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elliedotmcd's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ilianaelizabeth's review against another edition
2.0
Este libro es un gran MEH. La lectura, como en los demás libros de Kiera Cass, es ligera, por lo que lo terminé en poco tiempo, aunque lo cierto es que no se debió a que no podía soltarlo, sino a que esperaba que algunas cosas se expliquen. Y no, no pasó.
Tal vez como historia tenga potencial, pero está mal planteado, o mal ejecutado. Y claramente nos damos cuenta que "el fuerte" de la autora son los triángulos amorosos. Encontramos ese factor de "amor a primera vista" o "instalove" que hace poco creíbles algunos hechos. Las heroínas de la autora siempre son únicas pero no lo que se espera de ellas en el rol que desempeñan, lo cual las hace sentir incomprendidas, y sus amistades son siempre personas con mayores desgracias en sus propias vidas. Es una forma que evidentemente funciona porque la sigue usando, pero creo que hay mejores.
El desarrollo de los hechos se sintió algo precipitado, y con algo quiero decir mucho; como si la autora hubiera aceptado alguna clase de desafío que decía que era incapaz de hacer que sucedan tantas cosas juntas en tan poco tiempo. Había ciertos indicios, que parecían ventanas a próximos giros en la trama, pero no llegaron, y algunas cosas quedaron en el aire, supongo que esperando generar ansiedad por leer el próximo libro, pero lo cierto es que no creo que eso suceda pronto. Tal vez le dé una oportunidad a La Sirena para ver qué tal me llevo con la fantasía que escribe Kiera Cass.
Tal vez como historia tenga potencial, pero está mal planteado, o mal ejecutado. Y claramente nos damos cuenta que "el fuerte" de la autora son los triángulos amorosos. Encontramos ese factor de "amor a primera vista" o "instalove" que hace poco creíbles algunos hechos. Las heroínas de la autora siempre son únicas pero no lo que se espera de ellas en el rol que desempeñan, lo cual las hace sentir incomprendidas, y sus amistades son siempre personas con mayores desgracias en sus propias vidas. Es una forma que evidentemente funciona porque la sigue usando, pero creo que hay mejores.
El desarrollo de los hechos se sintió algo precipitado, y con algo quiero decir mucho; como si la autora hubiera aceptado alguna clase de desafío que decía que era incapaz de hacer que sucedan tantas cosas juntas en tan poco tiempo. Había ciertos indicios, que parecían ventanas a próximos giros en la trama, pero no llegaron, y algunas cosas quedaron en el aire, supongo que esperando generar ansiedad por leer el próximo libro, pero lo cierto es que no creo que eso suceda pronto. Tal vez le dé una oportunidad a La Sirena para ver qué tal me llevo con la fantasía que escribe Kiera Cass.
clara_h39's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I was really enjoying this book as a simple candy fantasy fiction book, not high literature, but it was enjoyable if a littlw predictable. AND THEN THE WORLDS SHITTIEST PLOT TWIST. Made ZERO sense. Uncalled for. Far too sudden. Ruined the book for me. It was such a lazy way to surprise your reader and it was in no way good writing. I am no longer reading the rest of this series due to the laziness of the plot in this first book.
roxnn2000's review against another edition
2.0
Hmmm... The Selection this is not.
Hollis is a lady of the court and King Jameson’s current flame. Sure she is going to be passed over for another soon, Hollis is just enjoying the life being next to the king can offer. Except then things start moving forward and she starts believing she could be Queen. She’s down for it, wants it, does what she can to make it happen.
Then a boy and his family take refuge in Jameson’s kingdom, running for their own cruel king. Hollis feels a connection to him, this Silas, and doesn’t understand her own feelings.
Seriously though, I have to say that I was not a huge fan of this story.
Hollis is kind of spoiled and chooses to do things her own way. She works hard to get to the point to where Jameson would want to marry her AND the lords are okay with it. Then Silas shows up and she tosses it all out the window.
Jameson and Silas aren’t too much better. Jameson is the typical king character, egotistical and obviously wanting Hollis because she is beautiful and “different” despite the fact she acts like another person around him. Silas is painted to be almost too good, with no faults. He seems too perfect and it doesn’t work for me.
