Will She Be the One?

Oh, the Land of the Beautiful and Frilly Dresses! It is funny, because these dresses are what drew me to this series, but I also fear they might be what keeps people from reading this interesting story. In The One by Kiera Cass, The Selection series comes a final conclusion as Prince Maxon must choose his final bride.

For America, the Selection started just as a means to better life for her family. All girls in the Selection move up in caste and their families get compensation that could mean the difference between abject poverty and food on the table. So, despite the fact that she cared deeply about Aspen, a boy who was a caste below her, she did her duty and joined the Selection. What she didn't expect was to care deeply about Maxon. And Aspen's appearance on the guard in the castle made things confusing for America... at first. It became clear fairly quickly that America wanted to be with Maxon. For the other girls, the crown was the goal, and Maxon was the means to get it; for America, the crown was just a hassle that came with the man she truly cared about.

Unfortunately, the path to the crown was not so easy. it was clear the king did not feel the same about America as Maxon and his mother did. She did not bow to societal pressures. She would not allow people to be punished beyond their crimes of necessity, like feeding their children. Despite the needs of a princess, America had been brought up to stand up for what she thought was right, and she would let no one, not even the king, intimidate her. She had everything to lose and everything to gain, but America wouldn't be scared away from doing the right thing.

OK. This started out a puffy, goofy story for me, but quickly, in the first book, I new I loved America. This girl had a metaphorical right hook that would knock you on your butt. She was a lot of fun and still a very strong young woman despite her years. I loved her. I also really liked Maxon. He grew up under a tyrant, and he would not let that control the person he was destined to become. I know the premise of this book was a love triangle, but I think if you read the first two books, you would agree with me that Maxon was always going to be the clear winner in our hearts, and I am quite simply OK with that! Don't get me wrong, I liked Aspen and respected that he cared about America, but she and Maxon were wonderful together. In fact, she had the ability to make Maxon rise to the true king he was destined to be.

I still think the story lacked real world-building, but my love for the characters overshadowed that need for me. It was more important for me to hear about the amazing people they had all become, even Celeste, the stereotypical mean girl in the competition! There were so many back stories to the girls and transformations, that it really became a character driven story and even if there was a rich world around it, that world would have quickly faded into the background. I loved the final conclusion, and I will miss this series. It might have started with the frilly dress, but it ended with the revolutionaries who won't settle for a broken world that harms its people.

And the Claws Come Out!

In a land with a caste system that keeps people stationary and desperate to survive, what better way to calm tensions than have a Selection: a contest for girls of all castes to compete for their chance to win the heart of the Prince. In Kiera Cass's sequel The Elite, the competition has gotten stiffer and the world has gotten more dangerous. 

America isn't sure what to do anymore. She was finally admitting her feelings for Maxon before Aspen arrived at the palace as one of the guards. Seeing Aspen changed everything. All those feelings she had thought she left behind came rushing forward and she struggled with the conflicting feelings building up inside her. Meanwhile, the competition was down to only a handful of girls, and with America liked some of them, there were others she downright despised, like Celeste. Celeste knew how to push American's buttons, but more importantly, she wanted America to remember her place in the world: as a Five. As the lowest caste girl left in the competition, she wasn't the country's popular choice, but she seemed to be Maxon's.

Then something happened. When one of America's dearest friends among the selection is caught with a guard, punished severely, and banished to live life as an Eight, the lowest caste, America can't imagine how Maxon could stand by and allow a young girl to be treated like that. She begins to see the true nature of the monarchy and everything it entails. Where America once thought she could change the country from the top, now she has begun to realize there might not be any chance to change anything. The people with control might have such a dangerous and all-powerful grip on the country that a girl like America doesn't have a chance. Especially as rebels from their own country continue to break into the palace in an effort to destroy the Selection and wars across oceans threaten their very existence. 

One thing I wanted more of in The Selection was world-building. I can't say I got as much as I wanted from this sequel, but I definitely got some more background than the little amount in the first book gave me. We learned a lot about the creation of the new monarchy from generations ago and how the caste system was created, but we still don't know much about the different kinds of rebels and what they were up to. Since this books is a dystopia, it seems strange we would be able to get through two whole books without real answers about the world the story is set in. Still, I focused more on the relationships between the girls, America and Maxon, America and Aspen, and the rest of the cast. And that kept me happy throughout the book.

