The Elite brings The Selection series to life. Readers start to get a fuller picture of what it's like living in Illéa, the dystopian world with a monarchy and caste-system. America now grapples with the knowledge that she has feelings for both Aspen and Maxon, and asks for time to deal with them. A beautiful friendship is born and built upon that has time to shine in this sequel. The second novel in The Selection series is when the competition begins to heat up, and the stakes are higher than before. The competition is fierce, but the girls are fiercer, and nothing is as it seems in Kiera Cass's The Elite. Kiera Cass, #1 New York Times bestselling author, is the author of the Selection series which has gained a wide fanbase and is soon to be adapted for the screen. Cass graduated from Radford University with a B.S. in History. After growing up in South Carolina, she now lives in Virginia with her husband and two kids. In addition to the Selection series, Cass has written a standalone fantasy novel, The Siren, and her highly awaited seventh novel, The Betrothed, is out on May 5th. If you're interested in more of my reviews of Kiera Cass's work, you can find them all here.
America Singer never expected she'd make it this far into the Selection, the Bachelor-like process in which the prince of Illéa chooses his future wife, the future queen. She was determined to hate Prince Maxon, but after the events of the first book, she found herself falling slowly in love with him. Now, she's one of The Elite, the last few girls in the competition. And it is a competition now -- in fact, it's heating up. America finds herself jealous over the other girls, especially Kriss, but she also finds herself still in love with her love from Carolina, Aspen, who's now a palace guard. But as the rebels keep attacking the palace and America grapples with what she really wants for her future, her time to make a choice begins to slip away. Who will America choose: Apsen or Maxon? Will she fight for either of them?
It has become clear over the course of the series that America is a fighter. She might have Elizabeth Bennett's prejudiced and individualistic nature, but she's willing to fight for what she believes in, including for her family and for her country. Her character has grown over the course of The Elite as she continues to understand what each boy has to offer her in terms of a future. What I personally love is how she focuses on each boy and what they could give her (reminiscent of the old marriage-plot stories), but also what kind of future she's cut out for. A good chunk of the novel includes America's thoughts on whether or not she could make it as a princess. A lot of the other characters weigh in, which is reflective of how anyone in this situation might react, but in the end, the decision is hers. This is such a subtle and powerful way to reflect America's individuality. There are other parts of the novel, of course, where she's more blunt and forceful about her beliefs, like when she proposes to philanthropy project to the entire nation. America's character is blend of this subtle and overt actions, and she always stays true to herself. Even though she's confused, she truly does choose herself over and over again. That's the kind of fight that inspires every girl to do the same thing.
The Pride and Prejudice parallels in The Selection series continue to excite me. Specifically, America's dad reminds me of Mr. Bennett, in that he wants his daughter to be happy. America is closer to her dad than with her mom, and his opinion truly matters to her, as seen by how she weighs his opinions. Elizabeth Bennett also values her father's opinion the most, because her father always keeps his daughter's best interests at heart. Mr. Singer does the same thing, and always makes sure America knows that at the times she needs to hear it the most. I'm hoping there are more parallels to draw between Pride and Prejudice and the other books in The Selection series, because it gives the series more credibility and makes the series feel like a fantasy retelling, almost.
Of course, in a dystopia, there has to be some kind of world that's different than our own. In my review of The Selection, I despaired over the minimal world-building because the world Cass had created seemed full of potential to me. In The Elite, Cass starts to bring Illéa to life, and it was super exciting to see Illéa start to feel real to me. Readers get a clearer picture of what being a princess of Illéa is like since the competition narrowed and the Elite girls focus on projects relating to policy and philanthropy. The rebels invade the palace multiple times, and their intentions become clearer with each turn of the page. America even gets access to one of Gregory Illéa's diaries, which chronicles the mysterious beginning of the country and its broken systems. She begins to wonder why her country hides its history, as everything in Gregory Illéa's diaries are secret and confidential. America realizes her choice between Maxon and Aspen might be more convoluted than she thought -- is she chooses Aspen, she might live comfortably but how could she turn her back on the poverty and broken caste system she grew up in? But if she chooses Maxon, she might have a chance to change the injustices of these broken systems. I'm excited to see how the world continues to grow in The One, and excited to see what we learn about the rebels, and about how these systems will contribute to America's choice, if at all.
Dystopia is a genre that has greatly improved over the years. From its earliest days to the present, the writing has become more complex and we as readers have also evolved to this change. Going back and reading The Elite reminds us of the beginnings of dystopian prose. Some might consider that this puts older dystopia at a disadvantage -- the writing being average now compared to newer publications. But I consider the average prose of The Selection series an advantage to the readability of this series. This is something I wrote about in my review for The Selection, and I wondered if Cass would have changed the style of writing for The Elite. I was wrong, but in the best way. Reading The Elite made me further understand this advantage, because it keeps readers wanting more. The prose is perfect in a way that keeps the pages turning, and making us want more. Cass even comments about that feeling at the beginning of her acknowledgments: "I hope [my book] made you have unbearable feelings that you find yourself tweeting about it at 3:00 a.m" she said. We can attribute those feelings (very much unbearable, and very much present at any time of day one finishes the book) the easy way in which we can read the book and feel for America and her dilemma.
Something unique to The Elite I wanted to comment on was the friendship between Marlee and America. This friendship blossoms in this sequel. These two girls met in The Selection but there was always the shadow of competition hanging over them. Once the girls were narrowed down, Marlee and America got to enjoy each other's company better and get to know each other. America calls Marlee her best friend, which might not seem realistic because of the competitive nature of the novel, and the short time in which these two girls have known each other, but I'm arguing that that's not the case. In fact, it makes America's and Marlee's friendship more realistic. Maybe I'm biased because my best friends I've only known for such a short period of time, and we also all met in high-stakes situations (if you guys are reading this, think about how we met!). But I think something about that kind of environment makes it necessary for people to form strong, best-friend-like bonds with others. Humans thrive on social engagement, especially when the stakes are high. America's and Marlee's friendship can't shine in The Selection but it certainly does in The Elite, as they discuss their confusions, their hopes and their dreams. I'm so glad the dystopia genre has a friendship as sweet, strong and pure as theirs.
America's journey is almost at an end. We'll see which boy (if either) she chooses, and just how much her decisions impact her country and her family. Stay tuned for my review of the third book in The Selection series, The One!
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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