him and Adelina. I don’t think there was a single character that I didn’t enjoy. And that’s even with Adelina having stupid moments. Especially since Adelina has better moments. Darker moments.

This was a wonderfully written story with a wonderfully written world and wonderfully written characters. It was absolutely delicious. It had good twists. It was a book I feel like I’ve been waiting for a long time for. Especially in YA. Adelina is superb and I am extremely excited to see what happens to her next. I also can’t wait to read this book again.

I fell in love with this book and stayed captivated throughout. It was dark and so deeply satisfying.

8.8/10 ✩

the young elites is about a society where an illness, the blood fever, swept through the lands and left the people struggling. most the people affected (usually children) had either died or been left with strange markings. some of those who have survived are left with more than just the markings. they have mysterious and special powers. our main character, adelina, was infected as a child and has survived. this is her story. this is my version, but you can read the full (and official!) blurb here.

i had pretty high expectations for this book. legend, another series by marie lu, is one of the favorite books/series of all-time. it’s action packed and the characters are so solid and likeable and just plain awesome/badass. day and june (the main characters of legend) felt so real. even though that series is a dystopian, i still could see them. they were right there in front me running around or something.

throughout this entire book, i felt so confused. not because i didn’t understand their world or plot, but i couldn’t see where this book was going. adelina was so murky and slippery. i felt like her emotions were slipping all over the place; she would be furious and defiant one moments, then frightened and cowering the next. i feel like marie lu tried doing this on purpose because her emotions are a fairly big part of the plot, but it was just too much. it made her seem unpredictable and unrealistic. (she’s also super frustrating sometimes. ugh!)

the relationship building was also lacking in this book. when i first read the blurb, i thought this was going to be a love triangle. thank goodness this wasn’t. but instead, i felt like there was nearly no romance at all. there was some building at first, then it would go in other directions, then it would come back. because of that, it felt like, “i kinda like you, but i’m not sure. okay let’s make out.” there were a few strong relationships such as adelina and her father, as well as adelina and her sister. but all the new characters/people she meets feel very untrustworthy, therefore making this book less fun to read. also, adelina is a very sad person to read from.

in terms of plot and other shenanigans, this book is so good. there were a lot of surprising plot twists and fun stuff. your feelings should get ready for an extreme rollercoaster. it left me crying and numb. it was also nice how you mainly heard from adelina, but there were also other povs.

the young elites is definitely a lot darker (cold-blood murder! yay!) and talks about heavier topics, but you should read it nonetheless. it kind of reminded me of divergent and the night circus at some parts, but the story is very original and unexpected.

read my full review (with discussion and spoilers) here: http://twirlingpages.com/2014/10/09/book-review-the-young-elites-marie-lu/ !

I enjoyed this book, the author did a good job of world building and had an interesting construct for why people had powers. My only complaint was that the main character was not likable and didn't become more likable during the book. Perhaps the author has a longer view, over the series, for character growth, but it is hard to empathize with an unlikable character, so I'm not interested in continuing on. I could have been the reader though, making the main character sound more cynical than she really was written. If so, that would be too bad. But, I think many young people would enjoy this book as it is a very interesting world and, given that there are several more books, my opinion must be in the minority.

(Disclaimer: This is my first time doing such a long review, so I have no idea if this is good or not. Just try to stay with me!:-3)I loved this book so much. I picked it up in the YA section of Barnes and Noble, and was attracted to it by its name. The Young Elites. That sounds pretty freaking awesome, doesn't it? Anyway, here are some of the reasons why I liked it:
1. THEMES. I don't know what you reviewers got from this, but the message the book sent me was this: Things cannot be easily defined by words like good and bad, dark and light, true and false. People and their motives are far more complex than that. This is perfectly described through characters like Adelina and Teren. There were also more subtle questions, like: if kindness has strings, is it worth it? is murder okay, even if you have a really good reason? and so on and so forth. It is pretty deep if you think about it.
2. THE CHARACTERS. Adelina is pretty freaking awesome. She is tired of being used, of being hurt, and she wants revenge. She is both bad and good, dark and light, hate and love all at the same time. Her character is probably the best well done, IMHO. Violetta is also more complex of a person than who I first made her out to be. I didn't expect her to have a power, either, and especially not that she knew about it!Other awesome and complex characters I don't have time to describe are Teren and Enzo (both kick butt!)
3. PLOT AND WORLDBUILDING. The plot was straightforward, without many different, extragavantly written layers, but what we did get was an above-average storyline, at least by current YA standard. (Seriously though, some of today's NEW YA just makes you make this face :|.) The characters are allowed to make mistakes, and the events AREN'T entirely predictable! Yay! The world building was subtle, and very piece-by-piece, but definitely present, so we weren't all scratching our heads, thinking, "What the he-eck is a (insert book-specific term here!)". Overall, just a very good job on the plot.
The only main thing that seemed lost on me was the romance. Maybe it was just me not paying attention, but I didn't see any buildup there. It was just like, "Poof! Now Adelina and Enzo are in love!" Yeah, tht totally makes sense…
Overall, I think this book was pretty great. It made me think a bit, as much as YA fantasy can, anyway. I cannot wait for the sequel to come out, which is in two week at the time of me writing this. :) Was this a good review? Did YOU like this book? If you haven't even read it yet, go press the back button, scroll up until you see the "Buy" button, and press it. GO! Do it now!

I know that Marie Lu specifically wanted her protagonist to be a villain and I'm not sure that her idea was such a great one. I mean, the story was okay, but the whole time you can tell that Adelina is "not right" and it keeps the reader at a distance. Granted, you feel sorry for her in the first half of the novel due to her mistreatment as a child and you can tell she has feelings for her sister and, therefore, some humanity. But, as the story goes on, you realize that she is growing more evil. That's not really the kind of character I care about much, ya know? The secondary characters are all pretty flat. And the only likable ones reminded me too much of likable secondary Hunger Games characters. Raffaele=Cinna and Gemma=Rue. Although, Gemma wasn't killed off in this first installment so maybe Raffaele will also live to see another day.

Once again Marie Lu creates a world that enthralls me. The characters are well written with interesting abilities. What drew me in the most (as superficial as this may be) was the names. I had the priviledge of listening to the audio version, and I'm glad that I did. I fear without the audio annunciations of the names, that I wouldn't have had any clue just how beautiful these names are. Adalina Amoteru, (forgive the spelling) is such a beautiful name. Each character has a beautifully accented name that the narrator recites perfectly. I get the impression that Marie Lu spent a significant amount of time creating these names. The names stood out so beautifully in the story that they were my attraction. Not a single person had a lackluster one noted name. Each name from the lead character, to tangental characters sounded like music.

Yes, the story is dynamic, but if you listen to the audio book, you'll see the full beauty of this story through the names.

This was possibly my favorite book of 2014. It was incredibly unique in the sense that it was told from a villains perspective (before she fully embraces her darkness and thirst for vengeance, however) The Young Elites bears very little resemblance to the Legend trilogy, and is much more heavier and sobering to read. At some points in the book, Adelina, the star character, shows disturbing amounts of sadism, so if that bothers you, perhaps a lighter book would be more to your taste. The romance angle wasn't very heavy, the story spun more around Adelina's internal battle of darkness, but I thought the romance was there just enough. Lu's characters carried much depth, I understood and empathized with all of their problems and actions. I shipped Enzo and Adelina so much wow wow wow wow I loved them!!
**** spoiler ahead***

At the end, I was left in tears over Enzo, and Adelina's newfound cold, ambitious, attitude and I am very eager to read The Rise Society and continue to follow Adelina's story. The book raised a mysterious question I can't wait to find the answer to-
What of this malfetto Maeve, the crown princess of Beldain and the malfetto rumoured to be able to bring back the dead? Will Adelina meet her, and will Enzo's life be restored?

I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a book with a darker angle.
I'm certain I'll be rereading this book many times in anticipation for The Rose Society.
Thank you, Marie Lu, for creating yet another literature work of art!!

This book had everything it needed to become a grate book but, for some reason it didn't. Again and again amazing and cool things would happen and you would think, maybe this book will get better now, but it never did. You might like it but, for me thins book was very disappointing.

WOW. Honestly amazing, one of the coolest fantasy books I've read in a while. I've been a HUGE fan of Marie since long before Legend, book 1 in her dystopain trilogy, hit shelves several years ago. Marie was so kind and sent me an ARC of LEGEND, and it blew me away.

Needless to say, I was thrilled when I found out about this new series. And it didn't let me down!

I love how well done Adelina's story was. It's unique in the sense that Adelina isn't the "good guy". She is, in fact, incredibly dark, and as the story goes on, she gets even darker. It was fascinating to really be inside the mind of someone who craved darkness---I know Marie said she struggled while writing this book, and never for one second did that show.

Like Legend, this book was done in split POV's, but it wasn't a constant pattern, which I liked. We also got to see a change from first person to third, which sometimes can be jarring--not in this book. It was flawlessly written.

All I can say is YES.

The epilogue was honestly the best epilogue I've ever read, in ANY story. Yes, even Harry Potter 7. (which I loved and that made me cry). This set the scene for a new book, with an entirely new character and setting. And it was SO creepy and well done. I was floored.

Marie, you're incredible. Totally love calling myself a fan! :)

The last chunk of this book redeems the slow start - and the epilogue adds its own spark.

Overall, this book is pretty dreary. I was excited to read the story of a villain, but just couldn't really get into it. Adelina is dull. Her powers are interessting, her story is interesting, but she, herself, lacks. The story relies on her darkness and anger, and that's really all you get. There are a couple moments where passion breaks through, giving the reader a reprieve from her personality, but she just doesn't have enough redeeming qualities. The best way I can describe this book is to compare it to an overcast day - it never breaks into a raging thunderstorm, but the damn clouds won't go away.

