Bookshelves: Series, Fairy-Tale, Dystopia, Young Adult, Teen Romance
Rating: 3 of 5 stars (It was ok)
Recommended Age: 13+
This one is still pretty superficial, has mild romance, and some violence (not much), there is some drinking, but there are a lot of positive influences and there is some good moral messages inside.
I must admit I really liked The Selection. I knew what I was getting into, and enjoyed the "Bachelor" type story. I enjoyed most of the characters and it was a good intro to the series. The Elite didn't quite hold up to my expectations. In this book I was hoping for more. More from the rebels, more revealment on what's really going in the country and war, more from America.
What we got was a very long drawn out love triangle. The entire book focused on America being wishy washy between Maxon and Aspen. I get the point of love triangles, but there is a point when they are being dragged out too long. I actually began liking both boys less and less as the story progressed. One of them telling her she doesn't have what it takes to be a princess and the other getting intimate with another girl just because he doesn't know what she wants? Really? I would hope that if I were America I'd walk away from both and find someone like Carter. But they bother me even less than America herself. She continuously doubts herself to the point that I don't know if she's actually feeling anything. She makes a decision, then doubts it, then cries, then makes a different decision, then doubts it, some more crying. It's like she just wants whatever is easiest no matter who that puts her with. Stand for something for goodness sake.
That is really almost my entire review. While the writing kept me moving and I still finished this book in a day, I felt like I read an in-between book of a series. Nothing happens. In the first we go from what? 35 to 6 and in this book we go from 6 to 4. And one of those was by default. The rebels attack a couple of times (should they not have a better system for keeping that place locked down?) and a few people die (but no one who is even given more than a few sentences of description), some books are taken and some of the palace is ruined for a day, but that's it. There are no demands, no kidnapping or even picketing or boycotting. What is the point? It says on the excerpt that "the violent rebels are determined to overthrow the monarchy." Really? How? By stealing a few books? I suppose it will all happen in the final book, which is my point. What was the point of this one? It could have been made into one or two chapters and tacked to the beginning of the third book. While I enjoyed the first, and will read the final for a conclusion, I'm wondering if this book can simply be skipped.
Happy Reading!
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