The Elite by Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection, #2
# of Pages: 336
Publication: April 23rd, 2013
Source: Library Audibook
Genre: Dystopian/Fantasy
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The Selection began with thirty-five girls. Now with the group narrowed down to the six Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon's heart is fiercer than ever—and America is still struggling to decide where her heart truly lies. Is it with Maxon, who could make her life a fairy tale? Or with her first love, Aspen? America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America's chance to choose is about to slip away.

*Please keep in mind that this is the second book of the series so their may be some spoilers.

As the second installment of the Selection series, I found the Elite to mimic some of the same aspects of The Selection. America still couldn’t decide whether she wanted to be with Aspen and Maxon which really annoyed me. The love triangle of this book really isn’t needed when it’s all said and done. I think it was added in an attempt to make the book interesting. However, by the end of this novel, I didn’t really believe that Aspen served a purpose. The story would be the same with or without him. With that being said, the angst is definitely a part of this series that I don’t like. I thought I would enjoy it; however, the love triangle kind of ruined the “love” aspect of this book for me. What I did enjoy was the background information related to the world building. The reader receives the opportunity to learn so much about the world of Illea. There is a lot of historical information that makes you question the purpose of the caste system.

For some reason I had more respect for Maxon in this book. In the first one, he annoyed me and appeared to have no depth; however, in this book a lot was revealed about his personality and the relationship that he shares with his mother and father. By the end of the book I thought his actions were commendable and my heart went out to everything that he struggled with as a prince and the “prize” of the selection. Even though the selection is hard on the chosen girls, I found that the selection process is also hard on Maxon. He doesn’t exactly know who to trust. A lot of the girls could appear to love him; however, he always has to take into consideration that they would have their own motives, dreams, and ambitions. Some are looking for love while others may simply be looking for a crown. I also believe it took a lot of courage for him to shut down the bullcrap of America’s indecisiveness. He, like any other human being in their right mind, would not want to put up with the fact that America wanted to keep everyone on a leash until she made a decision about what she wanted.

Beside America’s indecisiveness this book was okay. I enjoyed it as much as the first novel and I’m still interested in learning more about the history of Illea and the caste system. The book definitely ended on an interesting note. If you looking for a quick read than I would definitely recommend this series.