Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Hardcover, 342 Pages
Published May 2015
Summary: Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible. But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests. Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.
I absolutely adored everything about The Selection series, so when I found out that a fourth book was coming out and would be from the perspective of American and Maxon's daughter, I was practically over the moon. As the summary explains, the story follows Eadlyn, the eldest daughter (and the very first female heir) of King Maxon and Queen America Schreave. She is totally set on being Queen and ruling without a husband, but there are some struggles going on in Illèa, and her parents believe that the only way they can placate the country for the time being is another Selection, this time to help Eadlyn find her prince.
The only problem? Eadlyn has absolutely zero interest in finding a husband. She wants to rule entirely on her own.
Yikes.
My favorite part of this book was seeing so many characters make a comeback! You get to see Maxon and America again, as well as Aspen and Lucy and even Marlee. (Marlee's son even gets thrown in with Eadlyn somehow...but I won't share the details on that. Read the book yourself! ;D) I just wish that you got to see more of America and Maxon, because you really don't. They make brief appearances and there are brief allusions to what happened in the previous three books of the series, but most of it is glossed over. I guess I can understand it, because Eadlyn isn't supposed to know everything that happened before she was born with her parents and everyone, but I definitely would have liked to see more of it.
I also liked a lot of the boys that were in the Selection -- especially Kile and Henri. (I really hope she ends up with one of those two). Some of the boys were just downright disgusting and terrible, but some of them, like those I just mentioned, were super adorable and sweet and I would definitely love to see Eadlyn matached with any of them, despite how much she doesn't want to get married anytime soon.
The reason that I gave this book three stars was because I absolutely could not stand Eadlyn. (I'm about to get a bit ranty, so please bear with me for a few seconds.) I didn't like her even in the slightest. I felt she was catty, nasty, snobby, and only cared about power. The way she interacted with the boys and the incredibly offensive things that she said to some people in this book actually floored me. I couldn't believe that she said those things out loud. I didn't really have any sympathy for her, because she struck me as the snobby girl who only cared about being Queen. I mean, for starters, the whole reason that she doesn't want to get married is because she doesn't want to have to share the throne with anyone else! That definitely strikes me as power-hungry and snobby and I really, really don't like people like that. It's a miracle that half of those boys even do like her, because if I was one of them, I sure wouldn't.
*deep breath* Okay, I'm sorry. My rant is over. Now back to your regularly scheduled review.
I was a bit disappointed with this book because after reading it, I believe (and I never thought that I'd say this) that The One should have been the last book in the series. I thought that it would be great to continue such an amazing love story from the eyes of the daughter that was the product of it all, but I was semi-disappointed. I think it's just a combination of not getting enough of Maxon and America and also not being able to stand Eadlyn. (And I'm sorry, but when I can't stand the main character in a book, it definitely takes something away from it and my enjoyment of it.)
However, there were still parts of this book that I did enjoy. I enjoy novels about royalty a whole lot (I'm not even sure why). The dresses and the palace and the whole concept of being Queen was super entertaining and I really like that part -- which is why I gave this book three stars. I still did enjoy the book as a whole, even if there were aspects that I didn't like.
All in all, The Heir fell a bit flat following The One, but it was still enjoyable enough that I will definitely be reading The Crown when it is released, which is the next book in the series. I enjoy Kiera Cass's writing style and the entire royalty bit as a whole, and I can't wait to read more work from her in the future!
Rating: 
I'm with you on hating Eadlyn. SOOO ANNOYING. I wanted to deck her. But I am going to read the crown because that cliffhanger though...
ReplyDeleteI haven't read it yet, I am waiting to go to the library and pick it up. But it took me ages to kind of like America, but I don't think I was really shocked to see that Kiera Cass can't write a well liked protagonist. Nice review.
ReplyDeleteJust discovered this blog. I tried reading The Selection trilogy. I read part of book one and got so fed up with the awful writing and cliche protagonist that I skipped to book three. I read book three without any trouble understanding the plot, which gives one an idea of how terrible the storyline is. And I swear all the characters sound the same. Maxon should not sound like a female, but many of his lines read like America's, so I didn't even bother to pick up this one. If someone wants to read excellent writing, they need to pick up the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor.
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