Title: The Crown (The Selection #5)
Author: Kiera Cass
Date Published: May 3rd 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Ratings: 2 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Blurb:
When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone. Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.
To start on a positive note, that cover is absolutely gorgeous!!! The one thing that has stayed consistent throughout this entire series is the awesomeness of the covers.
But, sadly, it was utterly unexciting. I can count on one hand the number of books that have met or exceeded my hopes this year. This book is not one of them.
The Crown picks up where the last one ends, but it lacks the intrigue and fun that was present in the first three of this series, the ones not about Eadlyn but about America.
Almost every aspect of the first three (The Selection, The Elite, and The One), rank higher than this book.
Character? America was strong, kind, and interesting. Eadlyn? Not so much. Honestly was a sorry excuse for a princess.
Plot? The selection process was interesting in the first series, but doing it again really didn't work out with this novel. Also, there was really nothing going on in this novel, while in the first three there was rebellion, actual competition, family discord, and So. Many. Secrets. Eadlyn thought she was hated by the people but honestly where does she base this off of? There was no talk of rebellion or history in this novel.
The candidates? OMG the life-stories/personalities of the boys literally didn't shine through the at all. Like in the first three, we really got to know about the girls (very well) and this made the whole thing so much more interesting. I understand that Cass wanted to look at the process from another perspective, but this approach would have been much more successful if Eadlyn was a developed, interesting character.
Ending? Ok so there was some sort of rising action, tension, and drama in the first three. But The Crown had absolutely nothing. She picks one of the candidates, because she doesn't want to cause drama by undermining the Selection process. Then she undermines it anyway by picking someone else (not part of the candidates), literally seven minutes before announcing it to the entirety of Illéa. This was a bit suspenseful I suppose.... But we all knew how it would end and unlike in the The One, the MC was entirely predictable. So no climatic moment in this book.
If you read the first three of this series, I recommend not reading this one. And even if you read The Heir, don't read on. SPOILER: Long story short, she doesn't pick anyone in the candidate pool and instead chooses Erik the translator. That's pretty much all you'll miss if you don't read this book.
