Review: The Crown by Kiera Cass

Title: The Crown
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: YA Dystopian
Publisher: Harper Collins Kids
Published: May 19th 2016
Page Number: 278
Rating: 4.5/5

Summary:
In The Heir, a new era dawned in the world of The Selection. Twenty years have passed since America Singer and Prince Maxon fell in love, and their daughter is the first princess to hold a Selection of her own.

Eadlyn didn’t think she would find a real partner among the Selection’s thirty-five suitors, let alone true love. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and now Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more difficult—and more important—than she ever expected.

REVIEW

It's bittersweet that this series has finally come to an end. As everyone knows, The Selection series was meant to have ended after 'The One' and I did mourn a little after that book. And then Kiera announced that there were going to be 2 more books to the series, which I'm not going to lie, made me happy. I love the world and the characters that Kiera creates because she does it so well.

The Heir wasn't my favourite book in the series, and Eadlyn certainly wasn't a favourite character but Kiera Cass ended the series in a way that shows so much character growth, not just as a teenage girl but also as a Queen. Getting to see her interact with the boys and fight between what she must do as Queen and her heart was special. Eadlyn is young and teenagers fall in love quickly. We're all in or nothing at all.

Who did Eadlyn end up with?

I'm not going to tell, I don't like posting spoiler reviews, especially when it comes to a series. All I will say is that I think everyone will be happy with the outcome. I know I certainly was. But that's the beauty of Kiera Cass, one of my absolute favourite thing about her as an author is how she creates male characters that you root for. You haven't got to like them all but in some crazy way you love them none the less.

For me it honestly felt like Kiera had written this book for us, her readers. She gave us everything that we already love about her series and added that extra bit of panache. I know that I for one will be excited to see what else Kiera has to write.

 

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Review: Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass

Title: Happily Ever After
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: YA Dystopian
Publisher: Harper Collins Children
Published: October 8th 2015
Page Number: 320
Rating: 4/5

Summary:
Meet Prince Maxon before he fell in love with America, and a girl named Amberly before she became queen. See the Selection through the eyes of a guard who watched his first love drift away and a girl who fell for a boy who wasn't the prince. This gorgeous collection features four novellas from the captivating world of Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series, as well as exclusive, never-before-seen bonus content.

 

REVIEW

To review this in it's entirety as my usual reviews would be a little complicated, so I will be reviewing each novella on their own and also giving my thoughts on the bonus content we had. ut firstly I want to talk about the illustrations and how gorgeous they were. I really felt like they added to the story and we completely needed.

The Queen - 3/5 Stars

I've always respected Queen Amberly in the Selection trilogy but reading her Selection was completely eye-opening. Teenage Amberly was incredibly naïve and a whole lot of stupid. Prince Clarkson was looking for a wife, a Queen, someone who would obey him. And he found her in Amberly because she was like a puppy and Clarkson the dog trainer. Everything he said, she did. And it pissed off the feminist that is inside of me.

The Prince - 4.5 Stars

I've always loved Maxon. Kiera writes perfect male characters and Prince Maxon stole my heart from the first time he was introduced. Seeing some of the Selection from her perspective was very fresh and I loved it. We saw a new layer of depth to him which was missing from him in the first book in the trilogy. I will always want more Maxon. Always.

The Guard - 3 Stars

I'm not Aspen's biggest fan. At all. He's an okay character but I always felt like he was there for annoyance other than anything else. So seeing his story with America rehashed was completely annoying. I was hoping to see his love story with Lucy but we saw hardly anything of that and I had no idea why, because their story would've been nice to have read.

The Favourite - 4.5 Stars

Marlee is everyone's favourite. She's beautiful, intelligent but also incredibly selfless and her friendship with America was always nice to read about. When the drama entailed in the series about her and Carter, I was gobsmacked, mainly because it seemed unlike Marlee but seeing her story was so special. I love her and Carter so much, their love was infinite, endearing.

We then got a few scenes from Celeste's POV. Celeste was the Bitch in the series but she was always a favourite character of mine. I always saw her as misunderstood and that became clear from her progress in the series. Her façade was always on point but her character is forever my favourite.

Lucy also had a chapter in her POV, which was interesting. She's a maid and if I am honest, I'm not sure why her part was in there for. Her perspective if fun, fresh but the story we got was a little boring and certainly not satisfying.

Lastly we got a new chapter that would've taken place after The One and it was everything in life. Life has been fulfilled for me. The scene was a little short, but filled with everything that Kiera Cass does so well.

