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967 reviews by:
elementarymydear
I went into this expecting something very similar to [b:Legend|9275658|Legend (Legend, #1)|Marie Lu|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333909141s/9275658.jpg|14157512] - which I really enjoyed - and was more than pleasantly surprised to find something completely different. The Young Elites was darker, more complex, and more mature, but kept all the things that I really love about Marie Lu's books. It's the senior year to Legend's admittedly spectacular freshman year.
Mostly because it was presented on the cover in a similar way to Legend, I was expecting a futuristic dystopia, but instead was presented with a historical fantasy which I LOVED. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and a fantastic pacing that sucked you in. Adelina was a fantastic protagonist, filled with complexities and insecurities.
The thing that really stands out to me about Marie Lu's writing - and it's something that we don't see enough of - is the brilliant way that she writes characters of colour and queer characters. That is, they're just there. She uses the fantasy setting to re-design a society to her choosing and I absolutely love it. The complex relationships between the characters, particularly between Adelina, Enzo and Raffaele, took everything that we love about love triangles and similar tropes without actually being a love triangle (thank goodness).
In short, make sure you read this. And I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy.
Mostly because it was presented on the cover in a similar way to Legend, I was expecting a futuristic dystopia, but instead was presented with a historical fantasy which I LOVED. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and a fantastic pacing that sucked you in. Adelina was a fantastic protagonist, filled with complexities and insecurities.
The thing that really stands out to me about Marie Lu's writing - and it's something that we don't see enough of - is the brilliant way that she writes characters of colour and queer characters. That is, they're just there. She uses the fantasy setting to re-design a society to her choosing and I absolutely love it. The complex relationships between the characters, particularly between Adelina, Enzo and Raffaele, took everything that we love about love triangles and similar tropes without actually being a love triangle (thank goodness).
In short, make sure you read this. And I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy.
This book was absolutely fantastic! I'm a big fan of retellings of fairytales/traditional tales/mythology etc, but this was a cut above the rest. Renee Ahdieh delves into the original tale, creating fantastic characters with a brilliant setting. The relationships between the characters, particularly between Khalid and Shahrzad, are developed so naturally and so well. The depth and complexities to all of the characters, particularly Khalid, really made this book. I never thought I would pity him or feel empathy for him, especially at the start of this book, but our perception of him changes as Shahrzad's does and it's simply sublime. Now to get my hands on the sequel!
