The Rose Society


The Rose Society is a fantasy novel by American author Marie Lu released on October 13, 2015. It is the second book in The Young Elites trilogy, being preceded by The Young Elites. The story follows Adelina Amouteru as she embraces her newfound identity as the "White Wolf" and undertakes to form a new 'society' to rival the Dagger Society, whose remaining members expelled her, and the anti-malfetto government.

Background

Lu revealed in various interviews that she felt uncomfortable writing The Rose Society as it explored Adelina's more psychotic side, stating that she was scared that nobody would want to read a story with a character as "unlikeable" as Adelina, and she struggled to make it look reasonable and not just a symptom of pure insanity. She compared Adelina to Darth Vader stating that she initially thought it would be "fun to write from Darth Vader’s point-of-view", but eventually realized that she was instead exploring the darker, more complex sides of psychologically unstable villains.

Plot

Adelina Amouteru has turned her back on the people she loves and has loved after they turned theirs to her, except for her sister, Violetta, the only person that prevents her from submitting to the darkness that threatens to consume her. Amouteru strives to form a new 'society' composing of only the strongest malfettos, which includes Magiano and a discarded Dagger. She calls it The Rose Society.

Reception

The book peaked at number two on the New York Times Best Seller list.