The Young Elites by Marie Lu Book Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Title- The Young Elites 
Author- Marie Lu

Series- The Young Elites Trilogy (Book One out of Three) 

Published- 2015

Page Count- 355 pages

Publishing House- Speak Publishing (UK)

Genre- YA Dystopian

Rating- 3/5 stars

About the Author

Marie Lu is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Legend trilogy and The Young Elites trilogy. She graduated from the University of Southern California and jumped into the video game industry, working for Disney Interactive Studios as a Flash artist. Now a full-time writer, she spends her spare time reading, drawing, playing Assassin’s Creed, and getting stuck in traffic. She lives in Los Angeles, California (see above: traffic), with one husband, one Chihuahua mix, and two Pembroke Welsh corgis.

Taken from Marie's website. 

Plot

A decade ago, a deadly blood fever swept through the nation. Most of the infected perished, but some of the survivors were left with strange markings, rumored to signify powerful gifts for those who possess them. And though their identities remain secret, this group of survivors has come to be called The Young Elites.

The Inquisition Axis seeks to destroy them. The Dagger Society aims to find them before the Inquisition Axis. And Adelina Amouteru just wants to be left alone. But two truths will soon surface:

Adelina's powers are far from ordinary . . . and she is not to be crossed.

Taken from Goodreads.

Opinions

After thoroughly enjoying the Legend series earlier this year, I decided to pick up The Young Elites. I had flown through Marie's other series, so I figured I would be able to do the same with this one as I needed something to bump up my Goodreads reading challenge as I am failing this year. I was wrong about this series being the one I needed at this moment.

Being brutally honest, I struggled to care about most of this book. I didn't care for the characters. I didn't care for the story. I just didn't care. I should have DNF'd it, but I hate DNFing books. Adelina was a very irritable character. I did not enjoy hearing from her. This could be a personal thing in that I don't enjoy first person narrative, I find it difficult to engage with. I think to sum this paragraph up nicely would be to say that this book just wasn't for me and that's fair enough.

It will therefore not come as a surprise that I have no plans of continuing this series. I have already donated my copies of the Legend series to charity, as while I enjoyed it, I didn't see myself reading it again. I will be donating my copies of The Young Elites to charity as well in the hope that someone enjoys them more than I did. 

I think one of my major issues with this series was that it would have been fine if it had been just from Adelina's perspective, but adding the occasional chapter from Enzo, Terren and Rafael (I don't think I've spelt that right) really threw me off. Their voices were all very similar, which meant when it suddenly changed it was odd. Enzo as a love interest added nothing, I didn't even care that she accidentally killed him. Terren was supposed to be the bad guy and was just sort of okay. I liked Rafael but wasn't exactly sure what the point of him was. I was underwhelmed by the characters, something Marie Lu is normally quite good at writing. 

This book had an interesting concept of a disease sweeping through and giving the young people super powers. It had potential, but the execution of the idea just didn't live up to what I was expecting from the book. I think compared to the Legend series, it didn't quite reach what it was trying to be. I'm now uncertain if I want to read from Marie Lu again as this book has tarnished my feelings towards her.     

That concludes my review of The Young Elites, what did you think of this book?

Carenza :) x 

Legend by Marie Lu Book Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Title- Legend
Author- Marie Lu
Series- Legend Trilogy/Series
Published- 2011
Page Count- 295 (UK Paperback)
Publishing House- Penguin Books
Rating- 4/5 Stars

About the Author

Marie Lu (born Xiwei Lu) is an American young adult author. She is best known for the Legend trilogy, novels set in a dystopian and militarized future. The novels form the basis of a film to be produced by Lionsgate.

Taken from Marie's Wikipedia Page.

Plot

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbours. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Taken from Goodreads.

Opinions  

After reading two three star books in a row, I was fully expecting this to be another let down. Truth be told, I knew next to nothing about this series before reading it. I knew that it was considered to be a YA Classic and that I had bought them as a box set from the Works for a bout £5 a few years ago. 

I think going into it not knowing much and having not seen as much hype around them as other books meant that I actually enjoyed them more than I thought I would. I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I didn't love it and wouldn't consider it a favourite, but I enjoyed my time reading it. So much so that I've started the second book already. I don't remember the last time I binged a series. 

I've found it very easy to read. It falls into that writing style that is easy to fly through yet still remains enjoyable. The characters were interesting too. One thing I will say is that they are both fifteen and to me they read as much older. Maybe it's because I'm nearly twenty, but I find it hard to see characters as that young. I've noticed that a lot of books where characters are said to be fourteen-fifteen, to me they'll read as my age. I must be getting old. 

I enjoyed the mystery aspect of this book. I really wanted to find out what happened to Metias. I didn't believe that Day had killed him as I didn't get that vibe from him. It was interesting to see June's journey from loyal soldier to renegade. She had to most intriguing character arc of all the characters. Day didn't have quite the same arc, but he was still a solid character. I found June's relationship with Thomas a bit strange and it made me uncomfortable at times. 

Something I didn't mind as much as I normally would was the romance element. It was obvious, as is the tendency with YA, that the characters would fall in love. It did become a bit cliche the way they were describing each other. I let it slide as when you're fifteen, things are a bit cliched. I found their relationship to be really compelling and actually believable for once. I look forward to seeing what happens to them in the other books.

I don't have anything to say that is overtly negative. I didn't give it five stars as it didn't blow me away and is nowhere near being a favourite of mine. I think this is a series I am going to fly through and then part ways with. It was fun, but it isn't one I'll treasure forever. It's just a good, solid series.

Carenza :) x