The Heir by Kiera Cass

The Heir by Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: May 5th, 2015
Pages: 342
Song I Played While Reading: Jealous by Nick Jonas
Rating: 4 stars

Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon- and they lived happily ever after. Idly has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible. 
But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection- no matter how fervently she protests. 
Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibility that lie in front of her... and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought. 

Bless whoever thought to put a sneak peak of this book in The One. Bless your sweet soul. Cause without that, I probably wouldn't have picked this up. Besides the overwhelming complaints that Eadlyn was a spoiled brat and was worse then America (is that really even possible...?), I had no interest in continuing the story. I was content with believing America and Maxon had their happily ever after and ruled Illea into their greatest age. But the sneak peak, and the fervent shouting of a certain spoiler on Cass's intagram, sealed the deal. And it happened. AND I LOVED IT.
Yes, Eadlyn was spoiled and said some very rude things. Yes, she treated most of the guys like crap. All I'm gonna say is this: every narrator has character development. It can take a long time *coughAMERICAcough*, but it happens eventually. And I'm proud to say Eadlyn has done so beautifully. She's the kind of person people either love or hate, and weirdly enough, I actually liked her. She was the polar opposite of her mother; she knew what she wanted, and wasn't letting any person get in her way. There was no "Eh, maybe I shouldn't do this." or "I don't really know." There was only the sound of Eadlyn's fabulous heels clicking down the hallway and a direct order to do something. But that was also one of her major faults. She was SO guarded and scared to let anyone make her appear weak that she refused to even talk to anyone. She came off as cold and uninterested, when really, she was trying to think of ways to seem like she knew what she was doing and to make sure everything was smooth sailing. She didn't realize she came off that way. Some people are going to say "What? Thats BS, how can someone not realize how rude and inconsiderate they're being?" But from reading from her pov, you can tell. She's unflinchingly honesty, but also naive.
Theres a part where she comments on her maid's boyfriends profession.

"I leaned me head to one side, continuing to brush. "That's interesting. What's he studying?"
"Mark is a chemist. He's studying biochemistry, specifically."
My eyes widened. "Really? Such a range in your professions."
She frowned. "There's no caste system, Your Highness. People can date and marry anyone they want to." 
I turned from the mirror to look at her directly. 
"That's not what I mean. It's simply intriguing to me the dynamic you must have. You have my laundry in your arms, and he might cure a disease. Those are two incredibly different roles in the world."
Neena swallowed and dropped everything on the ground. "I won't be doing your laundry forever. I made a choice to come here, and I can leave whenever I like."
"Neena!"
"I don't feel well," she said abruptly. "I'll send someone else up to help you."
She didn't even curtsey.
"Neena, I was simply talking!"
The door slammed, and I looked after her, shocked that she so shamelessly left without permission. I hadn't meant to offend her. I was merely curious, and that one observation didn't even begin to touch on the things I truly wanted to ask about."

Knowing there was no malicious intent behind her words made her attitude that much more easier to handle. It would be one thing if she sneered at her maids and the guards and made rude comments. But she was truly curious and was just expressing her honest opinion, and I can't judge her for that. Some of the other examples that people brought up, like her calling one of the contestants an idiot because he spelled some words wrong in his application, just made me laugh. I took it lightly and honestly thought it was funny. If that makes me a bad person, then so be it. I'm rooting for Eadlyn and hope she finds her one true love.
And speaking of one true love... THE BOYS. The best part of the book in my opinion. Even though I had THE HARDEST TIME KEEPING TRACK OF THEM ALL. One thing that bothered me was the descriptions of these guys; we literally got maybe one or two full descriptions on some of them, and then the rest just floundered as ghosts in my head. Which then made it harder to keep track of who was who. I got Burke and Baden confused all the damn time. It was fascinating seeing the Selection from Eadlyn's pov, which might have been why I wasn't faulting her a lot. That shit is scary. If I had to choose 35 guys and instigate all the dates and get to know them? I'd probably pass. There's way too much pressure and good god how awkward would it be? And how would someone find the time to make sure they talk to each and every one of them, while also studying to be Queen? Wow, I'm impressing myself with how much I seem to admire Eadlyn.
Team Kile all the way. And my runner up would be Team Erik. I'm hesitant on thinking Kile is the one because, to me, its seems obvious that's what Cass wants you to think. And boy, do some of these authors really know how to yank a rug out from under you. YOU WONT BE GETTING THE BEST OF ME THIS TIME, MWAHA.
I shouldn't actually say that though cause she totally beat my heart senseless with the ending. Ahren, and then her mother... THE TEARS WERE REAL, PEOPLE. So to say I'm excited for the next, and final, book is an understatement. GIMME GIMME.

Quotes
"Had I been born a generation earlier, it wouldn't have mattered. Ahren was the male, so Ahren would have been the heir.
Alas, Mom and Dad couldn't stand to watch their first born be stripped of a title by an unfortunate but rather lovely set of breasts." This sealed the deal for me. I love a girl who's got some self-confidence.

"Kile shook his head. "You're really unbelievable."
"Hush. Go enjoy the party. But first, we have to take off this tie."
He looked down as I started tugging. "Whats wrong with my tie?"
"Everthing." I said. "Everything in the universe is wrong with this tie. I bet we could find world peace if we burned it."

""I just didn't expect it. It was asparagus... He literally punched someone over a vegetable."

""How do you do that?"
"What?"
"It's like you're always giving pieces of yourself away. How do you have anything left for you?"

""Your words hit me so hard, Eadlyn. Because I wanted to believe you. I wanted to hear you out and consider your suggestions. I knew that if I did, one day you'd convince me to give up everything for you. Maybe even put your crown on my head. And, heaven knows, I would have done it. I would do anything for you.
So before you could ask for my life, I gave it to Camille."

"I kept thinking that I couldnt live my life for other people, that love was nothing but chains. And maybe it was, but so help me, I needed these chains. ... These things didn't make me weaker; they held my soul to the earth. I wasn't going to run from them anymore."