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lil_13's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Let me start off this review by saying, Kiera Cass I love you books and your writing and in this review I will be focusing on the negative as that is what reviews usually do. Now that that is out of the way. Why? Why, was all I was thinking majority of this book why add so much potential depth to these characters and not elaborate. The last third of the book just felt (and although I do realize it is a YA romance) wayyyy out there. The romance between Silas and Hollis didn’t romance. Although Valentina is a total ba woman and I love her. Jameson was totally gonna use her as an object, but he had the potential to blossom into a kind and loving husband which he was trying to be. I will say the outfit descriptions were ✨chefs kiss✨ Ps. Sorry this review was so chaotic
clowdywings's review against another edition
2.0
*** under further reflection I have lowered the rating down ***
2 -
Most of the book is written Kiera Cass's formula. It reminds me of her "The Selection" series all too much. But then pages 224 on happened and gave the story some much needed variety. For the first section of the book, I would rate it a solid 1.5 stars.
I was quite disappointed in how the royalty acted, politics, etiquette, and in the commentary of the main character.
• Royal actions: The author needed to brush up on her history and read books about and by royalty. That would have made it more bearable.
• Politics: Little to none. If the author would have included more, it would be much more interesting. They were included in such a brief way too. She just really brushed aside worldbuilding in favor to her “story.”
• Etiquette: Little to none. What there is doesn't match the setting. Author needed to do research.
• MC commentary: 100% unneeded. She is rude to everything that she doesn't approve of. People from other countries, foreign clothing, even her own friends. One of the worst parts about this book is this.
I like two things about the main character.
1) Her name, Hollis.
2) After a long while of thinking, I finally decided that her choice to tell people what she did after the crowning ceremony was a good choice.
I don't like the main character Hollis. She's rude, spoiled, and racist. She rubs me the wrong way. The king is little better. The foreigner love interest is sort of interesting, but wasn’t fleshed out enough.
The writing style still needs some work. It is written to middle school girls, even though the content within should probably go for an older age group.
I separated the story into two sections, the first of which being "The Selection" near replica. The second is the new stuff.
Section 1) Fluffy. A lot of times that were pretty pointless in the long run. Hard to get through.
Section 2) Action. The start of character development. Actually interesting and new stuff.
Thanks to the second section, I will be reading the second book. I’m not sure if it will be any better though.
2 -
Most of the book is written Kiera Cass's formula. It reminds me of her "The Selection" series all too much. But then pages 224 on happened and gave the story some much needed variety. For the first section of the book, I would rate it a solid 1.5 stars.
I was quite disappointed in how the royalty acted, politics, etiquette, and in the commentary of the main character.
• Royal actions: The author needed to brush up on her history and read books about and by royalty. That would have made it more bearable.
• Politics: Little to none. If the author would have included more, it would be much more interesting. They were included in such a brief way too. She just really brushed aside worldbuilding in favor to her “story.”
• Etiquette: Little to none. What there is doesn't match the setting. Author needed to do research.
• MC commentary: 100% unneeded. She is rude to everything that she doesn't approve of. People from other countries, foreign clothing, even her own friends. One of the worst parts about this book is this.
I like two things about the main character.
1) Her name, Hollis.
2) After a long while of thinking, I finally decided that her choice to tell people what she did after the crowning ceremony was a good choice.
I don't like the main character Hollis. She's rude, spoiled, and racist. She rubs me the wrong way. The king is little better. The foreigner love interest is sort of interesting, but wasn’t fleshed out enough.
The writing style still needs some work. It is written to middle school girls, even though the content within should probably go for an older age group.
I separated the story into two sections, the first of which being "The Selection" near replica. The second is the new stuff.
Section 1) Fluffy. A lot of times that were pretty pointless in the long run. Hard to get through.
Section 2) Action. The start of character development. Actually interesting and new stuff.
Thanks to the second section, I will be reading the second book. I’m not sure if it will be any better though.
evidasbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rosemwood's review against another edition
4.0
I was surprised that I actually liked this story. I have even ordered the second book of this series. I loved Hollis' personality. How kind she was. She was true to herself. I have read a lot of reviews, and it seems most didn't care too much for this story. It is a light read, and it has romance with sadness.
vedha's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Boring compared to The Selection series
emilovelyangel11's review against another edition
2.0
I LOVED the Selection series and went in expecting something similar with this book, which was completely my fault and probably one of the reasons why I did not like it. The romance felt kind of forced and abrupt and the ending was really unexpected in a not so great way…
forloveoflit_'s review against another edition
3.0
Honestly super disappointing, I loved the Selection series and got that this was trying to render that love triangle backwards but it just wasn’t very good. The story was fine I guess but Hollis’s feelings were so blah and every time she thought about the king or the blacksmith it was just super shallow. I was hoping for more
smithrachaelynn's review against another edition
3.0
I actually bought this book by accident and couldn’t return it so here we are! I decided to read it and was pleasantly surprised. It’s remarkably similar to the Selection series plot, but diverges at a certain point. I enjoyed it more as it went on, and by the end I was really invested. Can’t wait to read the next one!
ellesbell's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0