Still, I give it four stars, both because the world is interesting (if lacking development) and because the ending got me excited for the sequel. 300 page into this book, I really didn't care about continuing the story, but the last fifty pages pulled me in. The author's own passion came through in her writing for that last bit. The rest of it reads like an unfinished draft - with one more revision and a little tweaking, it could have been something great. Anyway, now that the world and general plot have been set up, I have high hopes for The Rose Society.

Tears are pricking my eyes after finishing that ending. I really want to write a long review, but I don't know if I can adequately express what I'm feeling inside. I really love books which challenge the notion of right and wrong, who is a hero and who is a villain. There's so many fine, easily blurred lines written everywhere - like kindness with strings attached.

Adelina herself is the perfect main character to follow. Broken, hurt, tired of being used. Her descent into darkness is majestic.

Ultimately, I think it's the relationship between Adelina and her sister Violetta that makes this book stand out. It would have been too easy to write in a love interest or two which saves Adelina, but that's not what happens at all. Oh, no. What happens is better and more cathartic.

I was excited to “read” this book. (I’m listening to the audio version which is read by excellent readers).
Marie Lu is a skilled writer and knows her craft, yet part of me wonders what the author is telling us of herself in this tale? Creative, vivid, well formed world—yes.
Redemption, courage, valiance?
No.
Most of us have a darkness within us.
Mother Theresa mentioned hers.
Yet killing (by the main female character) for petty reasons, especially when asked for mercy, is weak and cowardly—not “dark.”
Was hoping to like this book so much more!

Questioning even finishing it.
Disappointed.

I'd heard such wonderful things about it, and when I finally read it I was disappointed. I really liked the main character, who had a fantastic setup as a darker heroine, one who didn't do things because they were the right thing to do (at first), and one who boasted jealousy and backlash at her too good to be true sister. But once we see her very cool power become developed, it lost all of its appeal to me. Her power is fantastic, unique, but the training and the boy, and the nemesis and the friend who she doesn't want to betray and the oppressed folks with magic powers and even how they got these powers was all seen before stuff that just lacked for me.

(Disclaimer: This is my first time doing such a long review, so I have no idea if this is good or not. Just try to stay with me!:-3)I loved this book so much. I picked it up in the YA section of Barnes and Noble, and was attracted to it by its name. The Young Elites. That sounds pretty freaking awesome, doesn't it? Anyway, here are some of the reasons why I liked it:
1. THEMES. I don't know what you reviewers got from this, but the message the book sent me was this: Things cannot be easily defined by words like good and bad, dark and light, true and false. People and their motives are far more complex than that. This is perfectly described through characters like Adelina and Teren. There were also more subtle questions, like: if kindness has strings, is it worth it? is murder okay, even if you have a really good reason? and so on and so forth. It is pretty deep if you think about it.
2. THE CHARACTERS. Adelina is pretty freaking awesome. She is tired of being used, of being hurt, and she wants revenge. She is both bad and good, dark and light, hate and love all at the same time. Her character is probably the best well done, IMHO. Violetta is also more complex of a person than who I first made her out to be. I didn't expect her to have a power, either, and especially not that she knew about it!Other awesome and complex characters I don't have time to describe are Teren and Enzo (both kick butt!)
3. PLOT AND WORLDBUILDING. The plot was straightforward, without many different, extragavantly written layers, but what we did get was an above-average storyline, at least by current YA standard. (Seriously though, some of today's NEW YA just makes you make this face :|.) The characters are allowed to make mistakes, and the events AREN'T entirely predictable! Yay! The world building was subtle, and very piece-by-piece, but definitely present, so we weren't all scratching our heads, thinking, "What the he-eck is a (insert book-specific term here!)". Overall, just a very good job on the plot.
The only main thing that seemed lost on me was the romance. Maybe it was just me not paying attention, but I didn't see any buildup there. It was just like, "Poof! Now Adelina and Enzo are in love!" Yeah, tht totally makes sense…
Overall, I think this book was pretty great. It made me think a bit, as much as YA fantasy can, anyway. I cannot wait for the sequel to come out, which is in two week at the time of me writing this. :) Was this a good review? Did YOU like this book? If you haven't even read it yet, go press the back button, scroll up until you see the "Buy" button, and press it. GO! Do it now!

I know that Marie Lu specifically wanted her protagonist to be a villain and I'm not sure that her idea was such a great one. I mean, the story was okay, but the whole time you can tell that Adelina is "not right" and it keeps the reader at a distance. Granted, you feel sorry for her in the first half of the novel due to her mistreatment as a child and you can tell she has feelings for her sister and, therefore, some humanity. But, as the story goes on, you realize that she is growing more evil. That's not really the kind of character I care about much, ya know? The secondary characters are all pretty flat. And the only likable ones reminded me too much of likable secondary Hunger Games characters. Raffaele=Cinna and Gemma=Rue. Although, Gemma wasn't killed off in this first installment so maybe Raffaele will also live to see another day.

Once again Marie Lu creates a world that enthralls me. The characters are well written with interesting abilities. What drew me in the most (as superficial as this may be) was the names. I had the priviledge of listening to the audio version, and I'm glad that I did. I fear without the audio annunciations of the names, that I wouldn't have had any clue just how beautiful these names are. Adalina Amoteru, (forgive the spelling) is such a beautiful name. Each character has a beautifully accented name that the narrator recites perfectly. I get the impression that Marie Lu spent a significant amount of time creating these names. The names stood out so beautifully in the story that they were my attraction. Not a single person had a lackluster one noted name. Each name from the lead character, to tangental characters sounded like music.

Yes, the story is dynamic, but if you listen to the audio book, you'll see the full beauty of this story through the names.

This was possibly my favorite book of 2014. It was incredibly unique in the sense that it was told from a villains perspective (before she fully embraces her darkness and thirst for vengeance, however) The Young Elites bears very little resemblance to the Legend trilogy, and is much more heavier and sobering to read. At some points in the book, Adelina, the star character, shows disturbing amounts of sadism, so if that bothers you, perhaps a lighter book would be more to your taste. The romance angle wasn't very heavy, the story spun more around Adelina's internal battle of darkness, but I thought the romance was there just enough. Lu's characters carried much depth, I understood and empathized with all of their problems and actions. I shipped Enzo and Adelina so much wow wow wow wow I loved them!!
**** spoiler ahead***

At the end, I was left in tears over Enzo, and Adelina's newfound cold, ambitious, attitude and I am very eager to read The Rise Society and continue to follow Adelina's story. The book raised a mysterious question I can't wait to find the answer to-
What of this malfetto Maeve, the crown princess of Beldain and the malfetto rumoured to be able to bring back the dead? Will Adelina meet her, and will Enzo's life be restored?

I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a book with a darker angle.
I'm certain I'll be rereading this book many times in anticipation for The Rose Society.
Thank you, Marie Lu, for creating yet another literature work of art!!

This book had everything it needed to become a grate book but, for some reason it didn't. Again and again amazing and cool things would happen and you would think, maybe this book will get better now, but it never did. You might like it but, for me thins book was very disappointing.

4.5 Stars!

I started off having mixed feelings.. hating and loving certain aspects of the book. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did... but overall, the pull of darkness and magic won me over.

"Everyone has darkness inside them, however hidden."

I'm so glad the series is complete so I can dive into The Rose Society because I need to know what happens next!

WOW. Honestly amazing, one of the coolest fantasy books I've read in a while. I've been a HUGE fan of Marie since long before Legend, book 1 in her dystopain trilogy, hit shelves several years ago. Marie was so kind and sent me an ARC of LEGEND, and it blew me away.

Needless to say, I was thrilled when I found out about this new series. And it didn't let me down!

I love how well done Adelina's story was. It's unique in the sense that Adelina isn't the "good guy". She is, in fact, incredibly dark, and as the story goes on, she gets even darker. It was fascinating to really be inside the mind of someone who craved darkness---I know Marie said she struggled while writing this book, and never for one second did that show.

Like Legend, this book was done in split POV's, but it wasn't a constant pattern, which I liked. We also got to see a change from first person to third, which sometimes can be jarring--not in this book. It was flawlessly written.

All I can say is YES.

The epilogue was honestly the best epilogue I've ever read, in ANY story. Yes, even Harry Potter 7. (which I loved and that made me cry). This set the scene for a new book, with an entirely new character and setting. And it was SO creepy and well done. I was floored.

Marie, you're incredible. Totally love calling myself a fan! :)

The last chunk of this book redeems the slow start - and the epilogue adds its own spark.

Overall, this book is pretty dreary. I was excited to read the story of a villain, but just couldn't really get into it. Adelina is dull. Her powers are interessting, her story is interesting, but she, herself, lacks. The story relies on her darkness and anger, and that's really all you get. There are a couple moments where passion breaks through, giving the reader a reprieve from her personality, but she just doesn't have enough redeeming qualities. The best way I can describe this book is to compare it to an overcast day - it never breaks into a raging thunderstorm, but the damn clouds won't go away.

Still, I give it four stars, both because the world is interesting (if lacking development) and because the ending got me excited for the sequel. 300 page into this book, I really didn't care about continuing the story, but the last fifty pages pulled me in. The author's own passion came through in her writing for that last bit. The rest of it reads like an unfinished draft - with one more revision and a little tweaking, it could have been something great. Anyway, now that the world and general plot have been set up, I have high hopes for The Rose Society.

Tears are pricking my eyes after finishing that ending. I really want to write a long review, but I don't know if I can adequately express what I'm feeling inside. I really love books which challenge the notion of right and wrong, who is a hero and who is a villain. There's so many fine, easily blurred lines written everywhere - like kindness with strings attached.

Adelina herself is the perfect main character to follow. Broken, hurt, tired of being used. Her descent into darkness is majestic.

Ultimately, I think it's the relationship between Adelina and her sister Violetta that makes this book stand out. It would have been too easy to write in a love interest or two which saves Adelina, but that's not what happens at all. Oh, no. What happens is better and more cathartic.

