Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

Release Date: 4/23/2013

Genre: YA Dystopian / YA Romance

Goodreads Link: "Here"  

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.

 

 

My Thoughts: 

 

  The Elite was not what I was anticipating. There was not much more world building in this book than there was in The Selectin. There was not much if any character development. I personally had a lot of problems with this book, but I also still had things that I liked about it.

 The Elite was not the sequel to The Selection I was hoping and looking for. There wasn't anymore world building then there was in the first book. Plus, the tiny bit of world building there was in journal from, which I didn't personally like. I feel like this book was just a filler to set up for a great ending in the series. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book it just didn't meet my expectations for it from The Selection. 

 The characters fell to pieces in this book. What happened to my America?!?! America whined a lot in this book, and something I liked about her in the first book was that she didn't whine. Poof gone! Yes, a lot of bad stuff happens but I think that the America in The Selection would have reacted to those things in a better and stronger why then she did.  Maxon fell apart too. I felt so disconnected from him, and some of the things he did seem highly out of character for him. Maxon and America's communication disappeared. Some many problem could have been fixed and even averted if the have had talked to each other. Aspen needs to go away, he is so whine and into himself. The only reason that America keeps running back to him is because he is safe and familiar and Maxon and the crown that comes with him are new and unfamiliar and she doubts herself.  But, America and Maxon falling apart and being bad versions of themselves, made them more realistic to me. Because, very one has bad moments and make bad decisions once in awhile. That being said the characters still highly frustrated me while I was reading it.

 Now on to things I liked about The Elite. The thing I liked the most was the last page or so. The America from The Selection reappears and is ready to fight for what she wants. I loved how she learned from her mistakes. I loved how the characters did break down and turn into bad versions of themselves, and how realistic that was, but they still were driving me crazy. I loved the writing, whether if the book made me mad and frustrated Kiera Cass's writing is still great and lovable.

 I did have problems with this book, but I still liked it. The characters were very flawed and that was a good and bad thing for me. I loved the ending, and I'm very excited for the next book to read about America fight for what she wants. I recommend this book to fans of The Selection.

  

My Rating:

3.5 hearts, It was good just not what I wanted for a sequel to The Selection.