The One by Kiera Cass

*Spoilers Ahead*

Urgh, why can't I stop? The One is much more of the same, and if you've read my other reviews then you already know how I feel about this series. However, this is the book that tries to ramp up the whole dystopian/drama aspect. Unfortunately it falls really flat.

So yeah, this book has the exact same problem as the last one. America clearly loves Maxon. Why hasn't she picked him yet? Well, in this one it's because she refuses to be the first one to say 'I love you'! Yep, we've reached that level. Aspen doesn't even feature as a love interest really, except to mess everything up because the prince FINALLY finds out he was the one America used to love. Yes, it's executed terribly and leads to drama at the worst possible point.

So that thing with her dad finally paid off kind of. He was a rebel all along which was obvious from the book scene in the second book. He also dies, although the two events are unrelated. Also the fact he was a rebel is never mentioned again and isn't relevant to the plot at all. But hey, dystopian!

My main issue with this book is the attempt at a dramatic ending. Okay, so a bunch of characters get killed off in a rebel attack and then they're NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN. Like, the king and queen are but not America's head maid, not Celeste, not other people who probably died who I can't remember because the book didn't mourn them at all. It was very jarring in a series with such a track record of lovely and nice characters to have them just kind of forget about the dead and return to happy wedding fluff. I was particularly annoyed about Celeste because she was finally developed into an interesting character and then she's just dismissed by the narrative.

On the whole yes, this is a series which has just gotten worse and worse. I can't deny that I've really enjoyed reading it though and I am going to pick up the sequels. They're so quick to read and just easy. I've read far far worse YA that takes itself far more seriously and I'm not going to hate on a series for being fluffy and sweet. Not when the ride has been this fun anyway!

Overall Rating:

The Elite by Kiera Cass

So I picked up the fast-food equivalent of books again. And yes, once again I loved every second of it. Admittedly I am starting to see how this series could be annoying-the main character is frustratingly indecisive purely to keep the 'who will she pick' mystery going, although to be fair there is also some genuine conflict. One thing I do love is that this world truly stays happy the entire time. There are several things in this that I think are going to develop into huge problems but nope. For example, there's a secret library the prince shares with America and then when the rebels break in, it's implied they knew where it was. I expected this to lead to her being suspected as a traitor but thankfully that never happens. Missed opportunity? Maybe but I like this world as least-stressful as possible.

Aspen continues to be annoying to me, mainly because I don't really buy his and America's romance in this. There is a point where the prince seems to have a darker side but then it's revealed he's even sweeter than ever and really, why hasn't she picked him? It's painfully obvious she loves him more and this does suffer from more of the irritating dragging out.

However, as a sequel I can't really fault this. It offers much of the same from the first, it attempts to world-build a little more and the personalities of the other girls get developed slightly. Overall, I enjoyed it less than the first but only slightly. At least it doesn't lose any points for not being a standalone like the first.

Overall Rating:

.5

The Choice by Samantha King

ABSOLUTELY HAS SPOILERS AHEAD. It's okay, this one sucks.

This is one of the messiest books I have ever read. I don't understand how it got this way either because the basic premise (woman picks which child gets killed when a psycho breaks into her house) is good. Not very original but certainly a solid basis for a thriller. Unfortunately the book isn't actually about that.

Okay, so the best way to explain the plot of this book is to summarize each of the three parts separately because really, they're a different story:

Part 1-A woman struggles to live with the guilt she feels for choosing one of her children to die. Unfortunately she can't talk (because none of this is real) which means she doesn't actually have any interesting interactions with anyone. Instead we get internal monologuing interspersed with flashbacks.

Part 2-A woman wakes up from a coma. *gasp* None of part 1 was real! Nothing much happens here until we build up to the 'twist' that her daughter isn't actually dead because the weird choice scenario didn't happen like she imagined it in her coma dream (see what I mean about messy?). This twist is entirely obvious due to no one mentioning her daughter's death at all during this whole section.

Part 3-The main character is kidnapped by her husband who was the masked gunman (again, this is painfully obvious). A vague and badly paced showdown occurs. The woman lives with her two children, the end.

The biggest theme of this book is 'missed opportunities'. So part 1 has the main character be mute as an attempt at foreshadowing the fact that she's not really there/it's some weird coma dream. I as a reader don't care about this however because where is the premise offered by the blurb? I expected a book dealing with the main character's guilt at being forced to choose which child to die, an examination of why she chose that child and MOST IMPORTANTLY, other peoples' reactions to it! What would her husband say to her? Her surviving child? Her friends? All of this is completely lost for the sake of a twist which means that none of it matters anyway.

Similarly, by having the twist at the end of part 2 be so incredibly obvious, it unfortunately means that none of this section really matters either. None of her thoughts about her dead daughter are valid because her daughter isn't dead. So now we're two thirds of the way through the book and nothing so far matters.

It's really sad because there is some good stuff in this book. Not the pacing or plotting because that's always awful, but the actual style of writing isn't terrible. The characters as well are believable and had the potential to be compelling. I like the story of the romance between her and her husband, even if I hate the way it's revealed. And again, that initial seed of the idea could have made for a really good thriller. Instead, we just have the worst kind of mess.

Overall Rating:

The Selection by Kiera Class

Sooo I was fully expecting this book to be trash. I mean, have you read the blurb? That cover is gorgeous but with a main character called America Singer, my hopes can only soar so high. And yet, to my utter bewilderment I really enjoyed this book. Not in a 'so bad it's good' kind of way but in a genuine, 'want to read more' way.

Don't get me wrong, this book is not high art. I read so many negative Goodreads reviews before picking this up that I was preparing for a snarkfest. But there is something so happy and enjoyable about these characters. The protagonist is a nice person, the prince is a nice person, even most of the competing girls are nice people. I didn't find any of them annoying with the exception of Aspen, the 'other' love interest. Even then, he wasn't so much annoying as he just got in the way a bit of my lovely fluffy romance.

However, I do have one major major issue with this book-it doesn't have an ending. As in, literally nothing is resolved by the end and we are stuck with a literal 'TO BE CONTINUED'. I am not okay with that. I don't care how many sequels you've planned, each book should have its own goddamn satisfactory conclusion. This sin was big enough for me to knock my rating down an entire star because I don't understand how an author or publishing company could be this cocky about people picking up two books to get the plot of one. Seriously not cool.

Overall, can I understand why this book might not be everyone's cup of tea? Yes, absolutely. It is fluff pure and simple, a love story about girls in pretty dresses trying to win the affections of a prince. Also there's a love triangle and the barest hint of world-building in an attempt to qualify it as a dystopia.  However, I am genuinely baffled by all the hate this book is receiving because honestly, it's just so nice and unassuming. Ultimately I like reading books about decent people and there just aren't enough of them in YA fiction.

They should have written a freaking ending though.

Overall Rating: