"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 flees Kenettra with her sister 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?

Bestselling author Marie Lu delivers another heart-pounding adventure in this exhilarating sequel to The Young Elites.

Lara | ★★★★★

After leaving the Daggers with her sister, Adelina decides to gather her group of Elites and take revenge on The Inquisition and the Daggers who betrayed her.

I loved this book in so many ways I still don’t know what to think. Plot and perspectives are mind-blowing and I wasn’t able to stop reading. Marie Lu is one of my favorite authors, although these are her first books I am reading. She just makes plot flow naturally, but makes it intriguing and enjoyable.

Thing I loved about this book so much is that there is no black and white. Everyone is a villain. Everyone is a hero. I could understand each character’s action as well as consequences and ways of thinking from each perspective. Teren is represented as villain to this story, although I couldn’t say any side was actually positive. Teren was really well developed villain with amazing backstory. But here’s the fun! Neither Daggers or Adelina could be marked as heroes or protagonists. Daggers act trying to get the throne using foreign queen Maeve and reviving Enzo. After betraying and casting out Adelina and her sister, they go against Adelina, making them another side in this fight for throne.

“I have never known the mind of a wolf hunting a deer, but I imagine it must feel a little like this: the twisted excitement of seeing the weak and wounded cowering before you, the knowledge that, in this instant, you have the power to end its life or grant it mercy. In this moment, I am a god.”

Adelina surprised me infinitely. She is a perfect villain I was only dreaming to read about. This story turned really dark and I don’t know if I love or hate Adelina’s transformation to a complete villain. Abuse in her past and anger combined with her power turn her into something vicious. I loved her with every string of my heart. She is strong and fights for herself and everything she believes is right. Yes, things she does are terrible, but reading from her perspective has given me a whole new dimension of understanding. She deals with so much anger and pain that it has twisted her idea of the world. She still relies on love and passion, but as her power grows, so does her craziness. Relationships she has with other characters are so complex and interesting. I get her love for Enzo and that she still wanted him back, but I never particularly liked him so I’m with team Magiano. Violetta continues to annoy me infinitely. I know she means well and is trying to help her sister, but I hate weak characters. She left Adelina to abuse of their father, knowing she can do something about it. Instead of being condescending, breaking promises and taking away Adelinas’s power, she could try to understand her and help her.

Lina | ★★★★☆

Despite what I said in my review of The Young Elites about definitely continuing this series, it took me quite some time to make myself pick up The Rose Society. I’m really glad I did though, as this book turned out to be much better than I expected.

Adelina’s character development has been one of the best I’ve seen so far. In The Young Elites she is still just a young girl who has been rejected her whole life, yet deep down yearns for love and acceptance. Her anger accumulates though, and hits its peak in The Rose Society, with her powers becoming stronger as her anger and hatred deepen, and she sinks more and more into madness.


In order to exact revenge on the Inquisition and the Dagger Society and seize the throne, Adelina forms her own rival society- the Rose Society, and starts recruiting new Elites, all the while planning an attack on the royal palace of Estenzia.

One of these new recruits is Magiano, an (in)famous Elite about whom many myths and legends have been spread, and who has power to mimic other Elites’ powers. He is mysterious, charismatic and sassy, and there is some immediate chemistry between Adelina and these two even manage to share a few moments. Although it’s obvious that she still has lingering feelings for Enzo, I have to admit that even before everything that went down at the end of the first book I just didn’t see the two of them together and I hope we get to see her with Magiano in The Midnight Star.


The ending managed to truly surprise me in many aspects. I didn’t really expect Adelina to win the throne yet, and I’m curious as to what effect will it have on the events of the final book.


The final revelation that Elites’ powers are slowly killing them was actually pretty logical and predictable, but it still managed to intrigue me. I’m looking forward to finding out some more about the origins of Elites’ powers and the way they influence one’s physique.

With it’s smoothly flowing plot, unlikely twists and well developed “gray” characters (none of which is actually “the good guy”), I’m actually surprised this series isn’t more popular, as it truly amazing. If you are still having any doubts about starting (or continuing) this series, I’d definitely say you go for it, you won’t regret it.