Under the Rose: An Ivy League Novel

This is the second book in the "Ivy League" series by Diane Petrefreund. The third book in this series - Rites of Spring - will be available June 2008. In general, between this book and the first one, Secret Society Girl, I still feel like these books are failing a bit at living entirely up to my expectations - I feel like there are just too many archetypes to make the books really satisfying as other books in this genre of fiction can be. In this one, Amy Haskel is back at school for her senior year as a full-fledged Digger (member of a secret society) but things are once again on the fritz within the Rose & Grave as the group receives threatening messages and their secrets are being leaked to a conspiracy website. The author does a good job of setting up a ton of suspects and subplots from the first chapter - you never know who to trust within the group and on the outside, which makes for a fun guessing game as to who the rat within the group is. Even then, once the main mystery of the story is uncovered, it's suddenly revealed that the betrayal in the group goes much deeper than originally thought! These books are hard to sum up without giving a lot of information away so that's all I can really say. In terms of pros, the book really was good at making me suspicious of a lot of people in the beginning and I kept on guessing what the twists were going to be - I didn't anticipate too many of them mostly because some of them were kind of completely from left field. Still I found the book entertaining and gripping enough to be a page turner that I finished in a few days so that's probably a good sign. Also I still give the author credit for creating some very realistic portrayals of the different types of college students out there, I recognized almost every 'archetype' she had, and the protagonist was a good mix of ivy league pretentiousness and naive twentysomething. All in all I'm looking forward to the next book, if only for a bit of fun reading.

I was so excited when my copy of 'Under the Rose' came in the mail. I literally did not put it down for an entire day. From page one Peterfreund has the reader hooked not just with the story line, but with the characters and their relationships. This book was amazing and I just cannot wait until the next one comes out!

I read "Secret Society Girl" recently, and enjoyed it but i felt it didnt live up to my sxpectations. I bought this one hoping it would be better and it was! It was well written and a fun novel.

Diana Peterfreund has her second hit with UNDER THE ROSE. Peterfreund has big shoes to fill after the popular Secret Society Girl and she fills them with ease. The book is witty, sexy and engaging from the first page to the last. The enjoyable Amy Haskel shines in UTR and the plot didn't stop twisting until the final page. Definitely a must read and a book you'll enjoy again and again.

UNDER THE ROSE, Diana Peterfreund's sequel to her 2006 book Secret Society Girl sucked me in to the extent that I managed to finish the book in only a few hours, something I don't usually get the opportunity to do these days or have the inclination to do. There is something about Peterfreund's writing, though, that carries me along and makes me want to know what's going to happen to these characters next. I may not think about them long or deeply once I've done with the book, but while I'm reading, I'm thoroughly enthralled. After standing up to the trustees of the Rose and Grave who objected to including women in the Eli University secret society, Amy Haskel returns for her senior year ready to enjoy her membership as part of the first class of Diggers to include women. Not surprisingly, things don't go smoothly. First, there's the letter to the female members that warns of a traitor within; then there's the problem of money -- as in alumni are beginning to withhold funds in protest against the female invasion. The group isn't bonding as it should and the threat of a new website that will "reveal all" is just the cherry on top. Amy finds both schoolwork and exterior social life slipping as she throws herself into the pursuit of whomever is trying to tear the Rose and Grave apart, but she can't bring herself to stop the chase, no matter the consequences. Many of the case of SECRET SOCIETY GIRL return both as friends and enemies as Peterfreund offers up a portrait of the closed (almost incestuous) world of university life. It's a book which pleases and while there are one or two instances that I felt could have characters could have been a bit more deeply drawn (such as with the self-styled student religious leader who means the society no good), there are many more instances that brought a smile to my face, including the professor who knows more about the Society and their ways than Amy would have thought just by the dint of being on campus so long. The book provides an enjoyable afternoon's reading and when I hit the end, I felt it was time well spent. With this, Peterfreund has gone on my "auto-buy" list.