About 20 years since King Maxon and Queen America’s love story, Illea has made close allies, been involved in no wars and peace reigns. Somewhat. Even though the caste system has been eradicated, post-caste discrimination is still a major issue, with minor riots spilling out and discontent aimed at the monarchy is making the palace wary.

So to combat the low morale, Maxon and America ask their heir to do the Selection. A historic first since it will be the first female-led Selection. They hope it entertain the masses, and provide enough of a distraction for them to figure out how to resolve this complex issue.

As the heir, Eadlyn has long resented that her life is not her own. Everyone else may be able to choose their careers, their futures in life, but she is bound by duty. Now, her love life is going to be thrust upon her too?

Moreover, Eadlyn doesn’t really want to marry anyone. She’s going to be queen, and having a husband will only diminish her authority and weigh her down with emotional chains.

She has a plan to fake it while driving all the men away, but love has that sneaky way of getting past the toughest walls.

I had mentioned in The One review that Cass went over her head in balancing romance with rebellion. Here, she plays to her strengths by focusing primarily on the Selection process and a heavy dose of Eadlyn development to form a cohesive narrative. Yes, there’s some political infighting but it is relevant to Eadlyn’s growth so it doesn’t come off as a vague world-building. It’s a tightly woven plot and possibly one of the best in the series.

Eadlyn was a great protagonist to follow, having her father’s political astuteness and her mother’s strength. Yes, she also has some spoiled brattiness issue too that can get annoying but it makes a compelling arc of growth.

Eadlyn enjoys the perks of being royalty like petal-strew baths, delicious desserts and tailored fashion but as I said before, she also sees it as a burden. She does the work and does want to help the people, but she resents it most of the time. She is constantly thinking about if she has been born 8 minutes later then her twin, Ahren would have been king.

That flaw doesn’t go unnoticed as her younger brother, Kaden calls her out for her self-absorbed attitude and her mom tries to tell her that while they hope Eadlyn will give the Selection as a chance to find love, she can also see it as an opportunity. Eadlyn works hard for her kingdom but she’s only been in the palace walls, she’s disconnected from her people and it’s hard to believe she’d sacrifice herself or her comfort. 

That is the paradoxical problem as Eadlyn has been raised to protect herself in order to project an image of strength that the people can depend on, but she’s become a control freak as a result. She bounds her identity as being queen and finds the idea of being vulnerable horrifying. Haing a boy who sees all of her flaws, and dangers of the monarchy may mean they’ll reject her as not worth it, too unlovable.

She also has that problem with the general public as the Selection exposes the double standards a female ruler has to deal with. While Maxon’s time boosted his popularity, the people almost constantly smear her in the headlines. She’s cruel in her rejections, she’s too loose in kissing someone on the first night, she’s too distant and her dates seem fake. Which is true, this ultimately a distraction but Eadlyn finds it hard to pretend to be a giddy girl wanting love.

She’s had to deal with advisors who ignore her words because she’s too young (although she suspects if she had female advisors, she’d be heard more and not accused of thinking with her feelings instead of facts), too female. It’s hard to turn that facade off of dismissing her feminity.

It’s like everyone forgets she’s not just going to be a bride, but she’s going to be queen, she has pressures and responsibilities, and she can’t be nice all the time. This whole process opens up how she feels like a failure as she doesn’t have the charisma of her parents and worries the people will overthrow her. She can’t just be capabale but be lovable too.

It’s a worthy arc for Eadlyn to go through. Despite her best attempts, the boys still manage to get to her. She tries to avoid the emotional talks but even small acts bring her to think about them as individuals and she starts to care. This message may be repetitive as it’s been a popular one in the media lately, but I still think it’s worthwhile: You can be in love but still be powerful, falling in love and enjoying fashion, doesn’t make her less of a ruler. She can be feminine and powerful. She can learn to wield her power to serve the people of Illea instead of a sword to protect herself.

 Now that’s enough about Eadlyn. Let’s get to the Selection and it’s very fun to see the other side of the process. Unlike the trilogy’s trite love triangle, this has exciting stakes as you can’t quite guess who will be the one. The decision is as confused as Eadlyn’s own feelings.

There are some worthy prospects like Kile Woodwork, son of Marlee and Carter whom Eadlyn has grown up with. But they’re not childhood friends. In fact, they annoy the hell out of each other but what starts as friends with makeout benefits turns into them seeing each other in a different light, and their common feeling of being trapped in the palace walls/

There’s gentlemanly Fox whose sweetness and understated charm. There’s Swendway transplant and dessert chef, Henri whose language barrier doesn’t prevent his utter optimism and affection for Eadlyn; pragmatic Ean who doesn’t love Eadlyn but is willing to be the loyal husband she needs without the emotional attachments or burdens and his offer is very tempting; Hale, a snappy dresser who promises to give her something every day and he never fails; Erik, Henri’s translator who is able to give Eadlyn what she needs before she even knows what she needs, a surprise since he’s not in the running but I see the chemistry.

But while there’s good, there’s also a few bad apples that highlight toxic side of male entitlement with threats of assault because they feel they deserve her hand based on their strength alone. Or because “she led them on.” It’s very real and I applaud Cass for going there.

There’s plenty of twists and turns in the book as Eadlyn slowly begins to open up to the idea of the Selection and a husband in general. That love won’t diminsh her but provide unconditional love, something that grounds her to earth. She doesn’t see her love for family as a weakness, why should romance?

And I can’t wait to see who wins.

5 stars.