Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass

Happily Ever After

Author: Kiera Cass

Publisher: Harper Teen

Year: 2015

Genre: Short story/novella

Age: YA 13+

Page Count:

Rating:

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This is the short story collection that includes all the novella stories from The Selection series. There is 7 stories included that tell parts of the original story from different character view points.

I really enjoyed the original series so I was excited for this book. I've never really gotten into the whole "novella" story thing with any books I've read. I have to say that if you skipped this book you wouldn't be missing out on much. I enjoyed it overall but I also feel like if you didn't read this book you would still understand & enjoy the series.

My 2 favorites stories were The Queen & The Favorite. These were the stories of Queen Amberly & her selection in which she married King Clarkson & Marlee & Carter's love story. Marlee was one of my favorites in the series, I was really sad to see what happened to her, but everything worked out in the end. In Queen Amberly's story we learn more about the country & the caste system. We also get to see maybe why Clarkson was such an awful man? I also kinda felt bad for Celeste. She really wanted to have a great life & I think she learned more about herself & more about the world in general when she competed in the selection. Then after reading her story I remembered what happened to her, very sad.

This book is worth a read if you want to see the different perspectives or enjoy some of the other, not necessarily main characters.

The Crown by Kiera Cass

The Crown

Author: Kiera Cass

Publisher: Harper Teen

Year: 2016

Genre: Dystopian/Romance

Age: YA 13+

Page Count: 278

Rating:

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This is book #5, the final book in The Selection series. There is one more book that has all the novellas combined together. I'll be reading that one next. It's around 500 pages so it should keep my interest for a while. I started this book last night at about 9 p.m. & I was able to finish it today. I don't normally get to read at my job, despite what most people think working in a library is like LOL but lately things have been a little different. That is going to change next week so I'm kinda bummed I'll be missing out on some extra reading time. That's really how I was able to get through these books so fast. Anyway, let's get into it...

This series has been one of my favorites! I will definetly be reading more of her books. I think the ending was a little predictable but I'm not disappointed in that. I was super excited to find out who Eadlyn picked right up until the last second! I do think her decision about the monarchy was a little strange. She's the queen so she can "decide" but just announcing it without letting anyone know or seeking help from her advisers was a kinda rash. But she's young & it's fictional so anything can happen! I'm really happy with Eadlyn's choice, she seems like she will be very happy. I would be happy to see more books that continue the story. Overall this series is very engaging, has intriguring characters, a semi-complex storyline, & a great romance aspect. I would recommend it for fans of books like The Hunger Games. It does have some violence but not the same as series like The Hunger Games where kids are killing eachother. It also has the romance you look for in a YA book but it's not over the top or unbelieveable. I liked Eadlyn's story more than America's which kinda surprises me since we got to see more of America throughout the series. I think it's because I relate to Eadlyn more than I do her mother. I really needed a great series to bust me out of my reading slump & kick-off summer reading. There were times I was laughing out loud, even in public, times I was tearing up, & times I couldn't read fast enough. The audiobook books aren't awful, I didn't like the first read in the first 3 books, I liked the girl that read the last 2 books the best, she had more inflection & life to her voice. I didn't really listen to much to the last 2 books though because I was reading more & faster than I could be read to. I'm going to look into more series like this one, there is one by Ally Condie that on Goodreads is in the "Readers Also Enjoyed" section under this series, it's the Matched trilogy, have you read it? Did you like it? Let me know down in the comments. I'm off to read the novella book, stay tuned for more reviews in the future.

The Heir by Kiera Cass

The Heir

Author: Kiera Cass

Publisher: Harper Teen

Year: 2015

Genre: Dystopian/Romance

Age: YA 13+

Page Count: 342

Rating:

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This is book #4 in The Selection series. I only have 1 more book & then the novella companion novels to read. Those have been organized into one book called "Happily Ever After". I'm hoping to have both of those done in the next week, but it might be sooner at the rate I'm going through these books. I want to read another series after this one, put a suggestion down in the comments.

It's been 20 years & a new selection has begun!

America & Maxon fell in love despite their world being turned upside down. Now two decades have passed & the world they knew has changed thanks to their efforts, but the people still aren't happy. To quell the public & give them hope they decide to put their eldest daughter, & first ever female heir through the greatest test of all. Eadlyn Schreave is 18 & has been preparing her whole life to be the first ever queen of Illea. She has three siblings, including a twin brother born seven minutes after her. Unfortunately nothing could prepare her for something as crazy as the selection.

