The Rose Society (Young Elites) Library Binding – Large Print, 4 Nov. 2015

Books rife with betrayal and bitter protagonists with interesting agendas should really grab you from the word go; The Rose Society didn't even grab me on the final page.Adelina is supposed to be driven by revenge; driven by the betrayals she has faced at the hands of her family and friends. But instead of becoming a ferocious, unstoppable weapon she feels more like a battery-powered children's toy running out of bars. Consequently, we hear lots about how brave and powerful she is but see very little genuine tension or challenge between her and her adversaries.As Adelina begins to build her own army of Elites, her enemies grow in number (which should be worrisome but in fact just feels like a growing number of cardboard characters goading her) and the battle to rule ensues.Ultimately this book felt like a stepping stone towards the next one. I want to know the conclusion but the struggle against the substantially superficial nature of the plot makes the a hard pill to swallow.

The first book in this series, The Young Elites, felt like a very standard and predictable YA fantasy for the first two-thirds, then suddenly went down a more interesting path towards the end, with the heroine accidentally killing the romantic interest instead of falling for his charms. I was therefore interested to see where this second installment went.Strangely, this book had the same problem as the first. The first half felt quite generic and predictable, and while I was vaguely enjoying it, and liking the fact that the protagonist was a darker than normal heroine, it wasn't capturing my imagination or leaving me desperate to read on. But once again, just when I expected it to go in one direction, it went in quite another, taking a further turn towards a dark, disturbing plot and the villainous protagonist the series kept promising but had previously failed to quite deliver.I thought the author was brave in her approach, but for me, the opening was a bit too conventional and the ending went a bit too far. I'd have preferred a plot that struck a balance between the two poles right the way through.

I liked the book.i found the main character rather interesting as we dont often hear form the viewpoint of the 'villain' and this made the story more alluring and i found myself wanting to know what happened next.however i did not like the fact that a lot of the story was about how she reseted her father and sister. i felt that this was too overplayed and the plot could have been better executed with more character development of sat Teren or Rafaelle etc.Overall it is a enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this book, especially how dark it became. It was however, a slow start I found and took me a little while to get into it which is the reason for dropping a star. Once the plot picked up more, it become enjoyable and I liked how it ended with a bit of a dark twist. It's quite nice to see a dark side to main characters instead of the stereotypical 'hero' like qualities.

You know how you love an author's books, then she writes something new and you HAVE to read it? Well...I enjoyed this book, but it go confusing at times. I loved the LEGEND trilogy, but this falls short in comparison...that's all.

The protagonist just goes downhill from here, and that's what makes this novel so refreshing. The structure and pacing are wonderful, and the characters likable (even if a bit mad, concerning the protagonist!). I enjoyed every part of it - so much, it exceeded the first novel in this trilogy!

My 12yo son enjoyed the first book in the series (having come to it via Hunger Games, Divergent, Chaos Walking series etc.). As soon as this one arrived he settled into and had finished it with a few days. He says it's very good though I haven't read it myself. But I've had to pre-order the third book for him, so clearly it's compelling stuff

I have already read the first book as a paperback copy and it was so good that I almost immediately bought this book as a kindle copy. This book is one of my favourites. It also made me cry and not many books do that. This is a gripping book that I sincerely recommend.