I was excited to “read” this book. (I’m listening to the audio version which is read by excellent readers).
Marie Lu is a skilled writer and knows her craft, yet part of me wonders what the author is telling us of herself in this tale? Creative, vivid, well formed world—yes.
Redemption, courage, valiance?
No.
Most of us have a darkness within us.
Mother Theresa mentioned hers.
Yet killing (by the main female character) for petty reasons, especially when asked for mercy, is weak and cowardly—not “dark.”
Was hoping to like this book so much more!

Questioning even finishing it.
Disappointed.

I'd heard such wonderful things about it, and when I finally read it I was disappointed. I really liked the main character, who had a fantastic setup as a darker heroine, one who didn't do things because they were the right thing to do (at first), and one who boasted jealousy and backlash at her too good to be true sister. But once we see her very cool power become developed, it lost all of its appeal to me. Her power is fantastic, unique, but the training and the boy, and the nemesis and the friend who she doesn't want to betray and the oppressed folks with magic powers and even how they got these powers was all seen before stuff that just lacked for me.

****Review posted on bookletbeauty blog****
http://bookletbeauty.blogspot.com

My Thoughts
I'm happy to say that Marie Lu never disappoints me. I read her awesome Legend trilogy and loved it, and now this! WOW! Am I a happy camper right now, or what? I liked the main character, Adelina a lot. When you really think about it we all have a darkness we hide and keep in, just like Adelina.

The plot was interesting. I liked how Adelina didn't immediately trust the Daggers, and she didn't trust Teren either. Their were some moments when I knew what was going to happen next, and other where I was completely surprised. The way Adelina thinks is different, and that's what I like. We start to believe her thoughts on things, when they might not be good.

The supporting characters were what made the book for me. They all play an important part in the overall story. Without one, the story would be different. The Young Elites powers were really cool. I was expecting boring powers, but I should've known they'd be awesome, because MARIE LU WROTE THIS BOOK! As you can tell I love Marie Lu.... I loved the flashbacks and getting more info on Adelina's life and what she went through.

THE ENDING!!! OMG! THE ENDING! I was literally so shocked and speechless. I can't wait for the next book to come out! It was such a cliffhanger because you have no idea what is going to happen next. Please let it be 1 year from now!!!! I WISH!

Overall, I loved this book. As you might be able to tell.

Any Issues?
Just with a part that made me cry.... If you read this book you know what I am talking about. But reading that epilogue I know that issue will be resolved, I hope....

My Rating: 5 stars! SPEECHLESS!

Would I recommend it?
DOES IT LOOK LIKE IT?!?! Yes, it does...

A series by Marie Lu that I'll be reading as each book is released. I was late to the party for her Legend series but finally read and enjoyed the series over a six month period from the first time I read Legend to when I finally got around to reading Champion (I sometimes hate to see a series end and am guilty of putting off the last book). The only thing this book was missing for me was an out right villain (i.e. Vicious by V.E. Schwab). Each character had their reasons for their actions. Although Teren seems to be in control and demand power he's such a coward around the queen it's a bit unreal. Adelina tries with everything she's been given I feel she just ended up with the short end of the stick especially with her sister, Violetta. Enzo spoke what each person wanted to hear not the truth of his heart. Marie Lu writes characters that pull you in from the moment they're introduced and I love this in her writing.

Marie Lu has created a masterpiece laced with darkness. Adelina Amouteru has survived the blood fever, a virus that has blown through city after city, scarring many, killing more. Still, she did not escape unscathed. She lost an eye, gained a jagged scar on the left side of her face, and her hair is silvery grey. This marks her as a malfetto, one of the hated outsiders in their world. For some, the blood fever did more than mark them. It left them will strange powers over the world. They were the Young Elite. They sought the throne, hoping to one day halt the discrimination of malfettos. Widely reknown, they were infamous for their merciless actions.

Adelina is regarded as just a powerless malfetto, one that is a scourge on the face of the world. Her father has abused and mistreated her throughout her childhood, leaving a current of dark hatred pulsing through her being. Hatred that is aching to be unleashed.

This happens, accidently, on the night that she discovers that her father is preparing to sell her as a mistress to a wealthy man, as she runs away to escape her fate. Her father follows her, ready to sell her off at all costs. After all, she was a malfetto. It was a miracle that an offer had been put in for her, even one from a man seeking a mistress. That night, the darkness inside her shows itself, as she conjured illusions that induce fear in the heart of her father. Spooked, a horse rears up and as it brings its hooves back down, on plunges straight through her fathers heart, killing him.

She is detained as a murdering malfetto, and is to be put to death. On the day of her execution, the Dagger Society, made up of the storied Young Elites come to her rescue. Their quest for a new world nearly impossible, blocked by the Inquisition. Still, they have hope. Their leader, Enzo Valencio is the crown prince, who wants to seize his birthright back from the king. He is their only chance for a better world. Adelina joins them in this quest, even though many find her presence and darkness unsettling.

Now, the Young Elites clash with the Inquisition and crown, in a battle for their rights. Teren Santoro, the leader of the Inquisition, will fend from attacks from the Dagger, in a fight that will reshape their world. Both sides vye for the favor and help of Adelina, who has the power to change everything.

Marie Lu has built a stunning future world, with amazingly detailed scenes that you will never tire of. The Young Elites is a YA masterpiece, and a must read for anybody who enjoyed Legend, Divergent, or the Hunger Games.

I was very excited to see a new series from Marie Lu. Unfortunately this book did not draw me in like the legend books. There seemed to be too much going on and not enough time and care was taken to flesh out the characters as well as familiarize the reader with the setting (since the world is a fantasy land it would have been nice to have a map or better description of the world the characters lived in). There were too many minor characters that it became distracting and quite frankly there was no one really to root for. I did not feel like rooting for the main character nor any of the other characters. Not sure if I will read the next book.

I love a good high fantasy. This is a pretty decent start to what I hope will turn out to be a fantastic series. Let me start by saying I loved Legend. I also thought that the series got better as it went on. This gives me high hopes for future installments in The Young Elites series. The premise of this fantasy is great: medieval, strange illness, kids with super powers! That's like a trifecta of awesome! The characters themselves are also fantastic, flawed, and questionably placed on the number line of good vs. Evil. I would have liked more time to explore the world of this fantasy and not had to jump right into the action, however, there is still time for this in future volumes. And of that ending! Seriously, it haunted me for days after I finished it!
Final recommendations: if you like high fantasy, super kids, flawed but lovable heroines, flawed yet hot boys (I mean don't we all?!)

I love this book so much! I actually had the entire Legend trilogy on my shelf for a few years but never got a chance to read them. Then I found out Marie was coming to my hometown for a book signing for this book and I was so excited that I bought it and got it signed by her. I devoured it in the weeks after the signing. The plot is so compelling and instantly drew me in and the characters are all so wonderful (even Adelina, who is super dark and angry). I could relate to everyone, even Adelina and her anger, and have now written an essay for VCFA about how I wish I had written this book. Marie writes pure gold, no doubt about it! Super stoked for books 2 and 3!

Arnas Miskinis -

After reading Marie Lu's Legend series I was excited about The Young Elites, and this series. After reading it I wasn't as excited about the next book. I liked the idea of the plot and concept of the story, but I had different expectations than I thought it was going to be. This book was much more depressing and sad than Legend, which I wasn't expecting. I also had trouble connecting with the characters since the story got complicated due to certain parts of the book where it felt slow and unimportant. I feel if their names were simpler than I could've understood the book better. Towards the end of the book where the pace picked up, I got a better understanding of what was going on and the book ended pretty well in my opinion. Although, I'd enjoy a book that is much more thrilling and makes you constantly on the edge of your seat.

This book is dark and different from anything I have read. Which is wonderful and frightening.

I absolutely love the fact that this book is from the viewpoint of the "villian". I am so tired of reading books where the main character is caring, and beautiful, and infallible. Adelina has a missing eye, and a childhood filled with torture and pain. Even her own sisters seems to have betrayed her in youth. She doesn't want to hurt everyone, but she will put herself first after years of imprisonment with her father. For once, an abused person actually acts like they have been abused in a book.

Even the group of Young Elites which are fighting for the rights of people with extraordinary powers are not infallible. They will kill innocents when they need to to get what they need.

One issue that I have is this land is not earth, it has several moons, and yet everything is earth-like - length of days, seven day weeks, etc. I think that situation needed more forethought. It's a small thing but it still bothers me.

Book: The Young Elites
Author: Marie Lu
Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars

I was drawn into this book right away. I was actually surprised about how quickly this book drew me in, because I was a little unsure about this book. It was one of this books that looked like it could go either way for me.

I loved the setting of this story. I love stories that take place in magical places with a controlling government. I do not know why I am drawn to these stories, but I am. I loved the dark nature of this world and the two conflicting sides.

I also loved Adelina! She is not your typical lead. First off, she does things early on that is not common of female leads. She doesn't sit around and wonder what would happen if she did something. She is a doer and go getter. She is also very protective of her sister and does not need a man in her life to make her happy. You hear that! Romance is not the central aspect of this book! It's about time and young adult needs to look at this.

I also liked Teren. I know, I know. He is the bad guy and all of that jazz, but there is just something about his character that I was drawn too. It seems like to me that there is a more complex to him than what is presented in the text.

I also liked Rafelle. Gasp! He's friends with a girl and does not have romantic feelings for her! How dare that happen in a young adult book!?
I loved how no one was a hero. I know it sounds insane! How can you have a book without a hero? Well, read this one and see how it is. There are anti-heroes.

The writing was also flawless. I just love how smoothly Marie Lu switched back and forth between characters. She has also mastered present tense and does not seem to pushing it either by writing in this tense. I know that a lot of people do not like present, but I think that it makes the character's voice stronger. It actually gives the reader the chance to experience the events as the character faces them.

Overall, this was a good book! Everything was very fast paced and well done! I am currently looking for the second book, so we will see how much longer this series holds my interest.

