Title: The Elite
Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperTeen 4.23.2013
Rating: 5 Stars
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**SPOILERS**
I loved The Elite just as much as I loved The Selection. Kiera Cass' writing style is so smooth and intoxicating. It's very hard to stop reading her work once you've started. However now comes the hard part... waiting for the third book to come out (entitled The One, due out May 6th, 2014).
I love that this series takes on a new perspective within the dystopic genre. Oftentimes the narrator in this genre will show the reader all the horrors of their world, what the rebel community is like, and how the hero/heroine is going to defeat the ones in power. While America gives us a taste of the horrors of Illea, her story is inevitably told from the perspective of those who are helping create and prolong those horrors. This is a rarity. Through her we get to see who created Illea and why, and we get explanations from those responsible for continuing the horrors of Illea. It's a fresh, new perspective and I love how it portrays all of the characters as flawed and thus very real; even perfect Maxon and sweet Marley.
Their vices make them more relatable and understandable. It also means that we as the readers have no idea what is going to happen next. (There were a lot of surprising twists in this book!) Aspen AND Maxon are both interesting candidates for America because neither one is perfect but they both love her. That makes her choice all the more real and difficult.
I only had two problems with this book:
One was that America jumped to conclusions consistently throughout this book and it was frustrating. It was as if she stopped feeling trust and empathy for those around her and decided that everyone is against her. For some characters, she had good reason to feel this way, but not towards everyone. It made me dislike her, which can be a good thing, except I didn't understand her or her intentions. It seemed to me as though some of her choices were made purely to help create drama between the characters to further complicate the plot. There must have been better ways to go about doing this so that the drama appeared more realistic.
My other little problem with this book was a particular scene where something huge happens. This is something that we as readers have been anticipating for almost two books, but when it happens... well, it's as if nothing has happened. The characters involved don't react and while they later explain why they didn't react, the reasons behind their reaction haven't happened yet. So in that moment, the characters should be reacting as we would expect them to! I'm assuming the author was making an attempt at foreshadow but they were unsuccessful. This should be one of those toes curling moments and instead my heart didn't speed up at all. It was a huge let down and I was extremely frustrated.
My other little problem with this book was a particular scene where something huge happens. This is something that we as readers have been anticipating for almost two books, but when it happens... well, it's as if nothing has happened. The characters involved don't react and while they later explain why they didn't react, the reasons behind their reaction haven't happened yet. So in that moment, the characters should be reacting as we would expect them to! I'm assuming the author was making an attempt at foreshadow but they were unsuccessful. This should be one of those toes curling moments and instead my heart didn't speed up at all. It was a huge let down and I was extremely frustrated.
Ok that was a lot of ranting on two TINY little things that bugged me. So let me clarify... I LOVED this book. It was wonderful in almost every way. Yes there were those two little things that were slightly upsetting, but other than that this book was deliciously fantastic. I really enjoyed seeing America continue to try to choose between Aspen and Maxon and I love how America's world just comes alive through Cass' words. I like how we are finally getting some questions answered about why the world is the way it is and I can't wait to get more information on the rebels. That little taste of them was fun!
I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys love triangles, dystopic novels, or royal life.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So here are my questions for YOU!
What did you think of The Selection and/or The Elite? And...
Who are you rooting for, for America? Aspen or Maxon?
Nichole
