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The One
The Selection #3

by Kiera Cass

genre: YA, romance, dystopian

Synopsis from Goodreads

the one by kiera cassThe Selection changed America Singer’s life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen—and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she’s made her choice . . . and she’s prepared to fight for the future she wants.

Find out who America will choose in The One, the enchanting, beautifully romantic third book in the Selection series!

Full Review

I love this series so much that it is the one book outside of Harry Potter that I had on pre-order. It only took a few days to read, making me the third person to review it on Goodreads! (Sorry for the tangent, but how cool is that!) Back to the book…

The first 60% or so was an odd blend of boredom and surpassed expectations. From book 1, I was invested in more than just the Selection process. There are rebel attacks and concerns about the characters and country that go beyond The Bachelor style dating that drives most of the plot. It was a five star ending so beautiful, that I first rated it five stars and then changed it to four as I think about the book as a whole. My main problem with The One was that there is plenty of material for a third book. It was almost as though The Selection took on a new life beyond the original plot, but Cass was so stuck in the concept of The Selection that she dragged that part out instead of finishing the Selection and using the rest of the novel to tie up the lose strings, go into the consequences of the Prince’s decision and the general aftermath. That was the boredom part. I was tired of the will-they won’t-they when you know they will. She’s on all of the covers and she’s in a white dress on a book titled “The One.”

However, even at the 60% mark, Cass surpassed my expectations. The characters were beautifully written. Even in the third book, they surprised me, touched my heart, and gave me a deeper understanding into who they were as people. There’s a line in The Fault in Our Stars that debates whether characters continue to live after the book is finished. Good, well written characters do. We know them well enough to imagine endings or rewritten stories. I can’t tell you how many well written Harry-Draco fan fiction pieces I’ve read. That is the type of characters Cass has created. They are 3D; they are alive. They will continue to live in my heart even if I never continue their story or rewrite their endings via fanfic. I wasn’t expecting to feel that for any of the final four except America.

The ending was fantastic. I have to agree with another reviewer that “I cannot imagine a better ending than this one except if it would be longer.” Cass had me doubting my earlier assumptions for just a few pages, enough that I squealed when what I knew would come about did. I also sobbed a little, which may have looked odd to anyone waiting at the stop light with me. I wish I could give it five stars, but there were other books in my 5 star pile that held me captive all of the way through.

I cannot stress how beautiful the ending is. Please don’t give up on it if you’ve already read the first two but the third one isn’t as good to star. I think the ending will make up for it.

4 out of 5 stars

-Eliabeth Hawthorne

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