"The One", the last book of the Selection series by Keira Cass, definitely did not disappoint. I read it in a day it was so good! But I will get to that later. For now, let me tell you about my first experience with the Selection series. This was a total case of judging the book by its cover for me. When I saw the cover, I thought it was going to be some frilly princess book. After downloading and reading the sample on my nook, I realized that that wasn't the case. Sure, it had royalty, but it was different.
The Selection series, the first two books being "The Selection" and "The Elite", follows America, a girl in the fifth caste, who unwillingly enters a contest to be one of 35 girls vying for the chance to become Prince Maxon's wife and belong to the first caste. To her amazement- and disappointment- she is picked. As she deals with adjusting to her new life in the palace and in the public eye and leaving her secret boyfriend, Aspen, behind, she realizes that she actually is finding friends and forming bonds with her maids. After a horrific first meeting with the prince, everything goes uphill and America finds that she really likes Maxon, and he might just like her, too. When Aspen is drafted into the royal army, he is stationed in the palace. With Aspen near her, America has to face the decision of devoting herself to Maxon or to Aspen. The 35 girls are dwindled down to six, forming the Elite, and America realizes that the king's ways are not all that great. She deals with drama between her and the other Elite and she must try to make the people see how Illea, her country, could change without angering the king, all while making Maxon fall in love with her- or like her enough not to send her home.
"The One", the newest book, follows America through her journey as one of the last 4 girls. The tension is palpable and the girls become increasingly more aware of their standing with Maxon based on what he has done with each girl. America decides that she must let Aspen go because she is falling in love with Maxon. Unfortunately, the king despises her, leading to much drama between the pair. Maxon, on the other hand, is becoming increasing more distant as he and America have multiple fights. The rebels are attacking more and more frequently and America and Maxon put their lives in danger as they try to figure out how to stop the madness. When America's father dies, she is allowed to go home to be with her family. She is given a letter from her father that reveals that he was a rebel. Her family finds out about her and Aspen's relationship and she decides that she needs to tell Maxon. As she returns to the palace, she discovers the true motives of the girls left in the running. Finally, there are only two people left (she is one of them -no surprise there!). Maxon tells America that he wants to marry her. America and Maxon have a fight and drift apart yet again. This time, he had seen America hugging Aspen. Maxon reveals that he should have known there was someone else in her life and he says he will never marry her. On the day when Maxon chooses his bride, the rebels come and start shooting the royals. Maxon is injured and America rushes over instead of taking cover and says that she loves him. Maxon becomes king and chooses America to become his wife.
"The Prince" and "The Guard" told Maxon's and Aspen's view of what was happening. Honestly, they were a little disappointing because of how short they were, but it was very interesting to see how Aspen and Maxon reacted to everything that happened with America. Definitely wait until you've read "The Elite" before reading both books or else there will be some spoilers. There is also a book coming out called "The Queen" which, you guessed it, is from the queen's p.o.v. It should be good because the queen loved America and obviously wanted her to be chosen. It will be interesting to see how she deals with the king in certain situations since the king always disagreed with America.
Personally, I loved the series. At times I did get a little aggravated because there was just so much fighting between America and Maxon and because America and Aspen were meeting up so much and could be caught, not to mention the fact that Maxon was thisclose to choosing the other girl (the name will not be disclosed- hey, ya gotta read it to find out!). It did make you feel like you should always be yourself because America never changed who she was even though everything else was changing and Maxon loved her for who she was. She was strong and confident and all around awesome. I do see a potential for another book, although I am not sure if that would ever happen.
I would 100% recommend this book series. If you like romance, read it. If you don't like romance, read it!
Click on the title to grab the book!
The Queen (available December 2, 2014)
I whole heartedly apologize for the lack of posts, I was on vacation last week. This one is pretty long since the entire series is reviewed (and because I just loved these books so much!). I did finish six books though, so stay tuned for more!
"A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms."
"A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms."
