Second Tuesday of the month? You know I’m linking up with Steph and Jana to discuss BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS 😀
The grading curve…
…and last month’s reads:
The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh | ★★★/5 
Summary: Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, this story opens on Shahrzad and her impending death sentence. As the Caliph’s 72 bride in as many nights, Shazi is determined to stop the monstrous ruler’s cruel cycle and exact her revenge for a former bride and fallen friend. But from the get-go things just aren’t that easy. | Why I Read It: It sounded interesting and it was the selected book for Carolann‘s book club. | What I Thought: To be totally honest, I’m torn. I didn’t dislike the book and I didn’t love it. It just didn’t really click with me. I loved Shazi’s strong, take-no-sh!t attitude. I also really enjoyed (almost) every character. The magical element fell a little flat for me. It was a relatively creative story, but it definitely had that YA/teen vibe. I don’t plan on reading the second in the series, only because I don’t really care…
You should read it because… you like teen adventure and romance. If you’re looking for a strong, feminine, well-rounded protagonist then I’d recommend this story! Definitely a YA story, though.
The Heir by Kiera Cass | ★★★/5 
Summary: The princess of Illea has never known rebel attacks or castes, but she’s no stranger to civilian unrest. When her parents suggest a new-age selection competition the feisty Princess Eadlyn is appalled. | Why I Read It: I’ve come this far with the series. I figured I’d finish it out. | What I Thought: I’ve given all The Selection books 3 stars, but this one is more like 3.5. I loved that there was no love triangle. I also loved Eadlyn’s confidence. At the same time, that girl was a brat. I get that she’s royalty and comfortable, but it shocked me that her mother, who came from nothing, would allow her daughter to act like that. I suppose we’re all jaded or naive in some form, but dang.
The romance (or lack thereof) was enjoyable. I like the guys, especially Kile and Henry (and Erik). I appreciate that we’re seeing a change in Eadlyn (I think)… Hopefully book 5 ties everything up in a relatively neat bow. (After 5 books I feel like I, as the reader, deserve that. Ha.)
You should read it because… you’ve made it this far. And while Eadlyn is more bratty than America, the story line is way more enjoyable and entertaining.
The Crown by Keira Cass | ★★★/5 
Summary: Eadlyn’s selection is coming to a close, as is her time as “princess.” With a potential husband and a queenship in her not so distant future, Eadlyn has some important decisions to make about her life and Illea. | Why I Read It: Just making my way through the series. | What I Thought: Well… I borrowed it from the library on Saturday morning and finished the final chapter that night. It’s not that it was outstanding (I mean, it’s still only getting three stars), but the pace was pretty quick and the story was interesting (albeit, a tad underdeveloped in my opinion…). That said, the last 100 pages felt incredibly rushed. Also, while I was looking for a neat & tidy ending to the series, this was all a little too perfect and unbelievable. I felt like the king and queen’s personalities shifted too much, the selection romance was random and underdeveloped, and the antagonist was dismissed too easily after all the drama settled. Eady was way less of a brat, though. She was much more enjoyable in this novel than in The Heir.
You should read it because… you’ve made it this far. And it’s a quick read.
I’m doing a private book challenge with friends, but Erin’s reading challenge doesn’t start until July 1st (see my list here) so I’m going to hold off on any challenge updates until the next SUYB!
Thanks for hosting, Steph & Jana!
Life as Louise 
The Selection series has been on my TBR forever!
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It’s cute and it passes the time just fine 🙂 Kind of like watching a teen tv drama or something! I hope you enjoy it!
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I really enjoyed the Selection series and especially the ending 🙂
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It was definitely an entertaining series! I was good with the ending- it seemed rushed but it was ok 🙂
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I have been wanting to read The Wrath and the Dawn forever, and I finally purchased it a couple of weeks ago! Enjoyed your review and can’t wait to see how I relate to it.
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I hope you love it!! It was a good story, it just didn’t click for me 😦
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I love the reason “you’ve come this far” 🙂 haha… that’s how I was with the Dorothy Must Die series
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Hahaha. I breezed through that series so it was painless to just finish it out 🙂
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Oh, I’m sorry you didn’t like The Wrath and the Dawn so much. I don’t read much YA but I did really like it. It definitely is super YA but I thought the setting and the plot were different and fun. I love that you said about The Heir that a plus is that there’s no love triangle. I get so tired of that – Probably my least favorite thing about Wrath & Dawn.
