"The Rose Society" - highly recommended sequel by Irina

"Lu skillfully weaves the threads of our character and tests Adelina’s boundaries with each obstacle that gets in her way. And she may be on the verge of breaking.."

>> Read my review of the 1st book in the series 

“The Rose Society” by Marie Lu – Book № 2 in “The Young Elite” series

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

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Dystopia

Recommend it highly if you like: “The Mara Dyer” series by Michelle Hodkin, “The Darkest Minds” series by Alexandra Bracken, Antagonist POV, dark fantasy

Hello lovelies. 

I hope you all are reading something great at the moment. Do send me suggestions if you feel that I will like a book – I would love that! 

In the meantime I have been reading the sequel of “The Young Elites” and as I promised you I can conclude that, YES, it is better than the 1st book. With a solid 5 out of 5 crosses! Bow to Marie Lu, may you live a long and healthy happy life, filled with new book ideas and projects. 

Let’s start with an example of one of the quotes I enjoy sooo much about those books. They could be folklore tales, historical excerpts or personal quotes, located at the beginning of most of the chapters. Small details like that always make me feel even more captivated with the suggested fictional world. As it was said once “the devil is in the details”. Lu doesn’t disappoint here. 

Interestingly, I have observed that the 2nd book in trilogies is often the hardest for a lot of authors, being the balance between building the world and the characters, maintaining the interest of the reader and above all – leaving enough space for a 3rd, conclusive book. I have a lot of examples of failed attempts where the 3rd book is already ruined for me because of inability of the author to develop the story. 

But not Lu. “The Rose Society” (what a beautiful title btw) picks up where “The Young Elites” left of. In a typical fantasy manner, the story is set in a fictional world divided by vast seas where kingdoms fight for dominance. And Adelina Amouteru is making her way through different lands gathering followers to her cause. As suggested by the quote at the beginning, she is bitter, angry and most of all hurt – qualities that steadily deepen the darkness controlling her mind and emotions. Lu skillfully weaves the threads of our character and tests Adelina’s boundaries with each obstacle that gets in her way. And she may be on the verge of breaking..

Lu introduces us to a few new characters, briefly mentioned in the 1st book. This is also something I receive with mixed feeling, mainly because of the inability of numerous authors to integrate new characters well, but here they steadily won my interest and I felt more and more attached towards them, especially the charming Magiano *heart eyes*.

The book ends without a major cliffhanger, but paving a steady way for a 3rd, conclusive book. Adelina grows darker and more unstable and to be frank, I have absolutely no idea how the series will conclude. Yet again, Lu is building the reader’s curiosity to a breaking point. 

So if you were wondering if the sequel is worth your time the answer is firmly – YES, it is. 

And to be true to my style, I would like to conclude with a quote from the book: 

“In the silence, I sit alone on my throne and wait eagerly for all the satisfaction and triumph to hit me. I wait, and wait, and wait. 

But it doesn’t come.” 

You better be sure you are fighting for the right thing! 

Irina