The Rose Society-Review

The Rose Society by Marie Lu

SPOILERS FOR DAYZ

Rating:

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?

Bestselling author Marie Lu delivers another heart-pounding adventure in this exhilarating sequel to The Young Elites.

In Rose Society, we continue where we left off–Adelina and Violetta on the run and looking for other Young Elite’s to create their own army and Rafaele and the other Daggers trying to pick up the pieces after Enzo’s death. Exiled out of Kenretta, the Dagger’s seek help to fight against the Queen and align with Queen Maeve–who is able to raise the dead.

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

This quote pretty much sums up the book.

Adelina has defiently transformed from the last book. She is no longer the timid, shy girl who is afraid of her powers. Adelina is powerful and uses her powers despite the chance of corruption. There is still a darkness about her that has only grown. Every time she uses her powers, she loses parts of herself.

“It is nice, being powerful.”

While searching for the infamous and elusive Magiano, the tricker reveals himself to the girls.

“His smile is the one I remember—feral, sharp in a way that tells me he is observing everything about us. ”

Magiano is adorably charming. We learn that he has power over mimicry–he is able to see an Elite and mimic there powers–so COOL! Magiano and Adelina prove to be a good pair–they both understand each other and Magiano likes/appreciates Adelina’s powers. It annoyed me that the other Elites did not try to understand what Adelina was going through. Instead of embracing her–they kept her at arm’s lengths. But with Maginao, he sees himself in her. Also–that romance!

“What is so great about being good?”

Once again, Lu does not live by the whole YA-spiel–she throws Adelina in a romance-confusion sesh when Maeve raises Enzo from the dead–Awkward. Magiano is so annoyed by this and Adelina is unable to let her former lover go. I hope Adeline learns to rely on him!

“Do I frighten you?” I ask softly.
He seems to think about that. After a while, he leans back and looks skyward. “I don’t know,” he replies. “But I do know that I may never meet another like you again.”

Adeline does find kinship as she sets up the Rose Society–Sergio the Rainmaker, Magiano, Violetta as the Puppet Master, and she as the White Wolf.

Later, the battle we have been all waiting for happens! The battle is badass. Both the Daggers, Maeve, and Adelina are all determined to defeat Giulietta and win Kenettra’s throne. All sides use their amazing powers but it is Adeline’s viciousness that allows her to win. The question is–does Adelina take it too far? Adelina was betrayed by the people who were supposed to love her and the people who were supposed to teach her about her powers abandoned her–so I feel for her.

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

The last scene is so sad–Violetta reveals the fact that the Elites powers will eventually kill them. Violetta eventually does flee when Adeline attacks her and leaves the new Queen of Kenretta alone with her disillusionment.
Overall, the book is BADASS!