The First Review in Forever

The Rose Society (The Young Elites #2)
Author: Marie Lu
Publishing: Putnam on October 13, 2015

         Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.
         Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.
         But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

       This book was good. Did it live to my expectations? Yes, yes it did. So, I give the author major props in that area. I LOVED the first book, so this book was Number 1 on my Most Anticipated Reads list. The bad thing was that I don't remember shit from the first book. The whole time I was reading this, I was just trying to remember the other characters and their powers. Anyway...
       This book was a lot darker than I expected. Readers really see Adelina's villainous side. Marie Lu said that Adelina was considered a villain in the first book, but I didn't agree with it back then, now I do. Like, I REALLY DO. I probably didn't think she was a villain/bad because I probably thought the lines of good and evil were really blurred.

       I seriously need to stop going off topic.
       Most books we read in YA, Fantasy, Sci-Fi etc., is usually about heroes and how they develop into this hero that is immortalized, beloved and all that shit. In The Rose Society, readers see how villains are created. We see what actions, characters, events from the past and present and how it affects them-we are in their environment and just experiencing everything going on. Reading this book really helped me understand a villain's development. I thought this book was really Once Upon A Time. Adelina is Swan, Violetta is Henry, Magiano is Hook, etc.
       This book had a lot of drama and action. The author's description of the characters' powers is AMAZING. Readers know how the characters call on their powers and how it feels. (I think this is only for Adelina.) There's also political intrigue. (Dethroning, Conspiring, two countries at war.) Is that considered political intrigue? 
       I honestly don't know how to put this book into words. I'll just list things and talk about it.

Setting: developed well. Very interesting world development. Very original and doesn't have any elements from the mainstream books. Whoohooo
Plot: very interesting and very complex. Also developed well.
Romance, yes there's romance: Pissed me the fuck off. It's a really mild insta-love going on. It's like siracha on a scale of chipotle mayo to Ghost Pepper. There's also this love triangle going on.
Characters: get to see more of them and just get to know there personality a lot more. I think most characters got really obnoxious.

       If you're unsure about reading this book, let me sway you:
Do you like Greek Mythology? Do you love the mutants in X-Men? If you said yes to at least one of these, I guarantee you'll like the books. The writing is great. There are fun characters. They're all really diverse (personality wise) and they're likable, most of the time. You'll also see the characters in this book reflect some of your favorite characters, possibly, from tv. EX. Raffaele reminds me of Sweets from Bones.

 Sweets....