Review: The Crown by Kiera Cass

Book: The Crown
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection #5 (final)
Genre: YA dystopian romance
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 279
Release: May 3rd, 2016

When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

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Not quite the ending to the series I imagined, that's for sure!

This novel follows on the footsteps of the last book. Eadlyn is still in the midst of her Selection, and has now narrowed it down to the Elite. However, new pressures are rising, forcing her hand to choose one of the six young men to be her husband sooner rather than later.

First off: my ship sailed! So I'm quite pleased, though a little shocked that it actually did. I thought my ship had no chance, and Eadlyn too explained all the potential issues with that relationship. But regardless, it sailed, so yay. However, I felt that their relationship was a bit abrupt and rushed, seeing as there wasn't much time to get a lot of chemistry happening between the two. But I guess love wins in the end, right? Or at the very least, it makes us do crazy stuff.

Eadlyn herself was quite changed from the first book. She really stepped up her game in this one, no longer acting like a pampered princess with the luxury of time, and more acting like the young and responsible royal she was supposed to be. Another aspect we got to see that I very much enjoyed was Eadlyn behaving not as a princess, but as an older sister. It's nice to be able to see her take a step down into a more family role, being who she's supposed to be. Eadlyn also took on numerous responsibilities and made some tough, life-changing decisions in this one, decisions I doubted she would have been prepared to make in the last book. However, though she did become a lot more responsible, her age still did cut through at times with her impulsive decisions. Though I for one wouldn't have been able to do what she did, there were a few times where I didn't quite understand the logic behind her decision. How did she make them so quickly? I mean, they worked, but let's say they didn't. Then what? But everything did work out, so all's well that ends well, right?

From the end of the last book, we knew that Eadlyn had cut the Selection down to the Elite: Hale, Gunner, Fox, Henri, Ean, and Kile. For three of them, I enjoyed how Eadlyn's means of elimination, but the others had me feeling a bit off. They're by no means as bad as her very first elimination, but I would have preferred her to have done it slightly different.

The introduction of Marid Illéa definitely added some very interesting dynamics to the plot and to Eadlyn's life. I was at first fearful of his appearance, uncertain whether he would have a positive effect on Eadlyn and her dilemma or not. But he was brilliant, playing his cards as he did. I really did sympathize with position he put her in, very much like Josie did, but I liked seeing how he pushed Eadlyn into taking her role one step further.

We also got some insider information about Maxon, and the extent of King Clarkson's anger over America when she suggested abolishing the caste system. I mean, I wasn't a King Clarkson fan (who was?) to begin with, so that, along with the second bit of information regarding Eadlyn's other relative, doesn't quite surprise me. I mean, it does, but it doesn't. But what Maxon did only makes me like him even more, as if I already hadn't! 

The ending consisted of two very large surprises to me: Eadlyn's choice, and her final announcement. As I mentioned, my ship sailed, much to my shock. However, her choice alone brought about a new wave of questions, questions that were completely overshadowed by her announcement. And her announcement! Never in a million years did I see that coming. I just stopped for a moment, and went, WHAT? I mean, I think what Eadlyn did was a good idea and I completely support it, but I also thought that she should have taken a bit more page time considering it rather than just plunging head-first and actually doing it. A sudden announcement like that--no warning to the palace staff either--will definitely have aftershocks, let them be good or bad. 

I definitely would have liked the ending to be longer--or at the very least, have an epilogue that was more plot-based rather than metaphorical. A follow-through to see just how everything turned out, or at least some kind of direction hinting at whether the country approves or disapproves. And what about Eadlyn's relationship, with her chosen fiancé, and with the rest of the eliminated Selected? Did she remain to be in close contact with any of them? And, more importantly, what about those two of the selected (you'll know who I mean if you've read it)? How did they turn out? Did it work? Did Eadlyn manage to succeed with them? How did Eadlyn's finané make out as the prince regent? Argh, so many unanswered questions, not enough direction to cover them!

So, my final verdict is that The Crown was alright. Not as good as the original series, of course. They both had very abrupt endings, The Crown more so than The One. I begrudgingly admit that I want something more to this series, let it be a short paragraph or a novella. Just something to follow up on what happened here!