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jessread_s 's review for:
The Rose Society
by Marie Lu
Review: After finishing The Young Elites, I just HAD to pick up The Rose Society. Maeve was mysteriously introduced at the end of The Young Elites, where her perspective written in the third person occupied the last chapter. I was not sure of her role or connection to Adelina, but I knew that thing were going to get wild seeing as The Daggers cast Adelina aside.
What Worked:
01. The new perspectives. As always, I have enjoyed reading from the perspectives of Adelina, Raffaele, and Teren, but it was nice to get a glimpse of Maeve’s life as the Queen of Beldain. Her additional perspective helped me to understand the lengths of her powers, the tension between Maeve and Lucent, and her familial situation, especially the loyalty displayed by her brothers and the motives behind her mother’s actions.
02. Adelina. Wow. I am not even sure where to begin. In The Young Elites, Adelina was a scared, abused little girl that her father sold to the highest bidder. She was flawed, worthless, and fated to die by burning until she developed her ability to create illusions. A lot of things change in The Rose Society. For one, Adelina embraces the darkness inside of her. She no longer is the frightened, worthless little girl from the first novel. Adelina is ruthless, determined to destroy all who have betrayed her. But the more Adelina calls on her power, the harder it is for her to distinguish what is real and what is an illusion. It was extremely interesting to see Adelina’s own power betray her, making it clear that Adelina maybe isn’t the most reliable of narrators. It was also heartbreaking to see how much she relied on her ability to create illusions, how her fears and paranoia made her believe that without her powers she would be nothing. It truly goes to show how much her own past has made an impact on her life. She doesn’t know how to love because her father never loved her. She doesn’t know how to trust anyone because of the countless betrayal she has experienced by her own family and the dagger society. Her greatest fear is to be cast aside by all the people she holds dearest in her life. So rather than developing relationships with others, Adelina chooses to destroy all who encounter her. It is easier to abuse power than control it. What really saddened me were those moments when Lu allowed us to see the care-free Adelina. The Adelina who would smile or even laugh on occasion. The Adelina that just wanted to be loved.
03. The cliffhanger at the end. Though we did not receive a new perspective like we did in The Young Elites, I was still completely blown away by the way Lu chose to end this novel. Adelina went through a huge transformation throughout The Rose Society, so the ending was very fitting. I will leave it at that.
04. The sisterly bond. For a majority of The Young Elites, Adelina’s sister Violetta was held captive by Teren and the Inquisition, so we didn’t get to see much of their relationship. With Violetta at Adelina’s side in The Rose Society, it was interesting how things played out. Though we never receive Violetta’s perspective, we learn more about her through Adelina, like the extent of her powers and why she acted the way she did in the past. Lu makes Violetta out to be as the light combatting Adelina’s darkness and it was refreshing to see the two rely on each other.
05. The darkness. I never expected Lu to completely plunge into the darkness but I am living for it. Rather than continue on with Adelina being a character that falls into a “grey” area like in The Young Elites, I enjoyed watching her completely embrace the fear and fury within her. She let revenge consume her and did not hesitate to kill anyone in her way. Reading from the perspective of a mad, ruthless villain is a breath of fresh air and I love that Adelina does not apologize for who she truly is inside.
06. The pacing. I could NOT put The Rose Society down. Each chapter pulled me further and further into the madness within Adelina and I could not wait to see how her story would unravel. I also enjoyed the viewpoints from new characters who were featured within the book and their stories were equally as compelling as Adelina’s. I was constantly on the edge of my seat as I sped through the pages feeling a surge of adrenaline as I waited to see how things would play out.
07. Magiano. Perhaps one of my favorite things about The Rose Society is the addition of Magiano and his relationship with Adelina. In The Young Elites, Raffaele only briefly mentioned Magiano. He was made out to be a character from folklore almost. I was unsure about whether he would be included later in the storyline, but ultimately I am glad Lu placed him in the second novel of the series. It was so interesting to see this character idolized in the first book laid out as a flawed individual like every other character I had encountered thus far. I loved getting to know more about his backstory and his ability which I found incredibly fascinating. What I love most about Magiano is the joy he possesses. Lu created Magiano to be the light in Adelina’s life and I can’t stop thinking about how he is the one who can save her from her own darkness.
