The Young Elites - Marie Lu - 4 stars

I decided to read this book so that I could finish my A-Z Challenge. I have had this book for awhile now on my kindle and I had recently heard really good things about it. I am glad that I finally got to this one because I really did enjoy it. It was pretty engaging and now that I did finally read it, I want to read the next one sooner rather than later.
Synopsis
I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

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 rumored 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.

I really enjoyed the plot to this story. I thought that this was well thought out . I liked the world building to this one and also it has a medieval feel to the book which I thought I would not like, but I actually really did. Lots of action and excitement to wrap readers up in and get whisked away in the story. However, some of the events in this book I did not entirely agree with and it aggravated me a bit. I feel like essential elements were taken from the story.

I enjoyed most of the characters in this book. I think they were well developed and I only see them getting better with the next book. I did find that Adelina did play things very smart at times and that was really annoying to me. She made me wanna reach into the book and slap some common sense into her. I also did not really care for her poor pitiful me routine that she embraced for a lot of the story. I hope to see her use those flaws to better herself so we will see.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys YA Fantasy, maybe even dystopian books. It is a good read and I feel like the story will improve even more over the next books and I look forward to reading them as soon as I can get them.