The Young Elites by Marie Lu Book Review

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

 “I have made a full circle and I have not escaped my fate at all.”

Adelina is rescued from execution by the Dagger Society for being a malfetto and committing murder. Her rescuers are the Young Elite a group of special malfettos with gifts and Adelina discovers her powers are in their rank. Teren, an inquisitioner who captured her starts to blackmail her to betray the Young Elites.

The best thing about this book is the character development. Adelina starts off as very insecure, not only in herself but in her powers and then she undergoes this near death experience, training and not only does her ability build but her personality does as well. The thing about Adelina is that she isn’t perfect or the chosen one – she’s the underdog of sorts. Her power is mainly effective when she’s close to death or experiencing fear so she is quite a dark character and add to the point that she’s willing to sacrifice other people’s lives for her goals makes a MC that’s not conventional and very ambitious to prove herself and save herself.

The plot is very interesting because Adelina stumbles into the Young Elite’s life when they’re planning to overtake the current monarchy and so she’s treated as the outsider. The good thing about Adelina is that although she admires the Young Elite she doesn’t idolise them so the way they’re presented isn’t all positive which helps build the image of the Dagger Society as grey ground – helping people that will benefit their cause. Also the multi-perspectives in the novel help build the overall story as we see different aspects of what is going on.

There are a lot of side characters – members of the Dagger Society and they’re presented by how they treat Adelina. But it’s refreshing to see Adelina build friendships with other females and it’s not all hate on hate.

The romance in the book is predictable and really cringe worthy to read. Their relationship and interactions are awkward to read but I liked how slow it was built and how it didn’t overtake the plotline.

I loved the sister’s relationship near the end of the novel and their shared connection.

The ending of the book had something I didn’t expect but I loved how the events although were sad made Adelina decide to do something which is set up for the next book. The epilogue links to something that happens previously in the book and I can guess on what it might involve… but you never know.

“How do you shut out a scream that comes from inside your mind?”

★★★★☆