The Young Elites by Marie Lu Series: The Young Elites #1
Publisher: G P Putnam's Sons (2014)
Audiobook
{10 hours and 9 minutes} (355 pages)
Via: Library
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2016 Backlist Books, 2016 Royal Challenge, Read 2016
Synopsis
I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.
Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.
Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.
Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.
It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.
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My Review
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.
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