the midnight star – Zakiya N. Jamal

Book Review: The Midnight Star

Posted on October 18, 2016November 13, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Buy

Synopsis:

There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.

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.

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Review

*Warning: There will be minimal spoilers about The Rose Society in this review. Read at your own risk.*

I don’t think I’ve ever been so satisfied with the conclusion to a series before. The Midnight Star was the perfect end to this trilogy. It was everything I wanted and more. Literally when I finished it I cried because it was absolutly amazing and I was so sad it was over. I truly want to read it again right now but alas there’s so many other books I must read. Seriously though, I need to everyone to read this trilogy; it’s truly a work of art.

Okay, now that the fangirling is out of the way let’s get down to it. I had the opportunity to go to the NYC launch of The Midnight Star and meet Marie Lu, which was amazing. At the event she said this book was the darkest one in the trilogy and the hardest for her to write and I can believe it. This book went dark. Adelina’s mind is totally corrupted, both from her actions but also from her abilities. Her visions/illusions are out of control and it’s kind of heartbreaking to watch, despite all that Adelina has done.

Differently than The Rose Society, The Midnight Star jumps ahead a year from where The Rose Society left off. This kind of threw me off a little bit but the time jump kind of made sense. In this novel we got a lot of point of views including Adelina, Maeve, Raffaele, Teren, Magiano, and Violetta, however all of these were necessary for a reason and we got some POVs more than others. My love for Magiano only grew with this novel and he’s my absolute fave. The romance in this book was perfect but the plot itself was also fantastic. There was great action, mystery, and we learned a lot about the Elites and where their powers came from. What made me the most happy was the explanation behind the title. At the launch event Lu said she couldn’t explain the title without spoilers and I’m so glad she left it a mystery because finding out the truth behind it was so worth it. That’s partially why I cried, to be honest.

This story was so well done and I’m happy with how this story ended for all the characters. Please read this series if you haven’t yet. It’s so worth it!

Stars:

Favorite Line:

“You cannot harden your heart to the future just because of your past. You cannot use cruelty against yourself to justify cruelty to others.”

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Book Review: The Rose Society

Posted on October 11, 2016October 11, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Buy

Synopsis:

Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.

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?

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Review

*Warning: There will be minimal spoilers about The Young Elites in this review. Read at your own risk.*

As much as I loved the Legend trilogy I love The Young Elites trilogy even more. Marie Lu has created a dark fantasy that completely sucks you in and won’t let go until the very last page. The Rose Society is once again told in different perspectives but only Adelina’s is told in the first person. In this novel we also hear from Teren, Maeve, and Raffaele, which gives us a lot of interesting perspectives.

We also met new characters like Sergio and Magiano and Magiano is my new fave. In this novel we learned a lot more about the Elites and their abilities and got to see new ones at work. More importantly though we got to see more Adelina’s power and how’s she really becoming a villain. In the first novel I really sympathized with Adelina and even though I knew she did bad things I didn’t see her as a bad person.

In The Rose Society, however, Adelina seems to take a step further into the darkness and honestly I kind of loved it. This book was really dark and kept me on the edge of my seat. I never knew how far Adelina would go with her plans and I was so conflicted in rooting for and also hoping she failed. Also, the battles and fight scenes in this novel were amazing. We really got to see a lot of the Elites powers go to work but also swords and daggers were put to good use.

Overall, I absolutely loved this novel and I cannot wait to get my hands on The Midnight Star. I need to know how it all ends and what happens to Adelina and my favorite Elites. As much as I want a happy ending for Adelina I’m not sure she deserves. I’m really interested to see how Lu ends this trilogy because I have no idea where it’s heading. Definitely pick up this trilogy if you haven’t already. It’s worth a read!

Stars:

Favorite Line:

“But true rulers are not born. We are made.”

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Book Review: The Young Elites

Posted on October 4, 2016 by Zakiya N. Jamal in Book Reviews, Books to Buy

Synopsis:

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.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

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Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Review

I absolutely loved the Legend trilogy so I was excited to dive into Marie Lu’s latest trilogy and it didn’t disappoint. I couldn’t put this book down. This novel is told in three point of views but Adelina’s point of view is the only one told in first person narration, which I enjoyed because her mind is a very interesting place. Going into this novel I knew that it was about a villain and yet I struggled to see Adelina as a villain and instead saw her as a victim of her circumstances. She definitely has some questionable morals and a dark power that can’t seem to be controlled but I’m not sure I believe that means Adelina is a bad person, which is what I love about this book. Even though Lu tells us Adelina’s a villain, Lu has developed this character so well that I still find myself asking, But is she?

Besides Adelina, Raffaele is my favorite character. Teren annoyed me but I liked having his perspective and honestly I had very mixed feelings about Enzo, which I won’t go into because I don’t want to spoil it. I will say there is a bit of romance in the novel but it’s definitely very minimal and not at all a driving force in this novel, which I found very interesting, in comparison to the Legend trilogy. It’s clear this series is very much about the characters own personal journeys about what constitutes as right or wrong.

For Teren that comes with his religious beliefs, for Adelina it’s choosing between fighting the darkness inside her or embracing it, and for Enzo it’s the question of how far he’s willing to go to take back what’s rightfully his. I really liked how complicated these characters were and how I never knew who I wanted to root for because they’re all so flawed. That’s why Raffaele is my favorite. He’s the least problematic character in this novel to be honest.

Overall, I was really drawn into this story and I can’t wait to find out what happens next. I’m really interested to see where Lu takes this story. In most novels you typically want to see the villain defeated but I don’t want a bad end for Adelina. I’m not sure if a happy ending is possible for her but I kind of want it anyway.

Have you read The Young Elites? Let me know you thoughts about it in the comments below.

Stars:

Favorite Line:

“Be true to yourself. But that’s something everyone says and no one means. No one wants you to be yourself. They want you to be the version of yourself that they like.”

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