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

Description:

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 Illea.

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:

Want to know what's more entertaining than reading The Elites? Staring at the wall, watching Barney... or maybe even Sesame Street. Well, unless you think reading pages and pages of a girl called America pinging back and forth between two boys entertaining. One moment she's snuggling up with Maxon and then the next, with Aspen. Where's the plot? Wait, is there a plot?



Hold on a sec, there is! It's something about ummm... Illea and then the rebels from the Southern side came ramming into the castles, turning the castle upside down in the process and uhhh... the end I guess. The rest of the time was spent swooning over Maxon and Aspen because each has sooo much potential in them!



I tried liking this, I really did so don't hate me for not liking it. I liked The Selection so why wouldn't I like The Elite? I initially wanted to buy the book, but gave it a second thought before on deciding on borrowing it from the library. I'm really glad I did, or my money would probably have gone cavorting into the furnace.



Like I've said, the plot mainly centres and hinges on the love triangle. I seriously, honestly, sincerely, genuinely, wholeheartedly DO NOT want to read a book with that thing, whatever that is. I was hoping on a more developed world-building, simply because Illea was briefly described and the details were rather sketchy in The Selection to the extent that it could have blended in the background. If you're anticipating a more developed idea of Illea and the love triangle mercifully hidden in the background, you're going to be really disappointed. In fact, it's a complete 180 degree on this one.

In the first hundred pages into the book, I was already struggling to keep up with the story. This was what happened:

America: I'm in love with Maxon.
A: Oh no, I have feelings for Aspen too.
A: This is so complicated!
A: No, I love Maxon.
A: No, what about Aspen? The times we've used to shared?
A: Maxon is the one, I'm convinced.
A: Aspen!



And from then, I didn't so much as to read it than just skimmed through the book. This was me 98% of the time:



And this for 2% of the time:



And that 2% of the time was when Mer got caught up in the tree and what happened after. Thinking back, that was probably the most climatic part of the book. She got caught up in the tree! Finally, something got real!

Now that I'm done with the plot, let's move on to the characters!
Seeing that the competition has left with only six girls, you'd think that the stakes, the drama, the tension would be higher but no. If that's even possible, the tension between the girls eased. I couldn't feel the competitive spirit, the girls desiring and vying for the crown. I'll give Kiera credit; she tried but I don't think potential princesses, maybe even queens, are supposed to act like a stuck-up six year old. Girls, girls. Ugh. Grow up. One of you is going to be a princess so stop your flouncing and get on with reality. Seriously, I doubt any of them knows much on what's actually going on in their country.



I tried thinking of reasons to give this a higher rating but could come up with none. I was irritated at Mer's over-indecisiveness which took up at least 75% of the book. As I've mentioned, a love triangle is not my cup of tea and if you're gonna hand over a truck-load then



Summing up, The Elite was a far cry and rather disheartening read compared to The Selection. The Selection was way better, if I do say so myself. (That's me trying to be positive.)

Rating: 1.25/5 Stars

Violette