The Rose Society (The Young Elites #2)

I was very excited to read this novel. After reading The Young Elites, I could not wait to jump into the second book in the series. I could not wait to see what was in store fore Adelina at the end of the first novel. I could tell something big was going to happen to Adelina in The Rose Society. The ending of The Young Elites signaled the beginning of Adelina\’s revenge and journey to discover her power to become the powerful leader lurking inside. Lu once more takes the reader into Adelina\’s dark mind as she forms new alliances to take on the forces against her. There is an interesting twist in the story that I will not discuss to avoid any spoilers, but all I can say is that it took by surprise. I was not expecting that to happen in the novel. I\’ve stressed my fascination with Marie Lu\’s writing before. This novel did not disappoint. However, I did find myself having conflicting emotions. I did not know how to feel in the end toward the fate of Adelina at the end of the novel and am fairly worried to see what happens in the third novel, The Midnight Star.

Holy awesomeness! Marie Lu wasn\’t messing around when she said this was going to be much darker than The Young Elites. She has really amped up her game and the results are stunning! You thought you loved The Young Elites? You ain\’t seen nothing yet! The Rose Society picks up right where The Young Elites left off. We saw Adelina being cast out of The Daggers and she is hurt and angry and out for revenge. Adelina and Violetta have left Kenettra and are in search of recruits to enlist into their own new society of Elites. Word has spread about The White Wolf and she\’s using that fear of her name to gain her following. During her quest for revenge against everyone who has wronged her, Adelina struggles to hold onto that bit of goodness inside of her. But the more powerful she grows, the more it slips away. You see, her darkness and need for power and revenge, fuels her magic…how can she grasp onto the light when her thirst for power is so much stronger? The Young Elites was just the beginning of making a villain. The Rose Society is the rise of a true villain and it\’s a spectacular thing! Personally, I have never read a book where it\’s mainly told from the perspective of a villain which is why I love it so much! There is so much more to Adelina than being a villain though. You can\’t help but sympathize with her and it makes her real and relatable. All she\’s ever craved in life was to be loved, to be accepted. And isn\’t that what we all want? We really see Adelina struggling with those inner voices in this book and it\’s truly heartbreaking to watch. She does a lot of terrible things and sometimes I was so mad at her and screaming at her in my head \”why Adelina!?\” But other times I found myself on her side of things and the lines were being blurred, who\’s the good guys and who\’s the bad? Whose side am I on? But Adelina is so deliciously wicked that I will probably be rooting for her till the very end. Even though I can\’t see any way she will have a happy ending, I still hope for redemption. The Rose Society mixes some new characters in with the familiar. Raffaele and the Daggers play a big role of course; as well as Teren, Giulietta, and Maeve, who we met at the end of TYE. Our major new characters are the infamous Magiano and Sergio who was previously hinted at. These two are Adelina\’s Elites and were great additions. I loved them so much more than I initially expected to, especially Magiano. I ship him and Adelina so hard! I really hope we\’ll see Adelina break down those walls and let him in in the next book. Overall thoughts: The Rose Society was everything I was hoping for in this sequel and more! Everyone who read and loved the first book will rest assured that this follow up does not disappoint! The book keeps a steady pace the entire time, there wasn\’t a moment I didn\’t enjoy. I loved the twists and turns thrown in there towards the end. Loved that we were able to see more of this amazing world, beyond Kenettra. And I loved the surprise of new information regarding the elites and their powers. Marie Lu has done an incredible job here, her best work yet I\’d say. The stage is now set and I cannot wait to see how this series will conclude!

(Some small spoilers in review) The Rose Society has been tough for me to read. Thats not to say that I didnt enjoy it or that Marie Lu is not an excellent writer, because the book is awesome. Its just that Adelina is a hard character for me to wrap my head around. I feel total empathy given everything we know about her from The Young Elites the circumstances she has had to overcome; her fathers abuse; her sisters protection; feeling she could not trust the Daggers; her feelings for Enzo. In the past I would have gravitated to what I call complex characters. However, she is also villain. She gives into the darkness and fear that surrounds her and brings pain to others for her cause. It is weird to root for her, but I do (and I dont). As a reader, one can clearly see shes on a path of self-destruction, but youre also kind of rooting for her to succeed but not succeed in seeing her get revenge exactly; its more like rooting for her to see the light and to save herself from evil and darkness. I mostly just have comments on other characters: Magiano so swoon-worthy! Makes you think, Enzo who? I hope he sticks around Adelina and levels her out in the third book. Although hes driven by greed (and joy), it is clear that he loves Adelina including her faults and honestly, who could ask for more than that? But even he knows whats going on is not good for her sanity. I hope he grows a set and becomes more of the light that she needs and is able to get through to her, instead of just standing by and letting things get worse. It kills me that Adelina cannot allow herself to accept Magianos love because shes been hurt and abandoned by those she cared for in the past. Violetta Im also conflicted with her because although she cares for her sister, and only wants to help her, she kept her suppressed for so many years. She let Adelina suffer at their fathers hands, and she is trying to help her sister now, but too much pain has been felt for things to be truly okay between them. One of my biggest desires to see in the third book of the series is that Adelina is able to fix her relationship with Violetta. Raffaele really annoys me. Although he is a good guy, I dont see much difference between those hard decisions both he and Adelina make in justification for their cause, or what they felt was best for Malfettos. I mean hes said a few times to Enzo to off another Elite. I just cannot find it in myself to like him. Queen Maeve eh I honestly only find her relationship with Lucent interesting. Because otherwise, shes not a good guy herself. She is openly putting it out there that she wants to revive Enzo for her desire to take over Kenettra. Yeah, Adelinas gone cray-cray, but shes not handing over her country to another. Although Beldain treats their Malfettos better, I dont like the idea of using Enzo as a puppet-king. Again, Im hoping the third/last book in this series is not so dark. Hopefully we can see Adelina turn things around before she destroys herself and others. I hope she reconciles with Violetta, and fingers crossed for Magilina or Adeliano.

Books rife with betrayal and bitter protagonists with interesting agendas should really grab you from the word go; The Rose Society didn\’t even grab me on the final page. Adelina is supposed to be driven by revenge; driven by the betrayals she has faced at the hands of her family and friends. But instead of becoming a ferocious, unstoppable weapon she feels more like a battery-powered children\’s toy running out of bars. Consequently, we hear lots about how brave and powerful she is but see very little genuine tension or challenge between her and her adversaries. As Adelina begins to build her own army of Elites, her enemies grow in number (which should be worrisome but in fact just feels like a growing number of cardboard characters goading her) and the battle to rule ensues. Ultimately this book felt like a stepping stone towards the next one. I want to know the conclusion but the struggle against the substantially superficial nature of the plot makes the a hard pill to swallow.

The first book in this series, The Young Elites, felt like a very standard and predictable YA fantasy for the first two-thirds, then suddenly went down a more interesting path towards the end, with the heroine accidentally killing the romantic interest instead of falling for his charms. I was therefore interested to see where this second installment went. Strangely, this book had the same problem as the first. The first half felt quite generic and predictable, and while I was vaguely enjoying it, and liking the fact that the protagonist was a darker than normal heroine, it wasn\’t capturing my imagination or leaving me desperate to read on. But once again, just when I expected it to go in one direction, it went in quite another, taking a further turn towards a dark, disturbing plot and the villainous protagonist the series kept promising but had previously failed to quite deliver. I thought the author was brave in her approach, but for me, the opening was a bit too conventional and the ending went a bit too far. I\’d have preferred a plot that struck a balance between the two poles right the way through.

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