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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
The Young Elites, book three.
The final installment in the trilogy starts with Adelina ruling her conquered lands through fear and cruelty. The more she uses her powers, the more she is pulled into darkness and the more her illusions strike back at her.
"I will need to root out these insurgents before they can become a real threat. I will need to make a harsher example of their deaths. I will need to be more ruthless.
This is my life now."
When she gets a message from the Daggers about Violetta's failing health, she rushes to her sister, even though that means going straight into hostile territory. Raffaele proposes an alliance in the hopes of staving off a new threat, one that could bring an end to the entire living world. Adelina doesn't want to admit that Raffaele is right about the way their powers are affecting the Elites, and she still might betray them if she gets the chance, but she reluctantly agrees to the alliance.
The tentative trust that develops between certain characters along the way is well done and utterly believable.
Adelina is such a perfect antihero. She causes incredible harm as her ambition and fear make her cling ever tighter to her power and position. However, we also know how much she's suffered and it's impossible not to root for her to find the love and friendship that always seems just beyond her grasp. (Mainly because she refuses to see what's right in front of her.)
I always love it when I get to the part of the book where the significance of the title is revealed and the way Lu does that here is marvelous.
A thrilling and satisfying end to a dark and twisted trilogy.
The final installment in the trilogy starts with Adelina ruling her conquered lands through fear and cruelty. The more she uses her powers, the more she is pulled into darkness and the more her illusions strike back at her.
"I will need to root out these insurgents before they can become a real threat. I will need to make a harsher example of their deaths. I will need to be more ruthless.
This is my life now."
When she gets a message from the Daggers about Violetta's failing health, she rushes to her sister, even though that means going straight into hostile territory. Raffaele proposes an alliance in the hopes of staving off a new threat, one that could bring an end to the entire living world. Adelina doesn't want to admit that Raffaele is right about the way their powers are affecting the Elites, and she still might betray them if she gets the chance, but she reluctantly agrees to the alliance.
The tentative trust that develops between certain characters along the way is well done and utterly believable.
Adelina is such a perfect antihero. She causes incredible harm as her ambition and fear make her cling ever tighter to her power and position. However, we also know how much she's suffered and it's impossible not to root for her to find the love and friendship that always seems just beyond her grasp. (Mainly because she refuses to see what's right in front of her.)
I always love it when I get to the part of the book where the significance of the title is revealed and the way Lu does that here is marvelous.
A thrilling and satisfying end to a dark and twisted trilogy.
What a brilliant ending to an amazing series!
This was not the ending I was expecting at all when I started this series and I absolutely loved it! This last book was so fun to read and was filled with twists and turns from the start. And then the actual ending ... never saw it coming at any point in the book. It was fantastic and I’m so glad Lu decided to end the series that way!
I can’t wait to read more by her going forward!
This was not the ending I was expecting at all when I started this series and I absolutely loved it! This last book was so fun to read and was filled with twists and turns from the start. And then the actual ending ... never saw it coming at any point in the book. It was fantastic and I’m so glad Lu decided to end the series that way!
I can’t wait to read more by her going forward!
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Crying because I finished this series already. I knew how it would end but it was so bittersweet for me. The journey with the elites has reached its finish line and I really think the finale was perfect for it. It was so twisted and I wouldn’t have ended it any other way. We saw how the White Wolf become a queen by using other people’s fear and pain as her source of power. Adelina is an antihero and she’s the perfect example for it. She was fierce, vicious, and dark but in the end, she was a star made of light.
So much death happened in here and I can’t help but cry. I wanted to hate Teren but I couldn’t bring myself to hate him…I guess not entirely – I’m quite torn. I love his and Magiono’s back story. Trying to kill yourself but you’re not allowed to because you can heal very fast? Awesome. For Magiano though, his friend was offered as if she’s a piece of meat, which was terrifying and interesting at the same time. I love how Marie Lu ended it with a folktale about Adelina. It really matches with the quotes she put on top of every chapter.
It’s very hard to say goodbye specially if you’ve become so attached to the this world like how the elites were so attached to their powers. It feels like your heart was ripped from your chest and then there’s a hollow area there. But alas, the end has come and we must face it with our heads held high like Adelina. Who knows? When we die, someone might make a bargain to the Gods too and ask them to make us into stars.
Crying because I finished this series already. I knew how it would end but it was so bittersweet for me. The journey with the elites has reached its finish line and I really think the finale was perfect for it. It was so twisted and I wouldn’t have ended it any other way. We saw how the White Wolf become a queen by using other people’s fear and pain as her source of power. Adelina is an antihero and she’s the perfect example for it. She was fierce, vicious, and dark but in the end, she was a star made of light.
So much death happened in here and I can’t help but cry. I wanted to hate Teren but I couldn’t bring myself to hate him…I guess not entirely – I’m quite torn. I love his and Magiono’s back story. Trying to kill yourself but you’re not allowed to because you can heal very fast? Awesome. For Magiano though, his friend was offered as if she’s a piece of meat, which was terrifying and interesting at the same time. I love how Marie Lu ended it with a folktale about Adelina. It really matches with the quotes she put on top of every chapter.
It’s very hard to say goodbye specially if you’ve become so attached to the this world like how the elites were so attached to their powers. It feels like your heart was ripped from your chest and then there’s a hollow area there. But alas, the end has come and we must face it with our heads held high like Adelina. Who knows? When we die, someone might make a bargain to the Gods too and ask them to make us into stars.
