The Young Elites: Review
I feel strangely neutral about this book. Several reviewers I trust liked it--not *loved* it--but still their likes are enough for me to usually get excited about a series.
We are given several POVs here, switching back and forth between first and third person present tense narratives. I'm not a fan of present tense...at least not in this book. Each new chapter felt jerky and I constantly lost the flow of sentences, which is probably the reason for my detachment. I never felt wholly engrossed.
There's Adelina, our (anti?)heroine; Enzo, the (maybe?)love interest; Teren, the (deranged?)villain; and Raffaele, the (false?)friend.
For the most part, we follow Adelina as she stumbles along trying to figure out how to master her powers (illusions), and how to rescue her sister from the Inquisitors trying to blackmail her into spying for them. She's been abused since a blood fever swept the nations, leaving most dead and many scarred and changed, with vastly different magical powers aligning with the energies of the universe around them. An interesting concept, and in theory I like it very much.
But...
Adelina doesn't really do it for me. I don't feel I truly care if the Young Elites take back the throne and overthrow their abusers. Perhaps I am not in love because I just finished Eon and Eona, and was left thoroughly impressed with the colorful setting and rich world building, not to mention perfectly believable, conflicted characters. Here, I'm not convinced of Adelina's inner conflict with light and dark like I was with Eona.
*shrugs*
My dilemma, it seems, is that Marie Lu hasn't successfully drawn me in. I'll be starting The Rose Society today, though, so clearly I felt enough to continue. Here's hoping I get more attached to the characters in the sequel!