The Elite - Review

The Elite (The Selection, # 2)

By: Kiera Cass

Published: April 23rd 2013 by HarperTeen (first published 2013)

336 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Fantasy

Source: Borrowed from Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--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.

Oh boy, you guys. This book was a bit of a roller coaster for me. I enjoyed The Selection more than I expected to, and so I guess I started The Elite with slightly higher expectations. The Selection of girls for Prince Maxon to choose between has been narrowed from 35 down to 6. America is still one of the 6 and still Maxon’s favorite. Yet the sudden reappearance of Aspen, America’s first love, at the end of The Selection has messed with her mind. Now she doesn’t know what she wants. And the back and forth between her desire for both guys throughout The Elite really frustrated me. I knew who I was rooting for, but the back and forth was too much. It got to the point where I asked my friend Paula to just tell me who she ends up with. And I NEVER ask for spoilers. I just needed to be off that see-saw.

Speaking of the see-saw, America was a bit of a see-saw herself. She tends toward the dramatic, especially when upset. And the one event where a citizen had to be punished for breaking the law was quite ridiculous. I mean maybe I’m watching through the eyes of someone who knows history—whereas America really doesn’t--but punishment over the years has included a wide variety of things. Hangings and beheadings weren’t out of the realm of possibility in my mind, so 15 lashes really didn’t seem so harsh to me. But you would have thought America just witnessed the firing squad with the way she reacted. Child please.

America also has a tendency toward selfishness and hypocrisy. She took for granted her position as Maxon’s favorite, and when he began to really show attention toward the other remaining girls she basically throws a jealous tantrum. What did she expect? And she couldn’t really be all of that upset considering she's had a few make out sessions with Aspen herself. Of course, she does kind of realize this and towards the end she did seem to think more about what was good for Maxon. But still. It was difficult to read these sections.

This was just a slight annoyance, but one of the biggest conflicts in The Elite revolved around whether or not America would actually make a good princess/queen. This felt so off to me. I thought she really made the best candidate based off the skillset of remaining calm, thinking with a rational head, and even giving a few orders during the rebel raids during The Selection. The other girls really just seemed to panic. Granted, these aren’t the only scenarios that America will face as princess or queen, but I felt like she wasn’t given enough credit in The Elite for her abilities to handle the position. Whether she wants the “job” or not is a different story.

The politics with the rebels was on the rise with The Elite so I expect this to take on more of a role in The One also. I’m not annoyed, but I’m not exactly happy with this either. I don’t know why we can’t have books about cultures that are different than ours without there being some major political reformation that turns society in more of the direction that we currently have. Sometimes I just want to read about something different for the sake of it being different and not turn into something political or revolutionary. Life hasn’t always been the way that it is now. And while things are always changing, who’s to say that the way society is now is exactly ideal?

Favorite quote:

-“Give me a chance to choose you.”

I really feel like this review is coming off as more negative than I felt towards the book. I had a few annoyances that I needed to address, but really once I moved past the major dramatic part closer to the beginning the more I was able to enjoy it. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that I have a solid answer on some of the questions (like who to root for) that plagued me. I didn’t enjoy The Elite as much as The Selection, but I am looking forward to seeing what happens next in The One. The Elite gets 3.5 Stars from me. Have you read The Elite? What did you think? Let me know!

Sunday Post - 160 & Stacking the Shelves - 115

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~ It's a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

This week was eventful. Monday, Husband and I went to have a 4D Ultrasound of our little girl! That is one of the absolute coolest things ever. She was face down and we couldn't get a good picture of her (except her feet and hands) for the first ten minutes, and I was starting to resign myself that we just wouldn't get to see her face. But then the ultrasound tech had me change positions and sure enough she flipped over too and we got some really cool shots. Tuesday, we started birthing classes! AH! It's hard to believe that we're far enough along to be going to classes, but here we are. We also did some browsing for a glider/rocker/recliner. Our intentions were to put it in the nursery, but that room is so small that it will probably end up going in the living room. Thursday, I baked a cake for a co-worker's birthday and took it to work on Friday. Saturday was mostly spent cleaning house, vacuuming the pool, and floating around.

