Audiobook Review: The Young Elites (The Young Elites #1) by Marie Lu

Dark, sexy and utterly unputdownable. I want MORE

Title: The Young Elites
Author:Marie Lu
Series: The Young Elites
Publisher:Listening Library
My ratings: 5 out of 5 stars
Released: 7th October, 2014
Once in a while you stumble across a book which hits all the right spots for you? You think, 'How did this book manage to slip under my radar?' The Young Elites was one such book for me. It slipped right under my radar until I stumbled on it, read the reviews and started it. Adelina is a malfetto, meaning she has scars left behind on her body when she contracted the blood fever which swept the country. The malfettos are blamed for all the ill that befalls the country of Kenetra and a are discriminated and badly treated. even being the daughter of a wealthy merchant does not spare Adelina of that fate. Mistreated and forced to live under the shadow her beautiful younger sister Adelina grows resentful with each passing day until she decided to run away. However she manages to kill her cruel father in the process. Turns out that Adelina is no ordinary malfetto, but an Young Elites. Malfettos who emerged from the fever with supernatural powers had banded together and had been speaking of rebellion and Adelina finds herself among them.

There are a host of other characters notably, Enzo who is the leader of the Young Elites and an exiled prince. Terren who is the leader of the Inquisitors who are working to eliminate all mafetto from the country and Rafaelle, best friend of Enzo and also a male consort. There is a hint of romance with Enzo but that is soon smothered by the dark and gritty story line.

Adelina is somewhat evil. I think, that was my favourite bit of her personality. When she taps into the darkness simmering in her, then only can she manifest her powers. The ill feelings that were born in the mind of a child has been twisted into an bad and dark side of Adelina, the extent of which even Adelina is unaware of. I really enjoyed how Marie Lu portrayed and described this in the story as this was a pivotal point of the story. It is difficult to find a heroine in YA who had shades of evil in her and not the usual immaturity due to being young. Adelina has the potential to be exponentially powerful but only Marie Lu will be able to tell us how she manages to harness the power and the evil smoldering inside her.

What I also loved about this book that it just the right amount to everything, action, friendship, politics, and even romance. The romance was really light but when set against so much that is going on, it packs a punch.

The narrator Carla Corvo did a good job at Adelina's voice but when it came to the male characters voices they were indiscernible from each other. Moreover as the foreign names seemed Latin, they were pronounced in the right way ( I mean in a Latin accent) but at times it felt jarring and interrupted the flow of words.

After my little nit picking, The Young Elites was a high fantasy, adventure novel, with fantastic characters, excellent story line, beautiful setting, exquisite writing and it is a fine example of what YA for older audience should be like. Not more sex but more gory action. I was dark, sexy and deliciously mouth watering. There should more books like this in the market. If you enjoyed Leigh Bardugo's Grisha series or The Winner's Crime, you will most definitely enjoy this.

Now I'm off to find more tittles by Marie Lu while I kick myself for not picking them up earlier.