April 22, 2015

Book Review | The One

Hey there Literature Lovers! We have reached the third book in The Selection series, entitled The One.

I can’t really say too much about this particular book without giving away spoilers so if you haven’t read the first two stories, you should check out my posts here:

http://laurenecox.com/the-selection/

http://laurenecox.com/the-elite/

Definitely check these books out if you haven’t already.

— SPOILERS BELOW –

Let me just tell you, it is a good thing I was home alone while I was reading this because the amount of times I yelled frustratedly at this book was ridiculous and my roommates would have thought I was insane.

I actually found America a bit more bearable in this particular story…but only a bit. She still had her moments where she was being stupid. When she finally realized she loved Maxon, she refused to tell him. She kept going, “Oh, later. I’ll tell him later.” Or when Aspen was trying to tell her something she would brush him off and say, “I can’t handle this right now. Tell me later.” JUST DO IT NOW.

Thank goodness King Clarkson died. He was such a jerk. But America’s dad? And Celeste, who had just had a huge character change? I was not okay with that.

The meeting with the rebels was interesting. I liked August, but I really liked Georgia. She was funny and seemed to genuinely appreciate America. I especially found her amusing at the tea party because no one knew she was a rebel.

Speaking of rebels, I definitely thought Kriss was a Southern rebel for pretty much the entire book. I saw an untagged spoiler on Tumblr regarding one of the girls in the Elite being a rebel. At first Celeste popped into my mind, but it then became obvious that it was Kriss. Then I started thinking that Kriss was planted in the pool for the Selection by the Southerners and she was there to win the crown and when she got it she would kill the royal family and the Southern rebels would take over the country. I was so excited and kept waiting and waiting…and waiting…and waiting…and it never came. Oh well.

The end of the book was great to me. Aspen and Lucy were together, Maxon was now the king, he finally proposed to America, it was all perfect. When it came time for the epilogue, I was preparing myself for a cute little scene with Maxon and America looking out over the kingdom or playing with their kids or something, I don’t know. Instead it was their wedding, and I was like, “Okay, yeah, this is cute.” Until freaking Aspen is the one to walk her down the aisle. I’m sorry, no. I know he was a big part of her life, and he has Lucy and she has Maxon, but in what universe is a guy okay with having his fiancé’s ex-boyfriend walk her down the aisle?

–END OF SPOILERS –

I greatly enjoyed this series. This is one of those stories where you are so annoyed the entire time you are reading, but at the same time, you can’t put it down. The characters are hair-ripping frustrating and so easy to invest your time in. I recommend this to anyone who is looking for something light, but not overly fluffy.

I can’t wait to see what The Heir holds in store!

April 21, 2015

Book Review | The Elite

Posted by Lauren in Book Reviews

Hello everyone! Today I finished reading The Elite, which is book number two in The Selection series. I did a review of the first book last week if you want more information.

This post is going to be full of spoilers, so if you have not read either the first book or this one then you will probably want to avoid this particular post.

— SPOILERS —

America Singer continues to be the most indecisive person ever, who would have guessed it. This is my second time around and I kept rooting for America to do the right thing, to tell Maxon that she was starting to feel something for him, that Aspen was in the palace, anything to redeem herself from the sheer stupidity, and she never did any of it. This girl is more indecisive than Katniss and as reckless as Bella Swan. There were times where I had restrain myself from actually yelling at America.

Aspen continues to get on my last freaking nerve, too! Like, are you kidding me? He is again risking both their lives by sneaking around with her behind Maxon’s back. Maybe you don’t care that much about your own life, but if you truly cared about America, then you wouldn’t put her at risk like that! Geez! And the part where he tells America that Maxon is an actor and that it’s good America learned that now before she ended up married to Maxon…and America just listened! America is the only person, besides Maxon, who actually knows Maxon. Okay, she might not know everything, but she knows him better than all the other girls. Yet she is like, “Aspen obviously knows all about Maxon so I should listen to him.” No. Aspen needs to go.

I will give Aspen one point though because this line was cute: “It’s just the way it is. The sky is blue, the sun is bright, and Aspen endlessly loves America.” That is actually sweet.

The King. Oh my gosh. He is so repulsive. I still don’t understand why he is so cruel to everyone he interacts with. And what I really, really cannot deal with is that he beats his son. That takes things way too far.

I was tearing up having to reread what happens to Marlee. I kept picturing my best friend in her position, and it was really hard to get through those few pages.

–END OF SPOILERS–

I kept getting frustrated with this book, and at times I almost felt like skipping over it because I had already read it and knew what was going to happen, but at the same time, it’s one of those you can fly through in a day. It didn’t feel like I wasted time reading it again, but I was so fed up with America. Then again, maybe she is an allegory for America the country, since we are indecisive and irrational a majority of the time.

This is my least favorite of the three books in the series. The writing is good, the story keeps invested, but it all boils down to how cringey America was in this book.

If you have read the first one and are debating giving this a shot, I say go for it. You will want to throw your book across the room in frustration, but, hey, that’s the sign of a good story.

April 14, 2015

Book Review | The Selection

Posted by Lauren in Book Reviews

In preparation for the new release in The Selection series (written by the wonderful Kiera Cass) that is coming out in early May, I decided to reread the existing books in this series and immerse myself in the glimmering world of .

For those of you who are unaware what this series is about, here is a brief synopsis:

The story is set after the fourth World War. The U.S. was taken over and after it was newly named Illea.

Making up the population of Illea are the eight castes, with Ones being the nobility and Eights being the most destitute (basically think the Factionless from Divergent or the people of District 12). Whenever a new prince comes of age, there is a competition that allows the “daughters of Illea” (aka the common folk) a chance to win his heart and the crown.

Reviews have labeled this as The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor, though to me it’s a very small comparison.

Our main character is named America Singer. She’s a Five, which means she is a musician. She is in love with a boy named Aspen Leger, who is a Six. Aspen is very poor and has to do a lot of manual labor to support his very large family. They have been dating in secret for two years and always talk about how they are going to get married one day. When the sign-up for The Selection comes around, Aspen tells America to sign up even though she doesn’t want to. She agrees to make him happy, and then he dumps her. Shortly after America is chosen along with thirty-four other girls to go live in the palace and meet Prince Maxon. America makes it clear to Maxon that she doesn’t want to compete for him, but instead she’ll be his friend and be able to help him lower down the candidates for his future wife.

The cover is beautiful, the story is interesting. Even if you aren’t super girly or interested in the whole princess thing, you would probably still enjoy this. There are a lot of fluff moments, but it’s not too overdone. I would talk a bit more about the characters, but I feel like I might start spoiling it. But if you think this is something you would enjoy, definitely check it out.

April 13, 2015

Classic Corner | The Princess Bride

Posted by Lauren in Classic Corner

I had a little trouble deciding between which classic I wanted to read this month. I was bouncing between books, and while I realize I could have read more than one, I didn’t really have the time to sit down and focus on one book. I wanted something that I knew I could fly through quickly, but still enjoy. The answer was so obvious.

I think we can all agree that The Princess Bride is a classic in its own right so I’m not going to summarize the plot of this particular story. I’ve seen the movie at least a dozen times and found it absolutely hilarious. The book was no exception. If you are a fan of the movie and have not read the book, definitely get yourself a copy.

Archive for April, 2015