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author, book, book reviews, books, characters, dystopian, fantasy, fiction, Legend, Marie Lu, novel, Penguin, penguin first to read, read, reader, review, science fiction, scifi, The Young Elites, writer, YA, young adult, Young Elites
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 336
Point of View: First (Adelina) Third (Teren) and occasionally limited third (Enzo)
Released: October 7, 2014
Predictability: 2 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)
Source: Penguin’s First to Read program. I’d never gotten a book from them before so I didn’t know how it worked. It’s like a library book, it comes in an adobe digital editions format (which works on everything but my plain kindle) and you have two months to read it.
My Rating: 8/10 Stars
Parental Rating: On the verge of an older YA for violence and prostitution.
My Summary:
Ten years ago a blood fever swept through the kingdom and of the children who survived some emerged ‘marked’. They are called malfettos. A select few malfettos are rumored to have super human powers and are called elites. The lazy king blames malfettos for everything, causing them to be scorned and treated terribly.
Adelina is a malfetto and she’s been abused by her father from a young age, because he blames the decline of his business on her being a malfetto. He’s tried everything from breaking her finger to showing her kindness in an attempt to bring out a power in her, then she might be worth something, but one night he goes too far and he’s not happy at all when her dark powers finally emerge.
Teren is the lead inquisitor and convinced all malfettos are demons, he will do anything in his powers to see them all burn.
Enzo is the leader of the Young Elites, a group of powerful malfettos fighting against the king.
My Review:
Young Elites is set on a different world in a medieval kingdom. (I thought it was a future dystopian before I read it, but this is so much better.) We learn about the kingdom and a little about another nation, but I want to know more about this world! Like there’s these flying giant manta ray things, what are they? They seem an odd little world building detail to keep mentioning when everything else is a simple medieval kingdom.
Adelina feels more like a villain than a hero. (She’s not an antihero either.) She’s sympathetic, if a bit unlikable, and fierce, but not stupid. She’s a complex character with many sides and a darkness in her heart. I understand why she is the way she is, she’s been abused for years by her father, not only physically but emotionally as well. In Marie Lu’s Legend Day and June had such a similar voice I was worried Adelina would be the same, but she’s nothing like them at all!
At times I questioned Adelina’s sanity (Teren’s certainly nuts) and I hate books with an insane main character, but here it doesn’t hurt the story. I also liked how I could always tell what was real and what wasn’t. (Another pet peeve of mine, I know I have a lot of them.)
The Good:
I loved the dark atmosphere of this book! I couldn’t put it down and though Young Elites wasn’t what I was expecting I really enjoyed it.
I loved the unique markings the malfettos had. From silver or fiery hair to different colored eyes.
The powers were one of the best parts of the book, they were so cool! The author created an interesting spin on abilities. Usually in these kinds of novels there’s a series of scenes where the character learns how to use their powers and that was sort of done here, but Adelina progressed so quickly that it didn’t slow down the plot in the least.
I like the little quotes and facts about the land at the start of each chapter they really added to the world building.
The Bad:
The characters all had potential, but none of them were developed enough aside from Adelina.
The romance was just okay. I didn’t feel it, but it wasn’t there much so it’s no big.
That ending! (All I can say, sorry.) The next book should be interesting… Though I have no idea what kind of book it will be.
Would I recommend this book? YES! Will I read the next one? OF COURSE!
Woven Magic Books 
I love Marie Lus other series and am excited to read this even though I have read some mixed reviews about it. Great review 🙂
Thank you! I know, I was so excited for this book after Legend. I can understand the mixed reviews, but this is still a really good book!
Glad you enjoyed it! I agree Teren is completely nuts lol and he’s so stupid. I also questioned her sanity multiple times, I still do but overall I loved the book!
haha! Yeah I worried that Teren would be the love interest with her description of him and his POV, but he quickly proved himself to have a few too many screws loose. It is a great book, but it’s certainly weird. I’m going to read your review now, I didn’t want to spoil anything for myself.
I loved the Legend series, well, what I read of it (I haven’t read Champion yet because I’m a big fat chicken), and I want to read this SO BAD. It’s cool that it’s set in medieval like world, I thought it sounded a bit futuristic too. Thanks for such a thoughtful review 🙂
I don’t blame you, I was scared to read it too, but I had to know what happens. Oddly I’m not sure if I
recommend you read Champion or not. It’s just that the first two books were so good! I tried everything to get a copy of the Young Elites, contests, goodreads, edelweiss, but I finally had luck with Penguin, so I’m happy even if I can’t read it again. Thanks. 🙂
Great Review Molly! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Thank you! I really did. 🙂 If you decide to read it I hope you like it. It’s a strange book though. (Not that that’s a bad thing.)
