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October 25, 2015

Review ~ The Rose Society (The Young Elites #2) by Marie Lu




Synopsis:

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 and her sister flee Kenettra 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?


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Review:

We often read stories of how a simple guy can step up and be the hero that slays the dragon, or how a girl can rise up to more than what society had planned for her and save the world.

But how about a story of a girl eager to earn love and finding none? A girl wanting acceptance, a place to be, a place to better understand who and what she is, but instead ending up abandoned, friendless, and consumed by something dark that is festering in her heart.

If there is a reluctant hero, Adelina is a reluctant villain. Adelina is a malfetto—a survivor of a plague that swept throughout the nation. Almost all survivors were young, and almost all of them were marred by something physical...or something else. They exhibited paranormal powers and are called the Young Elites. Adelina lost an eye, which left half of her face scarred. Because of this, Adelina's father tried to see if she would produce powers like the rumors say, doing cruel means to do so. Years of cruelty that made its way into Adelina's heart, a darkness that is waiting to spring forth...

The story so far...
Adelina, together with her sister Violetta, had fled the capital, determined to seek out her own Young Elites to seek revenge against the Inquisition. Meanwhile, Queen Guilleta had taken the throne and gave free reign to the Lead Inquisitor, Teren, to further punish the malfettos. Meanwhile, the Dagger Society is expecting a visit from their biggest ally...the Queen of Beldain, whose kingdom worships the malfettos as children of gods.

Marie Lu once again delivered. She promised an insight on a villain’s mind, and she has done it. As the story progressed, we can see Adelina's struggle as she tried to cling to the light, but she slowly fell down the dark side instead. Each step she took, each time she killed, she tried to justify it with thoughts of her and her sister's safety and the safety of all malfettos. Each time she took those steps, she liked it more and more, enjoying the power she had over others. Yeah, sure, she would cry and feel guilty but deep down she enjoyed the darkness inside her. The only one holding her back was Violetta, who was the voice of reason for her.

I like how Adelina's character progressed so far. It is a perfect example of how the desire for power and having the means to achieve that goal can twist a person, especially if that darkness is already there. The way the Daggers, the Inquisition Axis, and her family treated her are a carefully thought-out fertilizer for her to be a villain. The question now that comes to me is will there be anyone who can pull her out of that dark place before it's too late.

Violetta, I believe, is a key character in the story and I hope she would play a more important role in the next book. Although she did in The Rose Society, I think a little more development and exposure would be nice.

Some of the Daggers where kinda useless, like Gemma and Lucent, in this book. We also didn't even see Michel until the very end. Plus, Adelina's Rose Society is composed of just two other Elites, and they managed to take the throne. What does that say about the Daggers?

I think we need a bit more background on the society and its citizens. The only glimpse we had were the Fortuna Court and the riots. It doesn't give a big picture on the world the Young Elites in Kenettra live in. This is an issue that needs to be addressed, I think. Other novels that go in the fantasy direction have a clear picture of how the people are inside the world that was created.

Overall, character developments are the best part in The Rose Society, as well as the consistent 'evil' growing within Adelina. Brownie points to Teren, for being an obsessed homicidal maniac with a cunning intellect.

~ Djan

Read Zee's review here!

2 comments:

  1. Gah! I can't wait to get my hands on this book. So glad that you enjoyed this!

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    Replies
    1. It was hands-down amazing! Lu almost killed me with all the darkness. LOL.
      Thank you for reading! :)

      ~ Zee

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