The Elite by Kiera Cass

The Elite by Kiera Cass

Publisher: Harper Teen   
Publication date: April 23rd 2013
My rating: not sure

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.

Last year there was this huge scandal with certain blogger and her review of Selection. She didn't like it which resulted in author's agent going after her. There was name-calling, attacks on personal level and that was pretty much the start of whole author vs. blogger debacle that's still going on, only with different authors and bloggers. 

I wasn't one of those people who hated The Selection when it first came out. I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt and find out for myself if it's awful just like some people are saying. It wasn't. It was pretty decent. Definitely a book for younger audience. It didn't have that dark dystopian feel to it but I was ok with it since romance was the center of whole book and everything else wasn't as important. 

However, The Elite gave me a headache. It was nothing like Selection and I was upset because I was looking forward to find out what happens next. There were so many problems I couldn't ignore. I even wrote a list and here it is:

1. predictability 

2. annoying love triangle

3. unstable/fickle heroine 

4. repetitive

I'm just gonna explain why I felt that way, so be aware, there are some small spoilers ahead. 

1. Predictability - Pretty much from the start I knew where the story was going and I wasn't surprise when certain things happened, mainly that whole situation with Marlee. It got better towards the end. 

2. Annoying love triangle - I'm up for a love triangle cause they bring more drama but I don't approve when both love interests go from great to these characters which make some nasty decisions only to be redeemed afterwards. I can't forget the shitty things they did. I can't. It just sticks in my head and there's no going back. Cass did this with Maxon two or three times in The Elite. 

3. Unstable/fickle heroine - This is connected to #2. A lot of decisions America makes is because Mazon did something she didn't approve. She would run in Aspen's arms whenever that happened and Aspen was clueless about her feelings towards Maxon. When Maxon apologized or explained why he did what he did she would pick him again. She got into a fight with a girl in selection. I guess you already know who was it, right? There is one thing she did right. She had a speech and it brought people hope of better tomorrow. But one little speech doesn't make me forget what idiot she was throughout the whole thing. 

4. Repetitive - This is the thing which annoyed me more. Rebels broke into the palace so many times it was just ridiculous. They would spray the walls and steal books. So many times. What kind of kingdom is this if they can't even defend the heart of the country? And there's America going from one guy to another every time it doesn't go her way. 

I will read the final book since I already read this much but I certainly won't expect much. I just hope America stays with the choice she made in the end of The Elite.