"Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible.
But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.
Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought."
Eadlyn Schreave.
I think it's necessary to begin my review of The Heir by discussing the heir herself. Eadlyn is the daughter of Maxon and America (the main character and narrator of the first three Selection books) and the future queen of Illea. I've read review after review that tears apart Eadlyn's character. It seems many readers don't have a single good thing to say about her.
I'm a little mixed on my view of Eadlyn. Overall, I like her. She has some big character flaws, but they don't make me completely hate her like other reviewers.
Eadlyn is pretty selfish and spoiled. In her defense, she grew up with maids meeting her every command and with the knowledge that she will someday rule the country. But she rarely seems to think about anyone other than herself. Eadlyn spends a majority of the book worrying about how other people's actions will affect her and disregarding how her actions are affecting those around her. Eadlyn is also independent to an extreme. She thinks because she is the future queen, she can't be vulnerable or soft. She often tells herself the phrase, "there is no one more powerful than me." She is completely closed off to the idea of having a man by her side.
In my opinion, these characteristics are what make Eadlyn real. America wasn't perfect in the first three books and neither is her daughter. But Eadlyn does have some lovable characteristics. She has a sassy sense of humor and a deep love for her family. The moments where these characteristics shine are the moments I love Eadlyn the most.
I think Cass wrote Eadlyn with the flaws I mentioned in order to leave room for her growth during the Selection. Honestly, I think we are just seeing the very beginning of that growth in this book and I'm expecting to see Eadlyn grow even more in the next book.
The Other Characters.
This book was chock full of supporting characters. From Eadlyn's family to the Selected to other people in the palace, sometimes it was hard to keep track of how characters were involved with the story.
Maxon and America were probably my favorite supporting characters. I was team Maxon from the very beginning, so I loved any glimpse Cass gave us of the beloved couple. They are still so in love, and I'd find myself thinking of moments from the first three books and being so happy that this is where they are now.
I also loved reading about Maxon and America's children. Eadlyn, of course, was the child that we learned the most about, but we did get a glimpse of her three brothers too. Eadlyn's twin, Ahren, reminded me of Maxon and I took a instant liking to him. His actions at the end of the book frustrated me at first, but once I processed what he did, I empathized with him. As for the younger two brothers, Kaden and Osten, we didn't see much of their characters, but the scenes we did get with them left me wishing I knew more about them.
Finally, the 35 Selected boys were a set of key supporting characters. Out of the 35 boys, we really only got to know the stories behind about five of them. Of these five, I definitely have one favorite. (If you want to know who, send me a message!) The rest, to me, seem too similar or just don't seem like a good fit for Eadlyn. Since we only got to view the Selected through Eadlyn's eyes, it was hard to get a good grasp of their characters. Eadlyn was closed off to the boys at first, and even toward the end of the book she hadn't spent much time getting to know the boys personally. I'm interested to see where Cass takes the Selection in the next book, but a bit worried too.
The Plot.
While the plot wasn't terrible, it wasn't what made this book for me. I kept reading because I wanted to see Eadlyn open up, I wanted to learn more about the Selected boys, and I wanted to see more of Maxon and America's relationship. And I didn't really get much of that. The bulk of the storyline was Eadlyn being resistant to everything that was happening. She would go on a date with one boy and then we wouldn't see him again for a long time. There were a few action-packed moments at the beginning and end of the book, but for the most part, this book lacked a lot of action and the climax seemed to come at the very end.
On a positive note, I did like reading about the selection process from the point of view of the selector. Eadlyn's opinion of her selection is probably much different than Maxon's opinion would've been during the first three books.
As I mentioned before, I would have liked to see a little more character development in Eadlyn. Maxon and America aren't making Eadlyn hold a selection merely as a distraction from the turmoil in the country, even though that is one of the biggest reasons. They see Eadlyn's need for companionship and know that she has a lot to learn about herself. Putting Eadlyn through a selection is her parents way of helping her grow. I felt like there were small peeks at Eadlyn growing in this aspect, but they were quickly negated. It wasn't until the very end that she seemed to really have a change in attitude.
Speaking of the ending...
The Ending. Ugh.
Without giving away any spoilers, I'll just say that I did not like the ending. I felt this specific climactic event wasn't necessary to bring about the change in Eadlyn at the end. When I got to the final page, I thought my copy of the book was missing pages because that is just not how you end a book! I know it's a cliffhanger, but to me, this was a cliffhanger that didn't work. I don't know where Cass is planning to take the next book (which will be the final Selection book ever), but I really don't want to even think about some of the options she has made available because of the ending of this book.
Final Thoughts.
All in all, I liked The Heir. It wasn't my favorite book in the series; that spot will always belong to the first book. However, I think I can't really make my full opinion of this book until I read the next one (which doesn't come out until next year). Cass seemed to use this book to set up a lot of action that I'm expecting in the next one. She has a lot of loose strings to tie up in the final book, and I'm interested in seeing how she does it.
While reading The Heir, I loved revisiting Illea and some of my favorite characters. If you were a fan of the first three books and want to spend some more time in the Selection world, I'd definitely recommend you read The Heir.
Have you read this book? What did you think? Leave a comment below and let's start a discussion!
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