I did like this book, some sections I thought were a little dull. However I would like to see what happens next, so I will read the rest of the series. Starts off Adelina has a dad who is very mentally and sometimes physically abusive. while her sister Violetta is the prize for their dad. A massive plague went through the city and some children died or got the markings. Adelina and Violetta both caught it. But Adeline was left with markings and powers. Cast out by everyone including her father. She finds the young elites. And fights off her own Demons within herself. Enzo leader of Elites tries to help her.

I gave this two stars because it really wasn't my kind of book. It was very well written, but it was very dark and the main character was borderline evil. It was hard to believe in her when she was so full of darkness and evil thoughts. The story had a very hopeless feeling about it and when I was done reading I felt bad inside. Not how I want to feel when reading a book, so I wont be reading any of the other books in this series sorry to say. I loved her other series, but this one was just too dark.

Adelina Amouteru is a kick-butt heroine who balances on that ledge of using her immense power for good or evil.
Even though she has darkness inside, she always tries to do the right thing...even though she's been treated poorly by people who should love and protect her. When her father finally decides to sell her off as a Mistress, Adelina decides she can no longer stay and endure his wrath. When she escapes, he pursues and she accidentally uses her power to kill him. As she's sitting in a cell waiting her fate of death, others are plotting how to save her. The day she's to be burned at the stake, the Young Elites come out of nowhere to rescue her from impending death. She's taken into their secret society and they teach her how to call forth and hone her newfound powers.
Throughout the story there is romance, betrayal, battles of good vs. evil, and some very interesting enlightenments about certain characters.
I loved all the action. Marie Lu has not disappointed with this first book in her new series!

I will admit upfront that I have read The Rose Society and did not like it at all. However, I believe this series had great potential and looking at The Young Elites, I expected awesome things that not many authors were doing. TYE doesn't exactly function as a standalone in the typical sense, but I would rather recommend it that way than as the first book of a series because I believe in what this book accomplished much more than what TRS tore to pieces. If you're looking for a female villain, this is the place to go. If you're looking for closure or a great cast of secondary characters or a great romance or a great story or a great Italy-based setting, there are other books I would recommend first.

Genre: YA Fantasy
Read: May 26, 2015
My Review:
I was really surprised with this in the way that I wasn't expecting my opinion to be part of the popular view. I really enjoyed reading from the twisted view of the MC. The occasional POV switch was welcomed. For some reason, I liked the dark thoughts that the MC had. The only turn-off for me was the abrupt ending. I understand that it was ended there for cliff hanger purposes but I just don't appreciate the ending without closure. Other than that, all characters, plot, world building and story were great.

Recommend: Yes, buckle up for a bumpy ride

My students and I loved the Legend series, and now Lu returns to YA with 16 year old Adelina who is a survivor of the blood fever. Labelled a malfetto, a survivor, Adelina's appearance has changed. She has a scar, her eyelashes have turned pale, and her hair has changed color. Not only must she survive her abusive, power-hungry father, but the Young Elites are looking for her. Not sure whom to trust, Adelina must control her powers, which even to her a mystery. Taking a bold and successful step into fantasy, Lu once again proves why she's one of the top YA writers. Reviewscomingatya.blogspot.com.

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I received from the publisher.

Funny thing with me and Marie Lu’s books. I was a black sheep for Legend, but I kept on with the series anyway and ended up liking the latter books much more. I’m no fan of high fantasy but will read it if it sounds good enough, so on my TBR The Young Elites went so I could see if she’d be able to hook me from the first book this time. Could she? Well, kinda. She avoids a lot of the common pitfalls that make me dislike YA high fantasy in general, but the book as a whole left me unimpressed. It’s time for that black cat sheep magic again!

There’s so much good here I’d be remiss to not mention it before I get grumpy. Like her Legend novels, The Young Elites is a quick, fun read and you’re not going to notice how quickly the pages fly by because you’ll be too into the story to care. Where a lot of fantasy relies on a very strict patriarchal dynamic, “historically accurate” sexism despite fantasy novels taking place in another universe that doesn’t have the same history as ours, and even more of a heterosexual norm than our own world, but Lu throws all that bull right out the window. The book is essentially a villain’s origin story, but one of the strongest threads in it is sisterhood. Everything Adelina does is for the sake of keeping her younger sister safe one way or another. There’s a small, unconvincing romance with a prince, but I assume it’s meant to be small and unconvincing.

Anyway, the “historically accurate” sexism and Super Patriarchy aren’t here. Kenettran society more closely resembles our current society in terms of gender dynamics, but even then, their male vs. female divide is a hundred times less severe than it is for us. Plenty of characters who aren’t white (Adelina has dark olive skin and her love interest’s skin is outright described as brown) and/or are gay are present too; one major supporting character if bisexual, another is revealed at the end to be a lesbian, and another character introduced at the end is a lesbian AND the warrior heiress of a matriarchal society. YESSSSSS. HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN ASKING FOR MATRIARCHIES IN FANTASY YA? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT LIFE-GIVING DETAIL, MARIE LU.

Ahem. There’s also Adelina. As the novel goes on, it gets more uncomfortable to be in her head as she becomes more villainous, but Lu always keeps you hooked and you feel a great deal of sympathy for her. With what people put her through, no wonder she turns out the way she does. Her storyline is appreciable, but there’s something about it that fails to make me feel anything deeper than writerly appreciation and surface-level sympathy. The most enthusiastic I get is when she and the antagonist Teren are talking. I know he’s not interested in her romantically or anything, but I dare you to tell me not to get excited when a guy says “You belong with me, not them” to a girl. I DON’T CARE IF IT’S PLATONIC AND HE’S AWFUL. MY SHIP IS SAILING ANYWAY.

It sounds like I really liked it, right? Well, that’s another funny story. There are so many things I can appreciate about The Young Elites as a novel, but nothing about it really makes me feel deeply. Adelina kills someone? M’kay. Someone wrongs Adelina because there’s apparently a line of people who want to do that for kicks? Oh, bless her heart. It all feels so lifeless and thus elements I should feel a much deeper love for get surface emotion from me, not true emotions. This is a HUGE blow to any novel. Even genuine anger is better than nothing at all!

Poor narrative choices kept messing with me too. In her Legend books, she had two first-person-present narrator characters often criticized for sounding exactly the same. This time around, Adelina narrates in first-person present and three other characters get very short sections in third-person present. While this solves the problem of the narrators sounding exactly the same, we all know third-person present is the devil of narrative choices thanks to its ability to distance a reader like no one’s business. Thank goodness those sections are short enough that it can’t grate on readers too much, but I would have preferred being in Adelina and only Adelina’s head.

Then because I get hung up on something stupid every single time, I got irritated with the superpowered ones being called The Young Elites. They’re malfettos given their powers by the blood fever they survived along with various scars and mutations. Society despises malfettos even if they have no powers, so why are the ones with powers who are even more despised called something with such a positive connotation? Even the villains do it! That’s not good politics, m’kay? Calling them something that makes them sound good makes it harder to bring them down. It would be better to call them Daggers; the Young Elites at the center of the story formed the Dagger Society together, so it’s accurate. By calling them Daggers, you’re reducing them to inanimate objects and weapons. Much easier to rally support against and defeat than a group that sounds like a gathering of kids from the nobility.

English major problems: you get hung up on stuff like this because Words Mean Things. The villains calling them Young Elites is like everyone in the US government suddenly deciding Al Qaeda and ISIS will now be referred to as Servants of Allah. They sound like far less violent groups, right? EXACTLY.

All in all, The Young Elites turned out to be a mixed bag of a book and a so-so series opener. I might stick around considering I enjoyed Lu’s Legend books as they went along, but do I really want to give this series more of my time? I’m not sure. Once the second book gets closer to coming out, I’ll think about it. If you’re a fan of hers or want a fantasy novel bereft of many of the genre’s cliches, give it a shot. What do you have to lose?

Maybe I've been reading to much fantasy lately but I just cannot get into this book. It is so boring. I managed to get about half way through it and I'm still just not wanting to read it. I thought this sounded really good but there has been nothing that grabbed me and made me want to keep going.

I liked this book quite a lot.
Adelina, Raffaele, Violetta and Enzo are all great characters. Though the story is set hundreds of years ago, it still felt very modern at the same time.
It helped that this story was very exciting. It had tons and tons of build-up. Plus it had huge doses of action scenes, you could easily picture this like a movie in your mind. The wicked descriptive writing really lets your mind go loose and envision everything easily.
Imagine X-men, but cooler!
My first time reading from Marie Lu's books and it won't be the last!

4.5/5

I found very little wrong with this book. It's brilliant, dark, and gritty. I think this is just one of those books that makes me love the fantasy genre even more and just the endless options there are in creating a world from your very own head.

This is the first book I've read by Marie Lu. Do I feel guilty reading this first and not her "Legend" trilogy? No. You know why? Because The Young Elites appeals to me more than her dystopian trilogy. However, there will be a time when I read Legend but today and maybe the next few weeks is just not that day.

So let's get down to it!

[Possible spoilers. Read at your own risk. ;) ]

I LOVE the very Italian Renaissance feel to this book. One of my favorite cultures during the said time period. So I was hooked right away because of that! So in turn, the world building was quite good but I think it helped because it was relatable to something very real world. I always find it so helpful when there are maps and so that was also a bonus.

The 3 main characters are all complex. They're all different and I'm not sure I favor one above the other but I will tell you that Adelina is not my favorite female main character. She really irked me. She was, above all, a coward. Even towards the end.

She has been victimized from the moment she recovered from the blood fever due to her markings and her powers. Because of her father, she's basically been conditioned to destroy things because she wanted love and acceptance from her father. The way he treated her affected her psychologically since he seemed to get pleasure from using his daughter in such a way as to hurt the things around her. Her father seemingly turned her sister, Violetta, against her, unknown that she had powers of her own. How should I feel about a main character who enjoys using her powers to inflict pain? Am I supposed to sympathize with her? I'm just not sure yet. Even towards the end, she couldn't atone for what happened. People she thought were her friends turned against her too. Sure, she has that reason to be angry but she had EVERY opportunity to tell the truth! She didn't. She's a coward.

