I HATE PEPPY CHARACTERS.
Now, this doesn't I don't like sweet moments between characters, or that I resent happy endings, particularly for those who deserve it. However, peppy and overly optimistic characters just annoy me sometimes. A person just has to accept the fact that they/their loved ones will die one day, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. Plus, a lot of them are childish and wish for the nest which makes them more annoying them flies in the middle of the night. I think this is why I enjoy dystopia fiction so much, because there are, more often than not, no too-happy characters. Everyone is serious and cold, with the best having bits of warmth and love and a taste of rational humour.
Which leads us to the topic of this post: The Rose Society.
If you have read my last post, you know that I adored the last book, The Young Elites. The sequel is even better. I'll get my thoughts in after the summary.
The Rose Society drops off where it's former left off, as Adelina and Violetta set off to Tamoura to find Magiano, an elite who the word 'magic' is supposedly rooted from. Upon meeting the two, Magiano challenges them to a bet: If they can steal the Night King's diamond pin first, then he will join them. The two manage to do so, but are caught before they can make their escape. When Adelina kills the Night King, rumours of her begin to spread about the White Wolf, and fear of her grows, feeding her power as it eventually begins to overwhelm her. Meanwhile, the Daggers go to the Skylands to ask for the help of the Beldain queen, Maeve, who has the ability to raise the dead. They ask her to bring Enzo back so that he could take the throne, just like they planned to do so. Maeve agrees and they form a plan that leads us to Teren, and Giulietta, the queen of Kenettra before the end of this book and the love of Teren's life. That is, until she suddenly starts ordering the malfettos better treatment. Teren, completely blind to all but his mission to kill all malfettos, disobeys her, which leads to the perfect oppertunity for Adelina to use him. For she, her sister, Magiano, and Sergio, an elite who can control the rain, have formed the Rose Society, a new group of Elites formed by Adelina's promise to give them the Kenettra treasury when she comes ruler. She convinces Teren to let the Roses in, then tricks him into thinking Giulietta is a malfetto, which leads to her death by her lover's hand. Adelina, now in command of Kenettra, turns to fight the armies of Beldain, lead by the Daggers. The Roses and the Daggers fight to the death, with each's desire for the throne. Adelina kills Gemma, and the Roses emerge victorious. Finally, when Violetta informs Adelina of Raffaele's discovery: that the power of the young elites will eventually kill them, she grows furious and drives her own sister out, leaving her, empty inside, with the throne.
The book is fast-paced, action-packed, thrilling and full of betrayals and clashes. There is a dark atmosphere to the book as a whole, as Adelina starts drifting away from the last bit of goodness, the part of her that is horrified at her want to hurt and avenge, and starts to succumb to the dark nature of her powers. It feeds on fear and anger, and the more of that she gets the more her power corrupts. It careens out of control ever so often and when it does, it shows her darkness and her regrets in the most terrifying way possible. Also, the voices in her head, whispering thoughts about chaos and revenge in her head made the book so much more enthralling. Which here means, all the more horrifying. I am not used to reading from a villain's point of view, because there are so few books that even bother to show them, so reading the book was so new to me. The reader can see every thought Adelina has, and sometimes even understand. This makes Adelina, despite being the villain and taking over the throne, somewhat sympathetic and likeable, without going to the ridiculously cringe-worthy sad backstory trope.
Teren's behaviour really surprised me though, as I did not expect him to choose his lifelong goal over love. Perhaps I have been reading too many books where characters do this, but I am perfectly okay with Teren's choices, because as I've said, a lot of what Marie Lu writes is new to me. I can totally see it happening, though, as there is an explanation for why Teren does what he does. He is completely loyal to what he believes is his sacred mission from the gods and nothing else. So much that it was the key factor that betrayed him in the end. The way this was executed was incredible.
Violetta also had a major role in this story. She is the light in Adelina's life, the one thing that kept her sane and from being evil. And it's not by force, either; she doesn't have to use her ability to stop her sister for a while in the book. The way Violetta rushes to Adelina as soon as she learns about Raffaele's discoveries shows she clearly loves her sister, no matter what. That is, until, she kicks her out. This was one time I really wanted to scream at the main character. She was your sister, Adelina! She loved you and was trying to help! What I think will happen now is that Adelina and Violetta will eventually have to face off in the final book, and Adelina, with her overwhelming power, will unleash her ability too hard on her sister, killing her, and leading her to madness.
I knew Enzo wasn't going to be the same when he was brought back. Honestly, the only time I've seen this successful (which means they were exactly the same as they were before they died) was with some high, powerful being like an angel or a Greater Demon *cough* Raziel and Lilith *cough*. Except for that, every time someone is brought back, there is always some ramble about balance and owning of souls to the Underworld or something. I was skeptical at first on how this would even work, and I was very worried when Adelina offered to be Raffaele, and was terrified even when Maeve's theory that Enzo may be able to control Adelina. Personally, I think, because of this, Adelina will have to kill Enzo again in the next book. (I know, she murders a lot in my theories)
As for actual murder, I wasn't expecting Gemma's death. I mean, I understand why she did it, because it was a war and all, and I don't blame her for not sparing Gemma's life, but that doesn't mean I am not upset about it. Gemma and Adelina were like Madge to Katniss in The Hunger Games. The book describes her death in quite a bit of detail, so you can tell even Adelina was shocked by her own actions.
Another death related prediction: Adelina will die of using too much of her power at the end of The Midnight Star. So basically, everyone dies.
Also: A+ cover change. The waves, the wolf in the background. . . LOVE IT.
-Sooyoung Jo, Age 12 (13 soon!)-
