Review: The Elite by Kiera Cass

The Elite
The Selection #2

Author: Kiera Cass

Publication Date: April 23, 2013

Publisher: Harper Teen

Genre: Dystopian

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Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts: Okay, so I have been waiting for this one for what seems like eternity and as soon as I laid my hands on it I did not put it down.  It had me pulled back into the world of Illea from the very first page and I may or may not have done a happy dance when my husband brought it home for me (after he made the employees at the store hunt it down since they had still been boxed).

America Singer has made it into the top six of the Selection and is now an Elite.  The competition is getting more fierce and more personal than it has ever before and yet America still can't decide between Aspen and Maxon. When her heart is swayed one way, a horrifying experience makes her do a one-eighty and start questioning everything she knows all over again.  She must then determined what she wants, who she wants and who she was meant to be.

America is a little bit different, a little more hesitant for most of this novel.  In the Selection she came in guns-a-blazing and new what she want and what she definitely didn't want.  This America questions all of that.  Since she met Maxon her heart has been swayed and she begins wondering if maybe she does have what it take to rule beside him.  Just as quickly as those thoughts come they are replaced by insecurities, jealousies and doubt.  It is different from the America I am used to, but definitely a new side of her that makes her seem her age.  Never fear though, when needed the old America comes out with a force to be reckoned with that leaves you cheering for her.

Maxon probably surprised me the most.  He had always been, in the Selection, sweet and caring and a little bit of a pushover to me.  I loved him regardless.  They say that when two people spend a lot of time together that they start to pull pieces of each other's personality and you can definitely see that for Maxon and America in the Elite.  Maxon is down to his final six girls, and although he has always wanted America, he has decided that she may decide not to want him in the end.  He grows a backbone and is firm with America that she will have to make a decision at some point.  And near the end he really comes into himself and I was so proud and happy and in love with him that I think I was blushing the whole time.

This book was excellent.  There were so many moments that made me blush, anxious, tearful and overjoyed that it was like I was riding an emotional roller coaster.  There wasn't too much plot development in terms of movement, but there was some.  There was, however, a bucket load of character development that made me fall more in love with America and Maxon than I have ever been before.  If you haven`t started reading this series you definitely should.  If you have read The Selection you should already have The Elite in your hands!