The Heir - Keira Cass (Book 4 of the Selection Series)

America & Maxon's daughter has come of age and it's her turn to do her own selection.  35 suitors picked from the masses.  Will she find her one?

I was excited to read about the continuation on of the Selection series.  I found Eadlyn as a character to be a little well full of herself.  Yes she was raised to be a princess.  Yes she was raised to take over and rule the country.  Yes she needs to be confident and sure of herself.  But I still found her character hard to swallow when I first started reading it.  I find that female characters that are written as overbearingly confident to be not very human and I have a hard time relating to them.  Eadlyn got better throughout the book I started seeing chinks in her armor, making her more relatable and human.  This selection process was quite different that Maxon's in that there wasn't political intrigue attached to the selection process.  But there was intrigue in other aspects of the story to keep it interesting. 

Still worth the read as a continuation on of the series.

The One - Kiera Cass (Book 3 of the Selection Series)

Seriously this series has consumed me.

Finally America makes HER big decision.  Cause this whole series isn't about who Maxon will choose.  This series is told through America's eyes.  It's her journey and her heartbreak and her emotions.

Seriously I'm really happy she worked it all out.  Not that she won't have struggles ahead of her (being from the fifth caste and all that) but I think the ending to America's story was very satisfying.

The Elite - Kiera Cass (Book 2 in the Selection Series)

I could not wait to delve into this book - the second of the Selection series.

Despite all that America went through in The Selection book, she's still standing and one of 6 finalists in the race to win Prince Maxon's heart.  But the stakes are higher now.  With only six left there's more opportunities to mess up and more of a chance for Maxon to see the real person behind the 6 girls left.

Relationships develop between the girls despite the fact that well they are all developing feelings for Maxon.  I found it a tad unbelievable (the girls friendships) but I was enjoying watching the relationship between Maxon and America too much to let that part bother me.

Once again I devoured this book and recommend it to anyone as a quick read.

The Selection - Kiera Cass (Book 1 in the Selection Series)

I hadn't done any research into this book and didn't know this series was like a "thing".  But it's a movement!  And I was not disappointed.

Think Hunger Games meets the Bachelor.  Except it's not kids killing kids.

The story is about America Singer - born into the fifth caste (yes there is a caste system in this book) - a caste dedicated to the arts (singers, artists and generally anything artsy fartsy related).  She's in love with a boy in the sixth caste (below her) when she is selected to compete for Prince Maxon's heart (first caste) in a competition with 34 other girls from across all castes.

The book is filled with teenage angst, doubt, political goings on and romance.  It was an extremely delightful read and I devoured it quite quickly.  If you enjoy young adult reads this is a MUST to put on your read list.  Loved it.

China Dolls - Lisa See

 

I have read all of Lisa See's Novels (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan first got me hooked) and I have been a fan ever since.  I didn't find Shanghai Girls as intriguing as Snow Flower & the Secret Fan but I did enjoy the story of the two sisters and Lisa's follow up on their daughter in Dreams of Joy.

I went into reading China Dolls expecting the same thing as Shanghai Girls & Dreams of Joy.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Lisa weaves a story of three Asian women - Grace, Helen & Ruby - starting before the bombs dropped on Hiroshima until the last part which takes in 1988.  She captures each women's heartbreak, joy and struggles through this era.  She tells each woman's story through interconnecting chapter's from their perspective.  The way she tells the story of the three women in my opinion just totally caught the ever complicated reasons behind our friendships with other woman, the decisions we make within those friendships and after years of closeness, how that bond sticks through everything.

At first all I wanted to read was Grace's chapters but Ruby's pulled me in.  Helen was a mystery to me but the beauty of it all ties together so nicely at the end.  I loved how historically accurate it was, describing in detail behind the scenes of the Asian show girl era.  How truly interconnected show business is and how cutthroat.  There were definite parts where I was outraged on the characters behalf!  She also touches on other areas of human suffering and through the eyes of Grace, Helen and Ruby the reader really begins to understand how much a person can go through even if you've never experienced anything personally.

I would recommend this book to anyone and I know that this book will find a place on my bookshelf for me to pick up and read again and again.