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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
I'm giving this three stars because...I just can't decide how I feel about it! Read my review at Gator Book Chomp.
DNF-ed this fairly quickly. The main character’s whininess and the horrible prose just wasn’t for me.
adventurous
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
quotes
“this is no game. we cannot afford a weak link in a country that wants us dead.”
“i hereby pledge to serve the dagger society, to strike fear into the hearts of those who rule kenettra, to take by death what belong to us, and to make the power of our elites known to every man, woman and child. should I break my vow, let the dagger take from me what I took from the dagger.” — the dagger society initiation pledge, enzo valenciano
“but tonight, we stay where we are, holding on, lost in the dark.”
———
my review from 2020, edited to save everyone from my horrendous sentence construction and exaggerated, diary-esque review format:
“ok so TYE was written in the perspective of a villain which allowed me to resonate with her more. i thought it was boring and draggy, and i was spoiled too much that it ruined half the story (thanks, raphael!). i half expected things to happen and was too cautious heading into it.
however, enzo’s death was a banger plot twist. the interesting twist in the end made up for the 200-page drag that came before it.”
About 50% of the way through this book, I was concerned that this was going to follow the archetype of every other fantasy book released in 2014. It reminded me so heavily of Shadow and Bone and Red Queen that I was beginning to get disappointed. But then it completely flipped every standard trope on its head. To not only kill your main love interest but have your main character accidentally contribute to his death is insane. My jaw was ON THE GROUND like it was so good. The story, despite being somewhat similar to other books in the genre, seemed so fresh and the inclusion of symbolism and foreshadowing were top-tier. I was just so impressed with how it turned out and all the little layers that tied the story together. If the beginning was more captivating, it would be an easy 5 stars, but I give this a 4.5 overall.
3.5 stars. Not as impressed with this as I hoped I would be, but I will probably try the second book and see what's going on there.
3.5 Stars. I have mixed feelings about this book. The beginning was not exactly slow, but took me a while to get into. I think the story is interesting and has a lot of potential. I like how dark and twisted the characters are, and it definitely got more exciting in the last 100 pages or so. So many things also turned out in a way I wasn't expecting at all, and I'm interested to see where the story goes next.
FIRST OF ALL BITCHHHHH I WAS DONE SO DIRTY WITH THIS BOOK
OMG Kudos, Marie Lu, kudos
This book was fantastic. There were twists, turns, a range of emotions, surprises, everything.
I felt love, I felt hate, I felt shock! Also, holy Cliffhanger.
Adelina: Number 1. I can't believe the reason why her powers never showed up when she was a child. She's so angry, but I can't blame her for her anger and bitterness. The girl has gone through so much.
Violetta: The only person in Adelina's life who actually cared for her who didn't want anything in return. Uhhh WHAT! What an awesome "gift". Will we find more young elites that don't have markings in the next two books?
Raffaelle: Always been the leader?? I hated how Terran took him, but at the same time I'm mad at him. I don't like his manipulation and the way he treated Adelina. I understand why, but I still don't want to accept it. He feels betrayed, but he should feel the she is telling the truth! He gave me so many different emotions - sad -> happy -> anger.
Enzo: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! but wait, there are Malfettos that can bring him back to life? Yeah, that will happen next book.
Adelina's Father is a jerk. Cliffhanger with Terran - what happened to him? How did the Young Elites escape?
I. Can't. Even.
The next book needs a release date asap.
This book was fantastic. There were twists, turns, a range of emotions, surprises, everything.
I felt love, I felt hate, I felt shock! Also, holy Cliffhanger.
Spoiler
Adelina: Number 1. I can't believe the reason why her powers never showed up when she was a child. She's so angry, but I can't blame her for her anger and bitterness. The girl has gone through so much.
Violetta: The only person in Adelina's life who actually cared for her who didn't want anything in return. Uhhh WHAT! What an awesome "gift". Will we find more young elites that don't have markings in the next two books?
