The Young Elites by Marie Lu is a fantasy fiction with a mix of action, romance, and dystopian societies. The story revolves around Adelina Amouteru who has been marked as a malfetto for suffering a blood fever and surviving. The society acts as if malfettos as something to be disgusted by when they’re actually scared of their power. Some of the malfettos develop powers, so the people fear all malfettos and alienate them. Adeline has always been used by other people and because of that she has suffered, so when she finds others like her -the dagger society- she's overjoyed to make friends and be useful to them. Although she’s excited to make friends with them, the others don’t seem to trust her and are wary and even scared of her. In the end, she never gains their trust and she ends up being kicked out after being used again. That’s when she decides that she won’t be the one being used anymore, she will be the one to use others.
I thought the book was really good, although the beginning was slow, once it started picking up it was really interesting. The best part for me was the end when she realized that she couldn’t be a heroine just to be used by others and instead became a “villain” and decided to be the one to use others to get her revenge. It was interesting to see her being a “villainess” since most books are focused on a hero or heroine who only does good deeds. The only part that was a little boring was the beginning when it explained a lot of her background and life with her family, though in the end it was important information necessary to the reader, it was a little slow. The ending made me feel proud of her as her personality changed from being timid and unsure of herself to accepting her darkness and becoming bold. I would recommend it to preteens and teens who like a revenge arc, character development, and dystopian societies. I would rate it a four because I thought it was really good but the only thing that could have been better is the slow start.