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The Wrath & the Dawn was definitely a good book and story, but for whatever reason it didn’t click… Plus, I wasn’t expecting that magical element so it threw me off. (I think we bonded over that underneath one of your posts, haha!)
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The Wrath and The Dawn is on my TBR. But I haven’t pulled the trigger on it yet. I like YA but the older I get, the harder I struggle to relate, especially to more romance books. I am just an old fart. There is no way I could read The Selection series at this point. A few years ago I would have loved it but now I have a really hard time not rolling my eyes through YA romances and focus instead of Dystopian or Fantasy YA with some romance (i.e. Cinder).
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The Wrath & the Dawn was a really good story, but maybe I just wasn’t in the mood…? I don’t know. Something just didn’t click with me.
The Selection was like watching a teen drama on the CW or ABC Family/Freeform. Haha. Entertaining, but totally teeny-bopper.
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I had just added The Wrath and the Dawn to my list from another review I read. It sounded interesting enough. Sometimes I need a little YA to break things up.
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I hope you like it!! It was a good story, it just wasn’t for me 🙂
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I have never heard of any of these books but I did look incredibly quickly at the first one and thought it was Dark Matter and I got all excited.
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Hahahaha! The cover of that first book had people complaining (on GoodReads) that the holes made it look trippy and they felt nauseous. Lol!
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I still haven’t read any Keira Cass books, and from what I’ve heard about her writing, I’m surprised that I haven’t! They seem right up my alley! That’s a bummer that you didn’t care for The Wrath & The Dawn that much! I really enjoyed it, especially the strong female lead!
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You should definitely check out The Selection of those kinds of books strike your fancy. It was a fun, dramatic, bachelorette/bachelor kind of book.
I thought Wrath & Dawn was good, but it just wasn’t for me. Meh- it happens sometimes.
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I keep hearing that The Heir is “meh,” but The Crown is quite a bit better. I definitely need to read both soon!
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The characters in The Crown are better, but the story line feels SUPER rushed and thrown together. I mean, still enjoyable for what they are (YA/teen) and still more that I’ve ever published, haha, but just a 3-star-series in my book 🙂
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I love a series that speaks to me – it’s like sitting down with a friend.
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The Selection was like binge watching a teen drama on ABC Family. I knew I wasn’t getting a whole lot out of it, but it was enjoyable and it kept my attention for a long time 🙂
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I need to check out The Selection series!
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It shouldn’t take you long to get through them and they’re very entertaining 😀
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Once again, your rating system is so helpful!! I just started Me Before You and as of page 30 it’s pretty good!! 😉
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Thank you! I heard that book is great! I’m glad you’re enjoying it!!
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Girl, I feel like you are reading so much these days, I remember when you would say.. I want to read more. hehehe I haven’t read The Wrath and the Dawn, but I want to. I liked Edalyn more than America… but she certainly comes off bratty from time to time. I think she just takes everything super-seriously! All the same, glad you enjoyed the series! XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
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Hahahahahaha! I definitely read more now that I used to!! People that tackle +6 books in a month (*cough*you*cough*) still amaze me, but I’m glad I opt for books over the remote sometimes now 🙂
I loved Eadlyn’s confidence, but I thought America had a kinder heart. I was happy to see a shift in Eady toward the end of The Heir and into The Crown!
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I feel like “I’ve come this far” is the main reason I finished watching True Blood. I want to check out The Wrath and the Dawn one day when I’m in a YA mood.
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Haha- it feels like a waste to not just finish it out 😉 You definitely need to be in a YA mood, but The Wrath and the Dawn was a good one 🙂
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It’s a shame these were all only 3*!
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None of them wow-ed me 😦 They were entertaining and passed the time just fine, but not mind-blowing…
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I want to read The Crown, because I want to finish off the series. Like you, I wouldn’t say that they were particularly good books–but they were enjoyable. I find all too often in modern books with teenage female protagonists as the main character…that the main character is just too bratty and unlikeable. I know a lot of awesomely epic teenage young women so I’m not a fan of how they’re characters are typically written in YA lit. But I still keep trying new books without learning my lesson…
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I would agree with all that. The Wrath and the Dawn had a pretty clever, down-to-Earth lead lady. It was YA, but it had a pretty good story line with really wonderful characters!
I’d say finish off The Crown 😉 Eady is a little more tolerable and you can check the series off your list!
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i know i’m a bit late but oh, so heartbroken you didn’t love the wrath and the dawn. i LOVED it. but i don’t know why. i really liked the second one as well. it was just so different. i felt differently about the heir – i loved the first 3, the 4th fell flat and i still haven’t read the last one.
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