Review: The Heir by Kiera Cass

THE HEIR by Kiera Cass(Book four of the Selection Series)
Publication Date: May 5, 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
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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. Eadlyn 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 possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.

My Thoughts...

The Heir was one of my most anticipated reads for 2015. I adored Kiera Cass's The Selection series and became attached to the characters fairly quickly and the world they lived in. The Heir, however, had a different feel to it. And here's why...

First of all, Eadlyn has a lot of maturing to do. Yes, being the next ruler she has a load of responsibilities, but she came across as a selfish girl who uses the excuse of being the next ruler as a shield to cover up her coldness/bitter attitude when she has the potential to do amazing things in that position. She doesn't want to let her parents down, and its noted. However, waving off love and the possibilities only showed her to be weak in my eyes. At every turn she was trying to find a way out of the Selection and only agreed to it because she thought she had a secured way out of it.

"By seven tiny minutes I beat my brother Ahren into the world, so the throne that ought to have been his was mine. Had I been born a generation earlier, it wouldn't have mattered. Ahren was the male, so Ahren would have been the heir. 

Alas, Mon and Dad couldn't stand to watch their firstborn be stripped of a title by an unfortunate but rather lovely set of breasts. So they changed the law, and the people rejoiced, and I was trained day by day to become the next ruler of Illea."

As I said before, this book had a different tone to it than the Selection books. She has a group of guys who would be good companions for her, if she'd only let down her guard and allow herself to enjoy what the process has to offer. As the story progressed and Eadlyn relaxed a smidgen, she became less stiff and a little easier to take. If she would only push her conscience away and enjoy the opportunity before her I honestly think it would have been much more enjoyable. She eventually kissed some boys and went on a few dates. A few candidates left or were forced to leave etc. I had a few favorites (Which I'll keep to myself).

Being a twin, she relied heavily on her brother, but too much at one point where she actually had the audacity to tell her brother he should keep his options open and not make any rash decision with his love, Camille, future queen to another country. Eadlyn showed a jealous side when Camille came to visit her twin brother Ahren. That truly made me dislike her more despite the advancements she had taken in other areas.  

"Princess Camille was the heir to the French throne, and a few years ago she'd managed to bat her lashes all the way into Ahren's heart."

While learning more about the candidates, I developed an idea as to who I think she'll choose IF she follows through with the process. I think it was breaking her a tiny bit at a time, but when a big announcement came about her brother, I have a feeling she's going to regress once again. I hope not though!

The story talks about how she's trained day by day to become the next ruler of Illea and she has no desire to marry etc. She wasn't the kind of protagonist I had hoped for and I was really excited her parents were woven throughout the story as I had loved America, but on numerous occasions, and I mean numerous, its mentioned how tired and worn out her father looks. That's not the image I had imagined whatsoever going into this book. Why mention it time and time again if there's not a potential OMG info drop at some point of the story? 

Overall, this book was okay. I'm rating it 3 snowflakes with high hopes that #5 will rock my world.