Kiera Cass - The One

Apart from film review posts, I haven't posted anything about any books because I've been busy with work and I've found a book I really have been struggling to get into, Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons by Matthew Fort, which I'm really not connecting with.  However, I pre-ordered The One by Kiera Cass ages ago when I first heard it was coming out and it arrived on the 8th May so I ripped open the box and started reading it immediately.

The One is the third and final book in Kiera Cass's The Selection trilogy which is centred around America Singer, a young woman who is from an underprivileged area of the kingdom Maxon is the heir to.  When Maxon turned nineteen, his father decided that it was time for the prince to marry.  The traditional way of finding the prince's bride is to hold the Selection where thirty five eligible girls are selected from a pool and sometimes it can take months, even years, and the prince can get to know each girl and decide which one will be his wife but now the King is getting desperate to quell the rebellion that is sparking in his country.  America only put herself in the pool for the Selection because her boyfriend at the time, Aspen, told her to go for it because it would be her best chance at a better life rather than staying with him forever.  America is still reeling from her break up with Aspen when she enters the palace as part of the Selection and unintentionally insults Maxon on the first night but fortunately their relationship grows over the course of the series despite some bumps in the road, including America pissing off the King so much at the end of The Elite that she is nearly kicked out and has greatly upset Maxon to the point where she wants to prove that she does indeed love Maxon, however hard it will be.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Those that liked The Hunger Games or Matched

Favourite Characters: America - strong female character; Maxon - still vulnerable but has potential

Favourite Part: He stared me down, determined.  "How did the girls find out about you taking my shirt off?"
I looked at the ground, hesitating.  "We were watching the guards work out.  I said you looked as good as any of them without your shirt on.  It slipped out."
Maxon threw back his head and laughed.  "I can't be mad about that." - Page 81

Good Points: America and Maxon; the plot of the series; links to previous books

Bad Points: Everything escalated very quickly at the end

Kiera Cass - The Selection Stories

After a mix of weird books and fairly normal, I have picked up a dystopia fiction, The Selection Stories, from a series I've started a while ago, The Selection.  My original plan was to read this book much later on because it is fairly new and I've only just received it through the post but once I finished Reckless, I picked up The Selection Stories immediately because I really wanted to read this.

The Selection Stories is the collection of the two short stories from Kiera Cass's The Selection series which follows America Singer, a young woman who comes from an underprivileged part of the country she lives in where she used to work as a musician while the other members of her family are artistic types so they can earn money to survive as well as her two potential love interests.  Along with thirty four other girls, America is chosen to be part of the Selection, their society's way of finding the bride for the prince of the ruling family when he becomes nineteen while the public watch through reports.  Sometimes the Selection takes months, even years, for the prince to choose his bride but this time, it seems more urgent as the country is in crisis with people rebelling in certain parts and are even attacking the palace while the Selection are staying there.  Unfortunately, America only put herself up for the Selection because her boyfriend, Aspen, told her to take the opportunity because it would be her best chance in life in his opinion as he is a lower caste than her.  America is reluctant to take part in the Selection because she is still reeling from her break up with Aspen and unintentionally insults the prince, Maxon, on the first night but they start to get along and their relationship grows over the course of the first book and eventually fall for one another (him faster than her though).  However, despite America seems to starts to get over Aspen, he shows up in the palace as a guard which throws her through a loop because now she questions her feelings for both Aspen and Maxon; the second book deals with how America comes to terms with her feelings for Maxon and Aspen and deciding which one she wants to fight for while neither young man knows what she is thinking.

Kiera Cass - The Elite

More dystopia/post-apocalyptic fiction off my bookshelf now and it's back to a series I've already started but not reviewed before; Kiera Cass's The Selection series.

The Elite is the second book in Kiera Cass's The Selection series with the first being The Selection which follows America Singer, a underprivileged young woman who works as a musician to earn money along with her family while they live in a society ruled by the royal family of Illéa.  America is chosen, along with another thirty five girls to be part of the Selection: this society's way of allowing the prince to choose his bride while the public watch.  While America signed up for this, she is reluctant to continue because she is still reeling from her break up with Aspen, her former neighbour and boyfriend, who left her to join the Army.  She insults the prince on the first night but she starts to come around and eventually falls for him (he has already fallen in love with her) and their relationship grows over the course of the first book and America makes the final seven of the Selection.  However, the book then ends when Aspen reappears in America's life as a member of the Palace Guard.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Those that liked The Hunger Games

Favourite Characters: America - she is a symbol of hope in a suppressive society; Marlee - she's stronger in this book

Favourite Part: I was overwhelmed. He understood me so well, how nervous I was about making this commitment, how frightening it was for me to become a princess. He was going to give me every last second he could and, in the meantime, lavish me with everything possible. I had another one of those moments when I couldn’t believe this was all happening.
“That’s not fair, Maxon,” I mumbled. “What in the world am I supposed to be able to give you?”

He smiled. “All I want is your promise to stay with me, to be mine. Sometimes it feels like you can’t possibly be real. Promise me you’ll stay.”

“Of course, I promise.” - Page 81 

Good Points: The concept; the importance of family to America as well as Maxon; America and Maxon's relationship

Bad Points: Love triangles (Maxon/America/Aspen and America/Maxon/Kriss)