The Prince and The Guard offer the enthralling thoughts and feelings of the two men battling to win over the heart of America Singer. Way before America Singer came to compete in the selection for the crown of the princess of Illea, another girl had come to the palace to compete and win over the heart of a different prince…. This prequel story is told from the point of view of Amberly, Prince Maxon's mother, as it follows the events of The Selection.
Through this Selection novella, you will not only discover how Maxon's parents met, but also learn of how an ordinary girl by the name Amberly rose to became an adored queen.
Marlee, her friend, however knew exactly what she wanted, and paid the ultimate price for it. Told from Marlee's point of view, it reveals how that night, and the prince, forever changed their lives. How about looking at the Selection through the eyes of a guard who watched his first love drift away? Thirty-five girls are presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity with the Selection; an opportunity to run away from the only path they have ever known, and into a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels.
For America Singer however, the Selection is a nightmare. But when America meets Prince Maxon, she learns that the life she always dreamed of is nowhere near the future she never imagined.
Of the thirty-five girls that came to the palace to compete in the Selection, only six remain. One lucky girl will end up marrying Prince Maxon, and in turn be crowned princess of Illea. But everytime she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, America is swamped with memories of the life they had laid out to share.
The Selection forever changed the course of America Singer's life in ways not even possible in her wildest imaginations. She is heavily drawn to Prince Maxon and always fantasizes about their new and breathless love whenever they are together. But whenever she lays her eyes on Aspen, the memories she shared with her first love greatly overwhelm her.
Nonetheless, America has no option but to make a choice. And she is ready to fight for the future she deserves for herself. She starts off book 2 with the difficult choice of Maxon or Aspen. I think I will spare myself. So the question is: Is this book worth a read? In my opinion, no. Alternately, there's The Jewel that has a very similar feel, but is an overall stronger novel in every possible way. Read that instead. More reviews and other fantastical things at Cuddlebuggery.
View all 60 comments. Upon re-read 5 years later- Welp, it's still the "guilty pleasure" light silly read I knew it to be, but definitely not quite as entertaining as I remember. View all 7 comments. Heavens above, why are you smiting me? I was doing fine, and then I had an emergencylevelsuperbusybeyondstressfulconstantlyanxious garbage smoothie of a day. Two of the adjectives I Heavens above, why are you smiting me? Two of the adjectives I would have used were semi-accurate.
I had two major problems with this book that just would not, could not go away. Would not, could not write people as gay. Seuss of negative reviews. Except did you guys know that he cheated on his wife who had cancer and she committed suicide when she found out? Not all Mr. Nice Fox in Socks. I guess I actually had three major problems with this. No, four! One, there is straight up no diversity. And I also I have three whole other problems.
I believe there are two Asian characters, one of whom is named Tiny Lee - so just make up your own minds on that. And I think it woulda livened up the plot a little to have at least one gay girl.
Love triangles are so unrealistic and boring and uncomfy. The Big Three of me hating something. I must: not like other girls. I still looked like me when I was done. Of course, so did Celeste, since she insisted upon piling it on. I love a list. There are eight simple types, now available for men to order in one easy step! So confusing!!! What do they want!!! Why are they crying!!! Ugh how do we decode them women!!! A classic one!! So maybe we should just never do anything for fear of being interrupted.
Did this come off as uncertain as it feels? Maybe The One will be good. I gave that one five stars a mere two years ago. But then again, I gave Isla and the Happily Ever After five stars in and look how that turned out.
Kenedy This series had me in a headlock years ago. I'm older now, dare I say, a bit wiser This series had me in a headlock years ago. This is becoming a TV show so I feel the need to come back and edit my review. The whole series is like junk food. I don't think it's good for me. I'm not even sure I'm enjoying it But I can't stop! I never thought I would read this book, let alone finish it but it happened.
Is it great literature? But it also doesn't claim to be. You'll probably roll your eyes a lot, the love triangle is pointless but I did read the whole trilogy so Will I watch the TV show? Yeah probably lol This is becoming a TV show so I feel the need to come back and edit my review.
Yeah probably lol View all 16 comments. Sep 19, Lea rated it it was ok Shelves: had-potential , love-triangle , princesses , meh , annoying-romance , redheads , unintentionally-hilarious , epic-fail , tstl-characters , reality-show.
Everything I have to say here is based on my own personal opinion about the book itself, even though I definitely think Cass needs a new publicist. So please don't use them without asking my permission first. View all 59 comments. Aug 01, Maria rated it really liked it. How refreshing! I feel so much lighter now, like a weight has been lifted off of me. I feel happy and fluffy and bubbly. This is such a fan and entertaining read.
I can't even review it properly. You can't just criticize harshly a trash YA book, made to not be taken seriously. Guys, let some love into your life! This book meets The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor meets America's Next Top Model meets any kind of trashy reality show you will find on TV meets any kind of chick lit movie you will find on the cinema.
