Title: The Elite

Author: Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection #2

Genre: Teen Fiction

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: 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.

The Review:

I can’t tell you how many reviews for this book I’ve read so far – it seems that almost everybody read it (and loved it) before I did. The Selection was sweet, romantic, and engaging, and I loved the element of competition in a slightly dystopian setting. It was exactly what I was in the mood for – a fun, lighthearted read – and I picked up the second one immediately (which is something I don’t usually do – all you have to do is check out my “Currently Reading” shelf on goodreads to see how scattered I am with books). Anyway, although I liked this one, I don’t feel as though I got what I signed up for.

The first book was lovely. It was breezy, romantic, and fun, and even though I expected a little turmoil to show up in this second book, I wasn’t prepared for the level of stress I felt while reading it. I had to fight the urge to write a story-rant review – and that tells me the author did and exceptional job of getting me emotionally involved. I was so invested in these characters that I wanted to scream at them to stop being such idiots. I have never gotten so worked up about a book and have spent the last month or so trying to figure out why it affected me so much.

And I think I finally figured it out…pacing.

Cass used several different elements to throw angst at me for almost the entire end half of the book. It was subtle and slow building until I was riding the proverbial snowball down the mountain. I kept reading faster and faster to try to get ahead of it, but I never did. I practically begged for her to throw me a bone, and she ignored me. From her author’s note at the end,  I think she did it on purpose… and that pisses me off. At first, I was angry at the story, the characters, and the situations they put themselves in. After a month of reflection, I am now pissed at Cass for writing it well enough to do that to me. It was truly evoking and I have to applaud that.

Overall, this was a very well-done book. It sticks with you long after you’ve finished it… at least it did with me. Even though it is the second book in the series, I feel like each one is drastically different as far as the emotional payoffs (or lack thereof) are concerned. It was an emotional roller coaster and I can’t wait to see what ride I’m getting on next. I will probably pick the third book up the day it comes out.

Recommendations: Because I’ve read so many reviews, I know a lot of people enjoyed the series as much as I did. It’s technically a dystopian, but it’s definitely not the most well-conceived society of the genre. I would recommend it to people who lean more towards the romantic dystopians such as Delirium and Matched rather than the more conceptual ones like Hunger Games and The Fifth Wave.

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