The Crown by Kiera Cass

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fantastic ending to the series.

*Warning review may include spoilers for previous books in the series*

If anyone has read any of my other reviews of the Selection Series you’ll know that I’ve always had kind of mixed feelings about it. Of the original Selection trilogy I only really liked the first book in the series as the love triangle drove me slightly insane and I decided that America was possibly the most annoying character ever in the history of the world (ok I may be exaggerating)

I don’t know what convinced me to pick up The Heir (probably the cover) but I found in Eadlyn a much more likeable character (which wouldn’t be difficult) and I loved the flip to the other side of the Selection process. Although possibly I’m just fantasizing about having 35 eligible bachelors competing for my hand in marriage. I found myself completely addicted to the story and I think I read the whole book from start to finish in a few hours.

As it finished on a bit of a cliff hanger (grrr!) I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the Crown. How would it all end? Would Eadlyn finally stop trying to be so perfect and turn into a real person? What would happen to America and Maxon? And, would Eadlyn find a husband from the remaining contenders or walk away from the whole thing?

I have to admit I was kind of hoping she wouldn’t pick anyone and do her own thing even though I know most people had their favourite SHIP.

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Synopsis

The story picks up almost immediately after the Heir with everyone reeling from the big shock at the end. As the king and queen are unable to rule Eadlyn’s forced to temporarily step into the breach and act as monarch. Despite now ruling the country of Illea, having to deal with difficult advisors, keeping the country stable and proving that she is fit to rule, she decides to continue with the selection process in the hopes of garnering the support of her people.

She narrows the contestants down to six but as the country becomes more unsettled and her rule comes under threat she feels she has to choose quickly but the big question is who will she pick and will it be for love or duty?

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Thoughts

I know a lot of reviews have been very critical of Eadlyn but in all honesty I like her a lot as a character and I found her story a lot more interesting and appealing than that of America. I like that she is quite reserved and finds it difficult to open up to people. Given her upbringing and the fact that she’s had it drilled into her since birth that she will be queen and will have to set an example, it’s pretty understandable. While she definitely worries too much about her clothes and what people think about her it’s all because she wants to do a good job and not let anyone down.

I will say that in the Heir she was a little annoying at times but she does definitely soften up a lot in this one particularly when it comes to her boys. She finally starts to open up to them and gets attached to each of them for different reasons although it didn’t feel like there was a lot of romance in the air (I suppose there was a lot of other stuff going on).

The six remaining contestants are possibly the sweetest guys ever and I also got very attached to all of them although it seemed like they were more friends to Eady than romantic interests. I kind of liked that there was a bit less romance in this book but it made it pretty much impossible to work out which way she would go and how it would all end.

In terms of who she eventually picks, I fully supported her choice. There had been hints of it coming throughout the Heir so while I did think her sudden realization was a bit too sudden (hinting around this is driving me nuts) I did believe it.

While overall I enjoyed the story it wasn’t perfect and there were a couple of things that niggled at me. I felt like there was a little bit of stereotyping going on, not enough development of some of the secondary characters and some slightly odd behaviour at times. Despite these niggles however I will say that Kiera Cass knows how to write and I found I couldn’t put it down. It’s easy and it’s completely addictive.

It would have been nice to get a bit more of an epilogue as I want to know where they all end up but I think it finished the series off really well.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the book in exchange for an honest review. The Crown is available now.