The Young Elites by Marie Lu

HOLY COW.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

just... WHAT????? 

Can I just say this book had me hooked on every word that was written down. I. Loved. It.

So basically the main character in this book is Adelina Amouteru. She has one eye, silver hair, and a crooked finger. Two of these were markings caused by the blood fever making her a malfetto. In this book, malfettos are people who survived the blood fever (and are usually marked with something or other) The Young Elites are malfettos with extraordinary powers. In this world, malfettos are looked down upon as dangerous, demonic creatures. At some points it reminded me of the Holocaust due to some of the propaganda that the inquisition tells everyone. This book was very dark and ominous, unlike the Legend trilogy which had its moments, but was never this dark.

Okay so the book starts off with Adelina in prison because she murdered her father. 

"Oh, how horrible!" You might say.

Nah! Actually it was kind of the opposite. Her father was going to sell her away to some cruddy excuse for a man so that he could "use" her, if you know what I mean. He also did many other horrible things to Adelina, so I think that by all means she is excused!

Also, Adelina is an extremely complex character. Usually, YA main characters are described as beautiful looking, and trying to fight for what is right. Adelina however, has physical flaws, and internal flaws that she dealt with during the entire book. She fought for her sister (who is awesome) and The Young Elites, but mainly for herself and with herself. 

"Oh, how selfish!" You may think.

Actually, due to her past, it really makes sense. She also deals with the darkness within her (and believe me, there is plenty.), but I feel like if she had been given a different life (mainly a different father) she would not have had as much darkness. Adelina is not all dark, she can actually be very sympathetic and kind. But not all the time. She was basically taught to hate and be wary to trust others since she caught the blood fever and became a malfetto. 

She escapes her execution and joins the Daggers. A group of Young Elites that are planning to take over the throne. She meets some wonderful characters (and some very not wonderful ones), and trains to control her powers. One of these wonderful characters is Enzo. And lemme just say, Enzo is probably one of my favorite characters ever. He shows no fear or mercy, but at the same time he is hard to not like. He protects the Daggers with such a fierce passion that he would literally do anything to keep them safe (holy guacamole man. I don't even want to go there.). He has that prince Zuko (avatar reference there) kind of feel to him. 

Enzo has some dark secrets of his own, and he is just amazing. Just trust me. Adelina becomes smitten with him, but there romance also has some dark threads tangling through it. It is also not the main focus of the novel which was a breath of fresh air since YA novels all have romance as a key role in the plot. 

AND THEN STUFF GOES DOWN SO JUST GO READ IT BECAUSE I CAN'T SPOIL YOU!
(please note that extreme feels are involved if you love these characters.... Which I did... It is still hurting...)

AND THEN CLIFFHANGERY TYPE THING HAPPENS AND YOU REALLY SHOULD READ IT.
(Still hurts...)

ALSO ENZO IS STILL AWESOME. 
(The pain is real)

JUST GO. READ. NOW.

I recommend this book for anyone who loves: dark fantasy/magic/x-men