Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

‘”Sisters forever,” Violetta declared, in her tiny, young voice. Until death, even in death, even beyond.’ – Marie Lu, The Midnight Star

After a lengthy break over the Christmas period stuffing my face with ‘pigs-in-blankets’, I’m finally back and focussed on my blog. Starting off 2018 with a review for The Midnight Star, the final instalment in Marie Lu’s intense fantasy series The Young Elites. As always, be warned. There may be SPOILERS!

The blurb for the book reads:

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 the darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy everything.

When new danger appears, Adelina must join the Daggers on a perilous quest in order to save herself and preserve her empire. But this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger…

Did I expect to be crying into my sleeve on the train at the end of this book? No. But I did. And I blame Marie Lu. She has the ability to craft such simple, yet heart-wrenching scenes that tear every ounce of emotion from your being.

After the showdown of The Rose Society, I had hoped that Adelina might be remorseful for her actions. But when The Midnight Star picks up, a year after the events of the second book, the White Wolf is even darker than before. Now a feared tyrant and conqueror, she tears her way across the world with a never-ending lust for power.

And yet, despite all her hatred and wickedness, I couldn’t help sympathising with her. I wanted her to seek redemption. I wanted her to find happiness. But her own demons – the voices whispering in her head – prevented her from doing so until the very last moment.

Sadly, I had some issues with the book. For one, the short length left a lot of the story to be desired. With only over 300 pages to conclude the vast fantasy adventure, there was so much more that I wanted to see; relationships (especially the LGBT ones) that should have been explored, characters that deserved to be developed. Teren and Enzo in particular fell victim to the lack of pages. Both men had so much potential following the first two books. But by the third, Lu seemed to drop them tragically in favour of Magiano and Adelina’s romance arc.

It’s not that I disliked the pairing of Magiano and Adelina. In fact, I was rooting for a romance between the two after reading their tender moment by the campfire in The Rose Society. But their relationship in The Midnight Star felt very rushed and lacklustre compared to that of Enzo, or even Teren (YES, I did have a slight desire for a Teren/Adelina romance – shoot me!).

Beyond the books faults, I actually enjoyed the adventurous plot. Watching the Elites banding together again, sailing across the oceans to save their world from a mysterious plague of darkness. The journey finally unleashed some of the expansive world-building that I’d been hoping for. I only wish these glimpses of cultures and kingdoms had been instilled more throughout the series.

As the truth of the darkness and it’s source became apparent, Lu’s enthralling, quick-paced writing flourished. I found myself devouring almost all of the novel in a day. And while the pages thinned more and more in my hands, the heart-wrenching conclusion awaiting Adelina became even more evident.

In the end, to protect the world and their lives, the Elites are forced to return their gifts to the Gods; gifts that they were never meant to have. But to redeem herself for her crimes, and to save her sister, Adelina makes an even greater sacrifice. She gives her life. Those final pages in which the two sisters said their goodbyes were the most precious of the entire series and I can’t applaud Marie Lu enough.

The Midnight Star was a tragic, thrilling conclusion to one of the darkest, YA fantasy’s I’ve ever read. Though the characters often suffered at the expense of the plot, the ending had me gripping the page till my knuckles turned white. Bravo, Marie. Bravo.

Rating: 4/5⭐️

With love,

Brandon

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