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138 reviews

The One by Kiera Cass

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4.0

THE BEST IN THE SERIES!!!!

SOOO MANY FEELS

Summary:
In the previous installment of The Selection series, The Elite, our main and possibly the most frustrating protagonist, America Singer made it clear that she was determined to be Prince Maxon’s wife and that she is completely over her past love interest named Aspen. America has done well in keeping her place in the competition, for she is one of the four Elite left in the Selection. But she realizes that if she is to be chosen, that she has to buck up and quit crying about everything. One morning while they watch the palace guards train shirtless in the garden, as scandalous as it may seem in their society, the Elite (Kriss, Elise, Celeste, and America) argue over whom has accomplished the most (physically) in their relationship with Maxon. After hearing everyone’s confessions, America realizes that the King had lied to her in saying that she is behind in making “physical advances” towards Maxon. When in reality, America has made the most progress in that area of their relationship than any of the other Elite. Prince Maxon woke up America early the next day to meet with the, more gentile, Northern Rebels. They meet the two co-leaders of this group, August Illea and Georgia Whitaker. During this secretive meeting, August and Georgia explain that they do not wish the destruction of the royal family, only that the caste system is eliminated, nominated officials are put in place, and that Maxon chooses America as The One. They believe America is the best option as future queen for her past courageous actions in saving her best friend and speaking out against the castes on live television during the daily Report. During the next episode of Report, the king announces that the deadly Southern Rebels began attacking their country, Illea, by caste. Starting with the castes two and three. The Elite are asked if they have anything to say about this news and America tells the people to, “‘Fight. The rebels are bullies. They’re trying to scare you into doing what they want. And what if you do? What kind of future do you think they’ll offer you? These people, these tyrants, aren’t going to suddenly stop being violent. If you give them power, they’re going to be a thousand times worse. So fight. However you can, fight.’” Although this only fuels the king’s hatred toward her, America’s speech quickly begins to make her the country’s favorite. The next day, Maxon and America spend the next day together. While they are being adorably sappy and dancing in the rain, America realizes how deep her feelings for Maxon go and that she is completely in love with him. But America, being the frustrating and indecisive character that she is, decides to wait to tell Maxon about how she feels. Even though she could have ended the entire Selection with those three little words right then and there. SHE DECIDED TO WAIT TO TELL MAXON LATER!!


A few nights later America, Maxon, Aspen, and a few other guards set out to meet the August and Georgia to find out more about the recent attacks on the country from the Southern Rebels. The trip quickly gets out of hand when the Southern Rebels attack them on their way back to their truck. During her attempt to escape, America is shot in the arm. As America looks for a place to hide, she runs into a young girl whom is homeless and in the lowest caste. Learning about what this girl has been through, America’s tenacity toward the destruction of the castes and Southern Rebels grows stronger. The Elite are then told to invite two people to a royal tea party, testing who has the best connections to the most politically important people. America takes this opportunity to invite Georgia and princess Nicoletta of the Italian Empire to formulate an agreement between the three of them. Since Nicoletta told her that she would help her any time she needed, America asked Nicoletta to provide funds and weapons to the Northern Rebels in order for them to defeat the Southern Rebels. And Nicoletta agrees. Apparently the Convicting that took place two days after the tea party was supposed to be “’…simple enough,’’’ according to their manager, Silvia. Unfortunately, it was anything but simple. The Convicting is a traditional ceremony intended to symbolize the Elite’s allegiance to the law. Each member of the Elite is required to convict a single man of a single crime, most likely theft. And as if it wasn’t hard enough for her to follow the rules, the king intentionally assigned America a man who had only taken some clothes for his daughters, a minor crime. His sentence: lifetime in jail. Naturally, America strayed from the lines that were scripted and told the man to take her jewelry, a gift from Maxon, and repay his debt to the king. Fortunate enough for her, the act of compassion, strength, and defiance confirmed her place as the favorite of the country. But before she could be congratulated, the king finally cracked on America and Maxon for her rash decisions. He demanded that Maxon send all of the Elite home because according to the king, they have all been “‘…disastrous. Even the Asian’s (Elise) connections have done nothing for me. The Two (Celeste) is too concerned with fame; and the other (Kriss), well , she’s not entirely hopeless but not good enough, if you ask me. This one (America)…Whatever value she’s had has been overshadowed by her inability to control herself.’” Maxon finally stood up to his father and told him that he couldn’t decide for Maxon. To reassure America of his feelings, Maxon invites her to see his room. While there, she sees his large collection of photographs of mainly America, a few of the Elite, and some landscapes covering his wall.  Though this was supposed to be a happy moment, Aspen interrupted with the news that America’s father died due to a heart condition and given four days to visit her home for the funeral. At home her mother gave her a letter written by her dad and addressed to America. In the letter her father apologizes for revealing the location of George Illea’s diaries to the Northern Rebels and hints that her is also a part of the same organization. Upon her arrival back to the palace, America is surprised by all of the previously selected girls celebrating that her and Kriss are all what is left of the Elite. Later that night, Maxon comes to her room and proposes. Making America the One. And after waiting for THREE WHOLE BOOKS, they finally admit their love to each other.


But, their joy is short lived. The next morning Maxon leaves America’s room to break the news to Kriss that she wasn’t chosen and America does the same to Aspen. While she is speaking to Aspen, Maxon rounds the corner to see America and Aspen talking and immediately jumps too conclusions, which, to me, seems completely out of character. He then impulsively acts off of his anger, and retracts is proposal to America and extends the offer to Kriss instead.


