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A review by ec_newman
The Young Elites by Marie Lu
3.0
Three stars for the world building. I wish I'd enjoyed the romance, and characters more.
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I went to a Young Adult Literature conference thing last year (yeah, I said thing, cause I have no idea how to explain it really) where someone shares recent publications for children and young adults that are good for librarians and teachers. Teaching high school as I do, I can't assign the books because they aren't advanced enough for what curriculum requires, but it does give me ideas for recommendations and well, I am a writer, so it fuels my love for the age group.
The Young Elites was mentioned at this conference thing and the concept appealed to me, as did the fact I knew the author was well known for her other series: Legend.
Cool idea, right? Powers that require our main character to dig into the unhealthy emotions, destructive choices, etc. That's not something I've really seen before and the closest I can think is X-men (the movies, not the comics because I'm not that cool).
The world was great. Very realized and thought out. The world of those good and those bad was not clear and often I did wonder who would come out on top. I give kudos to Lu for excellent world-building.
Some spoilers below:
But I didn't love the characters. They felt a little flat, a little archetype, especially the secondary characters who could have been fleshed out in ways that could surprise and delight the reader. Enzo, the romantic interest, other than being a redhead (YAY) is typical YA hero. Brooding, seems to not like our heroine, but actually falls for her. Teren is interesting in the fact that he fights against the very thing he is. Adelina is interesting, but I'm not sure I like her. And she drove me crazy when she kept not telling those she should have trusted what was going on with her and the blackmail. I know why she didn't, but it bugged me all the same because I feel like that always happens in YA novels with paranormal elements. The girl never goes to the people who could help her, but nearly gets herself killed being 'heroic/martyr-like.'
The romance itself was typical. Heat and kissing, some things in common maybe, but really it's all hotness and perfect making out. It doesn't end like you expect it (cheers for that), but I wasn't invested in the romance or the characters.
I imagine many will love this, but for me, it just didn't suck me in like I was hoping.
---
I went to a Young Adult Literature conference thing last year (yeah, I said thing, cause I have no idea how to explain it really) where someone shares recent publications for children and young adults that are good for librarians and teachers. Teaching high school as I do, I can't assign the books because they aren't advanced enough for what curriculum requires, but it does give me ideas for recommendations and well, I am a writer, so it fuels my love for the age group.
The Young Elites was mentioned at this conference thing and the concept appealed to me, as did the fact I knew the author was well known for her other series: Legend.
Cool idea, right? Powers that require our main character to dig into the unhealthy emotions, destructive choices, etc. That's not something I've really seen before and the closest I can think is X-men (the movies, not the comics because I'm not that cool).
The world was great. Very realized and thought out. The world of those good and those bad was not clear and often I did wonder who would come out on top. I give kudos to Lu for excellent world-building.
Some spoilers below:
But I didn't love the characters. They felt a little flat, a little archetype, especially the secondary characters who could have been fleshed out in ways that could surprise and delight the reader. Enzo, the romantic interest, other than being a redhead (YAY) is typical YA hero. Brooding, seems to not like our heroine, but actually falls for her. Teren is interesting in the fact that he fights against the very thing he is. Adelina is interesting, but I'm not sure I like her. And she drove me crazy when she kept not telling those she should have trusted what was going on with her and the blackmail. I know why she didn't, but it bugged me all the same because I feel like that always happens in YA novels with paranormal elements. The girl never goes to the people who could help her, but nearly gets herself killed being 'heroic/martyr-like.'
The romance itself was typical. Heat and kissing, some things in common maybe, but really it's all hotness and perfect making out. It doesn't end like you expect it (cheers for that), but I wasn't invested in the romance or the characters.
I imagine many will love this, but for me, it just didn't suck me in like I was hoping.