The Heir by Kiera Cass

Hello Book Lovers!!!

The next book I'm reading is The Heir by Kiera Cass, the first book in the sequel series of The Selection Series, and I'm super excited!!! I loved The Selection Series so I hope to like this series just as much :) So far August has been a fantastic reading month and I hope it will stay that way :)

Now all I know about this book is it's about Prince Maxon and America's daughter I think and that instead of it being 35 girls and 1 prince, it's the opposite way around :) It will be interesting to see how this world has been developed over the years and whether war is still happening between the Northerners, Southerners and the palace, although the Northerners seemed to side more with the palace by the end of The Selection Series.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

The One by Kiera Cass - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

Clearly I've got way too into this series as I completely forgot to tell you that I was reading The One by Kiera Cass. Sorry about that!!! But yes, that's what I've been reading and I've finished it meaning I've finished The Selection Series!!! But it doesn't end there as Kiera Cass has written the first book in the sequel series so guess what I'm reading next? ;)

As this is the final book in the Selection Series, then there will be spoilers for those who haven't read The Selection or The Elite but if you want to check out those reviews then click here for The Selection review and here for The Elite review :)

In this book we see America and the final girls competing against each other to win Prince Maxon's heart. As you would expect, there is a lot of conflict between the girls and when they decide to be honest with each other and tell each other what Maxon has done for each of them, some jealousy comes to the surface.

As well as this, the public are voting on who they want to be the Queen and when Celeste finds out America and Kriss are top of the leaderboard, she gets annoyed. America notices Celeste's behaviour and although America really doesn't like her, she goes to see what the matter is, soon finding out about the public polls. During their conversation, America tries to tell Celeste that she doesn't need Maxon to have a fantastic life, she is a Two afterall and soon Celeste opens up about why she behaves in the way she does. Because of this, Celeste and America begin to be nicer to each other and start a friendship.

The war between the Northerners, Southerners, and the palace are still underway causing the girls to have to keep being taken to the safe rooms when they invade. The war is getting worse and more and more people are losing their lives, including guards and families from some of the castes.

And as the girls get narrowed down again to two, can Maxon make up his mind about who he wants as his wife?

I loved this book just liked I loved the previous two. With Celeste opening up about why she behaves like she does, I began to like her a lot more and previously I couldn't stand the girl. I also really enjoyed reading about the invasions as it got even more tense and I felt myself getting emotional at times.

I also really enjoyed the ending although it was heartbreaking to start with as some of the main characters ended up losing their lives. One of which was one of my favourite characters so I'm upset about that.

I think overall the story was concluded amazingly and I couldn't have asked for a better ending. SPOILER ALERT: When Aspen walked America down the aisle for her wedding with Maxon, I nearly cried. It was so beautiful to know that even though they will never be together, they will always have a strong friendship and will always look out for each other.

Rating /5

5

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

The Elite by Kiera Cass - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished The Elite by Kiera Cass and absolutely loved it!!! I enjoyed it just as much as the first book, The Selection and I can't wait to carry on with this series. Because this is the second book in a series, this overview will have spoilers in for those of you who haven't read the first book, so if you haven't and you don't want to be spoilt, then go read the first book then come back here :) If you want to check out my review on the first book then click here :)

This part of the series sees America and 5 other girls try to win Prince Maxon's heart. Prince Maxon narrowed the girls down to six in the previous book and so now the story focusses specifically on these six girls. 

As well as this, America also has the difficulty of choosing whether to stay at the palace for Prince Maxon, or leave for Aspen, a boy who she met at home. 

The wars continue with the Northeners and Southerners but this time, a lot of the palace guards end up dead leaving America panicking for Aspen's safety. Not only that, but they also find out that they have started targeting the families of the Selection. Later on, America thinks she has worked out why they keep invading the palace after she puts together everything she has observed during the attacks.

During this book, America gets herself into a lot of trouble with the King after she tries to change how the country is ran by suggesting eliminating the castes, the categories the public are separated into. Not only does America get into trouble, but Maxon does too when he tries to stand up for her. And Maxon comes off worse, much worse.

The King wants America gone but Maxon won't stand for that as he knows that its America he wants, and eventually the King allows her to stay, but gives her a lot of hatred telling her she's not good enough to help run a country and all of the other girls are prettier and more suitable for Maxon than she is.

This leaves America not only upset, but terribly angry. What will she do next, and how long will it be before the King tries to get rid of her again?

Like I said above, I absolutely loved this book just as much as the first one. I loved how the plot developed and how we got to know a lot more about the other girls in this book because of there only being six of them left.

The war scenes are always so intriguing yet nerve racking as you are constantly thinking of who is getting hurt, or worse killed, and whether one of your favourite characters is going to make it through the invasions.

I definitely feel I've got more attached to some of the characters but I also feel like I'm developing hate for some of them as well. I didn't like Maxon at points in this book at all but once he explained his actions later on in the story, I started to understand his actions a little more, although I still don't agree with some of them. I can't stand Celeste; I think she is the worst character in the whole story but I think her character has been written and developed very well.