And I loved it! So many characters and settings reminded me of other characters and settings from other books and movies and tv shows, and it just made me giddy. This book would have been my favorite if I read it when I was 15 or something, at 21 I couldn't feel the same butterflies.
I'm jealous of y'all for reading it when you were a teenager! It must have been such a fulfilling and blissful experience. I'm gonna criticize some minor problems but nothing too serious. I don't want to ruin the jolly feeling this book gave me! Let's go! The main character's name is America Singer. America Singer. And guess what her profession is?
A singer. Honestly, guys, I laughed out loud when this name was mentioned. I couldn't help it. Non-Greek people, listen out. Kota in Greek is an insult for Greek people. A funny one. A trashy one. Also, it's chicken. But mostly an insult. Kota means hen. But hen isn't an insult in English, obviously. I think. Correct me if I'm wrong. It's basically "bitch" in poultry form. The word has the same impact as bitch. Good talk. I'm still laughing at this name, and at the fact it's for a male character.
I sent it to my friends and we all had a good laugh. I always laugh sending them weird things from books I read. I'll talk about one more aspect I didn't like and then I'm done as I promised!
I didn't find the world building too convincing. I feel like the story was too character and relationship driven, that the whole standpoint of the politics was unnecessary and redundant. I respected the castes derivative, it was unique and it mirrored so much our today's society, but she should have left it at that.
She should have evolved the world more for it to be taken seriously, or slowed down on the teen drama factor. Which is the reason these books are so fun and lovable, the teen drama trashy YA aspect of them. So, yes, I don't need world building here! Now onto I underestimated this book immensely. I truly thought the main character would be a shallow, superficial, dumb bitch, who only cared about the dresses and the fame and all that. A character like Celeste , you could say.
But I was pleasantly taken aback. America is an incredible character. She is funny, sassy, independent, clever, uncompromising. A true role model and I'm rooting for her. She really cares about her family and puts herself in a tough for her position which also brings danger in physical form. I hope she sorts her shit out in her head, and chooses the best for her. I was delighted that she stood up for them, brought them to safety, fought for them.
She showed how much of a Queen she can become. I feel like he's only with America for the physical stuff. And he's sneaky. Something is going on. Why was he only happy the last three months, like his mum said, when he's been with America for two years? And, oh, so randomly, the girl fell and he caught her.
By the waist, like couples hug intimately. We all saw how quick he was at picking out a lie when her maids entered the room. The boy is a natural breed liar. Something is gonna be revealed in the next books. And I'm ready for it! I kept picturing Max Irons as him. I don't know if I'm wrong. When I read books, I always picture actors or singers or whatever for the characters I like most.
America was Bonnie Wright for me. Don't me. And let's continue with Maxon. I love him. I love him so much. He's so precious and he deserves love and respect and all the cookies in the world.
I want to hug him. I want him to hug me with his gargantuan arms. The ones America likes. At the begging, it was all so awkward and everyone was at forks with everyone, because of the competition. Only Marlee was genuine with America. I love how the women hate was vanished and how after all, aside the competition, they were there for each other.
I want them to be united and strong in the next book, all six of them. I was sad to see the others go so suddenly, but you know they were too many to remember.
I want the characters of these last remaining five girls to be explored more. I want to stan new people! Initially, I thought Marlee was sneaky. She was so nice and giving to America, it should have been a trap.
With it all being a competition and everything. But I trusted her after a while, and now again I don't. She is hiding too much. Something's fishy here. I thought they would meet, you know, classic shit, they would fall in love, he would find something special to her, she would rethink her past reflection of his character and blah blah blah.
Which is how it happened but with an unorthodox way. A maverick way. Fucking Logan Paul. I'm a fanfic person, shoot me. I want them to end up together. They bring out the best in each other. They're funny, snarky, honest with each other.
That's why a romantic relationship should start from a strong friendship first. I'm all for it, in real life too. The point here is, ever since I joined Goodreads and watched lots of Bootube and basically joined the online book world, I'm very critical with books. I used to read exclusively for joy but now, it's almost gone.
Ever since I started writing more serious reviews which included serious criticism, I started getting more picky.
I would never rate a book with 2 stars a few months ago, but it happened. I don't want to do that with this series, though. I don't want to nitpick things to rant about. I want to enjoy them, like I enjoy all the good trash reality shit on my tv. I live for that stuff. Come on, admit it. Some things are guilty pleasures. And they gives us glee.
Like Glee. This book filled my stomach with euphoria. I will certainly continue with the next book. In addition, I found randomly the unaired "the CW" pilot version of this book series. I'm so so so so so happy beyond belief this wasn't picked up. This book deserves a good movie or tv show adaptation. K BYE! View all 20 comments. Dec 09, Emily Blake rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites , love-the-cover , ya-romance , , own , arc , dystopian , young-adult , review , for-review.
I loved it. That's all I can say. It went right into the story, and I was hooked from page one. I just couldn't stop reading. I probably didn't explain that right, but I did my best.
