""THE SELECTION changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. Now, only one will claim Prince Maxon’s heart…
It’s swoon meets the Hunger Games in the final instalment of THE SELECTION trilogy!
For the four girls who remain at the palace, the friendships they’ve formed, rivalries they’ve struggled with and dangers they’ve faced have bound them to each other for the rest of their lives.
Now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.
America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown – or to Prince Maxon’s heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realises just how much she stands to lose – and how hard she’ll have to fight for the future she wants.
The breathtaking finale to THE SELECTION trilogy will make you swoon!"
-Goodreads review
Warning: This review will contain spoilers.
I have been in a love/hate relationship with this trilogy. The Selection was okay-ish, but The Elite irked me so much, largely because of America.
The One was a good read. It was fun and entertaining, but because of America, the girl famous for being indecisive and "wild", I could never really love this book. To be frank with you, I don't think that have disliked a character so strongly as I did America. I didn't like her character for reasons which I will explain later, and the love triangle in the book was badly constructed.
I hated America with a passion in The Elite. I didn't have any problems with her and the love triangle in The Selection, but I started having issues in The Elite. America seemed like a poorly written version of Katniss from The Hunger Games. I am not keen on comparing books, believe me on this, but a lot of America's traits and actions reminded me of Katniss. America came across to me as flighty and simple-minded. Sure, in The One, she did a lot of things that reflected herself as courageous or unselfish. However, I did not see any character development from her thoughts, and so her sudden antics seemed forced and incompatible with her character. A lot of the time America's feelings wasn't expressed clearly, so I was left feeling confused and angry at her when she did something brave all of a sudden. In The One, she said that she didn't think much of her actions but that shouldn't be an excuse.
In The Selection, we were told that America liked to sing and play instruments, but we didn't see much of her musical side in the books. Some may say that she's stressed from being in the selection, but you don't just forget about the things you love doing.
America would imply now and then that she liked singing and performing when she was a Five before the selection, but she didn't give her music and singing much thought in the books except for when she actually needed to use it.
I just couldn't get myself to like this character and ended up hating her throughout The Elite and The One.
As for the love triangle in this book- it was so ridiculous and very badly planned. All over and over again, this is what happens:
America: "Oh, I love Maxon!"
*finds some stupid thing to argue with Maxon*
*goes running to Aspen and thinking that Aspen is the only one for her*
America: "No, Aspen really understands me. He is the one for me."
but then, she gets a chance to talk to Maxon again, and then it's "Oh, I love Maxon!" All. Over. Again.
Aspen, the poor guy, only had eyes for America (or so we were led to believe!) and I don't feel sorry for him. He was already getting on my nerves since I read The Selection.
America, being typical, would remember him once she gets upset about Maxon.. but if she gets back with Maxon, she'd push Aspen to the back of her mind and think that Maxon is truly the one for her.
After a few days, she would go storming off because she thinks that Maxon cheated on her.
Oh please, you were basically doing the same thing to two guys, and now you're angry at him for doing what you were doing too??
It’s swoon meets the Hunger Games in the final instalment of THE SELECTION trilogy!
For the four girls who remain at the palace, the friendships they’ve formed, rivalries they’ve struggled with and dangers they’ve faced have bound them to each other for the rest of their lives.
Now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.
America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown – or to Prince Maxon’s heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realises just how much she stands to lose – and how hard she’ll have to fight for the future she wants.
The breathtaking finale to THE SELECTION trilogy will make you swoon!"
-Goodreads review
Warning: This review will contain spoilers.
I have been in a love/hate relationship with this trilogy. The Selection was okay-ish, but The Elite irked me so much, largely because of America.
The One was a good read. It was fun and entertaining, but because of America, the girl famous for being indecisive and "wild", I could never really love this book. To be frank with you, I don't think that have disliked a character so strongly as I did America. I didn't like her character for reasons which I will explain later, and the love triangle in the book was badly constructed.
I hated America with a passion in The Elite. I didn't have any problems with her and the love triangle in The Selection, but I started having issues in The Elite. America seemed like a poorly written version of Katniss from The Hunger Games. I am not keen on comparing books, believe me on this, but a lot of America's traits and actions reminded me of Katniss. America came across to me as flighty and simple-minded. Sure, in The One, she did a lot of things that reflected herself as courageous or unselfish. However, I did not see any character development from her thoughts, and so her sudden antics seemed forced and incompatible with her character. A lot of the time America's feelings wasn't expressed clearly, so I was left feeling confused and angry at her when she did something brave all of a sudden. In The One, she said that she didn't think much of her actions but that shouldn't be an excuse.
In The Selection, we were told that America liked to sing and play instruments, but we didn't see much of her musical side in the books. Some may say that she's stressed from being in the selection, but you don't just forget about the things you love doing.
America would imply now and then that she liked singing and performing when she was a Five before the selection, but she didn't give her music and singing much thought in the books except for when she actually needed to use it.
I just couldn't get myself to like this character and ended up hating her throughout The Elite and The One.
As for the love triangle in this book- it was so ridiculous and very badly planned. All over and over again, this is what happens:
America: "Oh, I love Maxon!"
*finds some stupid thing to argue with Maxon*
*goes running to Aspen and thinking that Aspen is the only one for her*
America: "No, Aspen really understands me. He is the one for me."
but then, she gets a chance to talk to Maxon again, and then it's "Oh, I love Maxon!" All. Over. Again.
Aspen, the poor guy, only had eyes for America (or so we were led to believe!) and I don't feel sorry for him. He was already getting on my nerves since I read The Selection.
America, being typical, would remember him once she gets upset about Maxon.. but if she gets back with Maxon, she'd push Aspen to the back of her mind and think that Maxon is truly the one for her.
After a few days, she would go storming off because she thinks that Maxon cheated on her.
Oh please, you were basically doing the same thing to two guys, and now you're angry at him for doing what you were doing too??
Later in The One, America confesses to her sister that she was basically using Aspen as a safety net. Uh, hello?! She was already using him as a safety net since the first time she saw him as a guard in the palace!
I liked the scene in which America and the rest of The Elite was having fun in the Women's Room. We never really get to see any real interaction between the four of them together, and this was one of those really rare times when we finally see their genuine, girly sides.
The part where Maxon arrives with his camera and the girls only wanted his camera was so funny, and poor Maxon had to wait outside wondering what the heck were these girls going to do with his camera.
The scene in which rebels revealed themselves and started killing people was surprising and refreshing. I was so caught up in who Maxon was going to choose that I'd forgotten about the possibility of another rebel attack.
I knew that there'd be a massive attack on the palace; I'd been waiting for it, but after what happened with Maxon and America and Aspen, I'd forgotten about a rebel attack.
Maxon seemed so cold towards America before the rebel attack, I almost thought that he had really given up on her, that this was it, because if I was Maxon, I probably would've kicked America out of the palace for being so mean and rude. She was given so many chances to repair things between her and Maxon but America just had to storm off every time.
As expected, Maxon forgives America after the rebel attack, they get married, and it's happily ever after -well, not quite, because obviously it's not going to be a happily ever after, but I know that things are going to get better between America and Maxon. Aspen has Lucy now, so now he's suddenly over America.. which I don't know what to make of. I feel happy for Lucy. She deserves a good man after all she's been through.
All in all, The One was quite enjoyable for me minus the love triangle and America, although to give her some credit, she did have some backbone. I wouldn't go as far to say that this book was wonderful, but it was an easy read for me.
My rating for this book: 3.5 stars
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the book talk and happy reading!