As for Teren, he's mind-boggling too. He's secretly a malfetto who is KILLING malfettos because the queen, Giulietta, has promised him her love in return. I wonder how he can believe her words when she herself said people like him are evil and basically demons yet he's one and so he goes around killing malfettos and for what? Her love for Terrn cannot outweigh the fact that he's a malfetto. What will happen when it's all over? Will she not just have him killed or make him kill himself if he's such a "mistake"? He's brainwashed and blinded by his love for her.

Okay, so maybe if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Enzo. He's heir to the throne but was exiled due to being a malfetto (with awesome powers!). He knows the throne is rightfully his and instead of listening to the trash that's spewed about malfettos being demons, he's taken some in, rescuing some, and just overall proving that malfettos are simply people albeit slightly misunderstood. He doesn't play games or hide who he is. The other Daggers in The Young Elites respect him and they're fighting for a unified cause. He gets things done and it just makes it all the more heartbreaking at the end. I still think he's out there. There's so way Lu would kill such a vital character.

So overall, an excellent read. I will definitely grab the sequel and any following books in this series.

I put this book off because of all the hype. I didn’t want to be disappointed. When I saw that my library had The Young Elites on audiobook and I knew I was going to be driving for about 10 hours that weekend, I decided to finally read it. Sadly, this was not my favorite book.

The story behind how the Elites became Elites is really interesting. There was the blood fever that killed adults who contracted it and changed some children who managed to survive. The children who survived were often marked somehow such as unnatural hair or eye color. Over time, some of these children developed abilities to interact with the world. Some can call fire and some can control the wind, for example. This was a very fascinating concept.

However, I could not stand Adelina. She was so annoying. I just could not sympathize with her. I don’t even know the words to adequately describe my feelings about the character of Adelina. She is self-centered and thinks first of herself and her own survival.

Adelina also has the power of illusion but it is uncontrolled. The book kept talking about how dark Adelina was and all the darkness inside of her but we didn’t see too much of that. I think she would have been more interesting if she showed more of this darkness.

Then there was Enzo. He is actually a the Prince of Kennettra and should have inherited the throne but didn’t. He basically has a vendetta against his sister and plans to use the Young Elites to overthrow her and claim the throne. I didn’t care much for him at all and did not like the romance between him and Adelina.

I don’t really know what else to say about this book. I just didn’t really like it that much. It was an okay read but I felt that I was forcing myself to finish the audiobook when I really didn’t want to. So this was almost a DNF but I stuck it out and am thankful I did. The ending was… interesting and I loved that Violetta, Adelina’s sister, finally makes an appearance.

This review first appeared at Orandi et Legendi ([...]).

The Young Elites is a fantasy novel about Adelina Amouteru who discovers that she has strange gifts because of a disease that spread through her country. Because these powers are believed to be demonic, people want to hunt her down. Teren Santoro the Inquisition Axis leader wants her dead while Enzo Valenciano wants her to join a group of gifted teenagers known as the Young Elites.

The Young Elites kept me on the edge of my seat during the entire story with plenty of plot-twists that kept me guessing. Marie Lu constructed the plot excellently with great characters and a very good plot. I fell in love with almost all of the characters and I also loved learning about their different abilities. It reminded me a lot of X-Men and The Darkest Minds series, which are two series that I love. The plot had many surprising points that I never expected. I also love the darkness of the book, which is why I also love Adelina so much. She is a very unique character with many qualities that you don’t normally see in Young Adult heroines. Every character is also broken in some way, which is another reason why I love the book. It makes them more believable and realistic, which is something that I feel is missing is some books.

The main problem I had with the novel was that there was not a lot of world building. It left me with many questions and also left me confused about some thing concerning the politics of the world, but hopefully they will be answered with the next book.

The Young Elites does have a dark undertone, so if you don’t like books that are gloomy and sad, you should probably not read this book as it has many parts that might leave you feeling very upset; however, if you love that sort of book, I would highly recommend this amazing first book of the series. I would also recommend this book if you loved Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds series or Marie Lu’s Legend series.

If you want to step back from the dystopian novels, I think that this is a great fantasy book that everyone should read.

I really liked this book and I wasn't really expecting to! I've never really been a fan of high fantasy but this one was really good.

Things I liked: Adelina! She's not your typical goody two shoes heroine you usually see in YA novels, rather, she's darker and honestly I was a little scared of her throughout the book because I wasn't sure what she was capable of, especially since she seemed to kill without reservation.

The writing style. I was captivated from the first page and didn't put the book down until I finished it. I was intrigued by all the twists and turns and can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series.

The characters. I always enjoy books that have several well rounded characters, and was that a little bit of bisexual representation I spied in the last chapter? Here for that all day long.

Things I didn't like so much: Teren. He felt too one dimensional to me and I saw the big reveal coming from a mile away.

The whole malfetto concept confused me just a little, mainly with how Violetta had powers without markings. I found the whole "because of what she can do" explanation a little weak.

Overall, a strong series start. Can't wait to read more!

I'm a fan of Marie Lu's other trilogy, Legend, so I decided to give The Young Elites a try since it's been on my to-read list for a while. I enjoyed the first book of this trilogy, but not as much as I enjoyed the Legend books. I did see a number of reviewers mention that the series gets better in the second & third books, which I'm happy about.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu centers on a young girl named Adelina. She survived a deadly fever in her land but her features were unchanged. She does have powers that she can call on at will so is called a “young Elite.” When her kingdom wants to rid themselves of these kind of people, she joins other young Elites to strike back—but, can they really be trusted?

I can see why people would be disappointed in this because it is not like her Legend series at all. However, I liked it. It kept my interest and I look forward to her next book!

This book had me at the first sentence "I'm going to die tomorrow morning." Our main character Adelina is in a precarious situation when we first meet her. She survived the Blood Fever, a virus that killed thousands and has changed all children psychically and mentally. Some have scars on the outside but most have new powers that were developed from the blood fever. These children are called malfetto and they are loathed to the point that some are murdered without cause. Adelina only lost an eye from the fever until the night she kills her father. Her true, dark powers manifest which is why she's in jail waiting for her execution. She has become a true malfetto. And that's how the book gains my attention and the fast pace adventure begins.

This was a dark spellbinding tale of young kids trying to gain the acceptance of their kingdom while putting the rightful heir back on the throne. Marie Lu did a wonderful job on the description of her fantasy world with the rituals, attire and royal affairs. I just love world building and she did a fantastic job. Look at her map!

Every fantasy needs a good map and I can visually picture Marie's world through her descriptive words. She takes us around this world with perfect clarity not missing a beat front the different cultures and settings. Her world building is masterful and fuels the plot of the story and helps motivate the characters.

Marie Lu does a wonderful job on creating her characters and mastering the multiple points of views. Sometimes this draws me away from books because I feel that multiple points of view can become confusing. Not in this case.

We nave four point of views, one in first person and three in third person. Adelina's story is told in first person. We can feel her emotions and know her thoughts. Reading her chapters I become more emotional and empathize with her. Sometimes I wish that she would speak her mind rather than keep secrets. The three other characters we follow are evil Teren, the handsome Raffaele and the crown prince Enzo. I love Enzo and his fire powers. He can call upon the fires to bend at his will. His emotions with Adelina are often sometimes laughable, given the situation they are in. I wish characters can just say what they feel, but then again it wouldn't make for a good story. Teren wants to help his queen and king get rid of the malfettos once and for all. I disliked his character, which he was the bad guy so who wouldn't? Raffaele is a beautiful boy who's is in a slightly scandalous job and his powers are somewhat weak but efficient. But his love for Enzo and Adelina won me over right away. The reason these three third person POV work is because the reader has been informed of things that Adelina has no knowledge of. The reader is given more information and the anticipation of Adelina finding out these things just draws the reader further into the story.

Young Elites was a wonderful-I-can't-put-this-book-down-OMG-the-feels read. Marie Lu did another fabulous job at taking us through a world of romance, war, adventure and loss. Enzo and Adelina have a fabulous chemistry and I just love when Enzo trains Adelina he doesn't hold back. He gives it all he can to make her stronger. This book was darker that the Legend Trilogy. There were surprises I didn't expect that caused gasps and screams of "NOOOOOOO!" Marie Lu does a wonderful job with introducing the characters, from their childhood, to their powers. Her description is pristine and each scene is fast paced and a page turner.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu is the start of a dark fantasy series set in a blissfully fresh fantasy world beset by a horrid fever that killed many and left a few with strange powers. Our main character Adelina is scarred physically and emotionally, missing one eye, and is a second class citizen because she survived the blood fever. She is everything you could want in an antihero and broken character and I loved her for it dearly. The world of The Young Elites is wonderful because of small and big details such as a completely new pantheon of gods and angels with fresh myths and magic. I got only four hours of sleep one night because I couldn’t put The Young Elites down and I did not regret it at all the next day!
Note: I read an advanced copy of The Young Elites. Some things may have changed in the final version.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu (The Young Elites #1)
Published by Putnam Juvenille on Oct. 7th, 2014
Genres: Dark Fantasy, YA
Length: 368 pages
How I got my copy: Borrowed

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.

Strengths:
-As I discussed a bit above, the world-building in The Young Elites is freaking fantastic! I was especially delighted to realize that the pantheon of gods and angels is not heavily borrowed from any Earthly cultures that I’m familiar with, so I got to learn all the new stories and associations. The countries of The Young Elites are also fresh and interesting and I can’t wait to learn more about the Skylands in book two >.>.
-I really love the storytelling technique of including snippets from books at the beginning of each chapter and The Young Elites had wonderful timing in terms of giving context just as something important happened. If you were a fan of the way Dissonance did its chapter beginnings, The Young Elites is like that ;-).
-The main character, Adelina, is so heart-breakingly damaged because of the loss of her mother and her father’s subsequent treatment of her. She also lost one eye during the fever and Lu does not skirt around the vision problems that accompany this handicap, woot! Adelina really is almost the villain of The Young Elites, so those of you who loved that about Cracked should pay attention :D.
-A lot of the decisions Adelina makes are due to her bond with her younger sister and I loved the realistic mixed feelings she had about the sister that was always favored where she was abused but was still her little sister. Sisterly bonds are one of my favorite relationships probably because I don’t have a sister, ha.
-There are a lot of twists along the way in The Young Elites and I loved every one of them. Mostly though, I loved the ending because crazy real things happen and the epilogue is exactly what I want in an epilogue! (And I normally HATE epilogues.)
-The writing of The Young Elites was honestly even more compelling than Legend. I just wanted to read more and more despite how dark The Young Elites gets. Plan to have your life put on hold when you pick this one up.

