Title: The Rose Society
Author: Marie Lu
Page count: 395
Date published: October 2015
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
My rating: 4/5 stars!
Summary: (from Goodreads):
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 flees Kenettra with her sister 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?
This book is dark. Adelina gives into the darkness, her true nature, and lets go. Marie Lu takes our characters to the brink of destruction and, just when they are teetering on the edge, brings them back just to do it all over again. Adelina tried to fight the darkness inside her in The Young Elites. But in The Rose Society, Adelina embraces it. It becomes a part of her every decision, action, and emotion in this book. And while I enjoyed the Adelina who tried to keep the darkness at bay in the first book, I love the Adelina who has given into the darkness in this one.
Adelina was betrayed by her group of friends, The Young Elites, and has now since left with her sister in an attempt to create her own army to get revenge. At the beginning of the book, Adelina and her sister are looking for a special Elite named Magiano. Ever the trickster, Magiano has agreed to join Adelina if they play a little game. A dangerous game. The results of this game leave Adelina with blood on her hands and a new name: The White Wolf. As her name spreads, so does her strength and control over others. She manages to round up a fairly formidable group of Elites. Her group will go on to become The Rose Society.
Meanwhile, Raffaele learns of the impossible: a way that could bring back Enzo from the dead. The only drawback is that Enzo must be tethered to someone else. Someone to control Enzo. And when Adelina finds out about this, Raffaele has more on his hands than just making sure he keeps his friends safe. The Rose Society is coming for Enzo. The Rose Society is coming for revenge and destruction.
Let me just tell you, I love the dark suspense that is the majority of this book. Adelina is portrayed as someone who is on the edge between good and evil. There are so many young adult books where the author claims that the main character is evil but they never do anything bad. Adelina is the opposite. She kills people. She revels in pain and torment. She enjoys hurting others. This is how a main character who is a villain should behave. Don't give me this whiny, baby-ish character who never does anything bad but claims to be evil. Show me the evil. Do something bad. That's what I like to see if the author is going to turn the character over 'to the dark side' (Star Wars reference, indeed). Adelina is the perfect example. She does horrible things. I was even surprised at the lengths Marie Lu went to portray Adelina as this character who has embraced the darkness within. The author doesn't sugar coat it.
What I really like about this book is the pacing. The chapters go by quickly and the plot is fast paced and super addictive. While The Young Elites left me bored in places, The Rose Society makes up for it in tenfold. There is always something going on to keep the reader hooked. I can honestly say that I was never bored reading this. That's pretty rare for me.. I have the attention span of a bumblebee.
The action and suspense has a lot to do with how quickly the book progressed and the fast pacing. There was always some kind of obstacle that Adelina had to pass. Nothing was handed to her on a platter. She had to work to get anything done in this book, and I think that also fed her darkness. She was willing to go to extremes to get what she wanted. This made me keep reading because I wanted to know what Adelina was going to do next. She's half crazy, for heavens sake! Who doesn't love reading about a main character like that?
There wasn't much that I didn't like about this book but there is one thing. Enzo. I never liked him in the first book and I especially don't like him in this one. He was always up Raffaele's butt and that still hasn't changed. I won't say who Enzo is tethered to but either way it's a mess. Adelina obviously still has feelings for Enzo but after everything that she did after his death in the first book it's going to be awfully hard for him to forgive her. And, let's be honest, Enzo isn't the most forgiving person. He'd just as soon kill someone before forgiving them. This is a train wreck waiting to happen considering Adelina is giving in more and more to the evil within her. Needless to say, their relationship is a disaster a work in progress.
Speaking of relationships, The Rose Society introduces a love triangle. Yep, we have another love interest for Adelina. Magiano, the Elite that Adelina was looking for in the beginning of the book, becomes a potential candidate for Adelina's heart (or what's left of it). I like Magiano so much more than Enzo. I feel that Enzo feeds the darkness in Adelina while Magiano keeps it more at bay. Magiano isn't perfect by any means but I do think he has a sense of morality that could keep Adelina grounded. Keep her sane. He's sweet to Adelina and cares about her safety and I think that's something Adelina has never experienced before. So of course she's terrified of it. I still have hope that they could find their way to each other. Besides, Magiano is so fun to read about. He always has something snarky to say and he's always ready to create mischief.
Adelina's relationship with her sister, Violetta, is rocky at best. I know that both sisters love each other very much but there is so many things betting against them. With Adelina being paranoid and hungry for destruction and Violetta being the one person who can take away Adelina's power, their relationship is always tense. It's like Adelina is a cobra - ready to strike at Violetta at any moment. Adelina feels bad about these feelings because she does love her sister. She's constantly at war with herself. Violetta, on the other hand, is the sweeter, less violent of the sisters. Adelina does all the dirty work while Violetta is more on the sidelines. And while I root for them to mend the cracks in their relationship, I know that it's going to hit the fan. Adelina and Violetta's relationship reminds me of Klaus Mikaelson and his siblings. Klaus is very paranoid and constantly looking over his shoulder for betrayal, even from his siblings. Yet, at the same time, he wants the trust and loyalty of his brothers and sister. If you've ever watched The Originals or The Vampire Diaries then you'll know what I'm talking about here.
Now I must talk about the ending, as it is one of my favorite parts about the book. The ending is nail-biting. Both books have been leading up to this point as Adelina and her Rose Society take on the Inquisition Axis and Teren. Teren is as psycho as ever and Adelina is going to need all the help that she can get to take him down. But little does she know that she's going to be fighting a two front war: the Inquisiton and Rafaele and the Young Elites. You can guess that it's going to be crazy with the Young Elites, the Rose Society, and the Inquisiton Axis all at each other's throats. People are going to die. Many by the hands of Adelina. And when the fighting is all over, Adelina will have stepped into the beginning of her doom. She has completely embraced the darkness and madness within and there's no going back from that.
The last chapter did not surprise me. Adelina is ruthless but she is an amazing character. I look forward to see how Adelina is going to handle all the bad decisions she makes in the last couple chapters of this book. Like I said, she can't go back now. She has destroyed everything.
Until next time,
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