Review - The Heir (The Selection #4) By: Kiera Cass

Title: The Heir (The Selection #4)
Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: Harper Collins, 342 pages (May 6th 2015)
From: Paperback
Format: Waterstones
Add to: Goodreads
Order a copy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK

Synopsis: Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series has enchanted readers from the very first page. In this fourth romantic novel, follow Illea's royal family into a whole new Selection-and find out what happens after happily ever after.

Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon's heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn't expect her Selection to be anything like her parents' fairy-tale love story...but as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought. A new generation of swoonworthy characters and captivating romance awaits in the fourth book of the Selection series!

Review: 4 Stars - This review contains spoilers for the earlier Selection books.

20 years ago there was a Selection to find Prince Maxon, the heir to the throne of Illea a wife. 3 books and 20 years on and we now join King Maxon, Queen America and their family.

Despite Maxon’s rule being better than his father’s and the abolition of the caste system which has always been in place in Illea, the country is still troubled. Trouble the need to stop before it gets too out of hand.

Although she’s heard about her parent’s Selection and their happily ever after, Princess Eadlyn doesn’t want romance; she’s not ready to settle down. She’s had everything she’s ever wanted in her life except one thing- freedom. From a young age and being the eldest of the 4 royal children, she’s been groomed to be the next monarch and trained in the ways of leadership. All Eadlyn would like is the chance to be herself for a little while.

When more trouble erupts in the country, King Maxon and Queen America ask Eadlyn to run a Selection. The aim is to calm the rebellion and bring a distraction while the king and his advisors work out what to do next.

The Selection occurs with some surprising entrants, meaning Eadlyn will have her work cut out for her as well as helping to advise her Father and trying to keep her privacy from strangers.

I don’t want to say too much about the main bulk of the book as there are events in the book that show Eadlyn’s true self, and how she will do anything to protect her family, despite it not always being what she wants.

At the end I was close to tears. I had a suspicion Kiera Cass might throw a curve ball into the plot. I just wasn’t expecting what happened. I’m eagerly anticipating the last book in the series.

I wasn’t as in love with the characters in this book as I have been with the previous books in the series.  I felt detached from Eadlyn. This is what her character is trying to do with the other characters in the book, so I assume that’s why I read it this way. She wants to protect herself and I don’t blame her for that. But at the same time she wants to keep her family and the citizens of Illea happy.

With the Selection boys, there are a few that stand out- Kile, Henri and even Erik (even though he’s not one of the Selected he holds a special place in my heart).

I would highly recommend this book, even though it didn’t grab me as much as the other 3 books in The Selection series. It’s nice to see how America and Maxon have grown and to see them have their happy ending.

For fans of Amy Ewing, Sarah J. Maas and Marissa Meyer.