Weaknesses:
-The only thing that bugged me a bit in The Young Elites was Adelina’s tendency to refer to “her alignment to” an emotion instead of just stating the emotion. There is some context that explains a bit, but it still just sounded strange when she said “my alignment to passion surged” instead of “my passion surged” ya know?

Summary:
The Young Elites was everything I was hoping it would be and has made me an adamant Marie Lu fangirl. I will be waiting excitedly for any word about the sequel after that epic ending and highly advise all fans of dark and unique fantasy to check out this series. Even if you weren’t a complete fan of Legend (I was only neutral really), The Young Elites is very much worth checking out!

I read this about two days after getting it.it is very fast paced with a lot of action. I would like to have seen a little more about the blood fever and what happened to Adeline's mother( maybe her death is what made the father so coldhearted?) You do get a lot of information about the characters and their would, as well as the Inquisition's hatred of the malfettos( Salam witch trials and Spanish inquisition, anyone?) I recommend this to anyone wanting a fast paced read with lots of action. Can't wait for the next one!

I love this book. It is a very heartbreaking, well planned and brilliant book. Marie Lu delivers a highed standard than any of my expectations claiming her rightful place as one of the best authors in the YA genre. I especially liked the ending as Adelina promises revenge to Teren, it shows how cold one can react to the death of the one she loves and how people could do such things. Moreover, this novel is also realistic as how the queen wanted to overpower the throne using her puppet Teren. Marie Lu accomplished her goal to create an extremely successful and anticipated series which (after finishing the book in a day) I searched up the sequel, forgetting it came out only a few weeks ago. I consider Marie Lu a goddess in the YA genre, going passed my expectations massively. I hope that the sequel releases in early 2015 - by early I mean January, February the latest. Furthermore, Marie Lu used an exciting, twisting plot reminding me of the series written by Alexandda Bracken. They are very similar. In addition, Marie Lu excels at making the female character (Adelina) having a huge contribution to the story, making her the heroine or the villain or just the one seeking revenge. However, I do expect a little more action between Teren and Adlelina in the next book, also how the Daggers take part. I hope that the Daggers would be seeking for Adelina's and Violetta's help and their own mini league and how that would play out. Also, it would be amazing how maybe their powers evolve somhow as they are getting stronger like the Windwalker can use the air's sound to control or torment her opponents or how Adelina could not only create illusions but maybe copy someone so their is actually ten of them fighting, making the opponents confused. And to make the new characters have marvellous abilities like to be very quick or very intelligent person that can produce amazing gadgets. Finally, I would like to thank Marie Lu for such a thought-provoking novel. Thank You
Ali Tavassoli

I am in love with this book and can't wait for the next in series. I have never read a villains story and it really put some situations into perspective. I'll admit that what drew me in was the cover I didn't read the synopsis before I started reading the young elites. I had heard that the author's other series legends was good so I decided to read this book. I cannot say how much I love it and I really hope in the next book the main character embraces what she is. I highly recommended this book

I absolutely love this book especially it's author who is just outstanding with her words and building a world like no other. You really fall in love with her characters and the world they are in. I've read her legend series and somehow in both the series and this new book she can make you love every character even the villains. This was a mostly fantasy but I don't think it was a high fantasy so if you wanted to venture into the book world of kings and queens,mystical powers,and strange creatures this is a good book to start with. It also has a wonderful side romance(s) that are beautiful. I have to say don't read if you can't handle crying for days and wanting to die in a corner because the last 50 pages or so will kill you so BEWARE.

Holy mother of all books! I was looking for a simple book, one of those you can stop reading and begin again at night, on that would actually let me live my life..... no luck here! CAN'S PUT IT DOWN....

The characters are amazing, none of them is a saint, and that is OK by me, they are real and flawed and broken, and so so so amazing!

To be honest: I am 2 chapters short and I can't bring myself to keep reading because I'm too shocked and excited... and... WAY TO GO MARIE LU!! you have the guts to make what has to be done! I hate how some writers just give you the happy ending because it`s the best thing to do, or when they go for an extreme change in the end but it doesn`t make any sense... well, not you! Marie Lu actually does what has to be done to make the story stronger a better...

Definitely one of my favorite books this year...

This book was amazing in many ways. The plot was so solid, every description was on point, Marie Lu created such a beautiful and sophitcated world among the chaos in the story...I was mind blown. I read this in one sitting. It had me hooked from start to end. Adelina is such an empowering character and still has such vulnerabilities and sadness that you can't help but connect with her. I suffered her and felt for her. The ending was heartbreaking in every sense. And I cannot wait to read the secons book. I need that book now okay.

I really enjoyed this book, a lot, because it's so different. Like really different. Not because children who survived this mystery illness have grown up to develop strange and unique powers, but because our main character isn't driven by the light. Her powers manifest from darkness. She's unstable, dangerous, and can't decide what side she's on. So in a way it's as if she has all the makings of being a villain even though we believe her to be our hero.

It's exciting and action packed with many interesting characters which, when combined, create one awesome story! And I can't wait for the next one to see where it all will go from here.

I really enjoyed this book and I feel while it did spend a lot of time to describe things and get the action happening, I feel it was necessary to start that way. World building is best respected when time and effort is put into it. There are 2 more books I need to read but I am already deeply convinced that I will continue to enjoy the rest. I really enjoyed Legend so I'm glad Marie has unlocked more stories from inside of her and shared it with us.

It is so intricate, superbly different, captivating and heartbreaking all at once. The epilogue had to be my favourite part, that character and her story seems to be the catalyst in all of this and I cannot wait to read more of this world. For me, it was a fantastic read.

I love this book!!! I can't wait for it to be October so that the Rose Society is out already. There was only one part of the book that I did not like like. and i won't tell you because it will spoil it. I love Marie Lu's writing. I reread this book because it was so good and i figured out things i didn't notice the first time. I can't wait for the Rose Society to come out

This book was very good! Different from Marie Lu's first series but still involving action, secrets, betrayals, danger, and love! This book takes you into a different world but as you read you can find yourself relating what is happening to what has happened before in our world and what is still happening. Her descriptive words place you into this book as if you are experiencing it for yourself.

This review is for all three books. The first book is pretty good and draws you in although the ending wasn't very happy.

The second book I give 2.5 stars I almost didn't even read the 3rd I had trouble connecting to charecters and it was just generally depressing

The third book gets 3 stars it was rocky at first and I liked the ending for the most part. It does have a happy ending. Probably wouldn't read the series again.

I really enjoyed this book and am so excited to continue the series. This fantasy world is very unique and the world building was done fantastically. All of the characters were intriguing and found myself immediately wanting to dive into book two when I finished the last page.

Villains are usually my favorite characters in books. Call me twisted, but I love bad women/guys, characters who do anything to get their way, characters who have questionable morals and/or goals. So I should have loved THE YOUNG ELITES, because it’s supposed to be a villain’s story.

Adelina is tired of being hurt, of being used. A survivor of the mysterious blood fever, she lost an eye. One would think that would be enough, but her father has hurt and hated her for years, trying to find some value in having a malfetto for a daughter. When Adelina finds out her father is going to sell her, she escapes … and murders him in the process.

On the day of her execution, a fire already set at her feet, Adelina is rescued by the Young Elites. They are a group of malfettos with magic powers, and they want Adelina because she’s one of them. But the rescue isn’t quite what it seems, because the Young Elites want to use Adelina, as does Teren, leader of the Inquisition that nearly killed her.

All of that? Pretty promising, I’d say. But there was just something missing in THE YOUNG ELITES, something that’s very difficult for me to put my finger on. I should have flown through this book, but it took me days to finish. That’s abnormal for me, because I usually read a book a day. THE YOUNG ELITES just didn’t hold my interest. I feel like I trudged through it, and there were several points where I just wanted to put it aside. I didn’t, but only because I’d heard the ending was worth it. The ending was okay, the best part of the book for me, other than the epilogue.

Why didn’t THE YOUNG ELITES hold my interest? To start, there’s a real lack of worldbuilding for a fantasy book. The world feels a lot like Renaissance Italy, and there are lots of descriptions of buildings and pretty masks and clothing, but not of the important stuff. Where did the blood fever come from? How does magic work for the Young Elites? Adelina describes using her powers, but I didn’t quite get the idea behind the threads, or many of the powers of the other Elites. Etc.

I also never connected to Adelina. I don’t necessarily have to like a main character to like a book, but there has to be *something* about a character to grab me if the story doesn’t. I should have loved that Adelina is making steps towards being the bad guy, but she didn’t feel very developed to me. I read in the Acknowledgments that she was originally a side character, and then the author rewrote the book around her.

There’s more bad I could go on about, but I’ll stop there and just say I was underwhelmed and disappointed by this book. I expected more — I really liked Marie Lu’s first book, LEGEND, which read almost like playing a video game. If I made the same comparison, THE YOUNG ELITES read like being stuck on the loading screen.

So why 2 stars instead of 1? Because there is some cool stuff in THE YOUNG ELITES. Parts of the book are quite dark, which I usually like, and I liked that the author tried to go there. I could see promise, but there was a lack of execution/focus. I probably would pick up the next Young Elites book, but I’m crossing my fingers that it’s better.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Young Elites has great potential and was well written. Although I did indulge in the series, I can't say I fell in love with the protagonist. To be honest, all of the main characters in the book to me were either bland, confusing, or insignificant to the plot line. I say it's worth it to at least try the first book, it was enough to keep my interest. But this series is definitely not in my "Top Favorites" list. If you're looking for a book in an attempt to get into the fantasy genre, this isn't where you should start.

