GoodRead - The Elite

Am still on the May reviews (this will never end! Actually, this might be my last May review so YEAH!) and this is my second NetGalley review copy (so 2 down, 4 to go.. but with one that's not out till October... yeah, this shall be interesting!)

Anyway, The Elite. Thirty-five girls entered the Selection, a contest to win the hand and heart of Prince Maxon of Illea. Thirty-five have been cut down to six. One of the six is America Singer, and she's not 100% certain who has her heart. She has feelings for Maxon, who has strong feelings towards her. But her ex, Aspen, is now a guard at the palace and wants her back. But with the remaining girls becoming more determined to win Maxon's hand and the rebels becoming more active towards the Palace, America has to make a decision. But one act of shocking and devastating brutality will shock America and make her question everything...

Right... ok. Where should I start with this? As... well... I am torn over this book, like I was torn over The Selection.

Ok, let me try and be positive over this book. First, this is still a beach read. It is still a fast, candy floss read and if you got sucked into The Selection, you will probably read this and be very happy with this. And the fact that this book had themes and scenes in this book that are darker. And, to me, this was good. America is now beginning to see that something is very wrong with how Illea is now. While this is still a fast, beach read, Kiera is adding layers of darkness and unease, and this I hope will continue with the third and final book in the series, The One.

Now... in the first few chapters (I believe it was Chapter 5), I said there was a scene that reminded me of a scene in the first series of Grey's Anatomy. The scene is the famous "Pick me, choose me, love me". Now, if Meredith Grey had met America, I fear Meredith would have drop-kicked America into the next timezone for her being so whiny and almost in tears every other chapter.

And this is my main problem. America whined about the love triangle situation she finds herself, and spent most (if not all) of the book doing nothing to resolve it. Anyone think this is very Bella Swan from Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse (and as most of you know, Eclipse is my least favourite of the Twilight Saga for this reason)? What happened to the proactive girl who spoke her mind and, when she thought someone was going to force themselves on her, kick them in the privates? We only saw flashes of this girl (and I cheered when she appeared) but most of the time, she wasn't there.

And while I know this is a romance story (I get this), the other things that were happening were far more interesting. The Rebels, Merlee, the Italians, the King and his behavior. Suddenly, the sideplots were more interesting and compelling so when the sideplots hold my interest more than the main plot, I can't help but wonder why I'm reading this story.

And while I still have issues with this book (sexism, double standards, etc), which I can kinda see is there for a reason now (though I still really have issues with this), I am uncertain over if I want to read the third and final book in the series, The One. I want America to grow a backbone, fight for her beliefs and finally see the world around her and see beyond her love life and the dresses. Maybe figure out what the rebels want...

Overall, while I enjoyed reading The Selection, I wasn't exactly impressed with The Elite. I felt that I read this before. Sorry. But, if you read The Selection and want to read The Elite, go for it. Remember, this is only my opinion. If you want to read this and form your own, go! Pick this book up, read it, make up your own mind. My only request to you guys is, if you are going to read this, go into it with an open mindset.

GoodRead - The Selection

This book seems to have its fair share of positive and negative news. The author got into trouble of Twitter with her agent (let's not get into that), the CW wanted to the turn this in a TV show but failed TWICE on it, people saying this book was sexist and anti-feminist. But yet, it has its fans and people see this as a good dystopian novel. And while I love a good dystopia novel (have you not seen my To Read pile?!), I have been VERY wary on this one. So, when I saw it was super cheap one day on Amazon, I decide to risk it. What had I to lose? Just £1.50 and my time.

So, the story. America Singer has an opportunity most girls would kill for. She is one of the thirty-five girls selected to take part in The Selection, a contest to find Prince Maxon a wife and, one day, future queen. But she isn't. Only days before, her secret boyfriend dumped her and now she has to get over her heartbreak while trying, not to be Maxon's love, but his friend. But the other girls are determined to win the crown.

I am going to admit this: I tried to go into this open minded. I tried to not flake out when I saw something that  peeved me off. I wasn't going to be critical and, oh, believe me, I could have been SO critical. But, to my surprise, I liked this. I found it addictive. I read this in one day. One day. With me, this is rare. So there must have been something about it I liked. 