THIS PAST WEEK:

Monday: Review of Chasing Impossible (Pushing the Limits, # 5) by Katie McGarry (3.5 Stars)
Tuesday: Top Ten Fairy Tale Retellings
Wednesday: Waiting on Banished (Forbidden, # 2) by Kimberley Griffiths Little
Thursday: Review of The Selection (The Selection, # 1) by Kiera Cass (4 Stars)
Saturday: Discussions Only We Know: Blogging Manifesto

UPCOMING THIS WEEK:

Monday: Review of The Elite (The Selection, # 2) by Kiera Cass
Tuesday: Top Ten Authors I've Read the Most
Wednesday: Waiting on Wednesday
Thursday: Review of All Played Out (Rusk University, # 3) by Cora Carmack

Don’t forget to sign up for the 2015 Series Enders Reading Challenge! You have until December 15, 2015 to sign up. Each month there will be a giveaway for those participating with an end of the year giveaway too! Click on the picture below or the link above to find out more!

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

The One (The Selection, # 3)

By: Kiera Cass

Published: May 6th 2014 by HarperTeen

323 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Fantasy

Source: Borrowed from the library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The time has come for one winner to be crowned.

When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

That's it for my shelves and recaps of my past and upcoming week. What did you add to your shelves this week? Any bookish news you want to talk about? Let me know!

Discussions Only We Know: Blogging Manifesto

Discussions Only We Know

Blogging Manifesto

A commenter suggested I do a post like this several years ago, and I've had the plans in the back of my mind for a long time. I typed my first draft of this post on May 4th and just haven't gotten around to scheduling it to post until now. This is a post that I'm really writing for myself chronicling why I started blogging so that I can always remember.

I know I've addressed the how and why I started blogging in prior years that I participated in Armchair BEA. But essentially, here's the deal. Four years ago, I was finally finishing up with college--ugh that took forever--and I was finding myself in a place where I could finally read without feeling guilty for needing to do school work. But what I also found was that while I have several real life friends who like to read--and most of them even like to read the same stuff that I do--they read at a different pace than I do. We don't all have the same amount of time to read. For some of them it's lower on the priority list which is totally fine. But I wanted some way to chronicle the books that I was reading, what I thought about them, and how they made me feel so that when they came around asking for recommendations, I would have the perfect source to point them to.

Husband suggested I start a blog, but I blew the idea off for a long time. Yet the more I let the idea sit with me the better it sounded. And thus my blog was formed.

When I first started blogging, I just wanted to review the books I was reading. I wanted my friends to be able to see which books I've read, what I thought about them, and which ones I would recommend for them to read. It was almost a year before I even started telling people--other than my immediate reading friends--I had a blog.

Soon after I started telling people I became immersed within the book blogging community. I became aware of these things called ARCs, advance reader copies, and the idea of getting to read books before they're even published was so tempting to me. But I saw post after post that said publishers want to see you post regularly before they will approve you for ARCs or galleys. And so that's when I started participating in memes.

Eventually, I developed the thought that more followers = better blog. And it’s true that again, some publishers won’t approve review copies for blogs with only a few followers. But over time I've come to think that more followers doesn’t exactly equal a better blog. I've seen blogs with 2000+ followers that don't meet my own opinions of what constitutes a "good" blog. And I've seen blogs with less than 100 followers that I consider high quality. Despite hearing other bloggers who have been doing this longer than me say, "don't worry about the numbers," I still worried about the numbers. And sometimes I still do.

Beyond that, sometimes a book comes up that becomes so overwhelmingly popular. There’s a temptation I feel to try to read all of the books and especially the ones that everyone else seems to love. Sometimes it’s a book that sounds interesting to me, and I add it to my TBR list. Other times, I know my reading preferences fairly well enough at this point that I don’t even bother adding it to my wish list if it doesn’t fit my preferences no matter how much others have raved about it and try to force it on me.

But worrying about the numbers, trying to impress publishers, participating in memes, reading the books that other people think I should read, all of this...this isn't the reason why I started the blog. And all of this won't be what I fall back onto to maintain my interests in blogging if I fall into a blogging slump. What's going to keep me blogging is remembering why I started in the first place.

I started this because I love to read (the books I want to read) and I love to talk about the stories and the places that I can go only through books. Places, characters, things I wouldn't experience were it not for the world of books.

