The One (The Selection, #3)

by Kiera Cass

[Nessa Luna]

Read this review and more on my blog October Tune.

I've been trying for several days already to write a good review for this book, but I failed miserably. But here I am, trying again, and this time I am determined to make it into something good. (This might also partially be because I finished the book right before we went to RingCon and I think RingCon kind of broke my brain).

The One starts off a bit more exciting than the previous two books; with a rebel attack. Unfortunately, this attack was the same as the previous ones, very boring. Basically nothing happened and it was just the girls spending time hidden away while the guards fought it out with the rebels. But I do have to admit, this book had a bit more action than the previous books had, and that made me happy. The last couple of chapters were so thrilling, that I finished those in almost one sitting (there was a moment where I had to get up and walk back to the car but when we were driving I finished the last couple of pages). If the rest of the book had been as exciting as those last couple of chapters, I would have definitely given The One more stars. But unfortunately, it wasn't so.

America still isn't my favourite character in this book; she was still not sure if she loved Maxon or Aspen, she still cried a lot, and she still made stupid decision after stupid decision. Seriously, I really don't get how this girl is still in the Selection by this point. (Oh, yeah, Maxon loves her. Okay). I also still don't like Aspen, I kind of liked him at the beginning because he made America happy; but then the whole Selection happened and I started to dislike him more and more. I am 100% Team Maxon right now (even though I really despise the whole 'Team [insert love interests name here]' business), are there even people who are team Aspen? Anyway, as for the other girls in the Selection - I wasn't really a fan of them at all, though I think I started liking one a bit more near the end (I'll talk about her later).

The thing is, like I said before, I don't get how America was still in the Selection in this book, because she kept on doing stupid things, like still hanging out with Aspen for example. There are several moments in all three books where I was like 'Okay now you are going to get caught by either a guard of the king or Maxon and then you'll get killed for being an idiot. But hey of course, she's the main character, so she nothing bad ever happens to her, and she gets to do whatever she wants. Grr.

Like I said before, this book was a bit more exciting than the previous two. There were some more rebel attacks; America actually went outside of the castle for I think the first time since she arrived there, and people died. There were at least four major deaths in this story that felt very unnecessary in my opinion. 1, 2. The King and the Queen (that's two in one), okay sure I wouldn't have minded if the King died, because he was an asshole, but the Queen.. WHY?! Sure their deaths were needed so Maxon and America could become King and Queen immediately after the story ended, but still, why not just kill the King and be done with it, why take that incredibly sweet Queen with you as well? 3. America's dad. Someone on Goodreads said this death was added only to take America away from Maxon so he could realise he couldn't spend another day without her. I kind of agree with that, because it felt to me like his dead wasn't needed at all. Maybe for America to find out he was a Northern rebel, but hey we could have found that out in a different way. Kiera Cass could have made her main character a bit cleverer by finding this out without her father dying. 4. Celeste. She was a bitch in The Selection and in the Elite, and for the majority of The One as well; but in this last book she finally started to realise how awful she'd been. She apologized to the three remaining girls and they kind of became friends. They did nice things and they felt a bit like sisters. I started to like Celeste more in this book, and then she died. It happened so quick, actually, that I spend at least five minutes rereading that exact sentence. Her death, as unnecessary as it was, should not have been this quick. I apologize for that long spoiler-filled part, but I just had to talk about this. I am just so angry about these deaths.

The last couple of chapters happened very quickly and it actually made me a bit angry, because something that big and thrilling should not have been dealt with that quickly. Of course, with another rebel attack, America was whisked away to a save place. After the danger was over, it all happened very quickly and then there was the epilogue. And it just made me feel very 'meh'. I had been expecting it, so it didn't really make me feel as happy as I thought it would. I am not sure if I'm going to check out the next book in the series, called The Heir, and which apparently will be about Maxon and America's daughter, but I will surely admire the B E A U T I F U L cover (seriously THESE COVERS!!!!!!). I don't really care about their children, or whatever the last (fifth) book in the series will be about. The Selection series ended with The One for me, and that's that

My opinion on this book in one gif: