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The Young Elites is a series of dystopian fantasy young Adult novels written by Marie Lu. The books take audiences to a world where certain young people have developed powers that threaten to bring civilization to its knees.
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Order of The Young Elites Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Young Elites | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Rose Society | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | The Midnight Star | 2016 | Description / Buy |
When readers first meet Adelina Amouteru in The Young Elites, the first novel in the series, she is about to burn at the stake. Things were not always so grim for the teenage girl.
She grew up in a wealthy home with all the luxuries and privileges a girl could desire. But then the blood fever came a disease that swept through the land mostly killing adults. The children should have been immune, or so the evidence suggested.
But then it was discovered that while most kids could successfully withstand the assault of the blood fever, a few were changed, marked in some way. To be marked in Adelina’s world was to be declared cursed and worthless.
And because Adelina’s mother died from the blood fever and she was left marked, her family lost everything. Barely coping with the loss of her parent, Adelina could do little to counter the anger and abuse that her father threw her way.
Things came to a head when the man tried to have Adelina sold into slavery. Adelina attempted to escape and, in her father’s efforts to stop her, she killed him.
The occurrence was accidental but everyone to whom she pled turned a deaf ear. Adelina was sentenced to be burned at the sake for her crimes. And she would have perished if Enzo hadn’t come for her.
Not only did he save her, but the charming young prince opened Adelina’s eyes to a world she never knew existed. Like Enzo, Adelina was a Malfetto. The blood fever had gifted her with a strange power.
Enzo had formed The Young Elites to gather, train and protect Malfettos. An organization called the Inquisition Axis had been deployed by the government to find and destroy all Malfettos.
And as far as Enzo was concerned, they would only survive if they banded together and fought back.
The Young Elites series tells Adelina’s story, exploring her efforts to come to terms with her place in the world.
The books feature some of those tropes that you might find in the average YA novel, but The Young Elites takes a few interesting turns. Like her counterparts, Adelina is an ordinary girl who realizes that she isn’t quite as powerless as she thought.
But Adelina’s path differs somewhat from other YA heroines because she is so much darker. In fact, the majority of this series is spent following Adelina as she succumbs to her desire for revenge, slowly but surely becoming the biggest threat in the country.
The author initially wanted to write Adelina like Darth Vader. She wanted to explore a character whose psychological ailment had driven them to the very doorstep of villainy. But she eventually settled for making Adelina an anti-hero.
The Young Elites Awards
The first novel in the series was nominated for a Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award in 2016.
Best The Young Elites Books
These novels tell fast-paced stories that focus more on the action and the world-building than they do on the character development, with some of the best books in the series including:
The Rose Society: Adelina suffered greatly at the hands of the people she trusted. So when she fled with her sister to find other people with abilities, it was with the intention of building an army.
No one realized at the time that her heart had grown cold and that her powers were fueled by fear and hate. They had no idea that she wanted to burn the Inquisition Axis to the ground and everyone else that would dare oppose her.
The Midnight Star: Adelina believes that her reign as the White Wolf has been a fruitful one. But each conquest only buries her deeper into darkness. And she is starting to realize that if she doesn’t learn to control her urges, she might destroy everything she ever cared about.
This is as a new danger emerges, one that will force her to revisit old wounds.
Other Book Series You May Like
Be sure to check out the “Talented Saga” series by Sophie Davis. Talia Lyons is a girl with psychic powers who enrolled at the school for the Talented to master her powers so that she could kill the man who murdered her parents. But now love and romance has become an immovable obstacle for Talia’s plans for revenge.
You may also enjoy “The Children of the Mountain” Series by R.A. Hakok. Gabriel was just a child on a visit to the White House when a virus destroyed the world. Gabriel followed the president and everyone else to an abandoned bunker. Ten years later, Gabriel is about to make a shocking discovery.
What Is The Next Book in The Young Elites Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Young Elites Series. The newest book is The Midnight Star and was released on October, 11th 2016.