Review--The Elite

On Monday I gushed over the cover of The Selection (oh yeah, and I reviewed the book, too!).  Today I'm reviewing the sequel, The Elite, by Kiera Cass.  As would be expected, it also has a beautiful cover:

 

A lovely layered red dress...

• Book 2 in The Selection series
• Dystopian 

*You should to read The Selection before reading this book!
 
The Gist:
Prince Maxon has narrowed down his list of 35 girls (all competing to be his queen) to 6.  These are the Elite, and one of them will become the new princess.  Our main character, America, struggles through her feelings for both Maxon and Aspen.  She also struggles with learning how to be a princess in the midst of fighting with fellow contestant Celeste and surviving rebel attacks.  And even though Maxon seems to like America the most, that might not be enough to make her the winning girl...

What I Loved:

• America has an interaction with the rebels, particularly a female rebel that curtsies at America, laughs, and then leaves.  This is really our first glimpse at the rebels and I enjoyed seeing this side of them.  This rebel girl (who was actually one of my favorite characters) makes me want to know more about them!
• The rebel situation is completely from the Palace's point of view right now, which is atypical in young adult dystopian.  Normally we see everything from the rebels' points of view.  Again, this makes me curious to know more about them.
• America is a weak girl at times, which I appreciate.  Sometimes dystopian protagonists are too kick-butt, but America has definite flaws.

What I Didn't Love:

• American flip flops between "I love Maxon" and "I love Aspen" all the time!  This makes me as the reader constantly flipping, too--and I was even flipping back and forth on whether or not I liked America herself.
• America's big presentation toward the end of the book was pretty predictable, and her regretting it right away made it just seem pointless.
• Security at the Palace STINKS!  I mentioned this in Monday's review, too, but goodness gracious--get some soldiers who can hold them back!  You'd think security would be at its top performance after all the attacks they're getting.
• America and Maxon's relationship, especially their final few conversations, is so confusing.  And part of this is because Maxon rarely takes responsibility for what's going wrong with them.

My favorite quote: "How am I supposed to go back to khakis after all this?"

 

Overall an entertaining read but I have to admit--I wanted so much more from it!  Excited to read the third book, which comes out in 2014!