It was such a great book! I'm glad I read it and I'm glad it had such a sweet ending. Bittersweet of course but great.
This book was an amazing ending to the young elites series. I love it a lot.
I got to love all the characters even more while all of them keep growing throughout all these books and it’s amazing. Magiano is just amazing and I love him and I need more books about him.
The plot was really good. It really put an end to the series in the best possible way. I am not completely satisfied with the ending but it’s pretty good and I did expect something like this would happen, but I am not happy about it because it hurt my feelings.
What I really think is a pity is the fact that this book is so short. It’s shorter than both of the other books in the series and I wish I could have enjoyed this series a bit longer, but I still loved this book and it was a definite 5 star read for me!
I got to love all the characters even more while all of them keep growing throughout all these books and it’s amazing. Magiano is just amazing and I love him and I need more books about him.
The plot was really good. It really put an end to the series in the best possible way. I am not completely satisfied with the ending but it’s pretty good and I did expect something like this would happen, but I am not happy about it because it hurt my feelings.
What I really think is a pity is the fact that this book is so short. It’s shorter than both of the other books in the series and I wish I could have enjoyed this series a bit longer, but I still loved this book and it was a definite 5 star read for me!
I can't believe it's over! The last book went to fast and the ending was so tragic and beautiful and emotional. Only criticism is that I would like more Magiano, but despite that, I still loved this book!
The beginning for me was kind of boring and even throughout the whole story there wasn't enough depth in the book. It felt like Marie Lu was just trying to end the series.
However, the end was amazing. It was very emotional and the main moral of the book was protrayed beautifully.
However, the end was amazing. It was very emotional and the main moral of the book was protrayed beautifully.
4 stars. My least favorite out of the trilogy but still really good. ALSO, THAT ENDING MAKES ME SOB!
RTC
RTC
I don't know, y'all, I'm really not sure on this one. It wasn't a bad finale, I guess? I just wanted to see the book go in a bit of a different direction, and I loved the second book so much that it was almost inevitable that this book was a letdown... Specifics under the spoiler cut.
So after book 2, I thought that this book would really explore Adelina as a villain protagonist grappling with her demons. I thought that this book would follow her on her downfall and really create an antagonist that is somehow sympathetic yet needs to fall from power. Instead, Adelina gets a redemption arc featuring gods and stuff? It's quite different from the first two books. The gods thing seemed kind of out of place; I mean, they've been mentioned throughout the first two books, but here they take center stage. Maybe I'm just not remembering the first two books well enough, but it just wasn't the direction that I thought this book was going to take. And I didn't like this book nearly as much as I liked the first few books.
I'm torn on the ending! On one hand, I understand that sisterhood is a really central part of this series, and Adelina sacrificing herself for Violetta feels right. Like that's completely in line with Adelina's character and a way to complete Adelina's redemption arc that makes sense. On the other hand, it felt really contrived and cheesy! So I'm torn on that part. I am, however, not torn about the "Adelina becoming stars and spirit!Adelina kissing Magiano" thing. That was super cheesy and cringe-worthy.
Adelina and Magiano in general didn't really have me sold. Like it wasn't a pairing that I hated with all my heart and soul, but I thought it was boring and rushed.
Also, a note on the weirdly shifting perspectives! Whenever it shifted from first person to third person limited, it felt really disjointed and awkward. The shift from first person Adelina to first person Violetta wasn't that smooth either.
Anyway, the good stuff: Enzo's death (emotional, makes sense within the plot, the sort of darkness that I was expecting from the first two books), Maeve/Lucent (I hope that they find a gay happy ending)... that's about it.
Oh yeah, one last thing I didn't like: Rafaelle/Enzo never became canon...
Spoiler
So after book 2, I thought that this book would really explore Adelina as a villain protagonist grappling with her demons. I thought that this book would follow her on her downfall and really create an antagonist that is somehow sympathetic yet needs to fall from power. Instead, Adelina gets a redemption arc featuring gods and stuff? It's quite different from the first two books. The gods thing seemed kind of out of place; I mean, they've been mentioned throughout the first two books, but here they take center stage. Maybe I'm just not remembering the first two books well enough, but it just wasn't the direction that I thought this book was going to take. And I didn't like this book nearly as much as I liked the first few books.
I'm torn on the ending! On one hand, I understand that sisterhood is a really central part of this series, and Adelina sacrificing herself for Violetta feels right. Like that's completely in line with Adelina's character and a way to complete Adelina's redemption arc that makes sense. On the other hand, it felt really contrived and cheesy! So I'm torn on that part. I am, however, not torn about the "Adelina becoming stars and spirit!Adelina kissing Magiano" thing. That was super cheesy and cringe-worthy.
Adelina and Magiano in general didn't really have me sold. Like it wasn't a pairing that I hated with all my heart and soul, but I thought it was boring and rushed.
Also, a note on the weirdly shifting perspectives! Whenever it shifted from first person to third person limited, it felt really disjointed and awkward. The shift from first person Adelina to first person Violetta wasn't that smooth either.
Anyway, the good stuff: Enzo's death (emotional, makes sense within the plot, the sort of darkness that I was expecting from the first two books), Maeve/Lucent (I hope that they find a gay happy ending)... that's about it.
Oh yeah, one last thing I didn't like: Rafaelle/Enzo never became canon...