The Crown (The Selection) Paperback – August 1, 2017

SPOILERS AHEAD

I'm someone who LOVED The Selection series, and waited impatiently for each book. And while many of my friends/family didn't care for Eadlyn and "The Heir," I loved it! I was heavily rooting for one of the suitors (turns out to be the same one all of Illea was rooting for) loving their fairy tale potential.

Because I love romances where the hero/heroine don't like one another (or as in this case, are openly hostile to one another!) and end up falling in love. And we were well on our way down that path in the first book, with Kile getting kisses and attention and much more from Eadlyn.

Sadly, and I don't know why she did this or what Cass was hoping to accomplish, but it all got blown to hell. After standing close to translator Erik (for useless character Henri that shouldn't have been kept around as long as he was. So ridiculous to imagine that Eadlyn could marry a man she literally couldn't even speak to), in a moment Eadlyn knows SOULMATES ARE REAL and LOVE IS REAL and ERIK IS THE ONE.

Just like that. Boom.

Kile is totally out of the picture (because Eadlyn loves him, but she doesn't love love him) and it felt forced and fake and like it was thrown in as Cass's attempt at PLOT TWIST! It was poorly done and poorly executed and I find myself feeling extremely frustrated and let down. Maybe it was supposed to be an obstacle? With Erik not being part of the Selection? Which would be a dumb reason, because Kile had inherent obstacles and issues built in with his background, family and desires for his future that could have created all sorts of problems they would have had to conquer together.

Another issue is that despite this being a romance at heart, there's not actually any romance. At all. Eadlyn is juggling all her suitors, not having any real or honest feelings for any of them (until that MOMENT with Erik, of course). It's very unlike The Selection where America has to deal with her feelings for her old boyfriend and her potential ones for Maxon. Only two suitors. Which gave us a chance for Maxon and America to fall in love, and for us to see it.

Eadlyn has dozens of potential beaus. As I began this book, it took me a while to remember who was who and why she even liked them (except for Kile). Her attention was spread too thin, and I found her falling in love totally unbelievable and forced and as I've mentioned repeatedly, was very disappointing.

If you liked "The Heir" and were rooting for Kile, I'd suggest not reading this book and pretending it all turned out the way you wanted it to. I wish I had.

OKAY. First of all, I must say that I love this book. It is an amazing way to end an amazing series. BUT DO NOT BUY IT FROM AMAZON. Apparently Kiera Cass made three different versions of the book. This particular one does not contain the last chapter of the book. It goes straight into an epilog. If you buy this book from Barns and Nobles ONLY then you will get the last chapter. But if you are like me and preordered the book you do not get the last chapter that starts "Six Years Later". If you want the full experience you cannot get it from amazon. I found out the hard way and was so very very disappointed. If you buy it from Target then you can get the special addition in "color" book that has amazing fan art... but not the last chapter. This is not amazons fault by the way. It is the publishers fault for breaking up the books in such a bad way. I personally find this very annoying and I believe if you are a fan you will too.

This book was atrocious. It was a literary nightmare and by the end my only question was how could Kiera Cass's editor let her publish this. I pre-ordered this book months ago when I found the series and finished it within a few days. When I began this book, I was a little confused since it picked up right where it left off and books usually have some sort of sly way of making a recap. Some things came back enough to understand the plot, but re-reading the other books wouldn't have made this book any clearer. It's an absolute mess and doesn't even feel like it belongs in series. The writing itself was juvenile and underdeveloped. By the middle, I was absolutely livid that I spent money on this lazy work. The plot was rushed and a villain was included for no reason. It was a awful pick for a villain, too, and undermines work done in the previous books. Every plot point, scene and situation was unbelievably and irritably rushed. This would not qualify as a proper 'end' since the last few pages create a situation that would warrant another book based on everything explained about this fictional universe. That said, another book could not even fix the mess that this book was. It was just SO lazy. Lazy writing, lazy development, lazy plot points, and just a lazy attempt to get this book out and the series over.

*spoilers*
While I have to say I was rooting for Kile, I would have been satisfied with anyone whose development would make sense, but that didn't happen. Erik always made sense as an option, but the way Kiera Cass pursued this left me absolutely unsatisfied. Erik, as written previously, could have been a love interest, but there was nothing ever suggesting they were more than friends. Little hints could have been sprinkled, but there wasn't. The reader makes all the work and predictions for them to be together, because it's an obvious route. They didn't have romantic or sexual tension, but instictively it's obvious that someone not in the selection could have been a possibility. Yet this also meant the reality of the couple was very much tied with the way this book would set it up. It should have been a concrete hint from the absolute get go. Instead, there was a lot more development with Kile culminating to a confession that they liked each other. At this point, it seemed obviously to me that it was OK they weren't in love. It was far too early for that and Edalyn isn't the type of character to suddenly change. She's more of a grows over time type....or so I thought. about 3/4ths into the book, she suddenly decides she's in love with Erik and always has been (WHAT?????). She doesn't just like him, she LOVES him. They kiss and then shortly after she chooses to marry him. (They kind of were one in the same revelations.) Does anyone else see how lazy that is? She has this touching raw moment with Kile and built up moments spanning the previous book and half of this one and then bam all of a sudden it's Erik and it's always been Erik. WTF There isn't even resolution on how the country will react to this or the political upheaval that has been the focus of the main plot of this book. Don't even get me started on Marid. I want to be clear I am not mad Erik was picked, I mad at the way he was picked. He was an obvious option but it was badly done. No build up or growth. Not even much character development. Kile was my first choice because I felt he had more chemistry and made more sense. I loved Henri more than Kile actually, but for Edalyn, Kile was that perfect other half. I could see him as King, but I can't see Erik being at all capable of royalty. It wasn't built into his character. There was no set up for him to be a successful pick and it is frustrating that there was all this groundwork lent to Kile's success but Erik just gets a fifth of a book to kiss and marry. Most of the end was filled with a dialogue between Edalyn and her dad so the couple truly didn't get much time to grow or anything.

I have so many negative feelings about this book, and I really liked the previous ones. It feels so disappointing and leaves me a as a former fan. I don't want to admit to people I use to like this series, because this book was just so badly done. Kiera Cass got so lazy, and I never want to give her my money again. She had one job, and she couldn't even do it right or decent.

Loved loved the 3 Selection books. Was so excited for The Heir and absolutely loved getting to see the selection process from her side of the story. (Getting to do the picking). The Crown was a huge let down. I mean huge. There was no romance throughout the book. Spoiler.... I knew somehow something was going to happen with her and Erik. I kinda hoped he would have been the bad guy somehow, instead of this Marid guy, who was weirdly introduced, which would have led her into realizing it was Kile that she loved all along. Or maybe she could have done something with Josie that made her realized she loved Kile. Just didn't understand this book at all. New characters that we didn't need, and not developing charectors that we were already invested in. Henri-snooze. Sorry, just didn't like it. Can you please write a third Heir book and start with book 2 being a dream!