Saturday 4 May 2013

[REVIEW] The Elite by Kiera Cass

The Elite (The Selection, #2)
Published: April 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: The Selection #2
Goodreads

O.M.G. That's it. OMG. This book was absolutely amazing! And its really rare for me to enjoy a second book in a trilogy more than the first but I absolutely loved this.

I had initially declared the series, based off the first book, to be a frivolous story based on the reality show "The Bachelor" with some subtle hints of dystopia lit, enough to make me continue reading for the drama and the intense romance. I enjoyed the fun read. The sequel on the other hand, it's  a whole other story. I found The Elite to be much more complex, and shall I say more sophisticated, then it's prequel. The Elite deals with more political issues. I found the dystopia aspect of the story was much more prominent in it and was a driving force in America's actions. The romance although still there sort of became a sub plot rather than the main plot, which is what I initially thought it would be. I would say half the story is focused on the dystopia part and the other half is focused on the romance. And the romance in this story is mainly on the feelings America has for Maxon. Sorry ladies, Aspen takes a back seat in this book.

Anyone who personally knows me knows that when I'm told to write an essay for school I always end up writing a thesis on some societal issue. Well that might have been a reason I related to this story so much. I would say that dystopia lit in general deals with societal issues and corrupt governments but in The Elite, or the whole series for that matter, the disparity in society is much more present with the castes. The Elite had some scenes in it that really emphasized that point (and made me cry too). The scenes were really real and I was so emotionally into the book because of that.

If I had any cons to the book I would just say that the major climax for this story wasn't that climatic in my opinion. I was expecting much more then what was written. It seemed to predictable for it to happen but it did...not that impressed with that. Also America and Maxon argue throughout this entire story like a bickering married couple. In the first book, Maxon tries everything that he can to woo America, who is eventually wooed. But in the second book, it seems that Maxon is doing everything to lose America (complete 180) and some times I find myself questioning if he even loved her to begin with. The girls also get much more catty, as is for any competition that nears the end. There is much more girl drama and conversations with hidden meanings. I'm still rooting for Maxon and America but I do find myself questioning their relationship.

America seems to demonstrate more of a temper and definitely jealously in this book. I don't blame her. If the guy I liked is choosing to spend time with other girls I would be pretty jealous too.

To further emphasize HOW MUCH I loved this book, I'll just say that when The Elite was released on April 23, I immediately started reading it and also finished it the day of (ot the next morning...) I probably shouldn't have done that because it was during my finals and I still had one exam to write...in the next two days. But I decided that reading The Elite was a better use of my time, and in hindsight that might not have been the best decision but I was so engrossed in reading that I didn't even want to study anymore. As Kiera Cass writes in the acknowledgements "I hope it made you have unbearable feelings that you find yourself tweeting about at 3:00 am" Well Ms. Cass, I definitely found this book to evoke a lot of feelings and I was definitely one of those people that stayed up to 3 in the morning finishing this book. I remember being so excited and having so many questions and comments about what happened that I couldn't sleep. That's what the book did to me. It definitely made me look at this series differently and made it one of my all time favourite series by far.

If that large rant wasn't enough, let me tell you again, GO AND READ THIS BOOK!

BUY 
 
And here's some lovely Lady Antebellum for you to listen to and think about the awesome-ness of this book.
 

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