Monday, February 1, 2016

Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu (The Young Elites #1)

Title: The Young Elites

Author: Marie Lu

Page Count: 355 (hardcover)

Publishing: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

My Rating: 2.5/5 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." -Goodreads


I had such high expectations for this book. All I wanted was to love this story and immediately crave the next book. I wanted to find myself lost in the words the author wrote and find meaning between each line, but unfortunately that did not happen. This book wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great

I enjoyed the first 150 pages so much that I read them within an hour and half, and I was expecting that I would devour the rest of the book in the same way. The beginning of the book was gripping, and pulled you into the story. There is shit going down, however after the beginning the story got slow. I didn't like the writing from the beginning. The simple and short sentences were underwhelming and didn't drive a punch for the type of story it is. It made the book seem slow and dumbed down.

The main character, Adelina, is dark and possess this evil inside her that she embraces and doesn't shy away from. She shows her true darkness, and it was refreshing to read from a character who doesn't always want to push her darkness away.

But the other characters were blain and didn't stand out to me in any particular way. The love interest was not anything special. I could see it coming, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a YA book. The main plot twist didn't surprise me, and even though I didn't see it coming I still did not care about the result. I truly could have cared less.

I won't be continuing this series nor will I be reading anything else from Marie Lu.

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