Series: The Young Elites
Release Date: October 7, 2014
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 rumoured 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.
• BIPOC supporting characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• Disabilities
– Partially blind main character
• Domestic abuse
• Heroine was emotionally, psychologically and physically abused by her father, while her sister was showed in love
• Death (including, death of a past lover)
• The Hero is grieving the death of his fiancée
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Kindle
Rating: 3/5 stars
For the past two weeks, I’ve been debating whether to start The Young Elites when I knew it would most likely lead to me reading through the night… and possibly finishing the series within 24 hours. Which would not have been useful for my time management. But, with my current reading list being what it is… I was looking for a main character of substance… something that would captivate me and shock me. Reading the reviews on The Young Elites suggested that not only would the writing be excellent, but that the heroine, Adelina, would be a compelling narrator.
The premise of The Young Elites was too tantalizing: a dark YA, high fantasy, an anti-heroine with powerful abilities. Sign. Me. Up. And, as I first suspected, I read the first two books within 12 hours of starting. And yet, I’m pausing… giving myself time to figure out whether or not I want to finish the series. Which really speaks for itself: I feel no desire nor need to complete the trilogy. Sadly, I don’t care about any of the characters. I sympathize, I understand… and I even agree with (some of) Adelina’s grudges. But I still don’t care. Because to me, the anti-hero is defined by their lack of shits to give… and despite Adelina’s cruelty, her darkness and her madness, the root of Adelina’s character is an abused young girl. Adelina wants everyone to care about her… just so she can spite them and prove she doesn’t care about them. But, as The Young Elites and The Rose Society consistently demonstrates: she cares so much.
I have to say the characterizations of Adelina and Teren are what drove the story forward for me. I did not care at all for the Dagger Society or for Violetta (Adelina’s sister). To be honest, the only reason I found The Young Elites such a captivating read was the insanity of Adelina’s narration. Before her powers awoke, Adelina was so desperate for love as a result of her childhood abuse. The need for love was exacerbated by the juxtaposition of having her younger sister–beautiful, not a malfetto, and kind–be given everything. The unfairness and lack of solidarity from Violetta created a bitterness that continued to fester in Adelina throughout the book. Comparatively, Teren’s obsession with the Queen and his divine duty to kill all malfetto abominations makes for a compelling narration. Teren is obviously a tool wielded and manipulated by the Queen. Still, it quickly becomes evident that Teren’s maniacal hatred for the malfetto is not mirrored in the Queen. Instead, the Queen uses the malfetto illness as an excuse for why her brother, Enzo, is no longer a suitable heir to the throne… which would make her the Reigning Queen once she kills her husband.
I really appreciated the sense of realness each of the characterizations had. Adelina was always afraid–later, this is to her benefit, but it also makes sense considering she was almost set on fire during a public execution. The fact that she is continuously used as a pawn also sets the groundwork for her character growth (or more accurately: decline?). Never again does she want her survival to be dependent on another. Teren–who is the Master Inquisitor–early on in the novel, discovers where Adelina runs off to. It’s always so annoying when YA characters have powerful jobs yet cannot do their jobs successfully. It leaves you to wonder how they got the job in the first place. Obviously, this is not the case with Teren. I love how despite Teren’s absolute hatred for the malfetto, he was conniving enough to play the long game, that is, to use Adelina to bring down the Dagger Society.
The romance between Enzo was just really not needed. It was another example of how Adelina needed so badly to be wanted/loved/needed that she didn’t realize external validation will never satisfy her. She really needs to learn to love and accept herself. Unfortunately, Adelina never learns this lesson (neither is this lesson learnt in The Rose Society).
What I loved was the education on the varying energies and how they connect to their religion. Raffaele–the second in command of the Dagger Society–can manipulate a person’s energies; he knows what they feel, and he is, therefore, able to soothe. It makes him–along with his stunningly beautiful face–the most sought-after courtesan in the kingdom.
As part of the initiation into the Dagger Society, there are a series of tests, one of which determines which energies fuel the malfetto’s abilities. For Adelina, it is discovered she affiliates with:
- Diamond for power and ambition (Goddess of Prosperity)
- Veritium for knowledge and curiosity (God of Wisdom)
- Roseite for passion (God of Love)
- Amber for hatred (Angel of Fury), and
- Nightstone for the strength of fear (Angel of Fear).
What makes Adelina so unique is that she is most strongly aligned to the Angels of Fear and Fury… which means her powers feed off anger, fear, pain… and darkness. As Raffaele tells Enzo (the Dagger Society leader), this is extremely dangerous.
Raffaele was a compelling character… he was easy to like in the beginning. But, reading from his perspective demonstrated the power of narrative. Adelina believes Raffaele is her only real friend in the Dagger Society… yet he is quick to tell Enzo to kill her. His analysis of her energy–which is so tainted by her traumatic past–has convinced him that there is something wrong with her. That the best course of action is to kill her. Reading that… I was shocked. But, it also really emphasized how no one in this series could be misconstrued as a hero. Even Enzo is a murderer.