It has an interesting world and people.
It lagged quite a bit for me though I love the concept. Oh was disappointed by the emergence of new characters, new politics as a teaser to the end. While the world is partially built, some words aren't explained, also the idea of there being so many inquisitors, and an army/navy irritated me. Some things could have been much better fleshed out, with just a paragraph.

All in all I like the main character and the duality. It was refreshing. She was a really really well built character which is why I continued to read it. And of course the very end was surprising and so now I'm excited for the rest of the books since it wasn't at all what I expected a la cliches and sweet endings.

Is taking me so long to finish this book, and I haven't figured out if I like Adelina, I think so, but it's been hard to root for anybody on this book. It's a very cold book, I'm so disconnected that I just started reading another book too. But she is Marie Lu and I love the way she wrote her other books so... I'm going to finish this book ... at some point.... Soon :)

The characters had potential, and so did the story. Yet, this book failed to wow me. I got half way through it, and decided it just wasn't for me. The point of view was from a villainess and I enjoyed it. The powers had potential and the characters were likable, but the main character seemed like she could have been so evil, yet was forced into almost every evil thing she did.

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Book One of The Young Elites series
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publisher: October 7, 2014
Rating: 4 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

What I Liked:

Wooaahhh. Marie Lu should write fantasy. I mean, her dystopia series, the Legend trilogy, was excellent, but this FANTASY NOVEL. I am seriously impressed. Not that you shouldn't be impressed anyway, because it's Marie Lu, and the woman a is really talented writer to begin with.

Adelina murdered someone, and she will be burned on the stake for this. She is one of the malfetto, a survivor of the blood fever, with some sort of marking and strange abilities. Her marking is the scar where her left eye should be - the doctor cut her eye out to save her from the fever. Her abilities - she never found out, until she killed someone. Rescued by the Dagger Society, led by Enzo Valeciano, Adelina must decide if she wants to support this rebellion group, or help the Inquisitor, who has her younger sister.

The synopsis is super creepy, and super spot on. "It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt." That line is PERFECT. It totally fits this book to the T. Adelina is used and hurt. Her own father treats her like less than nothing, because she is a malfetto, imperfect, scarred. He physically hurts her, like breaking her finger, but he also mentally and emotionally hurts her. When Adelina is rescued by Enzo and the Dagger Society (other malfetto with abilities), she does everything she can to learn as much as possible.

And the others in the Dagger Society know this. Raffaele, a beautiful male courtesan, has the ability to sense malfetto energy, and he knows that she is powerful. He urges Enzo (the Dagger leader) to kill Adelina, because he knows that her power is dark and bitter. Raffaele and Adelina become friends, but Raffaele is truly afraid of Adelina. Of course Enzo doesn't kill Adelina. But perhaps he should have...

This book has a seriously dark tone to it. Adelina has a lot of hatred and darkness in her past - as do all of the Young Elites (malfetto with abilities), but she also has raw power and ambition. Enzo wants her to fight with the Dagger Society because she would be a huge asset. If she can hone her abilities. She can create illusions.
I like Adelina. She is twisted and selfless and dark and complex - there is a light and dark side to her, which sounds cliche, but it isn't. The character development of Adelina is excellent. Enzo is already a static character, so I don't see too much character development in him, but I definitely liked him. He reminded me of Rowan in Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. Enzo has a hard, steely quality to him, with no room for arguments or contradictions. The supporting characters, like Raffaele and Violetta, the Spider, the Windwalker... I love the set of characters that Lu has created. She is a master at character construction and development.

There is romance in this novel, to an extent. It's not dominant or overwhelming, and honestly, it's quite strange, but it's there. So, for those of you that can't read a YA novel without romance, relax, there's romance in this book. For those of you who like it when the romance isn't the central part of the plot (like me), that's basically how this romance goes.

Lu's world-building is awesomeeee. I felt like I was living in Dalia, experiencing what Adelina was seeing or thinking or doing, etc. Lu is really good at describing a situation without boring readers, or setting up the scene without providing an info-dump. I love the imagery, especially! The Italian influence is awesome. The names, setting, masks, GONDOLAS... love the Italian influence.

This book is written in several points-of-view. Adelina's is in first person. Teren's (I did not mention him on purpose), Raffaele's, and Enzo's are in third person. This is a neat way to switch up things. It keeps you on your toes, so you must follow which character's perspective it is.

To round it all off... the ending was INSANE. Upon finishing the novel, I mentioned on Goodreads that I knocked a star off for one specific aspect of the ending. Trust me, you'll know what I mean. I'm not happy with this one aspect, but I suppose it's an excellent hook so that readers will keep reading. The cliffhangers... they kill me!

What I Did Not Like:

Like I said before, one specific aspect of the ending knocked this book down to four stars. It was well on its way to five stars until that ONE BIT. But it's an excellent hook. I loved this book and was already extremely excited to read the second book anyway, but even if I had hated this book... I would have wanted to know what happens next. I wonder how Lu will salvage this situation...

Would I Recommend It:

Yes! Totally! Fantasy fan or not, you'll want to catch this one. Marie Lu is an excellent writer, and her books totally live up to the hype. She has a penchant for horribly twisted endings though, so watch out.

Rating:

4.5 stars -> rounded down to 4 stars. I cannot wait to read book two! I want to see more from the romance (hehe), and more from the "big picture", the overarching series plot. Here's hoping it'll be even more epic than book one!

Want action? Want romance? Want to yell at all the characters in the book? If you answered yes to all these questions then this book is for you. Marie Lu has created a world full of imperfect people with abilities to change the world. The only thing that lingers is, is the change for the good or the bad? I love the majority of the characters and their awesome abilities. The book can pull you right in like you're there with the characters watching everything.

This was a cerebral read. If you don't dwell on the deeper themes but only focus on the words, then it would be a tough read. The book transports the reader to a fantasy world but one that is on the surface is the romantic version of Rome with robes, masquerades and gondolas while deeper, is one in a struggle to step out of prejudice and fear. There are two main groups of people in the book, those who are normal and those, children mostly, touched by blood fever and left with markings: the malefettos. Among the malefetoos are those gifted with special powers, a elite group who wants to fight against the current regime of corruption and oppression to bring equality to all.

It is not a typical fight of good vs evil. Gray is the theme. The rebels, the Dagger Society, will use any means necessary -murder, spying, torture - to work toward the goal. There are some very comfortable scenes, particularly the murder scene at the end involving the main character or the butterfly scene that really disturbed me on another level. There is twistedness in circumstances and the background behind the scenes, which are unfound in the usual young adult fiction. It is this type of things that, while they are true to the atmosphere of the story revolving around the theme of anti-heroism, are hard for readers like me to connect. On a cerebral level, it brings interesting questions to discuss - does the end justifies the means? - on the other hand, we as readers want likable characters, inspiring characters who may be flawed but fight against the darkness.

Here in this book the characters are what makes me have a cold feeling as I flip through the final pages. The plot is thrilling, the world is engaging, and there is no way to predict the future. But I cannot gush about the book. The main character is the anti-hero and I almost think the author sticks to that tag too strictly. She is an understandable anti-hero with an unraveling tough backstory of the lack of parental love, family abuse and low self-esteem. I can understand her draw to power, ambition and the thrill of controlling/hurting others. However, the author does not need to use EVERY opportunity to tell us how character is tempted at every turn. Mrs.Lu put Adelina through some tough heartbreaks in the book; the end result is Adelina's own fault, but some are beyond her control. You pity her, you understand her, but I cannot love her. I don't see a light in her. I don't know how Mrs.Lu will rescue her. Will Mrs.Lu even want to? The author has mentioned multiple times that this a Darth Vader-like story, a descent into darkness...the pessimistic realism has certainly affect my joy of the book. Moreover, for this group of rebels who are so brutal, what does it mean for the future or even the meaning of the plot. They are so drawn to power already, will they be any different when they gain power? Will they not be even more corruptible? That is an essential flaw in this novel: the characters are so realistically dark, it is hard not only to align to their personalities, it is hard to align to their end and dream of a hopeful future.

There has been criticism of the world-building but I can't agree. The world right now is contained but greatly delineated. Just like in her legend series, Mrs.Lu likes to unravel her world slowly, section by section. I applaud her for this because it lets her build pay adequate attention to each part while not hindering the plot. By the epilogue alone, I know the world will be expanded in the next book; for now, I am delighted to feel, smell and imagine vividly through her imagery of the city of Ezania.

I did feel a little deceived by the blurg about the book. There is the emphasis on an trio axis at the core. It may be a trio but Enzo was certainly left out. There was no mention of Raffaele in the cover, but boy was he mentioned alot. I grew bored at the constant mention of his beauty, how he dressed. While Adelina dominates a majority of the chapters, there are others from POV of Teren and Raffaele but not from Enzo. I find the prince fascinating, enigmatic and enticing because he is a good combination of the anti-hero and hero. However, by the end, his future is greatly in doubt...Enzo was cloaked through the majority of the story, and ultimately wasted. I really hope we can explore him better.

Then there is the romance. While others say this is not a love triangle. I just don't know what it is. There is an undeniable connection and feeling between Raffaele and Adelina, a couple I don't ship. Enzo has the majority of the action part of the romance with Adelina, but there lacks a connection. The physical sizzling between the two flies off the page, however short the scenes. However, because the author kept Enzo so enigmatic, there is no solid bond between Adelina and Enzo. It seems like they understand each other, but I am never quite sure. And while Adelina narrates the scenes, she never explores or explains what she really feels and want from Enzo.

This was a really puzzling first book. I have no idea what to predict for the future. Is this story really about a descent into darkness even as the character tries to fight for a justified cause? I will definitely pick up the next book but readers beware, this book is be full of gasps and frowns and lots of eyebrow-raising.

