Review : Under the Rose
Under the Rose by Diana Peterfreund
Pages : 368
Genre : YA, fiction
Series : Secret Society Girl, Book 2
My Rating : 
From Goodreads :
Now a senior, Amy is looking her future squarely in the eye—until someone starts selling society secrets. When a series of bizarre messages suggests conspiracy within the ranks and a female knight mysteriously disappears, no member of Rose & Grave is safe…or above suspicion.
On her side, Amy has a few loyal Diggirls—her fellow female Rose & Grave knights. Against her? Certainly it’s a group of Rose & Grave’s überpowerful patriarchs who want their old boys’ club back. As new developments in her love life threaten to implode, and the case of the vanished Diggirl gets weirder by the moment, Amy will need to use every society trick she’s ever learned in order to set things right. Even if it means turning to old adversaries for help—or discovering that the real foes are closer than she’d thought….
First things first : this one’s cover really isn’t better than the first book’s cover. I really don’t know what’s up with this series and their covers. I don’t think they represent the story well at all. Thus I send my thanks to the internets, who brought me to people who wrote very convincing reviews about the series!
Anyway, back to the most important : the story. I read more than once that the books are supposed to get better and better, and already, I found book 2 a lot more entertaining! At the same time, it really confirmed my impression that book one was more of an introduction to the series than anything else. Under the Rose had a better pace, an intricate plot and a few twists which really suited the “secret society” vibe of the books.
Under the Rose is really more a mystery than a romance, but there is still some hot action between Amy and, hmm, some male protagonist. I have to say that I really like how the author chose to present Amy’s love life, by not making her a desperately romantic girl. I think she really well represents some of today’s college young women ; not all of them of course, but at least a different type than what we often see now in literature.
I really enjoyed this part of Amy’s adventures and as I finished reading it, I was already curious of reading the next one. Peterfreund’s series is definitely one I would recommend if you’re looking for a YA series that’s more YA than teen.
Series reading order :
- Secret Society Girl
- Under the Rose
- Rites of Spring (Break)
- Tap and Gown
I love it when a series improves as it goes along! This one sounds great.
One of my biggest pet peeve is bad covers on good books. It looks like they were advertising this book to teen girls. Glad you enjoyed it.