In September, I read the book The Young Elites by Marie Lu. The Young Elites is a fantasy young adult novel about a 16 year old girl named Adelina Amouteru who’s a survivor of a widespread plague that’s left many with strange side effects. Her unnatural silver hair marks her as one of these survivors. That, plus the unfortunate loss of her left eye due to the fever, makes her a stark contrast to her perfect sister Violetta. They have a cruel father who resents Adelina for bringing him shame by being a malfetto, or “marked” plague survivor. One day Adelina overhears her father agreeing to sell Adelina to a strange man as his mistress. That night she attempts to run away but her father catches up to her. In her anger, somehow, she calls forth phantoms from the earth that move toward her father projecting her deepest dark desires. The phantoms startle her father and he is accidentally killed. Adelina is arrested and will be executed. Come along with Adelina and watch as the main character becomes the villain and spirals into insanity.
I really enjoyed this book because, it was really entertaining to see a character slowly become the villain of the story. Marie Lu did a beautiful job using imagery and details to help you imagine this fictional world in your head. Though the book is fantasy the characters feel real and Marie Lu did a phenomenal job depicting Adelina’s spiral into insanity and how her life started to fall apart in the process.
Adelina was my favorite character. This is because I got to see a new prospective than just then just the normal “everything goes right cause I’m the main character” perspective and got to see that not everything ends in happily ever after. In this book I get to see the villains perspective and watch their life and sanity crumble. Adelina is a very cruel character that’s hard to tell what’s gonna come from her next. Proof of this is on pg.321 when the text says “ I reach down into my chest, find the last of my strength, and pull on Teren’s energy. Let him feel agony like he’s never known. Let him suffer.”
My favorite quote from the book is on page 340 where it says “ I am still alone, broken and small, the butterfly fighting for life in the grass.“ I like this quote because I relate to it in a way, sometimes I feel alone, broken, and small and there’s no one to save me. Another quote I like from the young elites is on page 337 it says “ it is my turn to use. My turn to hurt. My turn.“ I also like this quote because it’s saying that a lot of people get hurt and used but feel like it’s their turn and sorta relate to this as well. The young elites is a great book and have already recommended it to friends and I totally recommend it to you. It’s a good book where this time you don’t see happily ever after.