The Young Elites by Marie Lu: Review

Title: The Young Elites #1
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Putnam Books for Young Readers
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository

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 rumoured 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.

I wish I'd been given this advise.

The Young Elites is pretty hard for me to review, I find it difficult to explain my feelings and why this book didn't work for me. I really enjoyed Marie Lu's Legend series, so I was really excited to get my hands on The Young Elites. The cover was gorgeous, the plot summary had me beyond intrigued and I felt this was going to be a phenomenal book. I read the book and can't help but feel quite disappointed, and also pretty certain I won't be continuing this series. Have no fear though, if you're excited for this book then I'd still recommend it. It's not poorly written and does have a brilliant premise, there are just reasons why it didn't work for me personally.

My main issue with The Young Elites is the same issue I had with Cruel Beauty, and one that makes it impossible for me to enjoy either book. There are almost no likeable characters. There was literally only one character in the whole of The Young Elites who I really loved. And I am afraid even that will be ruined for me if I continue this series. I just can't deal with characters who are impossible to like. If I don't like a character then I don't root for the character, I don't really care what happens to them. I spend most of my time just wanting to reach into my book and hurt them. This was the case with almost every character in this book.


Adelina is the main character of the book and I'm pretty certain that I despise her. She definitely reminds me of Nyx from Cruel Beauty, especially when it comes to her relationship with her sister. Adelina is a malfetto, one of the children left marked by the blood fever that swept across their nation. As a melfetto, she is feared, hated and treated like an outcast. Her sister was left unmarked by the disease and is still treated well by their father. I lost count of how many times the book references the darkness inside Adelina. She's basically filled with a general bitterness, hatred and rage. Yes, okay, she has her reasons but I never felt they fully justified how she acts or who she's become.

Teren is just a total psycho and he requires a considerably large amount of psychiatric help. He just comes across as the worlds biggest hypocrite or someone who is totally delusional. I think he's probably both. So, nope, didn't like him. Enzo is a character that I feel I am supposed to really like, but I never particularly warmed to. The only character I loved was Raffaele, who's one of the Young Elites and works in a brothel as a prostitute. Loved him! He seemed sweet and kind, but also was able to see the evil in people and the need for them to be destroyed. This boy understood how I felt, this book needed much more Raffaele.

My reaction to nearly every character.

I don't feel ridiculously let down by this book or anything. I still feel like Marie Lu did a brilliant job, I am just one of those people who requires my main character to be likeable. This book has a lot to offer, I feel it's a book the majority of people will love. So I hope my review doesn't put anyone off, it's just the Disney child in me who still craves sunshine, rainbows and happy ever afters. I can definitely see this book being one of those that everyone else loves. And then there's me, the odd one out. I am just not a fan of the anti-hero main characters.

I found the idea of the Young Elites and their powers quite fascinating. I was excited to learn more about them and their abilities, but then it never really happens. We learn the basics of their abilities as far as: Oh, that's Windwalker and they can do whatever wind can. Okay, thanks for that, the name had me confused for a second and I thought he could breathe fire! I never felt like powers were ever fully explained and we never get any explanation as to how the blood fever suddenly gave people individual powers. Even Adelina's powers confused me for quite some time, for so long it seemed like the worlds most pointless and unhelpful power. It took almost the entire book for her powers to really be explained.

There is a romance in the book, it's a very not-romance romance.  It just does not work. It left me a bit confused, I didn't really see where it was coming from or where the hell it was going. I also didn't really like that Adelina's sexual desire is seen as being part of her evil side. It's like a really intense form of slut shaming or something.

The beginning of the book really gripped me and had me turning the pages to see what would happen next. The middle is when the pace falters and my interest waned a lot. It just slowed down too much and didn't really interest me. The last 20% of the book really started to redeem it. The action picked back up and I wasn't exactly sure where the story was going. One event that happened at the end really had me confused, I was left confused as to how and where the story would continue next. The epilogue was amazing because it introduced a character that I already love. That almost grabs me enough to make me want to continue this story and see where the story will go in book two.

3/5 Butterflies

I feel this is going to be one of those books that everyone loves but me. I don't have a burning hatred for it, I just thought it was an okay read. It didn't excite me enough to make me want to continue the series. I prefer characters who are likeable, I really couldn't get behind the anti-hero that is Adelina. I am also curious as to where the story will go next. The epilogue did work to pique my interest, the introduction of a new character that I feel I could really come to love. I just don't feel that's enough to make me pick up the next book. I enjoyed the beginning and end of the book, but the middle part really drags. I couldn't connect or like any of the characters, which is a huge problem for me and not something I can get past. The strange thing is that I would still recommend this book, but probably to people who can deal better with characters that are not likeable.




*I received a copy of this novel from the author/publisher/publicist via Edelweiss in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.