Kind of disappointed me, not sure why but I just didn't really like it. Will read the next book or two in the series though to see if I will like them any better as I absolutely loved Marie Lu's Legend series

The Young Elites by Marie Lu is dystopian fantasy with an X-men and Spanish Inquisition twist. The world building is tremendous and the ending is completely unexpected and makes me anxious for the next book in this series!

Great characters. Cool plotting. A bit soul crushing. Can I have the sequel now? Unlike the Legend series, this series is not for middle school or the faint of heart. Think the Inquisition meets Superheroes.

It started out great. Reminded me of Cruel Beauty and A Court of Thorns and Roses. I would've given it a higher rating if it explained some characters better. More depth as to why things happen the way they happen. It was a lot of vagueness about alot of the side characters. Adelina Amouteru is a great villain to be, but something is lacking. Something is missing, but overall it was good, just confusing and vague.

the plot is captivating, and the characters are lovabe. the book is quite dark though, so I recommend this book to 12+
adelina is a twisted girl, nevertheless, her voice is interesting and made me love her character. The ending is really sad though, and i did not see it coming

Marie Lu has really done something special in giving a voice to a heroine like Adelina Amouteru. A modern day Dracula, she is both fascinating and terrible. Trying to adapt to her extraordinary powers, Adelina teeters between wanting to love and wanting to destroy those around her. I can’t wait to see how her character develops in the next books! Hands down the most interesting and difficult heroine I’ve encountered in YA fiction.

The first chapter didn't grab me, but everybody said it was good, so I read more. Next thing you know, I've slogged through 40% and I was ready to call time of death. ...But I was in a time crunch on my GR challenge and didn't want to have wasted all that time, so I finished it. Should have dropped it. :P

The MC reminded me of Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker.

A brothel as a hideout may officially be ruined for me after Winterspell. It seems to just be an excuse for a) the MC to frequently notice and describe good looking people, b) a makeover scene, c) an instance in which the MC must pretend to make out with someone, or d) all of the above.

I didn't like or care about a single person. Wait...nope, no one. :)

The writing makes constant use of I/my/me/mine, did not flow well for me, and was not a first-person POV style I enjoyed.

I called almost all the twists and thought the climax/ending/entire plot was over-hyped and underdone. Much underwhelming. :)

I braced myself to be disappointed, but I couldn't stop reading this book as soon as I started. I'm a mom of a teen daughter who loves YA novels and the Legend series has been my favorite of the dystopian genre. I loved Young Elites as well, but there are a few more references to the seedy side of adults and the romance is also heavier this time. I will still let my 14 yr old read this, but would hesitate for a 12 year old.

THIS BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!!!!! Its a delicious dark book that will keep you turning the pages and Gasping loud out of shock !! Its simple, beautiful fantasy that will leave you BEGGING for the sequel. The characters was amazing especially Adelina; she provides a new dark voice in YA. The blood fever concept is just utterly amazing and kickass!! BUY THIS BOOK ASAP !!! ?

I don't normally read fantasy, but if they are exciting and filled with amazing characters like TYE, than I'm all for it! Marie Lu has done a fantastic job, not only with her writing abilities, but her world building and character development is so good! I'm a big fan of good characters turning bad (i.e. Darth Vader and Mr White), and Adelina is now one of my new favorites! I can't wait for the next installment of this series and see how Marie Lu develops Adelina and the other Young Elite characters! I love this book and highly recommend it!!

Super well written and a good story line. It makes me uncomfortable being in her head but it is an interesting uncomfortable so let us see what book 2 has in store for our villain (that I really hope will turn hero)

This book was one of the most amazing books I have ever read. It has everything a good book needs like; action, betrayal, supernatural powers, affairs, discrimination because of differences and much much more...

I was just counting down the days untill the book came out as a lover of the legend series and marie lu. Honestly i was a little dissapointed. Compared to legend it is not nearly as good but still a great story. i have a hard time imagining that she only had one eye and enzo with his bloored hair.

This book was great. After Marie Lu's great success with the Legend trilogy this is a great second series. With many plot twists it kept the book exciting. This book will make readers of Legend wish for more. I highly recommend this book.

This book was just ok. i was waiting for Adelina to grow courage in her passion...it never happened. Insttead she became a pitiful, hateful, ugly girl whos outside scars matched her inside. the death of Enzo was just heartbreaking. I knew I wouldnt finish this series. not to mention the ghostt fathers toture with her hateful musings. read this book if you want to be let down.

I very much enjoyed it, even though it had its evident flaws, but this was a good follow up to the Legend trilogy. This first book in the Young Elites trilogy seemed more like a prologue or backstory on what the main character Adelina is to become and I think that might be what annoyed some readers. The summary sets up the book to tell us about Adelina as an already established villain but in this book we're getting the background on how she became that way. At first I was a little disappointed that I wasn't going to get to see much of her villainous side in action but I think it's nice that I got the story on why she seeps into that darkness and I think Marie Lu did it this way so that we could better understand Adelina's character, since it can be difficult for most people to relate to villains. In this way, I was able to put myself in her shoes in many cases and now it makes sense that she ended up becoming a villain, rather than her just being evil right off the bat with little explanation as to why.

One problem I had, as many other reviewers have mentioned, was with the world-building and the lack of it. All I get is that it's set in a place similar to the Italian Renaissance era and that there was this mysterious plague that marked the kids and/or gave them powers but that's about it. I'm guessing that Lu plans to give us more in future books but this one could've used a bit more. I found myself wanting to know more about the culture of Kennetra or any of the countries but there wasn't really much of a pause throughout the story for it. There would be little bits of information sprinkled in here and there during Adelina's thoughts or when she was talking to Raffaele but we didn't get much.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm excited to see where the events of it lead Adelina in the future novels.

Finch and evil a great unnecessary to make a great unnecessary to make a claw machine tags for this book because it was descriptive and evil a great unnecessary to make a great unnecessary to make a great unnecessary to make a difference between the house.

I will admit upfront that I have read The Rose Society and did not like it at all. However, I believe this series had great potential and looking at The Young Elites, I expected awesome things that not many authors were doing. TYE doesn't exactly function as a standalone in the typical sense, but I would rather recommend it that way than as the first book of a series because I believe in what this book accomplished much more than what TRS tore to pieces. If you're looking for a female villain, this is the place to go. If you're looking for closure or a great cast of secondary characters or a great romance or a great story or a great Italy-based setting, there are other books I would recommend first.

Book: The Young Elites
Author: Marie Lu
Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars

I was drawn into this book right away. I was actually surprised about how quickly this book drew me in, because I was a little unsure about this book. It was one of this books that looked like it could go either way for me.

I loved the setting of this story. I love stories that take place in magical places with a controlling government. I do not know why I am drawn to these stories, but I am. I loved the dark nature of this world and the two conflicting sides.

I also loved Adelina! She is not your typical lead. First off, she does things early on that is not common of female leads. She doesn't sit around and wonder what would happen if she did something. She is a doer and go getter. She is also very protective of her sister and does not need a man in her life to make her happy. You hear that! Romance is not the central aspect of this book! It's about time and young adult needs to look at this.

I also liked Teren. I know, I know. He is the bad guy and all of that jazz, but there is just something about his character that I was drawn too. It seems like to me that there is a more complex to him than what is presented in the text.

I also liked Rafelle. Gasp! He's friends with a girl and does not have romantic feelings for her! How dare that happen in a young adult book!?
I loved how no one was a hero. I know it sounds insane! How can you have a book without a hero? Well, read this one and see how it is. There are anti-heroes.

The writing was also flawless. I just love how smoothly Marie Lu switched back and forth between characters. She has also mastered present tense and does not seem to pushing it either by writing in this tense. I know that a lot of people do not like present, but I think that it makes the character's voice stronger. It actually gives the reader the chance to experience the events as the character faces them.

Overall, this was a good book! Everything was very fast paced and well done! I am currently looking for the second book, so we will see how much longer this series holds my interest.

I really enjoyed this book, a lot, because it's so different. Like really different. Not because children who survived this mystery illness have grown up to develop strange and unique powers, but because our main character isn't driven by the light. Her powers manifest from darkness. She's unstable, dangerous, and can't decide what side she's on. So in a way it's as if she has all the makings of being a villain even though we believe her to be our hero.

It's exciting and action packed with many interesting characters which, when combined, create one awesome story! And I can't wait for the next one to see where it all will go from here.

This book is literally exposing the reader to the dark side. It is full of New Age and demonic spirits. I was trying to get through this book on audio, but only could make it to the end of chapter 16. What follows is this partial review.
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Adelina was a merchant's daughter and a survivor of the blood plaque. But since she was left with scars, no one wanted her hand in marriage.

When Adelina tried to run away from her abusive father, he catches up with her. He started to fight with her until Adelina's anger rose making black phantoms appear. The fear made her father run into his horse who trampled him.

Adelina was charged with her father's murder. As the Inquisitioners tied her to the stake and started the fire, black locusts filled the air and descended upon the crowd. A figure then appears with a dagger to the Inquisitioners and frees Adelina.

Raffaele, the leader, found and brought Adelina to his brothel. When Adelina expressed concern, Raffaele explained to her that it is not a brothel, but a "pleasure court". The brothels were for the "poor and tasteless". Their clients come to the "pleasure court" for wisdom, music, and wit.

Raffaele begins her training by administering a test to her using 12 gemstones representing 12 gods and the angels.

Adelina was then sent to the Cavern for the Dagger Society. Enzo was training her to connect with her fear to bring out her powers.

In chapter 11, Raffaele said their powers did not come from the blood fever, but from energy; the link between the gods and the mortal world they created. But then when the fevers affected their bodies, something changed in the Elites. Every Elitist is different and pulling on threads in certain ways will result in different things.

Adelina gets her powers by summoning up all her fear and hatred. She does this by remembering her father.

Hatred and holding unto rage is never healthy. And dabbling with the occult is dangerous. Lastly, human trafficking has no place in a teen novel.