A 2015 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults Book
Many years ago, a sickness swept through the island of Kenettra and through the rest of the world, killing many, and marking the ones that were left. When she was four, Adelina, her sister, and their mother all got sick. Their mother died and Adelina lost an eye, but her sister, Violetta, recovered completely, becoming her father's favorite. Unfortunately for Adelina, she becomes his favorite thing to torment, especially since a malfetto daughter has caused his business to wane. Rumors start to circulate that some of those that recovered from the sickness now possess powers, calling themselves the Young Elites and fighting against the growing distrust and dislike of the malfettos, a fear which has been perpetuated by the king and queen and enforced by the Inquisition. When Adelina overhears her father selling her to a wealthy merchant to be his mistress, she runs away, only to find her father close on her heels. In her desperate struggle to get away, she discovers that she too has powers, terrible ones that can cause illusions and incite fear. Captured by the Inquisition and then saved by the Young Elites, Adelina is determined to become one of them, learning how to use and control her powers. But Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, finds her and forces her to spy for him, using her sister as leverage. Can she gain the trust of the Elites around her, especially that of Enzo, their leader and rightful heir to the Kenettran throne, and control of her powers? Can she come clean about Teren and rescue her sister in time? And what will she do about the growing blackness in her heart?
While this one didn't grab me immediately like Lu's first book, Legend, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Adelina is a broken, messed up character, and Lu does a good job bringing her struggle to life as Adelina becomes more and more engrained into the Elites, and the stakes get higher and higher if they discover her spying before she has a chance to come clean. There are some pretty obvious parallels going on between the treatment of the malfettos and real-life events like the Holocaust, but what that aspect reminded me the most of was the X-Men, most likely due to the superpowers. I'm curious to see where this story goes, especially after the ending and the epilogue that followed. It's a solid story that will work well for teens and those who make a habit of reading YA.
(Read as part of YALSA's Hub Reading Challenge.)
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