The Heir by Kiera Cass

The Heir 

by Kiera Cass

Released: May 5, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: The Selection, Book 4
Preceded By: The One
Followed By: TBA
Page Amount: 352, US Hardback
POV: 1st Person (Eadlyn)
Buy it here: Barnes & Noble•Amazon

OVERALL:

Plot-16/20
Characters-12/20

Creativity-15/20

Writing-16/20

Pace-8/10

Ending-7/10

=74/100 C

★★★/5

SUMMARY:

Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible. But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests. Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought. -Goodreads.com

REViEW:
First of all, I loved The Selection series. I fell in love with Maxon and the palace that Cass created. I even liked America and her evolving characterization. The Heir is more of a companion novel to The Selection than a sequel. You really do not have to read The Selection series prior to reading this book. However, it makes The Heir more entertaining once you know America and Maxon's backstories. The Heir focuses on Eadlyn, Queen America's daughter, as she goes through her own selection to appease her parents and to settle unrest among the country.  

Contrary to a lot of reviewers, I enjoyed America's character. Sure, she was whiny and annoying at times mainly in The Elite, but all in all, I was able to witness her grow as a person and as a leader. Eadlyn is kind of the same in that way but not quite. To be honest, I hate Eadlyn's character. She is a whiny, spoiled, rude brat. She annoyed me to no end with her cruel swipes at the selected boys. She believes she has it so hard even though one of the only things she worries about throughout the book is which tiara to wear. Anyway, just because I didn't like Eadlyn does not mean that her voice wasn't consistent. Cass did do an amazing job at capturing Eadlyn's voice. Her point of view was consistent throughout every page, which is a difficult task to complete with such eloquence as Cass does. I believe that Cass did an excellent job at maintaining Eadlyn's voice and creating a memorable, district point of view. Although I personally didn't like Eadlyn as a character, I still appreciate the risk that Cass took in creating a character drastically different from America.

As for the other characters, they made this book for me. I am absolutely in love with Kile. The scenes between him and Eadlyn were so beautifully captured. I was swooning anytime he came into the scene. I can tell he has a lot of depth to his character that I hope will be explored in the next novel. Not only Kile, but all of the selection boys were developed. I loved getting to read about so many of the boys' pasts and interests. Each of them were very thoughtfully created. Henri was another favorite of mine. His overwhelming joy was adorable. I also loved Henri's translator, Erik. How I wish he was one of the selected. I have a feeling Cass has a great plan for him though in the next book, which I am extremely excited about. It was also nice to see America, Maxon, Aspen, Lucy, and Marlee incorporated into the book. However, I miss heartthrob Maxon. I don't like fatherly Maxon as much; he's a lot less fun.

The plot of this book was interesting, but not really unique. It's basically the same story as The Selection with a more annoying narrator. I would have rather had a book detailing The Selection from Maxon's point of view. However, I still very much enjoyed this book. I stayed up until 3AM reading it last night, only stopping once I realized I had to get up early this morning. Once dates started happening in this book, I couldn't put it down. The boys in this book are reason enough to read it. Even though I didn't rate this book very highly, I still loved it and think that it is worth the read. 

The ending was a tad disappointing. It was very abrupt and felt rushed. Part of it was very shocking, but it felt out of place. I wish Cass would've spent more time building up to this point instead of cramming it all in on the last two pages. If it was elaborated more, I would've had more of a emotional response. I also was kind of bummed Cass didn't even really hint to which boy Eadlyn would choose or even narrow it down. The ending was just a little too open for my liking. I need the promise of more Kile to convince me to read the last book. All in all, I did very much enjoying reading this book, and I hope that you give it a try! Do it for the boys. Do it for Kile. 

My Favorite Part: Kile. Kile. Kile.


ALL iN ALL:
Do I recommend this book? Yes, Kile made this book amazing. Actually, all of the swoon-worthy interesting boys made this book riveting. 
Will I be reading the next book? I have to. I need more Kile in my life.

It's a Book Thing
Review by Macy ♥