Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

Title: The Elite
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection #2
Publication: April 23rd 2013 by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult ~ Dystopian
Format: Paperback, 323 pages
Cover Rating: 5/5 (Gorgeous!)
Overall Rating: 1/5

  

The hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller 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 Iléa.

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.

This is going to be a tough review for me, be warned.

Last summer I read The Selection and I loved it. I thought the whole idea of a story like this was really original. I loved that it was like The Bachelor put into a dystopian book. I saw a lot of positive reviews about it so I figured it would be positive for me too. So I had to read The Elite also of course and I must say (obviously) I'm rather disappointed by it. Actually a whole lot disappointed. 

I really wanted to like this book, more so than some others because The Selection was so good for me. Maybe I had to high hopes but I wanted to enjoy this. The fact that I didn't was a big disappointment because I just wanted this book to be done and over. And that's just never good with any book.

I was so frustrated with pretty much everything and every character in The Elite. First of all, America. What was up with her? She kept running back and forth between Maxon and Aspen. It was literally one page she was loving on Maxon and the next she was crawling back to Aspen. Girl, no, just no. The whole book was like this. All about that stupid love triangle. I can like love triangles if they are done well but in this book it has got to be one of the most terrible I've ever read about. And what was up with her decision making I could hardly follow her train of thought. Doesn't she think at all? At least the 

 thing that I didn't totally hate was how America was able to read Gregory Illea's diary. What a jackass he was. That's the only thing I want to know more about. Is the diary what the rebels are after or is it something else?

I used to love Maxon to bits and pieces but this book ruined him for me. I didn't like him one bit. I guess that The Selection is some sort of game and Maxon has to be sure that he makes the right decision but please, I can't stand the whole thing. Dating all these girls, messing around with him. Ugh! No wonder America got so jealous. And really, Maxon, Celeste? REALLY? The only thing that's not totally awful is that I can sort of understand him a bit, with everything his father (who is a totally pyscho by the way) puts him through he wants distractions but there are other ways. I did feel sorry for what America witnessed at some point... 

Aspen still is some sort of vague character for me. He wasn't that much in the book but also not totally absent. He did some pretty nice things for America but after what happened to Marlee I can't understand why both him and America would take such huge risks. They are asking to get caught! And no, it doesn't mean that when I'm no longer team Maxon that I'm suddenly team Aspen. I can't pick any teams in this book because they both suck. I'm team America, get the hell out of there and work on yourself, please.

The remaining girls in The Selection are definitely on my black list. Especially Kriss. I can't stand her. I get that America messed up and that suddenly Kriss and Maxon got close but it was all so awful to read about. And Celeste, I need her to leave already. 

There were some rebel attacks again. Wonder what that's about. It's awful but I'd rather read about them attacking the palace and have some action at least than America going back and forth with her two guys. Seriously. But even with the few attacks, we don't know anything. 

So yeah, frustration everywhere for every character. 

I was also quite disappointed with the author's writing. And I'm not saying this to bash her or anything. I don't even like giving a book this low a rating because I barely do that. But I couldn't get over it. I didn't like the writing at all. It felt rushed and I can't remember I hated it this much with The Selection. What happened I wondered. I missed action. A lot of them. You'd think because there are rebels, they should've been more of that than there was. Sadly enough it wasn't so. And I really disliked the ending. Literally nothing happened throughout this book. Nothing. I am so disappointed! At least the cover is beautiful and it was a fast read.

Overall, The Elite by Kiera Cass was a huge disappointment. Everything from the frustrating characters to the lame plot to the weak writing, it all felt rushed. I wished I had liked it a lot more, but sadly enough I didn't. But I decided I will read the third book once it comes out because I want to know the ending. I hope it won't disappoint me again.

Kiera Cass graduated from Radford University with a degree in History. She grew up in South Carolina and currently lives in Blacksburg, Virginia with her family. In her spare time, Kiera enjoys reading, dancing, making videos, and eating unhealthy amounts of cake. You can learn more about Kiera at kieracass.com, follow her on twitter via @kieracass, and see her silly videos at YouTube.com/user/kieracass.
Visit Kiera at: http://www.kieracass.com