Skip to main content

Under the Rose by Diana Peterfreund

Reading Secret Society Girl put me in righteously indignant mode for two days straight. Now, admittedly, it doesn't always take much to send me there but, since my indignation was on behalf of fictional characters and couldn't hurt anyone, well, real, I figured it was okay to let the wrath reign. Besides, some of those dudes really deserved it. My wrath, that is. Reading Under the Rose was an entirely different experience. I spent the majority of the time grinning madly, silently egging certain characters on while berating others for their a) lack of the barest trappings of a conscience or b) inability to just come out and say what's really bothering them.

And boy was there a lot of bothering going on. At the start of the book, it quickly becomes apparent someone within the secret society is leaking information to outsiders intent on destroying them. Amy, known within the Rose & Grave annals as Bugaboo, is dismayed to find out she's lived up to her society nickname when none of the other Diggers will listen to her pleas for help investigating the leak. Caught up in their own lives and dramas, her fellow Diggers leave Amy alone to fret and fester over the fraying society she's been so loyal to (and so instrumental in saving in the last book). And Amy has her own heady distractions in the form of her senior thesis, her roommate Lydia's love life woes, and the persistence of one George Harrison Prescott.

I thought Under the Rose was an even stronger story than its predecessor. The pace never flagged, the dialogue was sharp, and the characters became more interesting and more dear, as evidenced by the fact that my heart went out to two of them who'd done nothing but irritate me in the first book. I love it when that happens! I was particularly enamored by the unwilling alliance Amy forms with a certain caustic law student and the verbal sparring that ensues. Ah, the things she gets roped into doing in the name of the greater good. This book was a smooth, delicious treat and when I closed it I felt like we'd all of us had a good time. And now was a darn good time to discover this series as it's just a week and a half till Rites of Spring (Break) comes out. I'm all jumpy.

Links
Book Divas Review
Darque Review
Speed-Reading Book Nerd Review
Labels:

Comments

  1. Kimberly Swan7:39 PM

    That was definitely great timing on finding the series! I can see how caught up you are with the characters. :) Thanks so much for the DR link!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Angiegirl7:48 PM

    Lol. Pretty obvious, isn't it? I can't wait to find out what happens between Amy and the caustic law student. And I'm definitely looking forward to your review of Rites of Spring.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kimberly Swan2:46 AM

    It's a series that just manages to suck you right into it. lol Not long now! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Angiegirl11:16 AM

    Grin. I can making it five more days, right?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like

Bibliocrack Review | You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

If I'm being perfectly honest with myself, I've done a shamefully poor job of addressing my love for Cat Sebastian 's books around these parts. I've certainly noted each time her beautiful stories have appeared on my end-of-the-year best of lists, see:  The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes ,  basically every book in  The Cabots series , and of course  We Could Be So Good .  And the pull is, quite simply, this: nobody is as kind and gentle with their characters and with their hearts than Cat Sebastian. Nobody. I haven't always been one for the gentler stories, but I cannot overstate the absolute gift it is sinking into one of Sebastian's exquisitely crafted historicals knowing that I get to spend the next however many pages watching two idiots pine and deny that feelings exist and just  take care of each other  as they fall in love. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. Not this one or any other.  Only two things in the world people count by months. H
2 comments
Read more

Interview with April Lindner + Jane Giveaway!

I'm very excited about today's interviewee. As you know, I had been looking forward to the publication of Jane for months when a review copy happened in my lap and I let out a gasp of joy. Being a modernized retelling of Jane Eyre with a rock star-ized Mr. Rochester named Nico and a cover that hits every last one of my aesthetic buttons, it was sort of made to order for this reader. Needless to say, it more than lived up to my not inconsiderable expectations and I have been recommending it on a pretty much daily basis to family, friends, co-workers, neighbors . . . you get the picture. It's now just under a month until the book is out and, in anticipation of the release, I invited  April Lindner over to dish about all things Jane. She kindly accepted. Please welcome April! First things first: The Cover. I am in deep smit with that cover. Did you have any input and what was your reaction upon seeing it for the first time? I adore the cover too, and was blown away the
76 comments
Read more

BBAW Giveaway: Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn

To help kick off Book Blogger Appreciation Week , and as part of the massive number of giveaways going on, I'm chipping in with my own. To one lucky commenter I'm giving away a brand new copy of Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn . This book was one of my favorite reads so far this year and will undoubtedly be on my Best of 2009 list. It is the third installment in the Lady Julia Grey mystery series . Reading order: Silent in the Grave , Silent in the Sanctuary , and Silent on the Moor . Y ou can read my reviews of all three here , here , and here . This is a seriously enjoyable, well-written series and I am crazy fond of the intrepid Lady Julia and private inquiry agent Mr. Nicholas Brisbane. All you have to do is leave a comment and a way to contact you to be entered. For one extra entry you can become a follower. The contest is open to U.S. and Canada only and closes at midnight on Friday, September 18th. I'll be announcing the winner the next day. Thanks for stoppi
51 comments
Read more