And usually I despise love triangles, but this one doesn't bother me, mostly because I still really, really like Maxon and don't have much interest in Aspen. You see a lot more of Aspen in this story, and you are supposed to question Maxon's position and choices in a few places, but I still really liked Maxon. Only once did I want to slap him around a little bit, but if you consider all the mixed signals America sent him and her lack of real interest in the competition, I am not sure you can completely blame the guy for trying to find a back-up plan to the princess problem. I think if things were different and he just pined after American with all her indecisiveness and wavering nonsense, he would be completely unrealistic! In fact, had I been Maxon, I would have given up on her LONG before he actually started to. 

I started reading this story during the busiest time of our school year, the bitter end. It meant I fought to find time to read, and the book took me an unusual 7-8 days to finish. Usually this destroys a book for me, but The Elite still held my attention even with the gaps in my chances to read it. I think that is a sign of a pretty good story, and I am really looking forward to the next one. I just hope we get the full story behind the world they live in because it has the potential to be incredibly interesting! 

Funny and Touching Romance

If you are anything like me, you have been looking at this cover for a while but were unsure of the description- a dystopia with glitter and jewels? Isn't that like shimmery vampires? But I urge you to ignore the description of this book and give it a chance because Kiera Cass has started a new trilogy that will keep you coming back for more... even if the description doesn't do it justice!


America Singer is a five. In Illea, the caste system has royalty as ones and the lowest level, eights, are essentially non-humans who barely survive in society. As a five, America's family struggles to make ends meet, but at least they aren't as bad off as the sixes. People in Illea don't date out of your caste because no one wants to move down... upward caste mobility is always in the back of people's minds, but America doesn't care about that when it comes to Aspen, the boy she loves who just happens to be a six. But when Prince Maxon comes of age, the Selection is held to find his wife. All girls in Illea are possible candidates and one girl from each province is chosen at random (although the number of girls below a four is low enough to suggest otherwise) to be one of the 35 girls who is moved to the palace to compete for Maxon's hand and the crown. America only agrees to enter in the selection to pacify her mother, but when she is chosen, Aspen can't bear to see her give up the opportunity to move up in caste just to move down for him. 


With a broken heart, America begrudgingly heads to the palace, but she refuses to play the game all the other girls are so intent on playing. In fact, when she accidentally happens upon Maxon before they are supposed to officially meet, she doesn't hesitate to tell him just what she thinks of him and this bizarre mating ritual that is the Selection. Surprisingly, Maxon isn't offended, but rather intrigued by America's spunk and sass. She tells him she wants nothing to do with being a princess, but they agree to be friends and he convinces her to stay if for no other reason than to keep him company and to enjoy the delicious delicacies she could only dream of back home as a five. The agreement makes sense for a girl with no chance of falling for the man in question, but when that man is Maxon, there is a chance America's feelings might not be as cut off as she originally thought...


I really loved this story! BUT I must caution that the dystopia part of this story is so minute you could almost miss it if you weren't looking hard enough. In fact, I think the description and billing of this story as a dystopia is going to hurt its reputation because people who like serious dystopias are going to be disappointed by the lack of world building and people who would love the romance might be turned off by the dystopia angle. I think the rest of the forthcoming trilogy may delve into the dystopia more heartily, but for this book's purposes, the dystopia label is a little misleading. 


But let's talk about the characters! Oh America. I love this girl. She is sassy and determined and fantastic. When she mistakenly thought Maxon was out for "one thing" she actually kneed him in the "royal jewels"! And she isn't cowed by his royal status, even before their friendship blossoms. She has no problem telling him exactly how she feels, and when she shares with him the true state of life int he lower castes, Maxon actually does something about it. He is a man any one of us could fall madly in love with! He is the epitome of lovable male lead who is kind, generous, funny, and takes his responsibility as future leader very, very seriously. Even his shyness with the girls in the Selection is endearing (he is terrified of crying girls, but really, what man isn't?!) I loved Maxon! I think Aspen was a bit of a dud for me, but you don't see much of him except the very beginning and the very end of the book. I think more of him would have made this a true "love triangle" for me, but as it stands now, I am team Maxon all the way! 


I loved this story. I think the billing should be altered to not mislead dystopia fans, but if you like a great romance with spunky characters, you will enjoy this story. I know the story ended on a little bit of a cliff-hanger, but it wasn't so bad it made me livid, it just made me impatient to read the next book! I can't wait to see where Cass goes with this story! Your eye might be caught by this beautiful cover, but the book will hold you to the last page!