I definitely think America isn't being fair on either Aspen or Maxon and I think that she should have decided by now who she wants, as it's not fair letting both of them chase her.

And lastly, I'm loving the maids more and more every time I read a section they are in. They just make me smile and remind me of the fairies from Sleeping Beauty :)

Rating /5

5

If you've read The Selection or The Elite then let me know in the comments below what you thought of them as I would love to hear other people's opinions on this series.

Speak to you all soon!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

The Elite by Kiera Cass

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've been a bit bad and started reading a book before letting you guys know what I was planning on reading...oops!!! I was just so excited to continue the Selection Series I completely forgot to put up a post or update my Goodreads. 

So the book I've been reading over the last day or so is The Elite by Kiera Kass, the second book in the series, and so far I'm loving it just as much as the first book, The Selection.

I'll let you know my full thoughts on it when I post my review, which at the speed I'm reading at the minute won't be long!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom by Bill Willingham and Lauren Beukes - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've read Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom by Bill Willingham and Lauren Beukes in one sitting as it's a quick read so I thought why not :) And I really enjoyed it. Just like the previous Fairest graffic novels I've read, it was full of action, romance, and drama.

The story begins with Rapunzel receiving a message saying "your children". She completely freaks out as she thought her children didn't make it through birth. She decides to go on the search for her children by backtracking her life, into parts she really wants to just forget.

We see Rapunzel reface stories in her life that not even her partner knows about and she gets herself into a lot of trouble when she bumps into someone from her past that wants her dead.

When she finally finds her children, and realises that although they aren't dead, they also aren't human, she goes on a journey to find out who did this to them. After remembering getting drugged during her birth, she goes looking for the person that drugged her as she thinks that this is the person that also stole her children and changed them.

Although I really enjoyed this volume, I'm not sure I enjoyed the ending so much as I didn't think it was finalised too well. I enjoyed learning about each character and about Raunzel's past and it was nice to see how Rapunzel changed herself for the better and got out of a life that was full of trouble.

It was very clever how her hair was brought into the story and how it effected not only herself but others as well, as it was a really different take on previous Rapunzel stories I've read or seen.

I definitely think Rapunzel was a lot more bad ass than Sleeping Beauty from the previous volume and I really liked that about her. Although she changed for the better and got out of a life that was terrible, she still has that bad ass streak about her and I really like that.

As well as this story, just like volume 1, there was a short story in the back where we see Bo Peep and her friend Princess Alder tell their story of Alder's bad luck with finding true love. Alder you see is not entirely human, she is part tree and because of that her lifestyle is a little different to ours.

This was a fun short read at the end and even though it is so short, I still found I learnt a lot about Princess Alder and I hope to see her again in another one of the Fairest stories :)

Rating /5

4

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom by Bill Willingham and Lauren Beukes

Hello Book Lovers!!!

The next book I'm going to read this month is a graffic novel and it is volume 2 of the Fairest Series by Bill Willingham and Lauren Beukes. I really enjoyed reading the first volume last month and the stand alone I read earlier this year so I'm looking forward to carrying on with these graffic novels.

All I know about this one is it is based around Rapunzel. The first volume was based around Sleeping Beauty and I really enjoyed that and I love Rapunzel anyway so I'm sure I'll like this one :)

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just finished The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien and oh wow, I'm feeling every emotion under the sun right now. This is going to be hard to write as I can't speak or think or just generally function properly right now.

This book is about a hobbit called Bilbo Baggins. He is a happy, peaceful hobbit and is very content with spending his life in and around his little hobbit-hole. When a wizard named Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive at his house, Bilbo has no idea how crazy his life is about to become.

They embark on a journey to raid the treasure of Smaug the Magnificent, a dragon and on their journey they face elves, trolls, Gollum, spiders, and many more things that make their adventure exciting yet terrifying.

And just when they think they've succeeded, they face a huge battle that could be the end of the road for them.

I can't explain to you how this book made me feel as the list of emotions would go on forever. I didn't realise just how attached I was getting to the characters until a few chapters to the end. And one specific paragraph made me well up. It's the first book this year that's made me cry so that's an achievement and a half Tolkien!!! I obviously won't post the paragraph as it will spoil it for people that haven't read it but if you haven't, you need to!!! If you are interested, it's on page 337 of the edition in the image above. I'll leave you to guess which paragraph!!!

The world in which Tolkien has created and the huge amount of characters and lands within this world are just amazing. It doesn't seem real that a human can have this much imagination. I don't know why it's taken me this long to read this book but I will definitely be reading The Lord of the Rings because I need more of this fantastic world in my life.

I recommend this book to anyone of any age, whether you read 1 book a year or 100 books a year. Give this a read!!! It's one of those books that I think everyone needs to read at some point in their lives. If you want to find a way to get into fantasy, then I definitely recommend this book. I can now say I completely understand why people are so obsessed with this world.

Rating /5

5

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx