Reaction Paper

Bruan, Lance Matthew D.
January 20, 2017
Reaction Paper No. 1
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Lu, Marie. The Young Elites
(2014) G.P Putnams Sons. Published by the Penguin Group (USA) LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York City, NY 10014
The Young Elites is an entertaining book that initially seemed like a mish-mash of tropes from
other books Id read before. Of course, the main premise has been done many times before: a
small subset of people develop superpowers, making them outcasts feared by the rest of society.
Many of the powers they developed are also quite common in these types of stories, and many of
the character types are familiar as well. However, the end of the book made me rethink this
opinion since some rather unexpected events occurred, and one storyline in particular did not
follow the predictable path Id expected at all. The epilogue was also excellent with the
introduction of an intriguing new character and some great setup for the second bookand now
I am quite eager to read the next book in this series!
Marie Lu stated on Twitter that the basic premise of The Young Elites is What makes someone
fall to the dark side? She has also said, THE YOUNG ELITES is an origin story of a villain,
and Adelina is essentially Darth Vader or Magneto as a teenage girl. This is a dark novel, and
Adelina can be a sympathetic character but is not always one, especially as the book nears the
end and becomes even grimmer. Its not surprising she has some problems, given her
background. Her father was a cruel man, and he was especially terrible to his older daughter. If
not for her emergence from the plague with the silver hair that marked her a malfetto, men would
have been lining up to marry her, but since theyre not he doesnt find her a particularly useful
daughterand he tries every tactic he can think of to force her into using a power since the only
way he can see her becoming of use to him is if she develops one.
While she despises her father, Adelina is also well aware that she is in many ways her fathers
daughter. She is glad to discover she has a special ability, and there are times when she even
embraces the darker side of it. Earlier in the book, she makes mistakes, but I think its easy to
understand her motivations and behavior even while feeling that she is making the wrong
choices. Shes certainly not completely unsympathetic: Adelina seems to just desperately want a
place to belong, and she also does seem to care very much about her sister and some of the Elites
she comes to consider friends. Later in the story, her actions become more terrible and
unsympathetic, although she remains an interesting character even as she turns closer to the evil
side.
I had mixed feelings about the writing. There was occasionally some lovely phrasing, but the
first person present tense of Adelinas narrative did seem stilted at times. I also felt there was too
much telling, and that Adelinas first test with the Young Elites was too simple and served as a
shortcut for characterization. The Elites can see which attributes their energy aligns with through
gemstones; for example, Adelina is found to have a strong affinity for ambition, wisdom,
passion, fear, and fury when she is tested by one of the Elites. The time spent in a room with
gemstones tells the others a bit about her and seems to be a way to make others react to her
without judging her by her actions. After this, Adelina often thinks of what she is doing or
feeling as being a reflection of her alignment with one of these, which I found irritating since it
fit her into a box of personality traits and emotions instead of letting her live and breathe as a
character. The other Elites are often discussed in terms of their alignments instead of as people
with personalities outside of whats gleaned from this test, making this appear as a convenient
way to tell about their characters without having any actual character development.
While there is a romantic storyline, the most complex and memorable relationship in the book
was that between Adelina and her sister. Adelinas feelings about her sister are complicated. She
certainly shows that she cares about Violetta, but she also resents her sister for both not being
a malfetto and being their fathers favorite (even if she is aware that her father was not kind to
Violetta, either). Adelina also underestimates her sister, and I was glad Violetta had a lot more
depth than she seemed to in the beginning.
The Young Elites is a fast-paced, enjoyable story despite its tendencies toward telling instead of
showing, particularly using the Elite test to bypass actual character development. The ending
really took this novel to a whole new level with its surprises and intriguing epilogue, and I was
also pleased that Violetta was given more depth that made the relationship between the two
sisters quite compelling. I also liked that the author did not shy away from a dark ending as I
love to see authors take risks even when events may be unpopular with some. Due to the overall
entertainment value and the strong finish, I am very much looking forward to the next book in
the series despite the issues I had.

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Bruan, Lance Matthew D.

January 20, 2017

Reaction Paper No. 1

Lu, Marie. The Young Elites

375 Hudson Street, New York City, NY 10014

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