Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

From Goodreads: Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained. When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest - though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger. 

My Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: After loving The Rose Society, I must say that Marie Lu’s The Midnight Star wasn’t as strong a conclusion as I hoped for for The Young Elites series.

Although I breezed through reading The Midnight Star, I felt quite detached from the characters while reading it. Nowhere was this more obvious than when certain characters died. I feel that a huge reason why I couldn’t make myself care about these deaths was because the characters didn’t feel like they were used to their full potential. For example, it felt like Lu didn’t know what to do with Enzo anymore so she simply killed him off again. Moreover, some characters still weren’t fleshed out enough. A case in point would be Magiano: we learn a little about him, but not enough to explain why he’s so drawn to Adelina and willing to do anything for her. Finally, the religious element was unexpected, and I remain unsure how I feel about it overall.

The Midnight Star was released in October 2016 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers. 

Comments About the Cover: I like the cover, but I think The Young Elites’ and The Rose Society’s covers are better.

Review: The Rose Society by Marie Lu

From Goodreads: Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her. But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Marie Lu’s The Young Elites was good; but its sequel, The Rose Society, was amazing! In The Rose Society, new characters are introduced, new alliances are created, and Adelina becomes a formidable foe!

All her life, Adelina has simply wanted to be loved. Now that she's capable of creating fear in others, she’s bent on getting revenge against everybody who betrayed her. It was so awesome – and scary – to see Adelina become such a dark character in The Rose Society!

Since Adelina decides to create her own army at the end of The Young Elites, the Daggers aren’t featured as promininently in The Rose Society. Instead, we’re introduced to Magiano and Sergio, a former Dagger. While I thought Magiano and Sergio were interesting enough, I didn’t like them as much as the Daggers. I also found Magiano’s development of romantic feelings for Adelina to be quite sudden.

One of my complaints with The Young Elites was that the worldbuilding was lacking. That’s still true with The Rose Society, but we do learn a bit more about the Young Elites. And what we do learn is surprising, to say the least. I can’t wait to see how this plot twist will play out in the next book!

The Rose Society was released by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers in October 2015. 

Comments About the Cover: I can’t help but keep staring at the wolf in the background.

Mini Reviews: The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima and The Young Elites by Marie Lu

From Goodreads: Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high schoolers. Then one day Jack skips his medicine. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great - until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts. Soon, Jack learns the startling truth about himself: he is Weirlind, part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At their helm sits the feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game - a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir. As if his bizarre heritage isn't enough, Jack finds out that he's not just another member of Weirlind - he's one of the last of the warriors - at a time when both houses are scouting for a player.

My Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Although I’d never checked it out, Cinda Williams Chima’s The Heir Chronicles was a fantasy series that I’d heard a lot about in the past. With the release of the newest book in the series, The Sorcerer Heir, however, I figured I’d give the first book, The Warrior Heir, a try.

Though I found The Warrior Heir to be an okay novel and thought the worldbuilding was pretty solid, the story just didn’t grip me. Not only was The Warrior Heir quite predictable, but its pacing was slow and the characters were sort of boring. Ultimately, I think my younger self would have enjoyed this book a lot more.

The Warrior Heir was released by Disney Hyperion in April 2007. 

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From Goodreads: 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.

My Rating: 3.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: While I still need to read the second and third books in Marie Lu’s Legend series, I figured I’d give her newest series a try in the meantime. Although it wasn’t what I expected (because I didn’t realize that all the characters in the novel would be anti-heroes), I still enjoyed The Young Elites due to its well-written beginning and ending. Little happened in the middle, however, and the worldbuilding was very much neglected.

The Young Elites was released on October 7, 2014 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers.

Review: Legend by Marie Lu

From Goodreads: What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. 

My Rating: 4.5 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: With my last dystopian read being Veronica Roth’s amazing Divergent a few months ago, and me not being a huge fan of the dystopian genre, Marie Lu’s Legend had some pretty shoes to follow up on. And, oh my gosh, did it ever! While the plot is a little predictable, Legend kept me hooked enough that I stayed up late and finished reading it within a day.

The story is narrated through the alternating perspectives of June and Day who are a little on the younger side – they’re only fifteen – to be living by themselves. I’m willing to let that slide a bit though because June is a prodigy and Day is smart and has exceptional (and totally unrealistic) physical abilities.

June originally comes off as slightly standoffish, but she slowly becomes more likeable over the course of the novel. Despite living a sheltered life and now becoming an agent for the Republic, I liked that June was willing to question things even if they came from the mouth of a known criminal. She could have easily ignored whatever Day said and been a perfect soldier who believed everything that the Republic taught her.

Day was even more interesting to me. I loved his confidence and the fact that it was impossible to break his spirit even after he landed in the Republic’s jail. If I ever get thrown into a dystopian world, I’d want Katniss and Day by my side!

The worldbuilding is a little vague because it’s not clear how the US broke down into the Republic and the Colonies nor is much told about the Republic’s history. Since Legend is the first in a series however, I expect that Lu will reveal more in the books that will follow. For now, all I can say is that the Republic may not be so perfect, and what it does sounds hypothetically plausible.

Rather than a huge focus on romance, Legend instead focuses more on the familial bond. June has grown up under the care of her brother because her parents died in a car crash when she was young and the two have a very close relationship. It’s too bad then that Metias has to die early in the novel, but I enjoyed getting to know him through June’s memories (even if her sadness at his death sometimes felt more like a case of telling than showing). Similarly, the reader learns about Day’s family through his memories because circumstances have made it so that he’s unable to live with them and instead must survive on the streets. Personally, it was somewhat harder to care about them than Metias (except when John did what he did), but it’s obvious that they’re Day’s greatest weakness because he loves them so much.

There is some romance though; and I liked that it wasn’t something that took over the entire book. There’s clearly attraction between June and Day but there’s also a nicely developing friendship, which made me like their relationship a lot more. Lu deserves bonus points for not having her characters make declarations of love when they haven’t known each other for very long. Moreover, June and Day in my mind were greater together than each individually so I can’t wait to see what will happen to them in the sequel.

A highly recommended book for fans of the dystopian genre, Legend was released by Putnam Juvenile in November 2011. 

Comments About the Cover: I like its simplicity, and the gold embossing stands out nicely against the silver background.