Well, when I finished, my question was answered: None did. Kiera Cass decided to put me through the torture of the biggest cliffhanger ever and not tell me who won. From page one America was in an interesting situation, what with getting Selected and having Aspen as a boyfriend. This book wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as it is if it didn't have the love triangle. I usually don't like books with it in them, but it totally worked for this one. I love Maxon.
He is totally misunderstood. He isn't stiff, aloof, mean. He's actually really sweet and CUTE. The other side of the triangle is Aspen. I don't like him. The little slime-ball dumped America because she gave him some food then had the gal to come crying back to her. I hope she ends up with Maxon. And, last but not least, I really liked America. The whole theme with her in the Selection was that she wanted to be herself, not someone fake, and I really like that.
She's a very strong character and speaks her mind. Sort of like me. Before I sign off I have to give a huge thanks to Kiera Cass for answering all my messages and passing on my request for an ARC and to HarperTeen for sending me a copy. View all 46 comments. Jan 18, Jamie rated it it was amazing Shelves: dystopian-utopian , chick-lit. I can never ever get enough of this series!
To start off, I will say that I liked this book more than I thought I would. I was originally looking for a book for a reading challenge needed blue covers and just happened to see this at the library and figured it didn't look too bad and that I would just read it since nothing else was working.
I have now read this four times since it came out. It has yet to tire for me. It is hard to explain why I like it. It is a true guilty pleasure, fluffy kind I can never ever get enough of this series! It is a true guilty pleasure, fluffy kind or read with a hint of action and intrigue for future books in the series. I will admit, the concepts are not very original. The ideas that this is in between The Bachelor and Hunger Games in the dystopian sense are fairly accurate, with heavy leanings on The Bachelor.
The love triangle setting adds a bit extra to character complexity. I will not say much on what the books is about. The summary already does that in itself in this book.
The book is written from America's perspective and what I will say otherwise is what I thought. First, I must admit, I dislike the character names. Yes, I know the last names refer to what the person does, but the first names are horrid in my opinion. Yet the main thing is the writing style and pace.
I literally laid down last night thinking I would read a few chapters. Next thing I knew, the sun would be rising soon and the book sat finished in my hands. I don't get that with many books anymore. This book made me giggle at times, and twitch in anticipation at others.
It left me desperately craving the sequel. Wondering who she picks, or who Maxon picks, what is up with the other girls, etc. So, while the concept is not original, the characters are interesting, and the story is written in a way that is easy to get wrapped up in it.
I actually just put it back on hold at the library so I could skim through it once again before the next book comes out. I read it so fast I fear I might have missed things. I honestly had a hard time rating this. In the way in captured my attention once I started reading, and my desire to read it again I would normally say 5, but since it does lean SO heavily on the concept of The Bachelor. Which is interesting because apparently the author said she had either never heard of or at least never seen the show before writing this.
Very clean, fun read. Time just flies while stuck in this book! As an audiobook, I feel Amy Rubinate does a fair job. Not a great job as some voices blend together but it is done enough where I can easily follow while working on light task projects.
Yet not engaging enough to fully pull me back into this world of happiness the way I wish it would have. View all 11 comments. Feb 24, Gabrielle Carolina rated it it was ok Shelves: dnf. Did not finish; stopped at page I could not get behind America who is suffering from an affliction called TSTL syndrome too stupid to live. Her choices seem robotic and awkward, her dialogue and self-deprication feel desperate and forced. The Heir by Kiera Cass. Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stori… More.
Shelve The Heir. Book 5. The Crown by Kiera Cass. Shelve The Crown. The Crown Epilogue by Kiera Cass. Shelve The Crown Epilogue. Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass. The contents of Happily Ever After are as follows:… More. Shelve Happily Ever After. Two novellas set in the world of Kiera Cass's 1 N… More. On December 31st Kiera confirmed that this book wo… More.
Book Shelve The Selection Series Collection. It doesn't help that Maxon gives America his first kiss, and she begins to think that she could maybe marry him and forget Aspen.
It also doesn't help that rebels constantly attack the palace, which helps turn away the weak-hearted competitors, but also makes things tense, especially when the rebels seem to be getting closer. Things also become tense in the competition when America starts to feel jealous of Maxon spending time with the other Selected. America eventually sees Aspen again when he enters the palace as a new member of the guard.
He was apparently drafted into the army where he earned top honors. Aspen's appearance confuses America's feelings even more and she begins to feel like she is still in love with him when he sneaks into her room to see her. Having any kind of romantic relationship with someone other than the prince during the competition is considered treason, and the punishment for treason can be as severe as death.
Despite knowing the consequence, America can't help but be with Aspen. After another attack from the rebels that leads to three of the Selected leaving, Prince Maxon decides that he will narrow down the girls from ten to six, calling them The Elite. When America's name ends up amongst the six chosen to stay, she is surprised how relieved she feels and realizes that she does have feelings for Maxon and could see herself happy with him.
With this in mind, she tells Aspen that she cannot continue their romantic liaisons. Instead of getting discouraged, Aspen claims that he will fight even harder to win her love again over Maxon.
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