The Crown

The Crown by Kiera Cass
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So I did like this better than book #4 but still wasn't a huge fan of Eadlyn throughout the book.
I was happy how it all wrapped up & glad I made it through the series, but still leaving the series knowing books 1-3 are SO much better. I'm glad I read these though... just didnt give me all the feels of the original 3. Kinda ironic, giving that's a lot of the story, how Eadlyn doesn't live up to her parents. oops. haha.

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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. 

Turtles All the Way Down

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love me some John Green & was excited about his new book.

I have weird feelings about this book though. I enjoyed it & I thought he did his main character Aza total justice in her struggle with mental health struggles. I mean, it was really really done well. As someone who has issues with germaphobe & a need to google every symptom & hone & hark & get myself riled up over the unknown, I appreciated seeing Aza & how her mind worked in her struggles. But when someone asked me what the story was about, I couldnt really sum it up well. That's the issue I guess for me - I'm not really sure what the overall plot of the book was. I know we followed along with Aza & her friendships & her relationship with an old friend & the little mystery of finding his father who had gone missing... but that never really felt like the MAIN story. I dont know. Maybe just me. I did enjoy it - wasn't in awe of the story, but if you are a John Green fan, I think you can't miss this book.

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Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts

The One by Kiera Cass

The One by Kiera Cass
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Still just trekking through this series.
& this may be one of my favorites out of the three.
We are down to the final 4 in this book & who Maxon is going to choose. All the while watching America struggle with sharing him with the other Selection Girls & watching him grow closer to one other one. I loved this book had a little bit more back story of the rebellion & what some of the purpose of it was. I also appreciated this book had a little bit of shock, some deep emotion other than just the relationship with Maxon & America, but also with family members.... the heartache, the anger, the frustration. I wish the epilogue was a little longer & I think the end got a little rushed at the final decision... I dont know - I think I just wanted more after 3 books of build up, but I still enjoyed it.

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When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants. 

The Prince {The Selection}

The Prince by Kiera Cass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love these little Novellas to see the other side of a story. This one was a fast read at 64 pages of what the Prince was going through before the Selection happened... & we even get the first few scenes of Maxon & America together, except seeing it through different eyes. Totally loved it....

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Before thirty-five girls were chosen to compete in the Selection...

Before Aspen broke America's heart...

There was another girl in Prince Maxon's life...

The Elite

The Elite by Kiera Cass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So yep, still totally into this series. I'm so glad I waited for the entire series to be out before I started reading this because I would be FURIOUS if I had to wait for each book to come out. My library has a wait list on the final 3 so I've just ordered the entire series so no more waiting. & I'll be diving straight into book 3 ASAP.
This wasn't AS great as the first one to me, just because I was getting a little frustrated at America & her decision making skills.... but the deeper story of the relationships developing & the inner workings of the royal family - especially the story with Marlee that kept me gasping & a tad freaking out - had me still wrapped up in this story ... & cant wait to see what the next step in The Selection is since we're down to five. I'm here for every dramatic moment of it.

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The Selection began with thirty-five girls.
Now with the group narrowed down to the six Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon's heart is fiercer than ever—and America is still struggling to decide where her heart truly lies. Is it with Maxon, who could make her life a fairy tale? Or with her first love, Aspen?

America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America's chance to choose is about to slip away

The Selection {Book One}

The Selection by Kiera Cass
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So I waited for this whole series to come out before I started because I knew I'd read straight through them & true to form, I zoomed through the first book... & already into the 2nd one. I'm going to tear through this series, I have a feeling.
Someone asked me what it was about & I said its a mixture of The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor. What a weird combo - but it really fits.
Girls getting picked out of their castes to marry the Prince... & when America, a FIVE is picked, she goes in with a broken heart after Aspyn leaves her feeling rejected. Little does she know what lays ahead of her in the process of The Selection.
I am just a sucker for corny romance books & this is just a fun little twist & a great little love triangle. I know I'm into it when I can't pick a side ... One minute, I'm totally Team Maxon & the next, Team Aspyn... so I'm excited to see how this all plays out.

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For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

In the Unlikely Event

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I'm just mad I wasted all my time.
This book just felt like it took forever... & by the end of the story, I was like, "What's the point of this book?"
If I hadnt gotten so far into it, I would have just stopped but I kept thinking there had to be some revelation or something more towards the end.
Nope.
I didnt care for this book at all. Between the zillion characters & just the weirdness of the plane crashes that hinted there would be something more to this story... again, nope.
& then it just aggravated me to think how young the characters were in this book & it just threw another wrench in it to me on how their experiences were happening.
I'm just disappointed. I grew up a Judy Blume fan... Give me her YA stuff any day over this.

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In her highly anticipated new novel, Judy Blume, the New York Times # 1 best-selling author of Summer Sisters and of young adult classics such as Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, creates a richly textured and moving story of three generations of families, friends and strangers, whose lives are profoundly changed by unexpected events.

In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life.

Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen, and in love for the first time, a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling. Against this backdrop of actual events that Blume experienced in the early 1950s, when airline travel was new and exciting and everyone dreamed of going somewhere, Judy Blume imagines and weaves together a haunting story of three generations of families, friends, and strangers, whose lives are profoundly changed by these disasters. She paints a vivid portrait of a particular time and place — Nat King Cole singing “Unforgettable,” Elizabeth Taylor haircuts, young (and not-so-young) love, explosive friendships, A-bomb hysteria, rumors of Communist threat. And a young journalist who makes his name reporting tragedy. Through it all, one generation reminds another that life goes on.

In the Unlikely Event is a gripping novel with all the hallmarks of Judy Blume's unparalleled storytelling