Getting Raffaele’s perspective also made it really easy to be even more sympathetic to Adelina. Her thoughts are so dark and sad… even verging on paranoia. Yet, how can the reader think she is paranoid when her new ‘best friend’ is the person advocating for her death?
Personally, the plot to overthrow the Queen and get back Enzo’s throne really took a backseat to Adelina’s deterioration. It honestly reads like she’s going mad, as her brain slowly starts convincing her that no one loves her, and she is a pawn for everyone in her life. When Teren first blackmailed Adelina, I thought her so dumb for not going to the Dagger Society immediately. She could’ve played a double agent! But, her fear of abandonment was SO entrenched; she didn’t want to jeopardize a place where she finally thought she belonged. When the Dagger Society eventually finds out about the ‘betrayal’… it felt like a witchhunt. Obviously, she did speak to Teren, but she never betrayed them. This scene at the end of the novel is what I believe cinched Adelina’s anti-heroine plotline. Instead of letting her explain, the scene demonstrates the absolute futility of Adelina attempting to explain herself. None stop to think… she’s known them for two months, they haven’t even been kind to her, and they think she’s going to put them above her sister? Would they, in Adelina’s situation, have trusted the Dagger Society to rescue her sister, especially when it could mess up their goal of getting the throne for Enzo? Especially when she knew it meant admitting:
- Teren knew where Adelina was connected to the pleasure court
- that saving Violetta would detract from the Dagger’s goal of killing the Queen; and
- that Adelina was to be killed if she couldn’t control her powers. Let alone if she became an actual liability.
I’m confident that if Adelina had told them, they would’ve killed her. Need proof? See Raffaele’s conversations with Enzo in The Young Elites and Enzo’s scathing comments to Adelina in The Rose Society.
So, not only do I not like Raffaele (to be honest, I think I dislike him more than Teren), I also could not care about the rest of the Dagger Society at all–including Enzo. They were all so flat… as if because Raffaele decided to turn Adelina away, the rest of them didn’t even think to second guess and think about their friend. They are so fixated on Adelina’s betrayal that none stop to consider they were going to kill her… and did not give a shit. Finding out you’re a means to an end for your ‘friends’ is bad for a healthy person… but for a person with Adelina’s past and alignments? It’s a mess for destruction.
Many reviewers consistently state how Teren is obviously the “villain” of the story. He is a villain because of his goal to destroy all malfettos. Not to mention his actions at the end of the novel. But, I would argue that Adelina’s greatest adversary (you know, besides herself ’cause that girl cannot get out of her own way) was Raffaele. Raffaele’s aplomb meant that everyone saw him as the definition of rational… the voice of reason, and arguably the true leader of the Dagger Society. In the face of Adelina’s raging emotions, his beliefs about her powers are like hammers in a coffin. No one stops to think about Adelina as a person with a past and feelings. Raffaele is supposed to understand the emotions of others. Yet, he cannot understand the damage his betrayal of Adelina does to her.
Adelina’s childhood–which shapes how humans love, trust and understand the world–taught her that only fear and power make you safe. That love and trust are fickle and are rarely rewarded–her own sister took away Adelina’s only way of protecting herself! So, how can Raffaele look down his beautiful nose at Adelina and judge her? The mindset and attitudes of Adelina are not a choice; values and norms are learned through experience. Experiences which his own betrayal re-affirmed.
Raffaele’s superior comment at the end of The Young Elites about how murder is necessary, but we (meaning not Adelina) do not enjoy it. The total lack of awareness in that comment was so freaking baffling. As if Adelina is just in the ‘evil’ box. As if Raffaele doesn’t know how much Adelina struggles to balance her morality with the temptation of her gifts. Let alone the fact that her gift is only useable through emotions of fear, pain and fury. Raffaele, for all of his gifts of foresight, is the definition of sanctimonious… his manner of cool affability in the face of raging anger is infuriating; he always appears in the right even when he has no right to judge. He acts like he’s right simply because he’s calm. After all, a lack of emotions clearly equates to rationality (Read the sarcasm). Especially considering when Raffaele asked for Enzo to murder the merchant who was too rough with Raffaele. Sure Enzo wanted to send a message, but for him to have brutalized the merchant to such an extent… some pleasure must have been derived.
Despite the flagrant hypocrisy, I continued to read the next book in the series, The Rose Society. I think starting the series knowing everyone was out for themselves allowed me to focus more on Adelina’s journey and not get so stuck on the:
- The 2-dimensional love interset (Enzo)
- The absolute unfairness of the Dagger Society
Unfortunately, once I got a good night’s sleep, finishing the rest of The Rose Society proved to be a bit of a grind. I skimmed. I rolled my eyes. And, I really didn’t understand how people were so Adelina’s so dark, and this proves she’s so powerful. Adelina just seemed broken. But that’s a different book review for a different day.
Buy The Young Elites
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