Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection (book 2)
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Release Date: 23 April 2013
ISBN-13: 978-0007466702
Synopsis
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 Review
I actually really enjoyed book 1, I know a lot of people had issues with it but I fell in love with the world. I was looking forward to this book so much. But the I heard a lot of negative things about the series online, and whereas I try to ignore online gossip etc, I will admit it put me off reading this one a bit. Ultimately I decided that it had to be my choice to read it and form my own opinion, give it a fair chance. so I ordered it from the library and waited for it to arrive.
It took a while and even when it did arrive I still didn't jump at it. I only picked it up in the end as it has a request list on it, so there are loads of other people waiting for it. BUt I have to say that once I started reading, I was pulled in again, and found myself diving back into the world of the Selection and Illea.
Everything came back to me and the characters came to life once more. I was ready to fall in love with the book again, and whilst I did enjoy it, I couldn't love it.
I found America rather annoying in this book, she is so indecisive. One minute she is ready to commit to Maxon and the whole Selection process, the next she is after Aspen, she changes her mind so often it's like she's on a roundabout. I get that being with Maxon comes with a lot of pressure and responsibility, but even with that she can't make up her mind, one minute she is happy about it, the next she's totally freaked out. I just wanted to grab her and tell her to get a grip. She does have moments when her fiery personality and sense of justice kicks in and we see the America we know and love, but really she just irritated me.
Maxon doesn't really help either, instead of making it easier for America to decides, he makes it worse and really plays her and all the other girls. I know he is supposed to be 'dating' all of the girls to find out who will 'win' the Selection, but he goes too far with things and ends up just making everyone more confused.
The other girls add a great mix to the book and I like the group dynamic. They all have very different personalities and you can see why Maxon keeps most of them in the process. That is one thing I will say about the book is that most of the characters are very well written and described so well that they practically walk off the page.
When you get down to the actual storyline of the book and the rebel attacks on the kingdom it is a quite exciting story, it's just slowed down a lot by America's indecision.
I am invested enough with the story to want to know more in the next book, but I didn't love it.
My Rating
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