The Elite by Kiera Cass

Picture courtesy of Goodreads

The Elite

Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection #2
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Pages: 336
Review by: Tessa

Thirty-five lucky girls were chosen to compete for Prince Maxon's heart -- and his crown. The war-torn country is anxiously awaiting a queen who can stop the rebels from destroying the country.

America, the only one in the competition who knows how low life can get, is stuck between her charming soldier and the impeccable prince. Her heart has never been given a choice, so she is scared to make the wrong one.

Now, only six girls are left, and the real fight is about to begin.


I really enjoyed The Selection, the first book in the series, but, as with many other sequels, The Elite was not as appealing to me. Do not get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but The Selection left me with higher expectations.

In the first book, America was portrayed as a clever and charming main character with unshakeable morals. In The Elite, those qualities slipped a little. She became prone to wallowing and self-pity, which to a certain extent is acceptable, but she was about to cross the line.

On the other hand, Prince "His Royal Majesty" Maxon got a good amount of stage time and I started to see him beyond the stereotypical prince charming. He developed into a viable love interest for America and may have managed to steal my heart too.

I also enjoyed how America was able to do some problem-solving instead of turning into another vapid competitor. Honestly, that was one of my biggest fears going into this book. In most sequels, the main characters undergo a dramatic personality change between the books. Even though America did whine more, she was still determined to do things her own way, even if that was not the popular way.

I am sorry to say that the romance did not improve very much. The love triangle was like a toddler trying so hard to learn how to walk, but after a couple steps fell and started to cry. I am not a big fan of love triangles in the first place, so this was really the biggest downfall of the book for me. At first, America's angst over Aspen seemed real, yet as the book continues I was tired of her giving the same excuses for her indecision.

The other major flaw was the downplaying of the revolution. I will not give anything away, but the rebels were not seen as a big deal. The whole rebellion was treated like a secondary problem compared to Maxon choosing a wife. In a dystopian novel, I like some fighting and mystery and not just a roomful of girls squealing over the same guy.

So, The Elite was a promising sequel that will undoubtedly lead to a grand conclusion. Most of the book was development and preparation for the last book, but is still worth reading.