Book Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

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Title: The Elite
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection #2
Genre: YA - Dystopian
Original Release Date: April 23, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 336 (Hardcover)
Source: Purchased
Rating: ★★★★★

In America Singer’s world, a bride is chosen for the prince through an elaborate televised competition. In the second book of the Selection series, America is one of only six girls left in the running. But is it Prince Maxon—and life as the queen—she wants? Or is it Aspen, her first love?

The Elite delivers the adventure, glamour, political intrigue, and romance readers of The Selection expect, and continues the love triangle that captivated them.

My Thoughts

Even though love triangles infuriate me, I still loved this book! This series keeps getting better and better. The more I read, the quicker this is becoming one of my favorite series. I love dystopian novels, but I can't stand The Bachelor so I'm always surprised by how much I enjoy this series.

I still have a problem with America as a person. She's not nearly as ungrateful as she was before, but now she's frustratingly indecisive. I get being indecisive - we all can be indecisive. But this is verging on ridiculous. So why do I still give this book 5 stars? Because that indecisiveness seems to keep me from putting this book down! I believe that it's an integral part of my reading experience to want to slap America sometimes. I just have to read more and more to find out what she does next! Maxon is still as dreamy as ever (I think I'm too old to use the word "dreamy") and now we get to see a bit more about what goes on in his life when America isn't with him. I also can't get enough of America's maids. I wish Ms. Cass would write a short story about them (who knows, she may have already - I haven't read any of the novellas yet). I'm also glad that we get a bit more insight into the rest of the girls in The Elite. They're a lot less 1-dimensional than they were in the last book.

The pacing of this book was consistent and fast. There were very few dull moments. I also love the author's voice. Her descriptions of the palace are specific enough to give me a detailed picture of what the palace looks like, but they're brief enough that I don't just skim over them. I love how she can completely immerse me in this world.

Overall

I loved this book. I can't recommend this series enough. The characters are well developed and manage to evoke real emotion from me. The moment I finished this book, I immediately picked up the next book in the series (and ordered the 4th book). The Selection was also optioned for a movie, so if you haven't started reading this series yet, get on it!