The Rose Society, by Marie Lu

Mariyam Siddiqui, Reporter, The Bagpipe|November 24, 2015

The Rose Society, the sequel to The Young Elites, starts off where it’s original ended. Adelina Almoutero is cast out from the Dagger Society, a group of rebel Elite. An Elite is someone who survived the blood fever and gained a mysterious power afterwards. Many citizens think of the Elite as dangerous and unpredictable which led to a mass panic across the nation. The government established a group to hunt down the Elites and kill them. The Dagger Society helps those Elites from being persecuted by the monarchy. Adelina is one of those Elites, but after a mistake, she is forced to leave the safety of the establishment and fend for herself. She sets off with her sister, Violetta, to create a group similar to the Dagger Society.

Marie Lu, the author of the book, does a great job of creating a believable setting. The words come off the page, and allows you to become captivated by the scenes, becoming engrossed in the characters feelings and emotions. The book is set in three different point of views: Adelina, Raffaele Bessette, the leader of the Dagger Society, and Teren Santoro, the Head Inquisitor. Each point of view relays the characters view on different events that have gone on. It also allows the reader to be in multiple places at once, and understand the reason’s for their moves against those antagonizing them.

While Adelina is the protagonist of the novel, that does not mean that she is anyway a hero. There are many points in the book where Adelina walks a dangerous edge between good and evil. Many of her decisions comes from her powers which thrive on pain and fear. If Adelina tries to do something good, her evil nature takes over and can only be subdued by those she loves like her sister.