“The One” (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass

Title: The One
Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperTeen
Year: 2014
Genre(s): romance, young adult, dystopia
Part of a Series: Yes, Book #3 (Reviews for #1 here and #2 here)

Rating: 

Summary: With only four contestants left in The Selection, competition for Maxon gets intense. America finds herself questioning old alliances and forming new ones as she finally decides what her heart wants. But with attacks from rebels increasing and tragedy hitting her family, she finds her world turned upside down and finds the world she wants to fight for – whether she becomes queen or not. Will she get the life she now wants? Or will it all be destroyed?

Review: I debated about that last half moon and decided to leave it off. I think this might be a case of “be careful what you wish for” even though I did ultimately love the book.

So what do I mean? I mean that I thought “The Elite” dragged a bit and that Cass needed to pick up the pace. And she did in “The One” but to the point that I did ultimately want her to slow down. It seemed like everything happened right at the end and then it was over. While there was a build up, it felt like we were somewhat deprived of a full payoff – though what we did get was still a satisfactory ending. I also feel like America was still a little too passive for my liking but she took more action than she did in “The Elite.”

The last thing I’ll mention about my dislikes is that I still felt that the love triangles still went on a bit too long for my liking. I don’t think the will they-won’t they stakes really needed them, especially with all the other forces conspiring to keep them apart.

Cass did a good job in ramping up the stakes. Maxon also took more of a role in this book and showed who he was as a leader. I think both he and America really came into their own, especially for her toward the end, and we got to see more of them as a couple. And while I was always rooting for them, I rooted for them even more – even if I constantly thought Maxon was being a stubborn jerk.

There were two similar twists in the story and while both ultimately made sense, I believe one was set up better than the other. But the twists were good and I enjoyed them. I enjoyed the entire book and thought it was a good finale for the series. Cass created an amazing world and I loved visiting it.

Bottom line: A satisfactory end to a great series.

Sex: None.

Moonlight Musing

What would you be willing to risk for what you believe in?