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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: violence, blood, death, gore, child abuse mention
The Rose Society by Marie Lu is book two in the Young Elites series. This book was so much darker than the first book, but I still loved it! I love having a series all about the villain, and a villain Adelina certainly is.
We pick up with Adeline and her sister Violetta after she has been cast out from the Dagger Society. Adelina seeks to find more Elites to join her own society in order to take over Kenettra. Adelina's ambition has taken over as the darkness inside her grows. She finds Magiano, an elusive Elite who is a thief guided by greed and has the ability to mimic another Elite's power, and Sergio another Elite who was cast out of the Daggers and controls the rain and storms. Together they are a fearsome group with grey morals. Now they must defeat the Inquisition Axis and free the malfettos.
The Daggers are still reeling from the loss of their leader, but also want to defeat the Inquisition Axis. However, they are doing this by allying with the rival nation of Beldain and their Young Elite Queen. Rafaelle has also discovered something shattering about Elites and the consequences of their powers. Both groups clash as they fight for the same thing.
Adelina descends further into madness as her illusions become more unpredictable, and she struggles to figure what is real and what are just the whispers in her head. She's such a great character, although not someone we are particularly rooting for. I do like that this book doesn't clearly give us a good guy or a hero.
Looking forward to seeing how this story wraps up and what will be Adelina's (and Kenettra's) fate.
The Rose Society by Marie Lu is book two in the Young Elites series. This book was so much darker than the first book, but I still loved it! I love having a series all about the villain, and a villain Adelina certainly is.
We pick up with Adeline and her sister Violetta after she has been cast out from the Dagger Society. Adelina seeks to find more Elites to join her own society in order to take over Kenettra. Adelina's ambition has taken over as the darkness inside her grows. She finds Magiano, an elusive Elite who is a thief guided by greed and has the ability to mimic another Elite's power, and Sergio another Elite who was cast out of the Daggers and controls the rain and storms. Together they are a fearsome group with grey morals. Now they must defeat the Inquisition Axis and free the malfettos.
The Daggers are still reeling from the loss of their leader, but also want to defeat the Inquisition Axis. However, they are doing this by allying with the rival nation of Beldain and their Young Elite Queen. Rafaelle has also discovered something shattering about Elites and the consequences of their powers. Both groups clash as they fight for the same thing.
Adelina descends further into madness as her illusions become more unpredictable, and she struggles to figure what is real and what are just the whispers in her head. She's such a great character, although not someone we are particularly rooting for. I do like that this book doesn't clearly give us a good guy or a hero.
Looking forward to seeing how this story wraps up and what will be Adelina's (and Kenettra's) fate.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Child abuse
tinysierra's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Rose Society follows Adelina as she builds her own group of allies to fight back against the Inquisition.
The new characters were intriguing, and we get to see more of the Daggers as well.
The new characters were intriguing, and we get to see more of the Daggers as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, and Slavery
Minor: Colonisation
gracelang_09's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
vaniavela's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Adelina Amouteru's heart has suffered at the hands of both her family and friends, leading her down the bitter path of revenge.
These characters have overstepped their boundaries. They are dark, multi-layered characters who don't mind destroying everything that stands in their way of success.
Magiano is endearing, mischievous and surprising. His ability reminds me a lot of Lila from "The Umbrella Academy" and I love that. He is such a wonderful character that even though he has a dark side, we find light and joy underneath.
Raffaele has become my second favorite character after Magiano. I can't help it. He is cunning, devious yet innocent and with a golden heart. His beauty and skill have been both a blessing and a curse, affecting his life since he was just a child.
Teren Soloton, I never thought I could hate anyone in this trilogy the way I hate you. He believes the Elites are abominations, and his mission is to wipe them from the earth. He is convinced that God has sent him to protect people from these creatures, which is very interesting, since he is one of them.
Adelina is a true villain. She is ruthless, powerful and not afraid to kill for her own gain. The good girl inside her has died with many betrayals and her need for power. All the pain she endured changed the way she thinks and feels, but now she has become the same one she swore to destroy.
I love this series for its complex characters, masterfully written worlds and surprising twists. This was amazing and unexpected. I have never been more in love with Marie Lu than I am now.
Now for some comments I said while reading this book:
We've all seen movies, you don't raise people from the dead!
My dear, you don't need a new love interest, you need therapy. Please find someone to talk to.
Open your eyes, asshole, she doesn't love you!
TW: ableism, blood, body horror, child abuse, confinement, death, death of a parent, gore, torture, violence, bigotry, imprisonment, physical abuse, eye removal due to illness, mass death,slavery, rape, hallucinations, knife violence, stabbing, shipwreck, war.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
Moderate: Body horror and Blood
pawprintedpages's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, and War
krijemseoddusana's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
anniereads221's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury
sarahmreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Adelina is back and stronger than ever. After the betrayal of the Daggers, Adelina and her sister now struggle to find the sources that they need to overcome the throne. Their help might come in the unlikely form of a lost legend, but the stakes are higher than ever before. Will Adelina succeed, or will she lose herself in the process?
I was obsessed with this book. You really get to see the dark corruption of Adelina over the course of the story as her powers are stretched to their limits and the threats they pose to others as well as herself. She truly is trying to stand for herself, even if it means tearing down others in the process and using them as well. In a way, you root for her as well as wish she doesn't succeed, which is dangerous but fun as all heck to read about.
The extra world-building was nice as well! We get to see Beldain and how their culture is different from that of Kenettra. We also get to see more explanations of the magic system, especially because of a specific event that I won't go into because of spoilers, and it builds on how Elites are forged but also how it might be their downfall.
The amounts of twists and betrayals kept me on the edge of my seat, and seeing all the relationships just fraying at the edges were top tier. Marie Lu can't go wrong and I can't wait to read the final book!
I was obsessed with this book. You really get to see the dark corruption of Adelina over the course of the story as her powers are stretched to their limits and the threats they pose to others as well as herself. She truly is trying to stand for herself, even if it means tearing down others in the process and using them as well. In a way, you root for her as well as wish she doesn't succeed, which is dangerous but fun as all heck to read about.
The extra world-building was nice as well! We get to see Beldain and how their culture is different from that of Kenettra. We also get to see more explanations of the magic system, especially because of a specific event that I won't go into because of spoilers, and it builds on how Elites are forged but also how it might be their downfall.
The amounts of twists and betrayals kept me on the edge of my seat, and seeing all the relationships just fraying at the edges were top tier. Marie Lu can't go wrong and I can't wait to read the final book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Blood
Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
aseel_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
you know what, mad respect for Lu for creating such a revenge obsessed MC - we 👏🏼love👏🏼 to 👏🏼see👏🏼 it 👏🏼
I actually really enjoy following Adelina's story, I can totally support her anger and hurt and I really want the best for her. low key worried about how this will end
I actually really enjoy following Adelina's story, I can totally support her anger and hurt and I really want the best for her. low key worried about how this will end
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
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