One of the things that annoys me the most about Eadlyn is that she is just as anxious & undecisive as her mother was at her age. I admire her for being so independent & strong & not needing a man to complete her (PREACH sister!) but...because she is going to be queen there are certain obligations she has to uphold, one of those being producing her own heir. That being said, two people are required to do that. That is where the problem lies. So the next selection will begin. I have to admit I like this book a little better than the others in the series so far. I think I feel more connected to Eadlyn because she is like me in a lot of ways. I also think I like these books so much because of one of my favorite TV shows...The Bachelor! I loathe that show so much! But it's so good I can't look away at the same time, do you ever feel that way about something? So I have one more book to complete the story. I have to admit that I'm gonna be sad when this series is over. I also can't believe it took me almost 10 years to read it! I'm also WAY more excited for the show now! Overall I like Eadlyn & I like a lot of the boys she has to choose from. I think it's gonna come down to Kile or Erik (even though he's not really a contestant). But some of them have potential too like Henri, he's so sweet even though they don't speak the same language. Then of course the book has to end with a huge cliffhanger, disaster, drama episode. All of the previous ones kinda did too so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by that. I'm hoping everything works out & I'm also happy I already have the other books & I don't have to wait.So on to the next! Stay tuned for more reviews soon!

The One by Kiera Cass

The One

Author: Kiera Cass

Publisher: Harper Teen

Year: 2014

Genre: Dystopian/Romance

Age: YA 13+

Audio Publisher/Year: Harper Collins/ 2014

Audio Reader: Amy Rubinate

Audio Length: 7 hours & 25 minutes

Rating: 

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This is book #3 out of 5 in The Selection series. This is also the end of our first story between Maxon & America. Apparently from reading the descriptions of the next few books they take place about 20 years in the future with their daughter's own selection. 

This book I think was the best of them all! The ending was like WOW! There will be spoilers in this review so if you don't want to know then turn back now...... 

So obviously Maxon chooses America. I think we all knew that was going to happen from the beginning. But they are annoyingly hot & cold right up until the very, very end! Aspen does find love with Lily which I think is good because she had some problems with her family etc the entire time. Plus she is a lower caste like Aspen was so when they get married she will become a 2, it's a win-win scenario.

The battle against the rebels finally comes to a tragic end. America's dad (who we learn is actually a secret Northern rebel), the king, the queen, Celeste, & several others are killed by rebels dressed as guards on the night of the big proposal. We also learn that Kriss is a Northern rebel as well, it seems ironic that it comes down to her & America in the end. Maxon is wounded but he recovers & things are right in the world. Their rebel friends including an Illea descendant come to their aid just like they promised too. 

Maxon also shows America a plan to get rid of the caste system. I'm hoping to hear more about that in the next few books. Overall I would say it was a great ending! I was freaking out the last few chapters. I feel like there could be more to the story or like an in between book, so I'm hoping some of the details get filled in with the next few books, but we'll see what happens. Stay tuned for more reviews soon!

The Elite by Kiera Cass

The Elite

Author: Kiera Cass

Publisher: Harper Teen

Year: 2013

Genre: Dystopian/Romance

Age: YA 13+

Audio Publisher/Year: Harper Collins/2013

Audio Reader: Amy Rubinate

Audio Length: 7 hours & 43 minutes

Rating: 

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I finished this book last night & OMG!!! It was like 10 p.m. & I had to keep reading into the next book because I had to find out what was happening. Fast forward, I was up until like 1 a.m. So now I'm tired but it was worth it. I'm about 1/3 of the way into book #3. This is the kind of series I needed to get me out of my reading slump. 

In book #2 the selection girls are narrowed down to the final 6. The rebels are attacking from both the North & the South. The northerners are the "peaceful" rebels & the southerners are the ones that kill people during their attacks. We get to find out more about their leader as the story continues into the next book. America is starting to stand up for what she believes in which is both a good & a bad thing. She is not very popular with the king & that is causing problems between him & Maxon. We also get to learn more about the history of the country. It's not pretty, which why would it be? But it's a lot more ugly than I expected. I think that going forward, now that I've read a little bit of the next book, a big change is coming, but will it be enough? 

America is still going back & forth between Aspen & Maxon. I'm kinda frustrated with her & her way of doing it though. She seems totally devoted to Aspen. She tells him she loves him, she needs him, etc. But with Maxon he has confessed his feelings for her & she just kinda absorbs it then shoves him away (sometimes literally). They fight a lot, which I know is part of relationships, but they are very hot & cold towards one another. I don't see how that could possibly work out in the end. I also feel kinda bad for Aspen, I know who she is going to choose in the end but I don't know how she is going to get there right now. 

Overall though the book started out interesting then with each book the story escalates further along keeping your interest. I already have book #4 & #5 so that I can go right into them after finishing the next. This is a time when I LOVE ebooks even more then normal because I can seamlessly go from one to the next. Stay tuned for the next review hopefully soon!