Friday, July 5, 2013

Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

The Elite (The Selection #2)
By Kiera Cass
Released: April 23, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Hardcover, 323 pages
Source: Library

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 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. --Goodreads

Purchase The Elite here: Amazon/ Barnes & Nobles/ The Book Depository

1.5 Stars

There may be spoilers, but nothing too excessive. 

Review/Rant:
There are books, then there are books that you start to regret reading after finishing them; The Elite is one of those sorts of books. Knowing that this book, or series as a whole, has no merit plot-wise or writing-wise just makes it even more depressing. My only reason for giving this a rating slightly more than 1 star is because this book is like a drug. It is dumb and idiotic to read it, yet everyone is reading and loving it. The question is really why this series is a New York Times Bestseller?

After reading The Elite, it has come to my conclusion that America Singer is either suffering from severe hormonal imbalance or is a psycho. This book consists of an extremely distorted love triangle, unfortunately. While America goes all mooney-eyed over Maxon and promises to marry him, she makes out with Aspen in her spare time. I don't buy the whole 'I'm so conflicted over whom I love' excuse because America totally told Maxon that she likes him. In conclusion, the only reason that explains why America is such a yucky cheater is that Aspen is secretly an alien who releases pheromones that makes people with low IQs even dumber. And that just makes no sense, but it's the only thing that is somewhat logical...

America definitely sucked and was puke-worthy, but the worst thing about The Elite is the repetitiveness of the plot. 

Here's a list of the top 6 scenes (paraphrased) that are supposedly noteworthy (not in any particular order):

  1. WTH was I thinking? Maxon was the wrong guy for me. He doesn't shave enough! (OK, fine, get rid of the shaving part). I ran to Aspen, kissing him and hugging him we fell to the ground. Aspen was my home. This happens at least 3 or 4 times. Now, I just pity Maxon and hope that America ends up dead.
  2. I heard gunshots. The rebels from Oz (way more creative than the "realistic" terms given for the rebels) were attacking the castle again. I ran toward the underground shelter below the castle, but then something got in the way, so I decided letting the rebels capture me was a better idea. OK, maybe this exact moment happened once. Still, rebels attacking the castle happened at least 4 or 5 times, but nothing really happens. Poor rebels are being taken out of the picture in favor of love spats. Once again, THE BLURB WAS ALL A LIE!!!
  3. Major argument between America and Maxon. Imagine a grand debate over whether Maxon is in the wrong for flirting or America is in wrong for pushing and pulling Maxon back and forth. Then comes America's favorite question: You're going to send me home now, right? Spoiler: Still waiting for her to go home... 
  4. You must prepare to be queen. Then you're going to have tons of princess lessons in politics and diplomacy... When I heard this, I looked at Celeste who smirked and Kriss who looked like she knew exactly what she was doing. Then I knew that I would fight tooth and nail to be better than Celeste. I'm sorry, if these are your priorities, then clearly you have no purpose in life... Yeah Celeste is a mean girl, but shouldn't you try to be better than all of the other girls, than just one? I thought you wanted to be queen, girl!
  5. You haven't changed America. In spite of all of the fancy stuff they stuff you with, you haven't turned into a zombie yet. Well, yeah! The stuff they've been poisoning her with has been turning her into an unstable person who lacks any brains. Not just her, everyone in the castle is a moron.
  6. I don't want to be in the spotlight! The crown isn't right for me. ______ would be way more qualified than me! She totally can handle the press better than me! Well, I don't know about you, but if you were a performer wouldn't you enjoy the spotlight? After all, America's mom did say that she loved performing in front of people.... America, you need a better excuse than spotlight. It doesn't add up. Anyway, you suck at talking to the press because you have no filter. Maybe that should be fixed too, in addition to your brain.
In conclusion, there isn't much substance in the plot. Well, that was already pretty obvious, but reading the same scenes repeat over and over again with slightly different details sucks for a reader. Now, I don't have much faith for the last book in this trilogy, The One. Kiera Cass is treating her readers like fools which isn't right. Readers deserve books that are fun to read, yes, but also make sense. I won't say any character deserves better than what they were left with at the end of The Elite, but I definitely hope that Cass ends this series with a bang. This bang should probably include the rebels doing something, as a word of advice.

Although The Elite was a cute, fluffy read, there were just way too many issues with the characters and plot for it to be an enjoyable read. Hopefully the romance can settled with some blood involved because that would just rock the reality dating show world.





6 comments:

  1. I actually really enjoyed this book but looking at your review, I may have misjudged it. I kind of sped read The Elite because I was super excited but I agree with you. I felt like America was contradicting herself throughout the whole book. First she wants to be with Aspen and then Maxon says one cute thing and she changes her mind. The same thing happens with regards to Maxon. Maxon doesn't deserve her, end of story. Great review! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same here! I really enjoyed reading The Elite and was fangirling Maxon the whole time. But when I got down to actually writing the review, I realized that The Elite wasn't as good as I thought it was initially.

      Hopefully Maxon ends up with Kriss. Kriss actually has the decency to care for and respect Maxon way more than America ever did.

      Delete
  2. You're the second trusted blogger to say this book sucked. I am no longer interested in this series whatsoever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for holding my opinion so highly!! I feel so incredibly honored!! *bows*

      This series is a nice read if you don't want to make yourself think too much while you're reading, but it's really stupid. All reality dating shows are as dumb as this, so I guess it's not that surprising.

      Delete
  3. Holy Crap, someone else who understands me! I agree with all the points you made above, some that didn't even cross my mind! I don't understand how America could be so stupid. She avoids Maxon for a good chunk of the book, because she feels like she needs more "time" to figure out her feelings. Then, when she sees him talking to another girl, she goes off on him and mentally curses him, when he didn't do anything wrong! Does she just expect him to hole himself up in a room and do nothing while she makes up her mind? And while she's taking time to think about it, she's going behind his back and flirting with Aspen, who I absolutely despise with a passion. How is that any better?! So much more to say, but I'm gonna cut my rant off right there. Awesome review! Couldn't have said it any better myself. xD

    Daphne @ Reading Until Dawn

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've only read about a chapter of The Selection so far so I'm really nervous about this series. I want to like it even though a lot of people say it's dumb, but at the same time I hate stupid characters. I'm so torn. I guess I'll have to finish book one and see of I can stand to go on to book two!

    ReplyDelete

Please share your thoughts! We really appreciate your comments!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...