"Some hate us, think us outlaws to hang at the gallows. Some fear us, think us demons to burn at the stake. Some worship us, think us children of the gods. But all know us."
- Unknown source on the young elites.

Kenettra, 13 juni 1361. Adelina Amouteru, a 16-year-old girl who survived the blood fever a decade ago, is going to be burned at the stake for committing murder. Adelina is a so-called malfetto, a child who lived through the plague that only few survived.

Rescued by a secret society

Malfettos are abominations that have aquired strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver after the disease and she has a crude scar where her left eye once was. She still remembers how it was cut out with a burning knife to keep her alive.

Enzo Valenciano, called The Reaper, is a young elite. Together with the members of a particular group called The dagger society he rescues Adelina from the stake. Adelina meets the members of the secret society in their hideout in the city of Estenzia. Training in her power to control things we learn that Adelina may be the most powerful of them all.

Who to trust?

Raffaele Laurent Bessette is a boy with stunning looks. He works as a consort at the Court, a brothel, and has a very special gift. He can sense the energy of young elites over the whole country. He has found Adelina and tries her out as a possible new member of the The dagger society.

Teren Santoro works for the king and is the leader of the Inquisition Axis. As head inquisitor his job is to find The young elites, a group of malfettos who aquired strong, mysterious and powerful gifts during the blood fever. Teren knows far more about The young elites than anybody else and his goal is to get rid of them all.

The fight between good and evil is not always as easy as one may think. Adelina needs to decide if she can trust the Dagger society and if they trust her. Which role does Raffaele play, whom she cannot read the way she reads others? What is it she feels for Enzo who is their leader?

A new series by Marie Lu

Everything would be so much easier if it wasn’t for Adelina’s little sister Violetta who supposedly is held captive of Teren Santoro. How can Adelina free her sister and not betray the Dagger society? How can she keep the promise she made and keep her life?

The lives of Adelina, Enzo and Teren become inevitably tangled as Adelinas powers grow stronger and stronger. She may have become the strongest elite ever, and she could endanger the safety of every person she is close to.

Marie Lu, author of the fabulous dystopic Legend, is writing a trilogy in a completely new setting. If you like Marie Lu's writing you're going to feel right at home in this fantasy novel, the first part in a planned series of books. The second part, The Rose Society, will be released in October 2015.