Raffaelle: Always been the leader?? I hated how Terran took him, but at the same time I'm mad at him. I don't like his manipulation and the way he treated Adelina. I understand why, but I still don't want to accept it. He feels betrayed, but he should feel the she is telling the truth! He gave me so many different emotions - sad -> happy -> anger.
Enzo: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! but wait, there are Malfettos that can bring him back to life? Yeah, that will happen next book.
Adelina's Father is a jerk. Cliffhanger with Terran - what happened to him? How did the Young Elites escape?
I. Can't. Even.
The next book needs a release date asap.
This book review first appeared on my book blog Potterhead Reviews
This book was not what I had in mind when first reading about it. It was much better. The Young Elites is in fact, a high-fantasy novel and not a dystopian as I first thought. You know I love my fantasy books so you can only imagine my excitement when I read about this entirely new world with kings and queens and beasts I have never heard of.
The main character, Adelina, is the most flawed YA lead I have read so far. It is quite refreshing to have an MC that is more of a villain than to be expected. Which leads to questions like: will she be able to turn her back on her dark side?
It was interesting but also nerve-wracking to read how Adelina can't tell the truth when she had so many opportunities. She could've had the friendships and the love she wanted if she would've just told the truth from the beginning.
This story is about a girl who pulls strength from others' fear and anger and I think it will be intriguing to see her transformation, if there will be one.
Not only the main character, but the others too had some dark side to them. Enzo is quite the mysterious guy and we actually learn next to nothing about him in this book. There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding Enzo and I would've loved to learn more about him.
Is there a possibility that we will? Will Maeve bring him back?
Same for Teren, what do we actually learn about him? I really enjoyed reading a book where the characters are flawed and prefer violence and pain because it's something different for once.
I was taken aback when Enzo died. I didn't expect that to happen since he had such an important role in all of this. I think it's the first time the love interest has died in the first book of the series. Or at least in the YA books I have read so far. Will Adelina meet a new love interest? Or will Enzo be brought back by Maeve? On the one side, I hope she does because I want to know more about this banished prince but on the other side, Adelina could meet someone she could actually grow to love. I didn't feel the way many other do about the romance in this book. One person described it as 'sexy' while I didn't see it that way at all. In fact I don't see why they fell in love in the first place.
Marie Lu took her writing to the next level with her new series and my expectations for the sequel are high now.
This book was not what I had in mind when first reading about it. It was much better. The Young Elites is in fact, a high-fantasy novel and not a dystopian as I first thought. You know I love my fantasy books so you can only imagine my excitement when I read about this entirely new world with kings and queens and beasts I have never heard of.
The main character, Adelina, is the most flawed YA lead I have read so far. It is quite refreshing to have an MC that is more of a villain than to be expected. Which leads to questions like: will she be able to turn her back on her dark side?
Spoiler
It was interesting but also nerve-wracking to read how Adelina can't tell the truth when she had so many opportunities. She could've had the friendships and the love she wanted if she would've just told the truth from the beginning.
This story is about a girl who pulls strength from others' fear and anger and I think it will be intriguing to see her transformation, if there will be one.
Not only the main character, but the others too had some dark side to them. Enzo is quite the mysterious guy and we actually learn next to nothing about him in this book. There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding Enzo and I would've loved to learn more about him.
Spoiler
Is there a possibility that we will? Will Maeve bring him back?
Same for Teren, what do we actually learn about him? I really enjoyed reading a book where the characters are flawed and prefer violence and pain because it's something different for once.
Spoiler
I was taken aback when Enzo died. I didn't expect that to happen since he had such an important role in all of this. I think it's the first time the love interest has died in the first book of the series. Or at least in the YA books I have read so far. Will Adelina meet a new love interest? Or will Enzo be brought back by Maeve? On the one side, I hope she does because I want to know more about this banished prince but on the other side, Adelina could meet someone she could actually grow to love. I didn't feel the way many other do about the romance in this book. One person described it as 'sexy' while I didn't see it that way at all. In fact I don't see why they fell in love in the first place.
Marie Lu took her writing to the next level with her new series and my expectations for the sequel are high now.