*Taken from my Goodreads account*

I really REALLY wanted to give this book a 5-star rating. I swear I tried.

I mean, the cliffhanger of "The Elite" left me dying to read this. The book has such a gorgeous cover and the love story of Maxon and America is just so wonderful!

So really, what went wrong?

First of all, the GOOD SIDE:

1. Maxon
2. Maxon's letters
3. The court scene
4. The ending (at least they got together!)
5. Maxon & America scenes

*Really, i just liked it because of Maxon.

THE BAD SIDE:
1. It's like Game of Thrones - in a bad way.

The author only started to really introduce another subplot in the series on the second book. We knew about the Northern and Southern rebels even in the first book but they were more like minor inconveniences to the main story. The second book however, showed them in a different light. In fact, we even got to read a scene where America actually saw two of the rebels (which we find out are August Illea & Georgia Whitaker) as they carried the stolen books out of the castle.

That would've served as a major warning to all the readers.

Kiera Cass crammed so much information that I felt so frustrated at the book. She has managed to explain everything about the Northern and Southern rebels and what their purpose is to the plot in one chapter (basically just a way for America to prove that she's a badass) and then promptly swept them under the rug when it was time for the happily ever after end.

August Illea could've made a bigger impact, but since it's a love story, she only made him a minor character, which sucks. The first two books had less serious plots and I believe that she shouldn't have tried to make it into something bigger - only to forget to tie loose ends.

Frankly, the Selection series would've been better without the whole rebel stuff because she didn't put too much time nor attention to putting together those details. What sucks worse? What we thought was a huge secret (the book stealing) turns out to only be something as bland as to confirm the former King's personality.

You didn't even hear anything about these rebels in the end.


2. She killed so many characters in such a "meh" manner and their deaths weren't even needed.

Find a way to make Maxon and America King and Queen without having to wait? Kill the current King and Queen.

Make the series more dramatic through losing a new friend? Kill Celeste who has only begun to be nice.

Want to gain more sympathy for America? Kill her dad (who actually turns out to be a rebel too. DUH.)

Show how much indifference America has? Kill the poor boy who sacrificed himself.

Another meaningless death? Kill America's maid.


3. She's was halfway to becoming Bella Swan.

Thank goodness that transformation was stopped! Her annoying switching habits between Maxon and Aspen was almost as worse as Bella Swan. Thankfully, Kiera Cass was able to give a decent closure to her relationship with Aspen.

4. Lack of actual selection.

No more girls fighting, no more dress ripping and only a few scenes of girl bonding. Where's the essence of princess selection here? Like what I said, Cass introduced so many new information that she had to stop the real selection.



*And that's why I could only muster a 3.5 star rating (since it's not available, I could only give 3). Sorry Kiera Cass