Review: The Heir by Kiera Cass

Love did nothing but break down defenses, and I could not afford that. 

Title: The Heir

Author: Kiera Cass

Genre:  YA Romance

Rating: B+

Recommended For: Fans of The Selection series, fans of bubblegum YA romances

Source: Library e-book

One-sentence review: For a book I really don't think was necessary to be written, I was very heavily entertained by this addition to The Selection series even if I thought the main character was terribly annoying. 

TBR It: GoodReads

Buy It: Amazon

*This review contains spoilers for The Selection series*

I kind of feel like Kiera Cass needs to write something new already. I know I'm going to get so much hate for saying that, but The Selection has been done, it's over, it was cute, so move on. That was exactly my thought process getting into this book and I can't say that reading it has made me change my mind too much, but I'll admit I need the next book in this series ASAP. Oh Kiera Cass, look what you do to me!

While The Selection and its two sequels followed America on her journey through the Selection to become Queen of Illea, The Heir follows the same journey of her daughter, Eadlyn only on the opposite end of the competition about twenty years later. Illea is now caste-free but the new generation is angry for some reason about it. Even though the Selection as a mandatory way for the heir to find a spouse has been eradicated, America and Maxon ask their daughter, the future Queen, if she would be willing to participate in order to distract the country and make them happy. Eadlyn very unhappily agrees and finds herself in the middle of something changing her in all the ways she expected and wanted to resist.

First off, I really dislike Eadlyn. She is so selfish, self-righteous and self-absorbed that I could never truly sympathize or care about her. If this were a movie I think she should be played by Kendall Jenner or another Kardashian/Jenner because then viewers will be used to the whole poor-little-spoiled-girl routine. Fortunately, I think Cass meant for Eadlyn to come off as not-so-nice, especially in contrast to her mother, America's Selection story. But this cold, selfish heroine act definitely affected the way I read the story. She's just so out of touch with reality and unaware of how spoiled she is that I found it difficult to cheer for her happy ending.

Different from the original Selection, there isn't just a love triangle, there's a whole love-octagon... or whatever shape has as many sides as Eadlyn has potential love interests. I definitely have my favorite and runners-up, but it's actually pretty difficult to see who the front runner is for the winner of the Selection. Which, if you haven't realized, means yes - there will be more Selection books. The Heir does not end with a winner or any sort of conclusion. I can hear the cheers and groans alike.

Regardless of whether the new generation of characters is worth reading or not, fans of the original Selection will be pleased to see all of their beloved favorites interact. My favorite was seeing Aspen and Maxon in one touching scene, and Aspen and America during some exchanges. I will say it is extremely satisfying to at least have that sort of epilogue regardless of the rest of the content.

The rest of the content is not all bad and obnoxious though; quite the opposite if you can get past Eadlyn. Many new characters, especially the rest of America and Maxon's kids, are colorful, rich with depth and, as always with Cass' characters, have hilarious interactions and dialogues with each other. Eadlyn's twin brother might be one of my favorite characters Cass has created and I look forward to seeing if he will play a major role in the next book. The relationships Eadlyn builds with the boys in the Selection are filled with all of the fun character building elements that Cass is exceptional at and always makes her stories fun and enjoyable.

If you liked the original Selection trilogy, you will surely appreciate all of the similar elements in this continuation, even if it's still annoying that this story won't end. As for me, I will keep this series as my guilty pleasure that continues to ultimately entertain more than it annoys.