The Heir (The Selection, # 4)
By: Kiera Cass
Published: May 5th 2015 by HarperTeen
346 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Source: Borrowed from library
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Goodreads description--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.
I wasn't sure exactly how to feel when I came to the end of The One and found out that there would be two more books added to the end of the series. Sometimes I'm so excited and happy to see a series continued and other times I just think a good thing should be left alone. I fell more into the latter category when it came to this series. I wasn't sure I wanted to read another Selection for America and Maxon's daughter. But it turns out that I was wrong. Another thing that started off as a negative for me with The Heir is that I'd listened to the first three books on audio, but now as a stay at home mom, I haven't quite figured out how to work audiobooks in. It was easy when I had an 8 hour a day job with a 30 minute commute in one direction. So I ended up actually reading The Heir instead of listening to it, and I think that ended up being a pro for the book instead of a con.
Here's what the description doesn't tell you. Eadlyn is going to take over the crown from her father one day. She will rule the country. But right now unrest is spreading throughout the nation. Even though her father abolished the castes, citizens are finding it hard to adapt. Maxon and America think that a Selection where Eadlyn finds a husband will be just the positive distraction that the country needs while they figure out how to work out the issues the country's having. The problem is that Eadlyn wants nothing to do with the Selection. She truly wants nothing to do with marriage at all. She doesn't think she needs anyone to help her run the country. Yet she agrees to go through the motions of the Selection. What she doesn't expect is that the country can easily read through her insincerity and the Selection begins to do more harm than good. Unless Eadlyn can find a way to take the Selection seriously. What she also doesn't expect is that she's beginning to find that she cares about the contestants. All of them. And I don't mean romantically. She just genuinely begins to care about them all as friends...and maybe one or two a bit more than that.
Eadlyn comes off as a character that could easily be unlikeable. Her aversion to marriage is something that I personally cannot connect to. She's grown up being waited on constantly, and even though she values her maid, you can tell that she doesn't quite consider herself on an equal level. It's part of how she was raised to always be preparing for becoming queen. She treats others around her often as if they're beneath her and only there to do her bidding. What kept that from bothering me too terribly much was that I didn't get the impression that she realized she was doing this or really meant to most of the time. I think she just needs a wake up call to realize how she treats others isn't winning her any affection (from the reader or other characters in the book). She's also not very nice to many of the Selected. I rolled my eyes at her a few times, but I never really got too frustrated with her.
The Heir does end in a cliffhanger. I'm not sure why I didn't expect this as I knew there was a fifth book being released. But for some reason it caught me off guard. I knew that I was nearing the end percentage wise while reading, and I kept thinking that there was way too much to wrap up in the percentage that I had left. But I still found myself not really expecting that cliffy. Without giving too much away, we ended with Eadlyn commenting that she knew which Selected she needed to focus her attention on, but we're not told. There were three potential candidates in my opinion and one that I am rooting for in particular, but I truly wouldn't be surprised if Eadlyn and Kiera Cass go in a completely different direction.
All in all, I ended up reading The Heir rather quickly. And even though I felt like Eadlyn could easily be a disliked character, I didn't struggle with her too much. I'm looking forward to seeing who she ends up picking and how things play out in The Crown. The Heir gets 4 Stars. Have you read The Heir? What did you think? Let me know!
