Book Review: The Crown

Synopsis from Amazon:

In The Heir, a new era dawned in the world of The Selection. Twenty years have passed since America Singer and Prince Maxon fell in love, and their daughter is the first princess to hold a Selection of her own.

Eadlyn didn’t think she would find a real partner among the Selection’s thirty-five suitors, let alone true love. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and now Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more difficult—and more important—than she ever expected.

*This book is part of my POPSUGAR 2016 Reading Challenge.*

SPOILER FREE REVIEW (Note: If you haven’t read The Heir don’t read this!)

Once I finished this book with tears in my eyes I knew I couldn’t do this review without spoilers. However, since I typically do my reviews without spoilers I figured it’d be unfair to my wonderful followers to not continue that, so this review will be split into two parts. Here’s my review, completely spoiler free:

The Crown picks up right where The Heir left off, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for Eadlyn. After Ahern left and her mother suffered a heart attack, things weren’t going so well for Eadlyn. However, her struggles actually made her a more likable character to me. My biggest issue with The Heir was Eadlyn, to be honest. I just found her to be spoiled and irritating.

However, The Crown showed us another side of Eadlyn. She’s more vulnerable and more honest about her heart and what she wants. Don’t get me wrong, she still makes mistakes, but at least we get to see a different side of her in this novel and I truly enjoyed it.

Overall, I thought Kiera Cass tied a lot of things together in this last novel and did a really good job with it. She answered questions I didn’t think to ask and there were even some twists I wasn’t expecting, which is always a plus. I will say, however, that the ending didn’t satisfy me as much as I wanted it to. I was hoping for more from the epilogue and was disappointed that it was so short. Even though I know this is really the last book I hope Cass at least gives us a bonus epilogue or something like she did with The One. I just need a little more time with these characters and then I’ll be good, I swear.

Seriously, though, I really did enjoy this novel and highly recommend the whole Selection series if you haven’t read them yet. They’re definitely worth a read.

FROM THIS POINT ON THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

I REPEAT, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!

BEWARE THE SPOILERS!

Alright if you haven’t turned back by now there’s no stopping you so here I go.

Oh. My. God. She chose Erik(Eikko)! She chose Erik! I freaking called it. They’re engaged and I cried and it was beautiful and she loves him. She’s loved him this WHOLE time! Yes!

Okay now that I got that off my chest let’s get into this. First of all, America is alive thank God. Honestly, I would’ve never forgiven Cass if she killed off America. That just wouldn’t make sense. There’s no reason for that. And I absolutely loved that Eadlyn decided to step up and be queen early just so her parents could be happy. That was so cute.

Also, Ahern (eventually) came back. Honestly, I wasn’t mad at Ahern in The Heir but I was furious with him in this book. His reasoning for not calling or coming back sooner after he heard about America was ridiculous. Your mother had a heart attack and you didn’t come immediately running? That’s absurd. There’s no excuse for that. Still, seeing him and Camille together was very cute.

And although I knew Eadlyn shouldn’t trust Marid I’m still very upset that his parents, August and Georgia, turned out to be shady. Honestly, I’m still not sure if I believe it since we don’t see them at all in this book but if their son is any indication I’m really mad things turned out this way. I loved Georgia and I liked that she and America were friends. It sucked to see that friendship had deteriorated over years.

And I knew Hale was gay but I was not expecting him to end up with Ean. EAN! Of all people I was most suspicious of him. Who knew it was only because he was in the closest? I’m so glad he and Hale could be together. They’re so cute! All the boys in the end of the selection were except for maybe Gunner, who didn’t really have a big role, and Fox, who got a little weird at the end. Okay so really my favorites were Hale, Henri, Kile, and Ean. And of course, Erik!!

Let’s just talk about Erik and Eadlyn because honestly they’re all I can think about. There were so many wonderful scenes with them in this book and it just made me so happy because I knew it!!

Even Erik had gotten me a flower. I smirked a bit as I took it.

“This is a dandelion,” I told him.

He shrugged. “I know. Some see a weed; some see a flower. Perspective.”

At this point I was already thinking, “Cool, so they’re endgame? Right? Right?!”

But I didn’t to get my hopes up. I mean honestly, who didn’t love Kile? He had one of the greatest lines in the book:

“Maybe it’s not the first kisses that are supposed to be special. Maybe it’s the last ones.”

I literally sighed. Kile is so perfect. He’s cute, funny, and knows Eadlyn inside out. But he just wasn’t the one. He didn’t want to live in the castle anymore, anyone could see that. He was a great friend to Eadlyn but he wasn’t her soulmate. Plus, Erik had some great one liners two.

“You look breathtaking, Eadlyn. I couldn’t even remember what I was so worked up about when you first walked in.”

And then this:

“You are always just Eadlyn. And you are always the queen. You are everything to everyone. And infinitely more to me.”

Sweet Jesus! Kiera, why do you do this to me? I can’t keep falling in love with these fictional characters. They’re ruining my life! But Daddy Maxon killed it for me. He said the absolute perfect thing to Eadlyn in the end that finally allowed her to follow her heart.

“Break the stupid rule, Eadlyn. Marry the man you love. If he’s good enough for you to approve of, then I certainly do. And if the people don’t, that can be their problem.”

And it was then that I began to cry and kept crying all the way to the acknowledgments which just made me cry harder. Still, there’s a lot of things I wish Kiera included. I wanted to see Eadlyn and Erik get married. I wanted to know if Gerad was actually able to get a job for Neena’s boyfriend in Angeles. I wanted to see Kaden and Josie get together (also I didn’t realize they were that close in age until the end). I guess I’ll have to turn to fan fiction for that but I’d really just like a bonus epilogue. Please!

Oh, and that reveal about Lady Brice being Maxon’s sister? That was crazy. Speaking of which, does America know? I would assume so but can we get some clarity please?

I think my biggest issue is that everything just seemed to come together so quickly in the end that it was hard for me to believe, especially the constitutional monarchy. I liked the idea but it seemed like Eadlyn came up with it on the spot and that just seemed so unlike her. She just changed the government in a moment on live TV. Who does that?

Even so, I can’t deny I loved this book. I already know I’ll be going back to it again soon, to reread my favorite scenes. This was a great ending and I’ll miss this series so much. Thank you Kiera Cass!

Borrow or Buy: Why is this even a question? Buy it!

Stars: