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jessread_s 's review for:
The Young Elites
by Marie Lu
Review: As a HUGE fan of the Legend series, I thought I would investigate Marie Lu’s other ya novels to see how they compare. I was not expecting to completely fall head over heels for another series. Legend is a dystopian novel, which differs greatly from the fantastical world captured in The Young Elites, but the writing is absolutely beautiful. No matter what genre, Marie Lu is able to work her magic and create an addicting storyline.
What Worked:
01. The main character. I was absolutely blown away by Lu’s main character Adelina Amouteru. She’s an incredibly dark, passionate, bitter, and ruthless antihero who will do anything it takes to get revenge on those who have wronged her. She is the opposite of perfect and that’s something that I truly appreciate about her. Rather than take the time to establish how beautiful Adelina is as a character, Lu focuses on Adelina’s flaws. Stricken by the plague, Adelina lost an eye to infection, making her extremely self conscious about her scars. She suffers abuse from a father who makes her feel unloved and worthless. Her fears are exposed to the reader, appearing in the form of nightmares. The weight of her own guilt is on full display throughout the whole book, as Adelina tries to cope with the darkness lurking within her conscience. Adelina is truly a strong, independent female who is not afraid to get dirty with her hands. She is also in no way a hero. It was a thrilling experience to be able to look through the eyes of a very dark, flawed individual who I may even consider to be a villain. Though I do not share many of Adelina’s viewpoints and certainly don’t condone her violent behavior, I couldn’t help but root her on as she carried out her revenge plan.
02. The platonic relationship between Adeline and Raffaele. It was refreshing to read a story including a friendship between a male and female character without the complexities of romance. Raffaele is described as beautiful, which goes hand in hand with his ability to soothe the soul. Despite his beauty, Adelina did not sway or fall madly in love with him. Instead, she was invested in developing a platonic relationship that she could fall back on.
03. The villain. I really liked Lu’s idea of incorporating the perspective of Teren, the story’s antagonist, every few chapters. Though his point of view was written in the third person, I was given a lot of insight as to why Teren behaves the way he does. He is incredibly complex and I admire that. His past is shrouded in darkness. As readers, we learn through Enzo that Teren was mistreated by his father. A lot of pressure was placed upon his shoulders as the individual next in line for the Lead Inquisitor role. When Teren was infected by the blood fever, he believed the unique abilities he was gifted made him an abomination. Teren’s past is only mentioned from the perspectives of other characters, making things all the more mysterious. I hope that in upcoming books, we can learn more about Teren and his cruel ways.
04. The setting in which the story takes place. I found Lu’s Renaissance type world to be very interesting! From the tales of the gods and their role in the realm to the Fortunata Court and clothing such as Tamouran head wraps, I relished in the world created by Lu. I really was taken aback by the beautiful imagery and description. Each character was unique and distinct in my mind. Adelina’s illusions were described such an artful way, that I felt as if I could possess her power myself. I couldn’t stop imagining the strings Adelina tugged on to conjure her illusions.
05. The character development. Many of the character’s in The Young Elites are very complex. It is hard to view them at a surface level, as Lu goes into so much depth when painting each character’s history on the page. No one is fully innocent. I don’t want to dive too much into it in fear of potentially spoiling the contents of the book, but I will say that there are no hands that are clean.
06. The diversity. I am very pleased by the diversity within this book. Characters of all different ethnicities, skin tones, genders, and sexualities appear front and center. I applaud Lu for her inclusivity.
07. The romance. Something I really loved about the Legend series was the romance between June and Day. It was a ship I could get behind. I almost always look for books with a little bit of romance, because romance makes things interesting. I was expecting a huge ship readers were rooting for in this book. To my surprise, there actually wasn’t much romance in this book. Even more surprising, I didn’t seem to mind. I was too invested in Adelina’s relationship with the darkness inside of her. I actually enjoyed focusing more on Adelina and her thirst for revenge.
08. The ending. Something that really had me itching to get my hands on the next book was Lu’s method of introducing a new character in the last chapter. It is written in the third person from princess Maeve’s perspective, who hails from Beldain. Including Maeve’s perspective deepened my curiosity. I cannot wait to see her role in the next installment!
What Didn’t Work:
01. The world-building. Something I would have liked to explore more is the blood fever. It is referenced only at the beginning of the book when Adelina is reminiscing on her tales of woe. We learn that when adults fall ill to the fever, they die, whilst children survive with scarring, some emerging with special abilities. I wanted to know more about the cause of the fever, the symptoms, where it may have come from. Another thing I noticed is that I relied heavily on the map at the front of the novel. Every time a new city was mentioned, I found myself thumbing back to the beginning because I had no idea where it was placed. The only two places I was familiar with were Dalia and Estonia. I would have liked perhaps more description regarding the differentiation between cities within Kenettra.
02. Some of the perspectives. Adelina’s point-of-view was the only one written in the first person. While I certainly see why Lu chose to do this, I wish we could get more of a glimpse of Enzo, Teren, and Raffaele’s thoughts. Each chapter written from their perspective lasted only a mere two or three pages in comparison to Adelina’s twenty page chapters. I would have liked to see more from them, though I must admit the small snippets of their lives made me curious about their characters.
Jess Approved?: ✓
What Worked:
01. The main character. I was absolutely blown away by Lu’s main character Adelina Amouteru. She’s an incredibly dark, passionate, bitter, and ruthless antihero who will do anything it takes to get revenge on those who have wronged her. She is the opposite of perfect and that’s something that I truly appreciate about her. Rather than take the time to establish how beautiful Adelina is as a character, Lu focuses on Adelina’s flaws. Stricken by the plague, Adelina lost an eye to infection, making her extremely self conscious about her scars. She suffers abuse from a father who makes her feel unloved and worthless. Her fears are exposed to the reader, appearing in the form of nightmares. The weight of her own guilt is on full display throughout the whole book, as Adelina tries to cope with the darkness lurking within her conscience. Adelina is truly a strong, independent female who is not afraid to get dirty with her hands. She is also in no way a hero. It was a thrilling experience to be able to look through the eyes of a very dark, flawed individual who I may even consider to be a villain. Though I do not share many of Adelina’s viewpoints and certainly don’t condone her violent behavior, I couldn’t help but root her on as she carried out her revenge plan.
02. The platonic relationship between Adeline and Raffaele. It was refreshing to read a story including a friendship between a male and female character without the complexities of romance. Raffaele is described as beautiful, which goes hand in hand with his ability to soothe the soul. Despite his beauty, Adelina did not sway or fall madly in love with him. Instead, she was invested in developing a platonic relationship that she could fall back on.
03. The villain. I really liked Lu’s idea of incorporating the perspective of Teren, the story’s antagonist, every few chapters. Though his point of view was written in the third person, I was given a lot of insight as to why Teren behaves the way he does. He is incredibly complex and I admire that. His past is shrouded in darkness. As readers, we learn through Enzo that Teren was mistreated by his father. A lot of pressure was placed upon his shoulders as the individual next in line for the Lead Inquisitor role. When Teren was infected by the blood fever, he believed the unique abilities he was gifted made him an abomination. Teren’s past is only mentioned from the perspectives of other characters, making things all the more mysterious. I hope that in upcoming books, we can learn more about Teren and his cruel ways.
04. The setting in which the story takes place. I found Lu’s Renaissance type world to be very interesting! From the tales of the gods and their role in the realm to the Fortunata Court and clothing such as Tamouran head wraps, I relished in the world created by Lu. I really was taken aback by the beautiful imagery and description. Each character was unique and distinct in my mind. Adelina’s illusions were described such an artful way, that I felt as if I could possess her power myself. I couldn’t stop imagining the strings Adelina tugged on to conjure her illusions.
05. The character development. Many of the character’s in The Young Elites are very complex. It is hard to view them at a surface level, as Lu goes into so much depth when painting each character’s history on the page. No one is fully innocent. I don’t want to dive too much into it in fear of potentially spoiling the contents of the book, but I will say that there are no hands that are clean.
06. The diversity. I am very pleased by the diversity within this book. Characters of all different ethnicities, skin tones, genders, and sexualities appear front and center. I applaud Lu for her inclusivity.
07. The romance. Something I really loved about the Legend series was the romance between June and Day. It was a ship I could get behind. I almost always look for books with a little bit of romance, because romance makes things interesting. I was expecting a huge ship readers were rooting for in this book. To my surprise, there actually wasn’t much romance in this book. Even more surprising, I didn’t seem to mind. I was too invested in Adelina’s relationship with the darkness inside of her. I actually enjoyed focusing more on Adelina and her thirst for revenge.
08. The ending. Something that really had me itching to get my hands on the next book was Lu’s method of introducing a new character in the last chapter. It is written in the third person from princess Maeve’s perspective, who hails from Beldain. Including Maeve’s perspective deepened my curiosity. I cannot wait to see her role in the next installment!
What Didn’t Work:
01. The world-building. Something I would have liked to explore more is the blood fever. It is referenced only at the beginning of the book when Adelina is reminiscing on her tales of woe. We learn that when adults fall ill to the fever, they die, whilst children survive with scarring, some emerging with special abilities. I wanted to know more about the cause of the fever, the symptoms, where it may have come from. Another thing I noticed is that I relied heavily on the map at the front of the novel. Every time a new city was mentioned, I found myself thumbing back to the beginning because I had no idea where it was placed. The only two places I was familiar with were Dalia and Estonia. I would have liked perhaps more description regarding the differentiation between cities within Kenettra.
02. Some of the perspectives. Adelina’s point-of-view was the only one written in the first person. While I certainly see why Lu chose to do this, I wish we could get more of a glimpse of Enzo, Teren, and Raffaele’s thoughts. Each chapter written from their perspective lasted only a mere two or three pages in comparison to Adelina’s twenty page chapters. I would have liked to see more from them, though I must admit the small snippets of their lives made me curious about their characters.
Jess Approved?: ✓