08. The complexity of the characters. I have always been impressed with Lu’s writing abilities, but The Rose Society blew me away. So many characters have been introduced- Adelina, Violetta, Enzo, Raffaele, Teren, Lucent, Gemma, Michel, Maeve, Sergio, Magiano- and each one was completely fleshed out. I was never left confused as to which character was which or how they came to exist with their powers. Each of their separate storylines were compelling and interesting to follow. It was extremely satisfying to see each character fit with one another almost like puzzle pieces. With each new additional perspective, I was able to see the bigger picture. Marie Lu did a phenomenal job capturing the characters’ relationships with one another as well as their morality.
09. The diversity. Once again, I applaud Lu for creating such diverse characters. Characters of all different ethnicities, skin tones, genders, and sexualities appear front and center. Adelina and her sister Violetta are both women of color, fairing from Tamoura. To take a step further, Adelina is visually impaired. Magiano, Lu’s newest character, identifies as a black man, who later serves as Adelina’s love interest. We also learn that Raffaele is bisexual and one of the other character’s within the dagger society is involved in a same sex relationship. I greatly appreciated Lu’s efforts to include diverse representations.
What Didn’t Work:
01. The world-building. In my review of The Young Elites, I took issue with the absence of how the blood fever came to be and had a hard time placing the different cities mentioned without referencing the map. We spent a great deal examining Adelina’s present rather than venturing into the land’s history. I thought that these issues would be resolved as I made my way through the series, however The Rose Society failed to answer my questions regarding the outbreak of the blood fever and how Lu’s world came to be. The map at the beginning of the book details three separate “lands”: The Sealands, The Skylands, and The Sunlands. For a majority of the time, the story presides within The Sealands only making small references to The Skylands through Maeve’s character with little detail surrounding The Sunlands. I began to question why such regions were even included. Hopefully, Lu will allow me to explore these lands further in The Midnight Star.
Jess Approved?: ✓
What Worked:
01. The new perspectives. As always, I have enjoyed reading from the perspectives of Adelina, Raffaele, and Teren, but it was nice to get a glimpse of Maeve’s life as the Queen of Beldain. Her additional perspective helped me to understand the lengths of her powers, the tension between Maeve and Lucent, and her familial situation, especially the loyalty displayed by her brothers and the motives behind her mother’s actions.
02. Adelina. Wow. I am not even sure where to begin. In The Young Elites, Adelina was a scared, abused little girl that her father sold to the highest bidder. She was flawed, worthless, and fated to die by burning until she developed her ability to create illusions. A lot of things change in The Rose Society. For one, Adelina embraces the darkness inside of her. She no longer is the frightened, worthless little girl from the first novel. Adelina is ruthless, determined to destroy all who have betrayed her. But the more Adelina calls on her power, the harder it is for her to distinguish what is real and what is an illusion. It was extremely interesting to see Adelina’s own power betray her, making it clear that Adelina maybe isn’t the most reliable of narrators. It was also heartbreaking to see how much she relied on her ability to create illusions, how her fears and paranoia made her believe that without her powers she would be nothing. It truly goes to show how much her own past has made an impact on her life. She doesn’t know how to love because her father never loved her. She doesn’t know how to trust anyone because of the countless betrayal she has experienced by her own family and the dagger society. Her greatest fear is to be cast aside by all the people she holds dearest in her life. So rather than developing relationships with others, Adelina chooses to destroy all who encounter her. It is easier to abuse power than control it. What really saddened me were those moments when Lu allowed us to see the care-free Adelina. The Adelina who would smile or even laugh on occasion. The Adelina that just wanted to be loved.