During the engagement announcement, the Southern Rebels launch a surprise attack, immediately killing Celeste. And as Maxon is bleeding out from a bullet wound, he realizes that his decision was rash and he “‘…was about to ruin both of our lives.’’’ And although he said he couldn’t bare it again, he told her to “‘Break my heart… It was only ever yours anyway.’” Before they could finish their conversation, America was carried off to safety. By the time she could go back to save anyone the Northern Rebels had already arrived and ended the fight.
As she looks for Maxon, America stumbles upon Aspen in the hospital and finds that he has had a relationship with her maid, Lucy, for quite sometime. But, she was grateful he found someone and he “…wasn’t feeling anything but happiness,” with Lucy. After worrying herself sick, America is reunited with Maxon, who is now the new king due to the death of his mother and father during the attack. And as Maxon’s first act as king, he plans to remove the caste system completely. Thankfully, Maxon re-proposes to America, and the novel closes with their marriage. After their long, painful, adorable, and frustrating struggle through the Selection they can finally be together.

Me during their wedding:


Opinion:

I absolutely loved this book! In the past America was all kinds of annoying and frustrating as a character, but in this final installment she grew from being overly sensitive and crying every time she learned that Maxon was on a date with another one of the Selected. She learned how to deal with her problems in a more effective way rather than acting like a hormonal teenager over them. Though I will say, America’s stubbornness, procrastination, and defiance became infuriating at times. Overall, the ending was extremely satisfying. After their continuous struggle of choosing whom they love, Maxon and America finally tied the knot. I do wish, however, that we could have received more information about the history of Illea, how each rebel group came to be, and why they decided to protest the ways of the country. I felt like we didn’t have enough development of Celeste’s come back from being such a brat to everyone, too. Though I was happy that she was trying to make amends, the reasons that she gave for her rude actions, like ripping America’s dress or putting shattered glass in Elise’s shoes, didn’t do much to convince me that she was truly and wholeheartedly sorry. In both of the previous books, so much time was spent showing us how Celeste was such a horrible person that there wasn’t enough interaction between Celeste and America to help redeem her as a character to be trusted. Another event that could have used more emphasis was the deaths of the King, Queen, Celeste, and others during the attack that took place in the middle of the engagement announcement. When we were informed of their deaths, America was uncharacteristically calm, cool, collected, and barely phased by it. But what made this novel worth the annoyances were the adorable encounters between Maxon and America. Each time they spoke, even in an argument, there was a special meaning and an new kind of intimacy behind each exchange. These interactions made me fall head-over-heels for Prince Maxon. When he stood up for himself against his father, he began to seem more strong and steadfast in his beliefs and desires, making him a perfect candidate for king. This novel was easily a success.

Connections:


America often had a hard time choosing between her previous love interest whom she had planned on being with before the Selection, Aspen, and her new love interest that she met and fell in love with through a governmentally organized competition called the Selection, Maxon. This connects to the well known novel ,the Hunger Games. Like America, the main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, had to choose between Gale, her previous love interest from her hometown like Aspen, and Peeta. Katniss met and fell in love with Peeta through a governmentally organized competition, the Hunger Games. In many instances, both America and Katniss went through phases where they were sure of their feelings toward their two love interests one minute, then unsure the next due to a small mistake or argument. In the end, both characters choose their new love, Maxon for America and Peeta for Katniss.


This novel also connects to the Shatter Me series. The main character, Juliette, ends up with Warner who she originally planned on despising, not to mention the absolute last person she expected to fall for. The same happened to America. She went into the Selection thinking that she would never even consider Maxon as a future husband, but ends up marrying him.

Counterargument:

The only possible reason I could imagine why someone would not enjoy this book is if they aren’t into sappy romances and adorable love stories. Throughout this novel there are several typical cliches, like dancing/kissing in the rain and the common “‘I’ll love you until my very last breath. Every beat of my heart is yours. I don’t want to die without you knowing that,’” line. If you don’t live for these types of emotional encounters, I wouldn’t recommend reading this series. I also wouldn't recommend this if love triangles are just frustrating to you, because I know they can definitely be annoying sometimes. YOU JUST WANT THEM TO CHOOSE ALREADY! So if super sweet promises of love make you want to barf, steer clear of this series.

Audience:

This is a dystopian romance novel so, those who are fans of the dystopian novels Hunger Games and Divergent and could live with a little less action and a lot more romance, this is the book for you. In all of these novels, The One included, have strong female protagonists, the perfect amount of humor, and small little moments of loving interactions between the main character and their love interests. But thankfully, the ending in The One is far less tragic than that of Mockingjay and especially less life shattering than the conclusion of Allegiant.

Rating:


5 out of 5. 1 being “Whatever happened to Aspen?” and 5 being “OMG I SWOON EVERY SINGLE HECKING TIME MAXON OPENS HIS MOUTH.” This novel ended in the exact way I was hoping and more. With Maxon and American happily married and the castes being removed ,I’m completely satisfied. In the end everyone had someone. I would have felt bad if Aspen wasn’t able to find love again, but thankfully for him he found comfort in the arms of Lucy. I was in desperate need of a happy ending and this book provided that.

MAXICA 5EVER
IM A FANGIRL AND I...