Then we have some side characters. A lot we know very little about, like Silas’ family. But, like Silas, they are painted in an almost perfect light. They are kind and loving where as Hollis views her own parents as overbearing.
Then you have Nora and Delia Grace, Hollis’ ladies in waiting. At first it seems that Nora may be a rival of sorts for Jameson, but then she comes around and befriends Hollis and loses her edge. Delia Grace starts off as Hollis’ best friend, even though she has a bad reputation at court. Then she turns around stating quite plainly that Hollis meeting the king was a mistake orchestrated by Delia Grace herself to try and win his favor, only his favor went to Hollis instead. Neither one really held up as the story went on.
King Quentin from the neighboring kingdom, made out to be the typical villain. He’s mad about his life and is taking it out on everyone.
There are 2 characters that I liked. Etan, Silas’ cousin, and Valentina, Quentin’s unfortunate wife and Queen. Etan is a straight shooter and doesn’t keep his opinions of Hollis to himself, which I like, and Valentina has a story that really makes you feel for her.
The story itself was fine, not great, but the ending was a little like what the heck just happened? I’m not sure how the story is really meant to continue with the romantic aspect when one of the love interests has seemingly been sidelined and paired off with another and the other is dead. Guess the next book is focusing just on the whole King Quentin being a madman angle?
Will have to wait and see if the next book can carry on this story, but overall this first book was not where I hoped it would be. I loved The Selection series so had very high hopes for this one. Maybe they were too high.
Hollis is a lady of the court and King Jameson’s current flame. Sure she is going to be passed over for another soon, Hollis is just enjoying the life being next to the king can offer. Except then things start moving forward and she starts believing she could be Queen. She’s down for it, wants it, does what she can to make it happen.
Then a boy and his family take refuge in Jameson’s kingdom, running for their own cruel king. Hollis feels a connection to him, this Silas, and doesn’t understand her own feelings.
Seriously though, I have to say that I was not a huge fan of this story.
Hollis is kind of spoiled and chooses to do things her own way. She works hard to get to the point to where Jameson would want to marry her AND the lords are okay with it. Then Silas shows up and she tosses it all out the window.
Jameson and Silas aren’t too much better. Jameson is the typical king character, egotistical and obviously wanting Hollis because she is beautiful and “different” despite the fact she acts like another person around him. Silas is painted to be almost too good, with no faults. He seems too perfect and it doesn’t work for me.
Then we have some side characters. A lot we know very little about, like Silas’ family. But, like Silas, they are painted in an almost perfect light. They are kind and loving where as Hollis views her own parents as overbearing.
Then you have Nora and Delia Grace, Hollis’ ladies in waiting. At first it seems that Nora may be a rival of sorts for Jameson, but then she comes around and befriends Hollis and loses her edge. Delia Grace starts off as Hollis’ best friend, even though she has a bad reputation at court. Then she turns around stating quite plainly that Hollis meeting the king was a mistake orchestrated by Delia Grace herself to try and win his favor, only his favor went to Hollis instead. Neither one really held up as the story went on.
King Quentin from the neighboring kingdom, made out to be the typical villain. He’s mad about his life and is taking it out on everyone.
There are 2 characters that I liked. Etan, Silas’ cousin, and Valentina, Quentin’s unfortunate wife and Queen. Etan is a straight shooter and doesn’t keep his opinions of Hollis to himself, which I like, and Valentina has a story that really makes you feel for her.
The story itself was fine, not great, but the ending was a little like what the heck just happened? I’m not sure how the story is really meant to continue with the romantic aspect when one of the love interests has seemingly been sidelined and paired off with another and the other is dead. Guess the next book is focusing just on the whole King Quentin being a madman angle?