I get to fall in love a million times over. With a vampire, a werewolf, a faerie, a faerie king, a faerie prince, Death, an alien, an Amish boy, my teacher, a dragon, an angel, a demon, a shadowhunter, a nephilim, a boxer, a tattooed up guy with issues, a duke, a prince, a wizard, a cop, a grocery store clerk, a guy with cancer, a childhood friend, my best friend, a rock star, a troll, a guitar player, a furniture maker, a guy who can't speak, a thief, a graffiti artist, a part human part machine, a guy who loves horses, a guy who saves my life, a guy who solves murders, a military man, a farmer, a kitsune, and more.

I get to be a wizard, a vampire, on the run from zombies, half-vampire, queen, shadowhunter, witch, faerie, bounty hunter, a killer, a healer, immortal, dying, rich, poor, werewolf, angel, succubus, shy, bold, alien, survivor of cancer, victim of cancer, a reformed prostitute, princess, elf, demon, warlock, scientist, mother, mermaid, monster, chimera, shapeshifter, alchemist, horse racer, ghost seer, brain injured, fearless, a psychic, a seer, a dwarf, a pilot, a spy, a pianist, a singer, kidnapped, a dragon, the mother of dragons, a cyborg, hunted, an assassin, an actress, an audible, and dead.

I get to drive a flying car, ride on a broomstick, watch my parents die, fight an evil wizard, carry a precious ring into the fires of Mt. Doom, fight demons, fight vampires, cast spells, play football with the guys, save the world from eternal darkness, help a friend recover a lost memory, help an angel get back his wings, overcome a drug addiction, go to jail, participate in a protest, learn magic, have a baby, have a miscarriage, train for a marathon, start a riot, become a fugitive, live in Australia, go through a portal, be an uncover FBI agent, be a teenage boy, live on Mars, hunt down fugitives, lose my memory, learn to surf, go dogsledding, travel to Paris, go to boarding school, crash onto an unknown planet, search for an undead king, befriend a ghost, time travel, die in a car accident, survive a serial killer, write fanfiction, and so on and so on.

So when I find myself: overwhelmed with pressure to post daily, tempted to compare my blog to others, drowning in the numbers, letting envy over an ARC I didn’t receive get the better of me, beating myself up with missed deadlines, forcing myself to read something I’m not enjoying, or worried what others will think of me because I’m not even interested in checking out that popular book…I’m going to remember where it all started: a love for reading the type of books that I enjoy and a desire to share a really good book with my friends and family who I think would enjoy it as well. There’s nothing more to it than that. And that’s what I’m going to come back to time and time again. That’s what will keep me reading and keep me blogging.

Reading for me. Blogging for me.

*Feel free to comment should you feel like it, but this post was more for me than to really inspire discussion.

The Selection - Review

The Selection (The Selection, # 1)

By: Kiera Cass

Published: April 24th 2012 by HarperTeen (first published January 1st 2012)

336 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Fantasy

Source: Borrowed from Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

The Selection received a lot of hype back when it was first released. The more hype I saw the more interested I was in reading this book—especially after my friend Paula enjoyed it so much. However, we all know that hype isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes our expectations get too high. So I tried to go into this book expecting to vaguely like it and hoping to be impressed beyond that. I briefly saw mention on a Goodreads review a reference to Kiera Cass’s behavior but there were no details so I have no idea what that’s about, and I don’t think I want to know either. I just wanted to mention that my opinion of the book is in no way influenced by anything other than my experience. And I have to say, I was highly impressed.

Let me start out by saying that there were some flaws. One of the biggest conflicts of the book (and series maybe?) was glaringly obvious from the very beginning. The book description tells us that being chosen for The Selection wasn’t something America wanted. She wanted to find a way to marry her secret boyfriend, Aspen. Yet, she had no idea that she would end up with a connection to Maxon like she does and so we’ve obviously got a triangle in the making. Love triangles don’t bother me, but train wrecks do. And this love triangle is heading for one big train wreck. Plus the conflict with Celeste (another of The Selection candidates) seems like it could be handled so easily and I hate when that happens. I believe those were my main two gripes.

Let’s talk about the world for a bit before I get into what I did like. The country is set up in a caste system of numbers. Royals and family are 1s. The extremely wealthy are 2s. And it goes down from there. We don’t know much about the jobs for every caste, just a few specific ones. 2s seemed to be celebrity types—models, actors, etc. 4s were mentioned to be teachers. 5s (America’s caste) were all about the arts, music, painting, sculpting, dance, etc. 6s were the serving class. 8s were homeless. And apparently there are some citizens that don’t even qualify as 8s. Where princesses of the Royal family are usually married off to sons of foreign diplomats to secure alliances, princes are married to one of the women from the nation to ensure patriotism and all of that jazz—to help stabilize the nation within itself. Enter The Selection. All teenage girls between the ages of 16 and 18 were eligible to enter The Selection. 35 girls are chosen for The Selection, go through a makeover process, and sent to live in the castle for the prince to eliminate or keep based on his connection with them. Not all, but parts of The Selection and life at the castle are filmed and aired to the country.

At the beginning of The Selection, America and Aspen have been seeing each other secretly for roughly two years. America is a 5 and Aspen is a 6. It is possible for citizens to move castes, but there’s a lot of paperwork associated and a marriage between the two would mean that America descends to 6 and not the other way around. Dropping to a 6 means that America’s life will get harder. She’ll have to work harder, leave her beloved music behind (for the most part), and possibly go hungry. She has the potential to go hungry even as a 5, but as a 6, she’ll likely never really feel full. Aspen doesn’t want this for her. He can’t see himself bringing her down to his level and so he talks her into applying for The Selection. She agrees only to appease him never dreaming that she’d get chosen for real.

I could see it. Truly I could. I didn’t think the caste issues were beyond being able to work out between Aspen and America, but I could also understand how Aspen would have a hard time making America’s life more difficult than it already was. And truthfully, I kind of respected him for that. Not necessarily the way he handled things before she left, but I could respect his desire to provide a better life for America. And America goes into The Selection process wanting nothing to do with Prince Maxon, nothing to do with the crown or potentially being the country’s future queen. She only wants the check that’s going to her parents for her involvement. But what she doesn’t expect is that Prince Maxon isn’t what she thought he would be. She still doesn’t care about the fancy dresses or jewels. But she does begin to see how Maxon cares about his country, he cares about choosing a bride that’s right for him, and he even cares about her.

America and Maxon start out as friends. She’s open with him about her motives for being there and offers to help him make his selection by being his friend and confidante. I believe America’s honesty and the fact that she doesn’t want anything from Maxon really allows him to be more relaxed and open with her and in turn actually find her appealing. One of those want-what-you-can’t-have kind of things. America tells Maxon about her broken heart and he helps her through it. And she begins to heal. This is why I found myself rooting for these two. The relationship that starts out as a friendship. The progress made in moving forward. The mutual respect and admiration for each other’s personalities and characteristics. And the belief that not only does Maxon truly care about America the most out of the other girls there, but that America might truly be the best qualified person for the job of future queen.

Favorite quote:

-“It’s hard to get a hug wrong.”

There were other things I thought were positives about The Selection, and I’m sure that there might have been a few other negatives. Overall, I was surprised and impressed with the depth of this story. I didn’t love the obvious conflict between America, Maxon, and Aspen. I wanted to pop America in the head a good bit there at the end, but conflict must go on so that the story can as well. I did really enjoy the development between Maxon and America and how she slowly changed from wanting nothing to do with The Selection to very much being involved and invested in the outcome. The Selection gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read The Selection? What did you think? Let me know!

Waiting on Banished

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Banished (Forbidden, # 2)

By: Kimberley Griffiths Little

Expected Publication: February 2nd 2016 by Harpercollins

416 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--She thought she’d lost everything . . .

After spending months traveling the harsh, unforgiving Mesopotamian desert, Jayden reunites with a broken, injured Kadesh. Although everyone was convinced the violent and unpredictable Horeb, Jayden’s betrothed, killed the handsome prince, Jayden knew in her heart that her love was alive and safe. But their reunion is short-lived, as they learn Horeb is on their trail and determined to take back the girl he has claimed. Soon, the two star-crossed lovers are on the run toward Sariba, Kadesh’s homeland, where, as heir to the Kingdom, he plans to make Jayden his princess.

But the trek to Sariba is fraught with heartache and danger. After narrowly escaping being stoned to death for a crime she didn’t commit, and learning that her sister has disappeared, Jayden’s only solace is her love for Kadesh. But even he is keeping secrets from her . . . secrets that will change everything.

This gorgeous and enchanting sequel to Forbidden, is full of love, danger, and heated passion that will leave readers breathless.

I enjoyed Forbidden more than I expected. I can't wait to see what happens next. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!