If you don't know, I am a huge fan of the Legend Trilogy written by Marie Lu, so I went into this book with great expectations. Sadly I was a little disappointed. While Legend just dove right into the story, the beginning of the Young Elites was rather slow and took a while to pull me in. Actually I only got into the story in the last few chapters. It slowly grows on you, I think the next book will be better but this book all together was not too impressive. Adelina was an interesting character to see the story from, like Marie said she's a lot more dark than June or Day. When both the Legend protagonists 'walked in the light' as Marie said, Adelina most definitely did not. She'd been cast aside her entire life, so she's in a very dark place when the book begins.
I'll admit I started this book a while ago, but after getting sixty pages in I'm rather ashamed to admit that I wasn't too intrigued and put the book down for the longest time. I will most definitely keep up with this series, even though the first book isn't my favorite, I see a lot of promise in the concept.
The writing style, as usual, was great and the prospective was, as I said before, was intriguing. I highly recommend this book to you if you enjoyed the Legend Trilogy. When I was reading the Young Elites I was also kind of reminded of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi and The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (ITA comes out so soon! I'm so freaking excited). And when I was reading the Shatter Me Trilogy I was reminded of The Darkest Minds a little. This book is kind of a mix between Shatter Me, The Darkest Minds put in roman-ish times. While I didn't particularly enjoy the Shatter Me books, I seriously am in love with The Darkest Minds (if you haven't read those books, where have you been???) I liked this book better than Shatter Me, I'll give it that.
Here's the summery:
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
I really liked the character building of everyone in this book, especially Adelina and Enzo's. And I did like both Teren and Enzo.
I'm giving this book a 7/10 stars, it was enjoyable but since the beginning was so slow I couldn't give it an 8.
SPOILERS BELOW FOR THE YOUNG ELITES
I don't have much to say, but I just wanted to mention the ending. Seriously, I was not expecting Enzo to die, the authors don't kill the main characters until the end and it was very obvious that Enzo was a main character. I could tell already from his death that we'd be seeing more of him and the epilogue just guaranteed that. If Maeve can bring people back to life and she was in an alliance with Enzo I can predict that she'll be bringing Enzo back in the next book or possibly the next. At least I hope she brings him back, I like him.
Did anyone else feel bad for Teren? I did and I think it's pretty obvious that he'll come over to the Young Elites eventually. Either he'll sacrifice his life to save them or he'll be the key in helping them win.
Okay there was hardly a love triangle in the Legend Trilogy but did anyone else sense a kind of Teren, Enzo, Adelina thing? Only the next books will tell....
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