The Rose Society

Gr 9 Up—."Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, so she destroyed them all." Lu's epic series takes a dark, gritty turn with her latest offering. Adelina, known as the White Wolf, has fled Kenettra with Violetta, her sister, in order to recruit other malfettos (superpowered humans) for revenge upon the Inquisition—the faction that killed her love Enzo and countless other malfettos. Turned out and betrayed by her former comrades, the Daggers, Adelina is determined to form her own army, especially once she stumbles upon the near-mythical malfetto named Magiano. As the leader of the Inquisition, Teren, continues to search for Adelina so he can destroy her, she turns toward a more somber facet of her energy. Her path explodes into a dizzying array of power, murder, and revenge, leaving Adelina to question her true nature. When a malfetto queen conspires to raise Enzo from the dead, Adelina must face, once and for all, her feelings and her desires for power. What sets this novel apart is Adelina's slow spiral into bleak, joyless corruption; Lu doesn't wrap up the narrative with a shiny bow. Teens will be fascinated to watch the main character descend into villainy and revel in it.