The Heir by Kiera Cass
Rating: 3.5 stars
Source: Library
Buy the Book: Amazon
Summary: "Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible.
But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.
Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought."
Review: This book starts a new story line twenty years after the events of the last book, but I feel like no time has passed at all. This story commences a new Selection at the palace with Princess Eadlyn, and we are thrust into the drama alongside her. Reading this book I was very much entertained, and felt like this Selection is what I wish the TV show The Bachelorette was: fun and funny and endearing and light. (The TV show is much trashier than the courtly Selection. The King and Queen would never put up with that shenanigans in the palace.)
The biggest question I've received about this book is how it's different from the previous three books. And, honestly, other than starring a new protagonist, it's really not much different at all. There are still plot holes. There is still a lot of angst. All the issues outside who will marry whom are not treated with nearly enough attention. But all the good from the previous books are still to be found here as well: namely, that it's just so bloody entertaining that I'll read it anyway.
I find I have very little to say about this series than I have already said in my past reviews (here, here, and here). It is a light, fun series, and I've enjoyed getting lost in this fluff for a few hours. My largest complaint is that this book ends very abruptly. There's no real rising action, climax, and denouement. The book just ends, suddenly and without warning, in the middle of everything that's going on. It's not so much a cliff-hanger as a head-scratcher. I mean, it just doesn't make any sense to end the book there. That poorly-chosen "end" spot for this novel left a sour taste in my mouth, and I wish I had waited until all the books were released before picking up this one. But, alas. C'est la vie.
If you enjoyed The Selection then I'd read this book. Considering that they're extremely similar, if you liked one, you should like the other. If The Selection didn't do it for you, then skip this one.
Review in a GIF:
Bottom Line: Perfectly adequate. This book was exactly what I thought it would be: entertaining and light and completely without closure. I really should have waited until all the books were released before starting to read.
I haven't read any of the Selection books yet. Maybe one day I will to see if I find them as fluffy and entertaining as everyone else. For now I'm good.
ReplyDeleteI think books like these definitely have a spot in the world, and I hope you enjoy them if you read them. But you're not really missing out on anything mind-blowing if you skip it. So no pressure. :)
DeleteOkay, okay, so maybe these books aren't perfect (because let's face it -- they're far from it!) but they're just SO FUN. Keira Cass has a writing style that is just so very easy to read. I must say I wasn't really fond of Eadlyn, but she grew on me by the end.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Eadlyn's need to control everything did get a little tiresome, but Cass is such an entertaining story teller I read the whole thing extremely quickly. Glad you enjoyed as well!
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