The Crown by Kiera Cass

Summary from Goodreads:

When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

Summary:

I have to admit: I was more than a little disappointed with this last installment. I kind of devoured The Selection series. I also rather enjoyed The Heir. You don’t really read these books because the dytopian/fantasy elements are awesome. You read them because the romance is spot-on and the idea for the Bachelor-type setting for it all is just so addicting. I own up to this fact. That being said, I used to like the side elements of the dystopian world. And I liked that there was some serious stuff happening in the background.

This book was lacking in all things serious. But, also, it just kind of felt like the author took every moment she could to fill in space with cheesy lessons or morals learned. There were cheesy moments with the king and queen acting like a retired couple. There were cheesy moments with side characters who were misunderstood. There were cheesy moments where Eadlyn had to realize so many things. And I guess these books were always a little cheesy, but this one seemed a little overkill for me. Or maybe it’s only now bothering me? Or maybe there were just too many morals for my liking. Moral overload.

I did still enjoyed the romance. I like who Eadlyn ended up with, though it felt a tad bit forced (aka: there were no hints of this earlier in the series). It felt a little bit like the author didn’t know who she was going to pick until she wrote it. And that isn’t terrible. I just like things to be backed up in fact/emotional moments and I was lacking that a little. I do like the guy. And I can see things ending successfully for them.

I also love how the stories end for some of the other guys. There’s another moment that surprised me in regards to two of the selection’s sexuality. And I loved that for the most part, the guys all left amicably. How can there be sore feelings in a book made up of morals and lessons learned?

I clearly didn’t love this book, but I also didn’t hate it. It made for good airplane reading on my way to visit my mom in Chicago. But did this side series need to happen? Probably not. Will I still read books by this author? Absolutely. I give this one a 6/10.