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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
a_walton18's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Violence
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
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
dlrosebyh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Genocide, and Murder
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
maggie_green's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is the second in The Young Elites series. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one, but that makes sense for a trilogy. This book does the bulk of the heavy lifting for the rest of the plot in the series, so it is very plot heavy rather than character heavy. This book does introduce some new characters that are really interesting, and the relationship between the main character and her sister is explored more here. This book also really highlights the emotional and mental state of the main character after so much turmoil.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Mental illness
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