Review: The Crown - Kiera Cass

Rating : {★★★☆☆}

For some reason all the way through to the end of this book I was thinking that this was the second book of a second trilogy. Only once I realised that there were no more loose ends and I had no idea what she could possibly write into another book did I think to check and I found that this was the end of the Selection series, and sadly I was not disappointed to learn that there would be no more. 

I was not a huge fan of the original Selection series but Cass has a very easy-to-read writing style and I found myself wanting to know what happened. I went into the second batch of instalments of the series with trepidation and was actually pleasantly surprised with The Heir. While it wasn’t exactly a literary masterpiece, it was gratifying: A light and fluffy entertaining read and the characters were believable and contrary to many other readers’ opinions, I enjoyed being in the head of Eadlyn Shreave.

Unfortunately I found The Crown to be an underdeveloped and rushed storyline and too many of the plot lines were far-fetched. I know that this book is Young Adult and I shouldn’t expect something like the political aspects of the plot to be well developed, but they should be believable and I don’t think that Cass gives her intended audience enough credit. 

For example a 39 year old Maxon abdicating the throne for his 18 year old daughter to ascend during a time of such unrest? I know that he was tired, I know that America had had a heart attack and I know that it made a lovely heartrending story for Eadlyn to be so selfless as to take on the responsibility of the monarchy; however I just didn’t believe it. And what of the convenience of Eadlyn just announcing a constitutional monarchy? I understand that she was a Queen and “no one was more powerful” but it was also lacking in authenticity to me.

Too many of the characters were underdeveloped and this led to a lack of connection and a lack of empathy on my part. I found that I didn’t even care which of the boys won her Selection.

The relationship between Eadlyn and Eikko/Erik was just too rushed. I can understand Cass not wanting to give anything away so that it was more of a surprise when it happened, but what about developing a deeper friendship and having something more plausible between them? Lady Brice being her Aunt was a wonderful thought but again – just too little went into developing that character and developing that relationship for the revelation to have any impact. Marid turning into the bad guy? I didn't even know him and it just turned out to be a little too convenient to have an antagonist to help bulk out the plot of the people disliking Eadlyn.

Overall I'm disappointed. This could have been infinitely better than it was and kept the same major plot devices and storyline. My overall opinion of this book? Everything was rushed. I would only recommend this book for die-hard Selection supporters or those that simply have to know what happens.