03. The cliffhanger at the end. Though we did not receive a new perspective like we did in The Young Elites, I was still completely blown away by the way Lu chose to end this novel. Adelina went through a huge transformation throughout The Rose Society, so the ending was very fitting. I will leave it at that.
04. The sisterly bond. For a majority of The Young Elites, Adelina’s sister Violetta was held captive by Teren and the Inquisition, so we didn’t get to see much of their relationship. With Violetta at Adelina’s side in The Rose Society, it was interesting how things played out. Though we never receive Violetta’s perspective, we learn more about her through Adelina, like the extent of her powers and why she acted the way she did in the past. Lu makes Violetta out to be as the light combatting Adelina’s darkness and it was refreshing to see the two rely on each other.
05. The darkness. I never expected Lu to completely plunge into the darkness but I am living for it. Rather than continue on with Adelina being a character that falls into a “grey” area like in The Young Elites, I enjoyed watching her completely embrace the fear and fury within her. She let revenge consume her and did not hesitate to kill anyone in her way. Reading from the perspective of a mad, ruthless villain is a breath of fresh air and I love that Adelina does not apologize for who she truly is inside.
06. The pacing. I could NOT put The Rose Society down. Each chapter pulled me further and further into the madness within Adelina and I could not wait to see how her story would unravel. I also enjoyed the viewpoints from new characters who were featured within the book and their stories were equally as compelling as Adelina’s. I was constantly on the edge of my seat as I sped through the pages feeling a surge of adrenaline as I waited to see how things would play out.
07. Magiano. Perhaps one of my favorite things about The Rose Society is the addition of Magiano and his relationship with Adelina. In The Young Elites, Raffaele only briefly mentioned Magiano. He was made out to be a character from folklore almost. I was unsure about whether he would be included later in the storyline, but ultimately I am glad Lu placed him in the second novel of the series. It was so interesting to see this character idolized in the first book laid out as a flawed individual like every other character I had encountered thus far. I loved getting to know more about his backstory and his ability which I found incredibly fascinating. What I love most about Magiano is the joy he possesses. Lu created Magiano to be the light in Adelina’s life and I can’t stop thinking about how he is the one who can save her from her own darkness.
08. The complexity of the characters. I have always been impressed with Lu’s writing abilities, but The Rose Society blew me away. So many characters have been introduced- Adelina, Violetta, Enzo, Raffaele, Teren, Lucent, Gemma, Michel, Maeve, Sergio, Magiano- and each one was completely fleshed out. I was never left confused as to which character was which or how they came to exist with their powers. Each of their separate storylines were compelling and interesting to follow. It was extremely satisfying to see each character fit with one another almost like puzzle pieces. With each new additional perspective, I was able to see the bigger picture. Marie Lu did a phenomenal job capturing the characters’ relationships with one another as well as their morality.
09. The diversity. Once again, I applaud Lu for creating such diverse characters. Characters of all different ethnicities, skin tones, genders, and sexualities appear front and center. Adelina and her sister Violetta are both women of color, fairing from Tamoura. To take a step further, Adelina is visually impaired. Magiano, Lu’s newest character, identifies as a black man, who later serves as Adelina’s love interest. We also learn that Raffaele is bisexual and one of the other character’s within the dagger society is involved in a same sex relationship. I greatly appreciated Lu’s efforts to include diverse representations.
What Didn’t Work:
01. The world-building. In my review of The Young Elites, I took issue with the absence of how the blood fever came to be and had a hard time placing the different cities mentioned without referencing the map. We spent a great deal examining Adelina’s present rather than venturing into the land’s history. I thought that these issues would be resolved as I made my way through the series, however The Rose Society failed to answer my questions regarding the outbreak of the blood fever and how Lu’s world came to be. The map at the beginning of the book details three separate “lands”: The Sealands, The Skylands, and The Sunlands. For a majority of the time, the story presides within The Sealands only making small references to The Skylands through Maeve’s character with little detail surrounding The Sunlands. I began to question why such regions were even included. Hopefully, Lu will allow me to explore these lands further in The Midnight Star.
Jess Approved?: ✓