Book Review: The Young Elites
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Main Genre: Fantasy
This book had left me shell-shocked for a good while. I couldn’t believe the author would actually do that to us. This book was dark, and Adelina was captivating. I didn’t expect the story to escalate so quickly by the end of the book. It was honestly crazy.
Read on for more details.
Synopsis: I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.
Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.
Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.
Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.
It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.
Review:
Adelina’s character was very dangerous. She has a lot of darkness inside of her which she has trouble controlling, especially after she gains access to her powers. Her powers are fueled by fear and fury and, deep down, even if she doesn’t want to admit it, she craves the power to feel superior and to be able to cause others pain and fear. This is what makes her a gamble for the young elites to allow her to be one of them. The things her emotionally and physically abusive father made her go through has scared her in multiple ways, but the worst thing is that she realizes he might have been right about Adelina having something dark within her after all. I can’t wait to see how Adelina will use her powerful abilities to get revenge on those who have betrayed her as this wasn’t shown much in this book, but I have a feeling this will be a big part of the next one.
Enzo is the leader of the Young Elites, and technically the prince of Estenzia (the area they reside in). He possesses fire abilities and has an interest in Adelina for multiple reasons, one of them being her powers. He is determined to get the throne back from his sister and protect his elites at all costs. He cares a lot for them even though it might not seem like that from the outside because of his cold demeanor.
Teren is the villain of this story and he’s an interesting one, that’s for sure. He is out to hunt malfettos, wipe the land clear of them as he believes they are cursed and horrible. His character is deeper than it seems because of multiple reasons that were revealed throughout the book. He is obsessed with the queen and hates the king but he’s also manipulative and sneaky. Overall, he does a great job stirring feelings of hatred in one but also has layers to him and his story.
The chemistry between Adelina and Enzo was everything. He was dark on the outside and she was dark on the inside. He was intrigued to push her and see the potential of her powers and she was ready to showcase them. The only problem I had was what made Enzo like her. It was a fair thing that many people probably experience but I felt bad for Adelina because it was as if he didn’t truly like her for herself. Though, that is something I could look past.
The pace of the plot at the beginning was quite slow. It was mostly introducing us to Adeline, the broken pieces of her life after becoming a malfetto and slowly getting us familiar to the new world. Most fantasy books do start off like that, but it wasn’t until more than half-way after the book did it start picking up pace. Things escalated so fast and the number of things that happened in one book was crazy. I have never read a book with this much happening in it, it felt like a whole series wrapped in one book. The major events occurring towards the end was probably the reason for me to feel as such.
The plot twist, though, was horrible in the way it pulled my heart out of my chest and stomped on it a thousand times until there was nothing left. I couldn’t believe it; I went through all five stages of grief trying to cope with it. Never saw it coming, never will forgive the author for it. The temptation of trying to go online and figure out whether the results of the plot twist were for real or not was so strong, but I didn’t give in. One of the absolutely heart-wrenching plot twists I’ve ever read.
I loved the way the author handled her multiple pov’s. The main pov was Adelina’s, she moved the story forward and was who we focused on throughout the book. We also had other pov’s from other characters, but they were very brief. The purpose of them was to add depth to the story and reveal things to continue to make me want to read. These side povs had an important role, for sure, as they definitely kept the plot interesting even when it was quite slow. The world building was pretty good. I understood how the cities were suffering due to the malfettos being hunted and punished, the gloominess of the poor city of Estenzia even though it was still beautiful from afar, and how the people were suffering as well from poverty and/or the ruthlessness of the Inquisitors who hunted down malfettos.
Overall, this book was a great read. I was in a mood for a fantasy I would love, and the first book met my expectations pretty well. I’ve heard the second and third books are even better than the first so I can’t wait to pick those up. I’m not excited to see how many other ways the author may break my heart though. If you’re in a mood for a semi-dark fantasy, this one is a great choice!
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