Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

The Elite (The Selection #2)
by Kiera Cass

The Elite (The Selection, #2)
by Kiera Cass

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Romance
Published: April 23rd 2013 by HarperTeen
Pages: 323 (paperback)
Source: Borrowed from a friend

Goodreads Summary:
The hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Timesbestseller The Selection.

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 Iléa.

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 Thoughts:

The moment I finished The Selection, which was unexpectedly lovely, I intended to read the second book immediately. It was there, listed on my highly-anticipated YA releases list. So when I found some bad reviews about The Elite, I started to worry. I read The Elite last month and guess my hopes were too high, cause it did disappoint. Don't get me wrong though. A lot of things happened and there were ups and downs and even though I wanted to, I just can't bring myself to hate the book.

First off, I love the cover! I liked the blue dress more, but this one's gorgeous, isn't it? The red gives that dramatic and rebellious atmosphere, which suites the story well. Also the elegant crown on top of the title I've always been in love with.

America is getting closer to the end and things aren't getting easier. The competition is getting really hard with only six girls left, the rebels started to invade the palace and the country is on the verge of breaking. Someone should do something, something has to be done. So when the time came for her to speak to the whole country about ways to solve Illea's problems, she said that one thing that drives the king mad, based on the secret diary of Gregor Illea, which Maxon borrowed her earlier. But it's obvious that she only brought more chaos.

There were so many unexpected scenes going on throughout the story but trust me you wouldn't want me to spoil those. Let me just say that something big happened to Marlee (America's closest friend in the competition, in case you forgot), and that Maxon did something with someone, which was very highly unbelievable and upsetting I want to kill him because I trusted him and I liked him a lot and he just did that disappointing selfish act like it's no big deal. His 'being selfish' is completely acceptable, actually, with him being a prince in a bachelor-like competition, but still. He messed up.

Not only having to deal with the rebels, America had to compete against the other girls to win Maxon's heart and be the royal princess, while her loyal ex-boyfriend, Aspen, as known as Officer Leger who appeared to be around as a guard, secretly checked on her almost so often and everytime she saw him, the old memories came back and her heart was torn in two. Decisions, decisions. Well, we'll just have to wait 'cause she obviously won't decide until the last book of the series. {The One: expected to be published on 2014}

The characters are the main reason why I dislike this book. Back then, on The Selection, Maxon wasn't the person I thought he was. I was wrong. He is a huge disappointment. Then there's this used to be lovely and confident America, who turned out to be an all-time-jealous, angry girl who blamed Maxon for doing that 'something with another girl' yet she secretly did such a thing with Aspen while he's gone on duty with the King. So Maxon might be a disappointment, but America was not that innocent. So I think she probably deserve all that. Great. Now I can't decide which team I'm in. I don't feel right to be on Aspen's but I'm so upset with Maxon I hate him enough to be on his team. Nobody's perfect.

Aaaaaand, at the end of the book, it became clear which one, of all people she had met, is her biggest enemy. You know all these things are far from over.

I honestly didn't fully enjoy the book 'cause there were too much drama, but I'm sure I'll be reading the next one. Do I recommend this book? Yes. Definitely a must for The Selection fans 'cause if you don't read it, you'll miss those unexpected big big things I mentioned above.

“You know that you’ve found something amazing, and you want to hold on to it forever; and every second after you have it, you fear the moment you might lose it.” 

“It’s because I’m so good-looking, isn’t it?”

 “It wasn’t like I made his world better. It was like I was his world. It wasn’t some explosion; it wasn’t fireworks. It was a fire, burning slowly from the inside out.” 

3 out of 5 stars