The One

I've already said this but this series is so entertaining that I flew through it in a day.

I think they wrapped everything up nicely, although it felt very rushed towards the end. The next couple of books has a time jump so I'm assuming we'll get more of the politics then.

Emotions I felt while reading:
The angst made me a bit angry. Mostly because they had the same arguments over & over.
I cried at the letter America's dad left for her.
My heart swooned for the letters Maxon gave America.
Absolute betrayal. They killed off Celeste when she was probably the best character.
I cheered when Aspen called Maxon “the King”

Short Review: I got through the whole trilogy in large part (like I think many) because I thought the covers were cool. The first book was flat, the second book better and gave me hope that the third could be really good. But it lost most of the external conflict in the story and was reduced to, “if you love me then why can't you send home all of the other girls.” “Well how can I send home all of the other girls if you won't say you love me.” There is just not enough meat to who says I love you first to sustain a book. So the trilogy ends as it started, fairly flat. It is disappointing because there is potential here. Just didn't carry through.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-one-by-kiera-cass/

this is a long overdue love letter for the selection series and america singer..

when i was 10 life was heavy. i was never really happy, i never really felt the joy of life as other people may have felt it, and this un-happiness remains to this day, but i'm glad that i have a hobby (more like an addiction tbh) that allows me an escape, even if brief, from life.

i bought this book from a local indonesian bookstore chain, gramedia. i only bought it because of the cover. yes, i was shallow, but there was something about the all-white cover and audrey hollister's eyes that really pulled 10-year-old-me to this book.

alas, that was how my love and passion for reading started. the selection series. i stayed up all night reading the one, and i remember finishing it in only 3 hours. i was surprised that i read it so fast. i was even more surprised over the fact that i was sobbing for maxon and america; full blown, snot ridden sobbing. you see, i started this series with the one and not the selection or the elite so i had no background, no context to work with, but the feelings, emotions, love & words in this book were so raw that i was touched despite not having read the previous 2 books.

america, you are not the perfect character. sometimes i want to pull you out from the pages and give you a good smacking—you have a good man there, maxon, please don't waste your time with the brute who broke up with you because he didn't feel like he was good enough for you. but your resilience, and rebellion shaped me as a child, and i needed those traits.

maxon, you are an angel. lowkey i want to name my son (if i ever have one) after you and i probably will, if my husband allows for it. your patience and “epitome of everything good” made 10 year old me fall in love with you and here i am, 10 years later at the old age of 20 still in love with you, bawling over your words, wanting to give you a hug.

to kiera cass: i hope you see this.. thank you for creating this world. thank you. (p.s. i stand by my initial opinion that aspen & celeste should've been end game! i think of celeste all the time, no joke, from the first time i've read this book; so 10 years of thinking of celeste newsome and always being kind to people even if they're being book 1 & book 2 celeste to you)

this is my love letter for the selection, and i just want to further express again my gratitude for this series and its domino-effect into me loving reading.

love,
the 10-year-old teresa marianne who sat on her bed clutching her copy of the one to her chest crying & wanting a love like maxon & america's so that maybe life would be, even if only a little, lighter.

Eu gostei, de um modo geral. Confesso que primeiro li o epílogo para ter certeza de que o final estaria dentro do que eu esperava ~e não me arrependo por nenhum momento. Algumas coisas poderiam ter sido deixadas de lado para que outras pudesse ter sido exploradas mais profundamente - e o final foi realmente bastante corrido, como aconteceu nos outros livros. Sentirei saudade de alguns personagens que infelizmente ficaram pelo caminho. Maxon cresceu bastante, amadureceu como deveria ser. Aspen poderia ter tido mais oportunidades para conversar com America - porque suas conversas realmente não foram satisfatórias.