The Crown (The Selection #5)
By Kiera Cass
Average Rating: 4.00
When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.
Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.
I couldn’t be more disappointed. I practically skimmed that novel, and was hardly engaged AT ALL. I’m not happy with the ending. Nope. Not a satisfied fangirl. It was RUSHED. It came out of no where. And no matter how happy I am for Eadlyn for following her heart, and defying Marid, I can’t be satisfied with this book.
I’m so confused at how crappy the writing was; it was bland and lacked the normal Cass sparkle I’m used to. I wasn’t expecting this from her. I’m not over how slow this novel moved at. Reading The Heir, it was exciting and fresh but The Crown is the very example of a crash and burn. I’m shaking my head in disappointment. I wasted two hours of reading while I should have been studying. It would have been worth it if the novel was good, but it wasn’t.
NONE OF IT MADE SENSE!! The ending, Eadlyn’s decisions regarding her Selection (okay, some decisions), and the absolute rush of everything. NOT TO MENTION THAT THAT EPILOGUE SUCKED. What WAS that, by the way?!? That was pathetic!! Also, how Eadlyn chose her fiancé?! (She made a decision in 400 pages. 400. NOT ENOUGH TIME, BUDDY!!) On the other hand, I wouldn’t be able to endure another book in the extra Selection series, so I guess 400 pages is enough..no, it was 400 pages too much. UGH. This book gets me so frustrated. You should have seen my rant to my friends; I feel so sorry for them. I was an angry ball of disappointment.
I clutched my chest, feeling my heart racing. “You treacherous, treacherous thing. What have you done?”
Okay, Eadlyn’s fiancé, because yes, Eadlyn makes a decision, and yes, apparently she’s SO-IN-LOVE, SHE CAN’T HANDLE IT. I would have no problem with her decision if I didn’t think it was completely unrealistic, and waaay too abrupt. I would have liked to have more of a lead up, a development of some sort where the two characters explore their feelings and not throw themselves head first into the fastest fling I’ve ever seen known to mankind. Geez. In my opinion, there wasn’t enough of it for me to be convinced that they loved each other. Furthermore, there wasn’t enough chemistry between the characters to give them a nice, smooth transition from friends to lovers.
Then, a whole new secondary character just shows up out of no where and ruins everything for Eadlyn. Just poof. Out of thin air, we suddenly have a character that jeopardizes Eadlyn’s image as Queen regent, and her eventual ascent to the throne. Guys, I’m talking about a full on, win-or-lose situation. It was blown out of proportion and overly dramatic. Again, especially with this new plot “addition”, it seemed like a last attempt to give the novel a plot, because yes, this novel has NO plot. Out of the blue, no warning. Just bam! Here’s a plot that I’m just going to shove in so this novel isn’t boring as hell!
No, thank you. Please try again.
On a better note, I loved Eadlyn’s character development, and there are significant, awesome, life-changing (other than her romance which irks me to no end) events that happen to her. I’m so so proud of her. Her leadership and willingness to rule is what makes this book shine. I could see she was ready to take on the crown (see the title significance?? 😉 ) and I was ready for her to take the crown. Her literary voice was really well done (so, I guess Cass’ writing isn’t completely crappy but it still is for the most part). Then, she does some serious selfless things that just makes me feel like a proud mom. (How can I be a proud mom? Who knows. You get my drift; I’m a proud book mom.) Eadlyn has come a very long way from that spoiled brat I met in The Heir to this independent, compassionate young woman in The Crown.
“Need I remind you that this Selection was your idea?”
She sighed.
“Listen to your daughter,” Dad said. “Very smart girl. Gets it from me.”
“Don’t you want some more sleep?” she asked flatly.
“No, I’m feeling very refreshed,” he said. I wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to continue the conversation or if he felt he needed to keep his attention on Mom. Either way, he was clearly lying.
“Dad, you look like death punched you in the face.”
“You must get that from me, too.”
“Dad!”
Another good thing about this book: America and Maxon are the best parents!! *sigh* Like just the feels from the original Selection novels are still at full-front, pumping strong. Scenes with them made me laugh and brought pure joy to my experience. The Heir and The Crown really contrast the original trilogy and honestly, it made me love them even more. Like always, the originals are much much better than the spin-off series. I just love America and Maxon. ❤
The Heir left me satisfied enough that I had high expectations for this hyped-up conclusion to Eadlyn’s story. I do believe it is this novel that made The Heir not as good for me because The Heir was entertaining, I enjoyed myself and I do like it better than this novel, but it just doesn’t appeal to me as it did when I read it over a year ago. It’s funny how one poor novel can affect the previous novels… Well, it did for me anyway and that just sucks.
To conclude, the plot, the ending and the epilogue sucked and I’m utterly disappointed. The romance was poor and I couldn’t stand it. It was unrealistic, hasty and lacked chemistry. I will now reread the other Selection novels because they cannot compare, and I need an America and Maxon fix. (Now, that is a heart-stopping love story.) However, Eadlyn experienced some crucial growth, and I applaud the author for that. I still love the Selected Men and their relationship with Eadlyn, and I’m still a fan of the novels…but just the trilogy.
The Crown is a novel that fans will read because they can’t just not not read the final Selection novel. In my opinion, they will find themselves extremely unsatisfied. Prepare yourselves to be majorly sad and frustrated.
Keep calm and read on,
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