Title: The Elite (The Selection #2)
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: YA Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Purchase: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.
America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.
Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.
The Elite started out even more irritating than The Selection. Instead of worldbuilding, we get thrown straight into the action, but there’s just not all that much action. America and Maxon go back and forth on their feelings toward each other, never truly expressing how they feel. America grows into an even shallower individual. She’s nice to her maids. Right. But she acts superior toward everyone else. So I don’t really buy it. I don’t buy half the stuff she says or does, because she’s simply too inconsistent. She never makes up her mind.
Maxon isn’t that great either. He’s boring and annoying, and he changes his mind every other minute as well. I started hating him halfway through the book, especially after what happened to Marlee. I’ve always liked Marlee – sometimes I wished she would’ve been the main character instead of America.
Storywise, not a lot happens. America and Maxon play a game of hot and cold, Aspen shows up at the palace, the girls still compete for Maxon’s affections and our dear prince doesn’t exactly stay monogamous. If I were America, I’d probably slap him, but hey, I would probably not fall for such a douchebag in the first place. Either way, Maxon doesn’t redeem herself and by the end, I’d wholeheartedly prefer Aspen over him.
I can’t really tell you the plot, because there’s barely any plot. There’s barely any character development. There’s barely anything. Either way, I enjoyed it enough to start reading, hence the somewhat-positive rating, which surprises me. It’s kind of like “The Bachelor”. The show is empty, there’s no spark, no story, but still you get hooked for an unexplainable reason.
I might pick up the third book to know how it ends, but I’m not enamored by the series at all.
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