The Elite: Review

Synopsis:

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.

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(This might contain spoilers of The Selection)

The main characters have changed so much in this book and mostly... not in a good way. First is America. Her lack of confidence for herself is terrifying. And she cries a lot in this book. God, I really miss the carefree girl in The Selection. She's also annoying indecisive. She practically runs between two boys and dates BOTH boys. She just practically loses her own girl powers. I am quite disappointed at her until somewhere near the end of the book, where there are life-changing things revealed. And this is not good. At all. She should definitely join the rebellion if she is so sick of the caste system.

The two boys, Maxon and Aspen, aren't better than America either. Maxon first. Damn, sometimes I really want to kick him in his groin. He's a jerk. I completely understand his motives because of America's indecisiveness. But doing what he does is completely idiotic. I was prepared to root for Maxon when I finished The Selection and looking forward to The Elite. But now I can't no matter what he does anymore. 

I don't like Aspen. Not at all. Not only he's also a jerk. He thinks that America will run to him straight. Come on, who did the work of pushing America away at the first place? And he shows up like nothing has happened and demand America to make a choice? Who the hell does he think he is? Jeez, I don't like that guy at all. To be straightforward, I don't think Maxon or Aspen deserves to be with America. 

Mostly the book is about the love triangle and keen competitions between the girls. And that... finally annoys me. I said that The Selection is better than I thought it was because the competitions are not so tense. Not in this time and things get really messed up. I'm not a fan of girl-fights. And I'm certainly not a fan of a messed-up love triangle. This is the main reason why I can't like this book as much as I thought I would.

I think the better part of this book is about the rebellion. Finally the side plot tangles up with the main one. I think with the rebellion terrorizing Illea, things can get infinitely more interesting. Come on, changing the caste system and stuff is way better than just The Selection and all those competitions. I hope that more rebellion stuff will happened in the final book. Because I can't stand anymore PURE girl-vs-girl competitions.

Last line: Oh did I mention the most deserved-to-be-kicked-in-the-groin character? The King. He's not just a complete jerk. He's the perfect enemy for a rebellion group fighting for freedom.

Rating: 6.5/10

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Info:

The third and the final installment of The Selection trilogy is called:

The One

Uh, I think that bit is too spoilery. You know what I mean.