 

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Review: The Heir by Kiera Cass

Title: The Heir
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: YA Dystopia
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: May 7th 2015
Page Number: 352
Rating: 3.5/5

Summary:

Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon’s heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn’t expect her Selection to be anything like her parents’ fairy-tale love story. But as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she always thought.

REVIEW

 

I really enjoyed The Selection Trilogy. It was a fast-paced, quick read with an adorable romance, so I knew that I wanted to read The Heir. However, I was left a little disappointed.

 

We follow America's daughter, Eadlyn and we quickly realise that she's all about herself. She's beautiful, strong, intelligent, so she says. And honestly? I didn't like it. She put herself first over everyone else, she constantly acted like a three year old. She sucked the fun out of this book. But despite the fact that Eadlyn was a character I wanted to slap across the face, the story was still very fun and easy to read.

 

The world we were introduced to in The Selection is nothing like it used to be, it's better. Although I did miss the action from the attacks that happened in books 1,2 and 3. Kiera wrote an extra story of a selection with boys, and that is it. There wasn't anything new to the world or characters, but like always, Kiera Cass wrote these incredible boys and this time it's a fight between 3: Kile, Hale and Erik. Each other them are different. Kile has known Eadlyn his entire life, Hale is one of the selected who's a charmer and Erik is just a translator for Henri, but could easily be the man beside Eadlyn.

 

And that is the beauty with Kiera Cass's male characters, she leaves you wanting more of them. Plus she writes them so distinctively that you're never confused. You know who each guy is that you can root for them solely on the fact of being themselves. The twist with Ahren - Eadlyn's Twin -  was great and totally unexpected.

 

I'm definitely going to read the 5th book when it's released next year, I just hope there a little more than we got in The Heir. Maybe an actual romance or some action. Who knows?

 

 

 

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Review: The One by Kiera Cass

Title: The One
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: Dystopia
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: May 5th 2014
Page Number: 323
Rating: 4.5/5

Summary:

The time has come for one winner to be crowned.

When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

Review:

After the disappointment of The Elite, I was very sceptical of The One. I knew I wanted to finish up the trilogy, but I weren't sure if it was going to be a rating like The Selection or The Elite. But I can say, that I LOVED this book. It wasn't my favourite in the trilogy, but it was so much better than The Elite.

There was no doubt in my mind that Maxon would select America. Maxon may have been flirting and kissing the other girls, but his connection to America was real. He became reliant on him and she became reliant on him, because a King can't be a ruler without his Queen. Every chapter welcomed new twists and turns and I was so shocked by the ending. I never expected some of the most important side characters to be killed off, especially when nothing that dramatic had happened in the first two books.

My only dislike was the slow start, but after eighty-odd pages, it picked up and became a page turner. I wanted to read more and more and more, and when it ended I was both sad and content. The ending satisfied me, but I was also sad because over the time of reading The Elite and The One, I had fallen in love with America and Maxon. I was rooting for them from the beginning of The Selection, but they really did gel together as a team.

I was also extremely happy that I guessed who could be trusted and who not. America's father was sneaking off when he was at the castle and that just raised my suspicions, Kriss was too nice and no one can be that nice, unless it's all an act, which it was. At least Celeste was forward with it and I've always said that you can trust a Bitch, always.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and I am super excited for The Heir. I'm dying to know why The Selection Ceremony has been brought back, especially since they planned to stop it.

Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

Title: The Elite
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: Dystopia
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: April 23rd 2013
Page Number: 326
Rating: 3/5

Summary:

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.

Review:

To say I loved The Selection would be an understatement. I fell completely head over heels in love with it, not just the writing but the premise and the characters. Everyone was easily recognisable and courageous and that just isn't seen in Young Adult Dystopia.

However, this book fell short.

The storyline flowed nicely, but slowly and I'm not entirely sure if I loved it or not. It fitted in some scenes, but in others, I felt that it needed to be quicker. Not only that, I felt like the stubborn America had gone and been replaced by a hormone infested 14 year old, who wanted every guy she saw in her sights.

Maxon.
Aspen.
No, Maxon.
I need Aspen.
But Maxon makes me feel things.
I still love Aspen.
Wait! WAIT! It's Maxon...no. Aspen.
Shit! Who do I pick?!

I just couldn't keep up with her and her decisions. I understand that Maxon had to talk to the other girls because that is part of the show, America knows that, but it's like she only wanted him to spend time with her, while also spending alone time with Aspen. I also weren't fussed on that ending.