It is very much a beach read, in my eyes. A candy floss read. You read it, it's nice and fun, and it isn't taxing on your brain. It's not a heavy-dystopian novel (like The Hunger Games, Divergent, Matched or Under the Never Sky). It's very much a romantic story with a slice of dystopia and you know from the word go that this is going to the be a love-triangle story. And sometimes, you need a fun, fluffy read. 

But, as this is a review, I need to tell you the cons. I have to. And there are cons with this book and I am going to be chanelling Mary Berry from the Great British Bake Off on my first point: the writing at times was, at time, underbaked and suffered from a soggy bottom. And with that, I mean, there are things touched upon in the book that I wish Kiera went into more depth over or took more time explaining. For example, the rebels or the castes. Neither of these were explained and, if they were, it was very vague! 

There were, also, times where I did go "isn't that a bit sexist/anti-feminist?" and it bothered that for a good chuck of the book, this was all I could think about. And, staying with this, certain things bothered me in this book. At one point, an adviser told America that it's not wise to say no to the Prince and if he wants anything, you have to say yes. No matter what. Basically, this scene basically said that if he forces himself on you, if you have to let him. Or, in other wise, he can rape you. RAPE IS RAPE! THIS IS NOT OK! (luckily, there is a scene later on when Maxon tries to kiss America and, thinking he was going to force her into having sex with him, kicked him in the groin). Basically, things happened in this book or themes popped up that didn't sit well with me. 

Ok, let's touch on characters. I don't have issues with them, but there were things that really bugged me. Prince Maxon has lived a sheltered life so is kinda naive, I get that, but he seemed shocked over poverty and how people who are is the lowest castes live. You're going to be king of this country so how are you not aware of this? Aspen - I have no feeling for this character at all. None (sorry all you Aspen shippers out there), but I can't accept the whole "I dumped you, America, for your betterment" and "I regretted it as soon as I left but my pride..." lines. What did you expect would happen, Aspen? America would fall back into your arms and say she loved you? YOU BROKE HER HEART! And now you said that, America could be tried for treason if you two were found out! ARE YOU THAT THOUGHTLESS TO THE SITUATION YOU FORCED HER INTO?! And as for America... I like you, sweetie. I do. But when you jumped from one chapter, where you were a strong character who would speak your mind and don't care about what people think of you, to the next chapter where you were a crying mess who's backbone has gone on holiday, it was hard to not shout at my kindle, "Damnit woman, pull yourself together! Have some pride, for the love of God!" or throw it across the room!

One more tiny thing: with all the dystopian novels I read, it makes me question the world around me and go "This could happen if we're not careful". But with The Selection... not so much. Actually, I can't imagine it happening at all! 

But, with all the points I raised and have ranted/raved over, I am going to read the sequel, The Elite. I got it on NetGalley when I was playing around it with. I want to see if it goes where I hope it goes (highly doubtful), but I want to read something fun and addictive so I seem to have read and am going to read a lot of heavy reads. My advice to you all is if you are going to try and read The Selection, try and go into it with an open mind. 

GoodRead - The Prince

Truth time: I asked for a copy of The Selection by Kiera Cass when the book came out in the UK from the publisher. I did ask for it. But then all the bad press around it happened (let's not get into that, shall we?) and so, I never read it. I gave it away and thought nothing of it.

But now we have the eNovella, The Prince, and I couldn't help but wonder... Did I react too harshly? Should I have read it despite of all the bad press around it at the time? I mean, if you look at it now, the news seems to be on the CW trying to make a series out of it. So, when I saw this on Amazon for 99p, I thought "What have I got to lose?"

In this prequel, we follow Prince Maxon as the build-up to the thirty-five girls - his Selection - brings. But before he met America and the other girls, there was one girl in his life already. And you have to wonder: if he was allowed to live his own life, could he have been in love?

This is very much for Selection fans. If you're a fan of the series, go and read this as this gives an insight to the character that is Prince Maxon. Although I know that in The Selection, Maxon came across as strong and confident. But here, we're inside his head and we see his worries and doubts.

The writing was ok. I liked it and it went smoothly. But for a series that has been branded as "The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor", it felt a tad light and fluffy for me. I was expecting it to be edgy, but this has a beach read feel to it. Not that I'm complaining, sometimes we need a beach read.

I liked it, but I'm not certain if I would go read The Selection or not. Maybe if/when the TV series happens, then I might reconsider... On the fence, I'm afraid, but fans will love it!