Team Maxon 4-Eva!

The Elite (A Selection Novel) by Kiera Cass

To become a princess, not only become a princess, but to marry the Prince in a rush of a fairytale… competition?  Wait, what’s romantic about competing with other women for the chance to marry the Prince of Illea?  Well if you are asking me, there is not much about it that sounds remotely romantic… until we meet Maxon Shreave, who can melt your heart with his words and make you want to scratch his eyes out with his actions.  There is not a fiber in my being that wants Aspen to be the man of America Singer’s dreams but I was about ready for America to quit the contest and become a nun when Maxon was enjoying Celeste’s company, I was seeing red, to the point that I thought that maybe the ink of the book was written in red.  

I have to admit that there are not a lot of plot twists in this series, I have not been caught off guard, I am very wary of Maxon’s actions and cautious of what he is saying to the other girls.  Actually, what is he saying to the other contestants? 

Either way, with or without plot twists, the story is good.  I could not put the book down and I felt passionately about slapping America at one point, I wanted to turn Aspen in for his treason, and I wanted to knee Maxon in the groin, again.  I actually missed Maxon in this book compared to The Selection.  I assumed that we would see more of him, but he seemed a little MIA and there was way too much Aspen.  Why do I dislike Aspen so much?  Maybe it’s just that in the comparison to Maxon it’s like apples and rotten oranges.  I don’t care how much he loves her, I don’t care how long they have known each other, any man that puts his wants and desires before her safety is not going to win any points in my book, i.e. she would be killed for treason if they get caught in what they are doing behind closed doors. 

The only problem is that when I finished this book and the next book didn’t come out for 10 days, which was torture, I would rather it be a year than just a few days.  What a great series!  I hope you pick it up and love it as much as I did!  A great young adult read that I can feel good about recommending to any reader!  Keep reading my Friends!

35 Girls. 1 Crown. The Compitition of a Lifetime.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

I have never watched the Bachelor or the Bachelorette.  Knowing human nature and especially how females can be within competition with a man involved, I can only imagine the claws coming out and the crying eyes and all of the hardships that would come along with living with women you don’t know and all the while, trying to impress the man of your dreams and so are the other 34 women. 

This is where we find America Singer, our heroine she is a five in the caste system of the country that was formally the USA, that is now called Illea.  She is part of the Selected (sorry for the mild spoiler, but really, it would be a very short book if she wasn’t chosen.  It would be like Katniss not being chosen for the Hunger Games).  She now is going to stay in the palace and compete for the Princes’ heart and hand in marriage.  The only problem is that her heart already belongs to Aspen, the boy from the lower caste back home.  As she struggles with her feelings for Maxon the Prince as her friend and Aspen as her first love, the country is in danger of falling apart with rebel attacks. 

I loved this book.  It was suggest to me by one of the students in my small group at church.  She loved both of the first books (as the third has not been released yet) and she kept bringing it up.  I found a small window in my reading schedule and decided to go for it.  I just have to say, thank you Alex!  What a wonderful suggestion.

What I liked about the book mainly was Maxon.  I’m for Maxon all the way, what a sweet prince.  I love every interaction we see with him and America.  I hope that Kiera Cass doesn’t try and change my mind, because I am not an Aspen fan.  I am very worried that Maxon isn’t all that he says he is.  What is he saying to the other girls when he’s spending alone time with them?  Can we trust him?  I guess we’ll find out.  I hope he is everything we Maxon fans hope and dream. 

I loved the character development in this book.  I felt like I knew America and felt bad that the other girls assumed that she was trying something when she was actually just being herself.  I liked that this book made me question everyone’s motives, I even thought that maybe the palace was faking the rebel attacks to see how the girls would act or react.  I also thought that maybe Maxon was giving American insider information to see if she would repeat it or if she was truly trustworthy. 

Read this book, read it just to get to know Maxon, if for nothing else, he is a great book crush.

Keep Reading my Friends!