The Young Elites by Marie Lu

TL;DR fighting against the (Italian) Inquisition using actual magic

TBR #745, added Jan 9 2014

finished 5/8/16

That was definitely a wild ride. 

I really enjoyed Marie Lu's Legend series, but for some reason I didn't get my hands on The Young Elites until very recently. I was lucky enough to find a copy of it at the thrift store one day and I jumped at the chance. 

The setting was unique and I appreciated both the map at the beginning and the apparent Italian influence on Kenettra. (Mainly since I took an Italian class this semester, but y'know.) There was also a clear diversity of people, both from Kenettra and from Tamoura and Beldain. The Young Elites had a mix of the different cultures, and I'm excited to explore their world beyond Dalia and Estenzia. 

There was a nice variety of important characters. I wish the female secondary characters got more attention than they did, though. Adelina had limited interactions with the two other female Daggers and is cut off from her sister for almost the whole book. Most of Adelina's interactions were with the male Daggers or Teren. 

Adelina herself was a very interesting and complex character. Her narration had a much different style than what I remembered from the Legend series, but I've ultimately decided that I like that differentiation. Adelina definitely had her flaws but she made her decisions and I'm curious what she'll do in the future after the end of The Young Elites.

And holy crap, that ending. The plot continually defied my expectations and I was completely blown away by how Marie Lu went all-out. Like, damn. The last hundred pages or so were intense. I feel like I'm going to be hopped up on adrenaline for the next couple of hours.

(I'm writing this right after I finished the book for once. Can you tell? Look at all this detail I can include!!) 

The setup of the last final chapters and the epilogue have definitely made me anxious to get my hands on The Rose Society. Hopefully the library will have a copy of it when I go back next.

TL;DR The Young Elites took unexpected directions in a couple different ways and is such a great foundation for a trilogy. I'm honestly in awe of Marie Lu's writing skills. 

CWs for the book: abuse (parental and physical, and maybe other forms as well), injuries, blood, death, and unreality. Some of these can be hard to stomach.