I will say, I still love the covers from this series. I want to throw all of my money at this designer.
Man, I wanted so much more from this series.
Though I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, since the first book in Kiera Cass’s series, The Selection, left a lot to be desired. But I couldn’t deny that I was still interested in seeing where the story went, and hoped that maybe the writing would improve come book two. I mean, the first book was such a success, don’t you think they would have put a lot of effort in putting together a second book that delivered?
The Elite continues to follow America as she progresses in the Selection, battling between her growing affection for the Prince Maxon and her long-standing attraction toward her ex-boyfriend Aspen (who happens to now be a guard in the castle). And, as the thought of marrying Maxon becomes more and more realistic, she also must grapple with the idea of becoming princess—and isn’t convinced that she’s cut out for the job.
I wanted to stop reading about halfway through, but since it was such a quick read, I decided to finish it off. A lot of my original problems with this series still persisted in The Elite—vague writing, melodrama, and a poorly written love triangle. In fact, the writing felt even more problematic in this book, in terms of characterization. It felt like Cass was writing certain scenes to make you feel strongly toward one character (namely, Maxon and Aspen) that may not fit into their character, but served the plot to create more drama. At any point in the novel, I could tell at when I was supposed to like either of America’s boys, which is just lazy writing. Let me figure out their characters and make my own decisions—don’t make that choice for me.
And, as far as love triangles go, this one was pretty bland. The choice is between stability (Maxon, the prince who can provide status and commitment) and passion (Aspen, the lower class boy who makes America see fireworks when they kiss). From the looks of it, neither of the choices are good ones for our leading lady, and I really hoped she would end up dumping them both to run off and see the world or something. It would be a better use of her (and the reader’s) time to see her be happy and comfortable with herself.
The writing in general was still nothing to rave about, albeit fast paced. Also, the dystopia elements written in felt like an afterthought, and never enhanced my appreciation of the world building or plot. Though there is a third and final book in this series, The One, I think I’ll have to pass. This series doesn’t deserve any royal treatment from me.
Ashleigh Reads 