I had my predictions for the people who you can't trust and luckily for me I was completely right. I will say it's the quiet ones you've got to look out for.

Overall, I wasn't exactly satisfied with the book, but it was still great seeing the great characters being brought back onto the page.

Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

"A magical quick read that will have you hooked from beginning, middle and end."

Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: Dystopia
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: April 24th 2012
Page Number: 336

Summary:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Review:

I should have reviewed this book after I had finished it a little over a year ago, but I never did. But now I've decided that I am going to be reviewing the whole Trilogy. My review of The Elite will go live next Monday and The One will go live the Monday after that.

America Singer lives in a world that is divided into Castes, each Caste goes along in numbers 1 - 8. Being a One is being the King, Queen, Prince and (soon to be) Princess. And being an Eight means you have a terrible life. No food, no home. You are most likely to become a Rebel.

What I loved about this book was that despite it being a Dystopian novel it was also very light and fluffy. It was a face-paced, action-packed quick read. The whole world isn't too intricate, but it's also interesting because you'd think that it'd be a pretty perfect world.

It is not.

Maxon's life isn't what you all expected. He may be a Prince, but his Father is harsh on him and every once in a while, the Castle is attacked by Rebels. The Northern Rebels are less affective because they NEVER kill, while the Southern Rebels WILL kill. It's a hard life, but for Maxon it all changes when he meets America.

The change is his personality made him my favourite character, not once did I ever dislike him. My only dislike was Aspen and if I was writing the book I would have him killed in the beginning. He was a character who liked to hold out on things and never let them go.

Overall, I really did love this book. I read it within a few hours and couldn't wait until the sequel (I read it a year on). 5/5 Stars! This book deserves every star rating I gave it because it was that good.

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I thought I'd hate, but loved

Top 5 Wednesday was set up by Lainey over at GingerReadsLainey. Every week you have a new topic and you pick your top 5 choices for each topic. This is done in Vlogs, but I think it will be great for Bloggers to do as well. Today's topic is Top 5 Books you thought you'd hate, but ended up loving. There's not many books that I really thought I'd hate, but loved, so this week was easy. If anything it would've been harder if the topic was books you think you'd love, but hated. 

HERE ARE MY TOP 5:




FIFTH PLACE: Angelfall by Susan EE.

There's actually a reason as to why I thought I'd hate this book, and that's because I tried reading it twice before and could not get into it. I'd manage one chapter and would give up, so when I tried reading it for the third time I was surprised by how much I started to like the book. Once it was over I needed to get my hands on the next book, luckily for me World After was released about two weeks later.




FOURTH PLACE: The Selection by Kiera Cass.

I was judging the book by it's cover, which is very girly, but pretty. It's a girl in a dress and it looked more like a middle grade princess book, rather than a Young Adult Dystopian. However, the book was really good. I loved America Singer and the whole idea of a Dystopian that's a mix of The Bachelor and Big Brother. The best thing about the book is that it took me about three hours to read. I will admit that I've yet to read the sequel, The Elite. But I will do one day.





THIRD PLACE: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

I had never read a Rainbow Rowell book at this point, but I had heard a lot about her. Every Booktube video I watched; Haul videos or tag videos included a Rainbow Rowell book, so when I started it I wasn't entirely sold on the idea. However, Eleanor and Park attached themselves to my heart and clung to it, never letting go. Their story is one that I recommend to everyone because it is one of the best pieces of Young Adult fiction. In fact I think it'll be a classic in a hundred years time.




SECOND PLACE: Divergent by Veronica Roth.

This book has been mentioned in a lot of my T5W posts, but this one has to be in it because I was that surprised by the book. I HATE The Hunger Games so much, so when my friend pitched this idea of Divergent to me I was bored. It seemed so similar and I knew I was going to hate it, but boy was I wrong. So wrong! The book had me hooked from page one and I stayed up until four am reading it, even though I had an exam that morning.






FIRST PLACE: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

I did not like Beautiful Creatures one bit. It was too dragged out and it took me about two weeks to finish, even though I know that a book that size can take me about three days. So when I decided to start Beautiful Darkness I thought it'd be the same, but once again I was so wrong. I read it in two days and couldn't stop flipping the pages. This book was and is the best one out of all four books.

 

I really liked this topic because it makes you realise that you really can't judge a book by it's cover or it's synopsis. You have to judge the book purely on what's on the inside and each and every one of these books have proved that. I told you guys my top 5, but what are yours?

 

Comment in the comment sections and lets discuss!