The Heir/The Crown Review

I don’t not five my final rose to the final two books in The Selection series.

The Heir and The Crown by Kiera Cass take place years after the first three books in The Selection series and follow the daughter of America and Prince Maxon. The main character, Princess Eadlyn, finds herself up against a public enraged over discrimination based on former castes, her inexperience in the political arena, and her brash and somewhat cold-hearted personality. To quell the riots and earn more public favor, Eadlyn’s parents force her into her own selection.

I was definitely hesitant to pick up the final two books in The Selection series. I heard many negative reviews about these two books, mostly that they were more on their own duology, weren’t as fun as the original books, and the main character was more unbearable than America Singer. Despite my hesitations, I decided to read these two books anyway and found myself with mixed opinion.

First, I have to agree that The Heir and The Crown are more of a duology than a part of the first three books in the series. Even though we do see the characters from the first three books, there aren’t any major revelations in their stories. As for these two books, I would give them three stars as a whole, my same rating as the first three books of the series, but would give the books different ratings individually. While I really enjoyed The Heir, I really didn’t like The Crown or how it wrapped up the story, which I will describe more later.

For the main character in The Heir and The Crown, you will either love her or hate her. Eadlyn is a very strong character, but she is also very cold and blocked off, which makes it more difficult to get to know her as a character. I actually preferred Eadlyn more in The Heir because her personality seemed more inconsistent in The Crown, especially at the end. Throughout the series, Eadlyn grows somewhat as a character by becoming more sensitive to needs of the people outside the palace. On aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was I felt the unrest outside of the palace was more realistic and in depth than the whole North and South subplot within the first three books.

Similar to the first book in The Selection series, I felt the author tried to make a statement, but missed many opportunities by not completely fleshing out ideas. Since Eadlyn is a young woman, there are many people who question her authority. Additionally, Kiera Cass brings up several other relevant social issues that could have really made a statement in the novel. Instead of really making an impact with these moments and having Eadlyn really struggle as a leader to sort them out, everything was solved with the snap of Eadlyn’s fingers. Especially at the end where Eadlyn changes the country’s entire system of government, it seemed unrealistic that everyone in the kingdom would accept it without a thought when they were so critical of her moments earlier.

However, I think my greatest problem with this book was the whole romance plot surrounding Eadlyn. I hadn’t been so mad at the end of a book since I read Allegiant. Since The Selections series really hinges on the romance aspect of the book, the ending of Eadlyn’s story really left a sour taste in my mouth. *WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.* Whenever I read a story, I hate when something occurs 75% through the final book that completely changes the entire story line. I never thought Eadlyn would end up with a character that wasn’t even in the Selection in the first place. I realize the author is trying to make a statement and do something different than the first book, but I couldn’t help but feel cheated after feeling so invested in other love interests from the first book and the majority of the second book. Since I never really got to know who Eadlyn even ended up with, I never cared about their relationship.

Overall, The Heir and The Selection aren’t extremely necessary to read if you’re already satisfied with the ending from the first three books in the series. While I enjoyed The Heir, I extremely disliked The Crown which left a bad taste in my mouth for the series as a whole. I give The Heir four stars and The Crown two stars.

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