Review of The Young Elites by Marie Lu

 Release Date: October 7, 2014

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

Page Count: 355

Format: Hardcover

Genre: YA/Fantasy

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.

Marie Lu's Legend trilogy were some of my favorite books of all time so I started The Young Elites with extremely high expectations. Did it meet my expectations? No. Did it completely blow past my expectations and crush it to pieces? YES. The Young Elites has rightfully earned a spot in my top 5 favorite books of 2014.

In the world that The Young Elites takes place a virus called the blood fever has brought the country crashing down. Coming in waves over and over over several years the blood fever left no city untouched. Thousands of people were killed and the ones who survived were left with scars and marks (malfettos). However, a small amount of people within the malfettos were given unique powers and abilities such as strength and ability to control fire. A small group of these individuals with powers basically teamed up together to create The Young Elites. I absolutely fell in love with the setting of The Young Elites, it was just so interesting and unique that I couldn't stop reading it. It did remind me slightly of the way Marie Lu wrote the world in her Legend trilogy which was of course a good thing. Not only that but I can say without a doubt that the plot and characters interacted with the settings/world perfectly. This was the closest I've seen a book come to matching Heir of Fire in world-building and settings in quite a while. Marie Lu once again delivers a beautiful and vividly written world and executes it perfectly with the rest of the book.

The characters in The Young Elites were just as amazing as the world-building and once again broke past my already high expectations. Adelina Amouteru the main character is a malfetto who lost a eye and was left with scars from the fever. She is treated like trash from everyone except her sister, her dad considers her as him owning damaged goods. After having enough of all the abuse and hate that is thrown at her, Adelina discovers that she has a hidden power. The extremely powerful power of illusion, a power that uses the twisted darkness inside of her that she has been festering of years. She finally runs away from her home and later on is saved from being killed by The Young Elites. She has faced numerous hardships and is finally given a chance to fight back. She wasn't my favorite character in the book since I disapprove of some of the things she decided to do and some situations she could have handled differently. The rest of the major characters like the other members of The Young Elites were all written just as well and vividly as Adelina. Some I liked and some I disliked/hated but they were all worth reading about. Enzo, Teren, and the others were all interesting (plus cool powers) but I won't be saying much about them since they deserved to be discovered while reading the book. Overall, the plot and characters worked seamlessly together to present a truly captivating experience.

The Young Elites is the latest in a never-ending procession of books where I want the sequel as soon as possible. The Young Elites ends in a pretty big cliffhanger and if you loved the book like I did then you'll understand why it's so hard waiting for the sequel. If you like fantasy, the Legend trilogy, powers, amazing characters and world-building then you should try out The Young Elites.

5/5 - Amazing book