I’ve only read Legend by Marie Lu, but I really want to read The Young Elites. It sounds like a lot of fun. I’m glad you liked it, and your review makes me want to read it even more.
Thank you. I’m glad that you want to read it more now. 🙂 It’s not a usual book, but it’s a good book. I want the next one! Why do authors do this to me?
Oh YAY! I am so glad you liked this one! I have heard some people love it, and some not so much, but I really want to like it so I am glad you did 🙂 I felt like Marie Lu’s Legend series got better with every book, so I am thinking this one might be the best yet (that will be my theory til proven otherwise 😉 )
I LOVE things like quotes that really add something to the story. I am really excited to read this now, great review!!
Oh- I did NOT know that you only had 2 months to read the Penguin FTR books! How do they do that if it is already on your device!? That’s so strange to me, but good to know!
Yeah, it’s one of those where people either love it or hate it. After reading it I can understand where it’s just not some people’s cup of tea. It’s not your typical book, but I think that’s a good thing. I don’t think it’s better than Legend, but it’s close. It’s hard to compare the two because though both are dystopians they are completely different. Thank you. Yeah, I love when they do that, give us a little extra information about the world.
Yeah, I didn’t know you only had two months either. I don’t have a nook (or Kindle fire) so I just read it on the computer. I assume that they expire when you turn on wifi? That’s how my library does it on my Kindle.
Mediaval? WHAT? I love those! I was sure it was going to be another dystopian so I was like meeeh, won’t buy it. But, now, I REALLY won’t to buy it as soon as it’s out 😀 I just don’t like how simple the cover is. 😦 Also, hahaha, I like villains in my books so that won’t be a problem. So glad it was a good one 😀
I know, when I read dystopian I assumed future not past! It was a pleasant surprise. I like villains too, I wasn’t expecting the main character to be one though. This book is so full of surprises. Yeah, the cover’s not the best, but still better than photos in my opinion. Thanks. 🙂
I haven’t read any of Marie Lu’s novels before, but this one sounds stunning. I like the medieval element it has. I don’t think I’ve actually read a dark dark book like this one, so it will be something very new for me (especially how the main character doesn’t seem quite sane)! Anyway, great to hear that you enjoyed it 🙂
It was really good and weirdly unique. I don’t know why, but I tend to prefer novels set in medieval times. Yeah, I don’t usually like dark novels either. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed this one, and I’m really excited to read another Marie Lu book. 😀
Thanks. I was expecting something somewhat like Legend before I started, but they don’t have much in common at all. It’s still good though, if in a different way. 🙂
Hmmm…I’ve been reading mixed ones about this but yours is in the high, so I might be more inclined to read it 🙂
Thanks! If you do decide to read it I hope that you like it. I understand why the mixed reviews, it isn’t anything like I thought it would be, but being weird isn’t always a bad thing.
I didn’t realise it was medieval! OH THAT MAKES ME WANT IT MORE!! I’m so excited for this book now. 😉 I actually like villainous/crazy main characters, so I’ll probably have a good time with that…and yayaya that it’s not too much like Legend. Seriously. I HOPE my library gets this because I absolutely need it in my life.
Thanks for stopping by @ Notebook Sisters!
I don’t think anyone realized it was medieval, which is bad advertising, because I think most people are happier this way, I was. haha I thought of that after your villains post! I hope you like it. 🙂
I’m sooooooo excited about the next book! I actually love insane/broken MCs so Adelina was wonderful for that reason to me along with being layered and awesome ;-). Since it was such a short book, I wasn’t surprised that we didn’t get to know the other characters that well, but with fantasy I kind of always wish it was longer so that we can, sigh, oh well!
I know, I like the chunkier fantasys for that reason, more time to develop the world and the characters. I don’t mind evil main characters, but broken and insane not so much, because their point of view can be flawed and hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t, but that wasn’t the case here, so I was happy. I’m glad you liked the book too. 🙂
Yay! Glad to hear you enjoyed this Molly. I was a bit on the fence about picking this up but I guess I should read it. 😀
Thank you! It wasn’t at all like I expected, but that wasn’t a bad thing. I hope you like it.
Loved this book, and totally agree with you on so many points in your review! The world-building was so intriguing as was the direction Marie Lu took the main character. She does really seem like a villain that it will be interesting to see if that is where Marie intends to take her. The romance was just okay for me as well, but I was shocked by certain developments in that respect towards the end. I can’t wait to read the next book!
I’m glad! We must have similar tastes! 🙂 I’ve never read a main character quite like her. From the ending I think she’s going to be the ‘villain’ still, but it’s hard to tell. I certainly didn’t see that end coming! What a way to get readers to want to buy the next book! (And without a cliffhanger)