The Crown (Selection #5)
By: Kiera Cass
Published Year: 2016
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 279
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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.
Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.
First Impression
I was so excited about this final book coming out! I thought the series was ending with book 3, and then finding out I had to wait for two more books I thought I was going to die. The cover is just as beautiful as the others.
What I thought
This series is perfection. While it has its issues here and there, overall it is great. I do not dislike a single one of the books in the series which is pretty impressive.
The Crown picks up where The Heir left off. Eadlyn is still in the middle of her Selection and America is recovering from a heart attack. Ahern has recently eloped to Paris and has yet to contact Eadlyn. The weight of the country is on Eadlyn’s shoulders and The Crown follows her as she figures it out.
I definitely liked Eadlyn a lot more in this book than in The Heir. In The Heir she was an unlikeable spoiled brat who was hard to root for. Towards the end, she began to change and become more likable and that continued in this book. Her growth as a character was very well rounded and, while it did seem a little bit quick, it wasn’t unbelievable.
The boys were just as fun in this book than in the previous one, but I did feel like there wasn’t as much of them as in the previous book. As a result, the final choice at the end seemed a bit rushed. I know that I might’ve felt differently if I had read the books concurrently, but I do wish the second book had been just a little bit longer to flesh some more thing out.
Now, don’t get me wrong, this did not affect my opinion of this book in any way! This book wrapped up everything that I wanted it to. I was happy with the ending and who Eadlyn ended up with. I often feel disappointed by final books in trilogies, and even though this series did not end up being a trilogy, I was not disappointed in a single one of these books. I know that this review is short, but I don’t know how to review this book without talking about the series as a whole.
The Crown and The Selection series overall are amazing. If you are looking for a new fun series to pick up then you need to pick this one up. It is one of my favorite series and I highly recommend it. It has been described as The Bachelor combined with The Hunger Games. It’s definitely not as intense as The Hunger Games, but there is a bit of conflict that happens through the series.