The Setup:
The book takes place in a quasi-medieval and monarchial country called Kenettra, which has basically been thrown into disarray. The nation had been struck by a blight known as the Blood Fever, which either kills the victim or leaves them marked. The marked are known as malfettos, and are considered to be outcasts. Even stranger, though, are those who are given dangerous and unpredictable powers after being marked, striking fear into the nation causing the king’s army (aka The Inquisition; I see what you did there, Marie Lu) to hunt and kill the empowered. They are known as the Young Elites. The main protagonist of the novel is a girl named Adelina Amouteru, a malfetto living under the roof of an abusive father who wants her to reveal her powers, so that she can be useful to him. Unfortunately, no powers ever arise. So, her father (who is a complete a-hole, in case you can’t tell) decides to sell her as a mistress to gain some money. Overhearing this, Adelina runs away, and after a series of events is nearly executed by the Inquisition. Honestly, that’s all I want to say to avoid spoiler after spoiler. In other words, what we’re getting is X-Men set in medieval times. To me, as someone who loves stories that involve superpowers and different settings, this sounded like my dream book. Obviously, it wasn’t, and this mainly stems from the characters.
The Characters:
This is by far the most disappointing aspect of the entire book, and is something that I’m rather surprised by. In Legend, I remember so many of the characters (even if not by name) and what happened to them, but with this book I could barely tell you about most of the characters because of how underdeveloped the are. Firstly, Adelina. She was actually a rather sympathetic character in the first third or so, with her tortured past and potential for development, but things went downhill once she made a certain decision. I’m going to try to be as vague as possible here, so bear with me: so, someone blackmails Adelina, and now she has to give the blackmailer information on the people she’s with. However, the people she’s with have SUPERPOWERS, and accept her as one of their own. It would be so easy if she just told them about the bribery, and they worked out some plan to save her. But, no: she’s afraid that they won’t trust her. HELLO? DO YOU LACK LOGIC? DO YOU REALIZE WHAT WILL HAPPEN ONCE YOUR LIE IS REVEALED?! YOU MORON! All she had to do was tell them about the plot, and everything would be fine. This infuriated me to nearly no end, and is unfortunately the most memorable part of this book. I will give this book credit for trying to incorporate a darker twist into her character, which I did like, but the problem with writing unlikable characters with darker elements is that you didn’t sympathize with them in the first place. Granted, it’s not as bad as, say, Alois Trancy, because in the beginning of the book I did like Adelina, but by the time the darker twist came around I honestly couldn’t care less about her tribulations. The other characters are kind of just there, and none of them left an impression on me. Well, except for Teren. Teren is the sick and twisted leader of the Inquisitors, who also happens to be an Elite. He is the only complex or even somewhat relatable character in the book, despite being a psychopath. His ideology about malfettos and Elites is that they are abominations that should be destroyed, because that’s what he’s been taught ever since he was marked. He harbors an intense loathing of himself, and will strive to achieve his goal through any means possible. There’s a really good chapter told from a third-person point of view focused on him, which involves him inflicting pain onto himself. It’s really powerful, and cemented him as the best character in the book. As stated before, none of the other characters are really worth mentioning.
The Story:
Unlike the characters, the story is actually quite decent. The pacing never felt too slow, the twists were very well executed, and the ending was shocking. The problems with the story, however, are very prevalent in the world building. The book seems to be under the impression that you already know everything about its world, politics, nations, and limitations, leaving room for quite a few plot holes. Like, what’s a consort (I know that the word’s definition is “spouse” or “related to a spouse”, but the book uses it in a completely different way)? Where is Kenettra? When does this book take place? What’s the difference between the nations? Are they all ruled by one king, or are there different kingdoms? Is Kenettra the only country to react this terribly to the Blood Fever and the resulting malfettos? If the Inquisition is so bent on destroying the Elites, how the heck have the Elites not been caught if they’re pretending to be consorts? Granted, Legend had similar problems, but they were excusable because it was a dystopian world where remnants of present society still exist, and the book clearly shows the differences between the upper and lower classes. In The Young Elites, we’re only shown one point of view, and never really got any time to learn much about how this world works, which resulted in me being horribly confused and not able to understand most of what has transpiring.
The Writing Style/Grammatical Errors:
The writing style, like always with Marie Lu, is perfect. The descriptions are kept short, the dialogue is well written, and the action scenes are phenomenal. Though, sometimes it did tell more than it showed, which is a little bothersome. There were no grammatical errors that I could find, so there’s nothing bad to say about that.
Final Judgment:
Overall, The Young Elites was still a somewhat entertaining book due to its writing style and solid story, but was held back by unlikable and forgettable characters and a lack of proper world building. I didn't enjoy the majority of this book, and its problems, while few, were so blatant that it continues to bother me. I wouldn’t go screaming at you to read this book, but if you have some time to kill, give it a shot. Just don’t hold it to the same expectations as Legend, because that trilogy is indubitably superior in my book. I give The Young Elites a 2.5 out of 5 Stars, and a recommendation to read it if it interests you. But, like always, it is up to you to decide your own opinions.
ScoreCard:
Further Recommendations:
Legend
The Darkest Minds
The next review will be on a sports anime. Here’s a hint: Japanese lunch time rush!See you then!
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