Will have to wait and see if the next book can carry on this story, but overall this first book was not where I hoped it would be. I loved The Selection series so had very high hopes for this one. Maybe they were too high.
lil_13's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Let me start off this review by saying, Kiera Cass I love you books and your writing and in this review I will be focusing on the negative as that is what reviews usually do. Now that that is out of the way. Why? Why, was all I was thinking majority of this book why add so much potential depth to these characters and not elaborate. The last third of the book just felt (and although I do realize it is a YA romance) wayyyy out there. The romance between Silas and Hollis didn’t romance. Although Valentina is a total ba woman and I love her. Jameson was totally gonna use her as an object, but he had the potential to blossom into a kind and loving husband which he was trying to be. I will say the outfit descriptions were ✨chefs kiss✨ Ps. Sorry this review was so chaotic
clowdywings's review against another edition
2.0
*** under further reflection I have lowered the rating down ***
2 -
Most of the book is written Kiera Cass's formula. It reminds me of her "The Selection" series all too much. But then pages 224 on happened and gave the story some much needed variety. For the first section of the book, I would rate it a solid 1.5 stars.
I was quite disappointed in how the royalty acted, politics, etiquette, and in the commentary of the main character.
• Royal actions: The author needed to brush up on her history and read books about and by royalty. That would have made it more bearable.
• Politics: Little to none. If the author would have included more, it would be much more interesting. They were included in such a brief way too. She just really brushed aside worldbuilding in favor to her “story.”
• Etiquette: Little to none. What there is doesn't match the setting. Author needed to do research.
• MC commentary: 100% unneeded. She is rude to everything that she doesn't approve of. People from other countries, foreign clothing, even her own friends. One of the worst parts about this book is this.
I like two things about the main character.
1) Her name, Hollis.
2) After a long while of thinking, I finally decided that her choice to tell people what she did after the crowning ceremony was a good choice.
I don't like the main character Hollis. She's rude, spoiled, and racist. She rubs me the wrong way. The king is little better. The foreigner love interest is sort of interesting, but wasn’t fleshed out enough.
The writing style still needs some work. It is written to middle school girls, even though the content within should probably go for an older age group.
I separated the story into two sections, the first of which being "The Selection" near replica. The second is the new stuff.
Section 1) Fluffy. A lot of times that were pretty pointless in the long run. Hard to get through.
Section 2) Action. The start of character development. Actually interesting and new stuff.
Thanks to the second section, I will be reading the second book. I’m not sure if it will be any better though.
2 -
Most of the book is written Kiera Cass's formula. It reminds me of her "The Selection" series all too much. But then pages 224 on happened and gave the story some much needed variety. For the first section of the book, I would rate it a solid 1.5 stars.
I was quite disappointed in how the royalty acted, politics, etiquette, and in the commentary of the main character.
• Royal actions: The author needed to brush up on her history and read books about and by royalty. That would have made it more bearable.
• Politics: Little to none. If the author would have included more, it would be much more interesting. They were included in such a brief way too. She just really brushed aside worldbuilding in favor to her “story.”
• Etiquette: Little to none. What there is doesn't match the setting. Author needed to do research.
• MC commentary: 100% unneeded. She is rude to everything that she doesn't approve of. People from other countries, foreign clothing, even her own friends. One of the worst parts about this book is this.
I like two things about the main character.
1) Her name, Hollis.
2) After a long while of thinking, I finally decided that her choice to tell people what she did after the crowning ceremony was a good choice.
I don't like the main character Hollis. She's rude, spoiled, and racist. She rubs me the wrong way. The king is little better. The foreigner love interest is sort of interesting, but wasn’t fleshed out enough.
The writing style still needs some work. It is written to middle school girls, even though the content within should probably go for an older age group.
I separated the story into two sections, the first of which being "The Selection" near replica. The second is the new stuff.
Section 1) Fluffy. A lot of times that were pretty pointless in the long run. Hard to get through.
Section 2) Action. The start of character development. Actually interesting and new stuff.
Thanks to the second section, I will be reading the second book. I’m not sure if it will be any better though.
evidasbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rosemwood's review against another edition
4.0
I was surprised that I actually liked this story. I have even ordered the second book of this series. I loved Hollis' personality. How kind she was. She was true to herself. I have read a lot of reviews, and it seems most didn't care too much for this story. It is a light read, and it has romance with sadness.
vedha's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Boring compared to The Selection series
emilovelyangel11's review against another edition
2.0
I LOVED the Selection series and went in expecting something similar with this book, which was completely my fault and probably one of the reasons why I did not like it. The romance felt kind of forced and abrupt and the ending was really unexpected in a not so great way…