The One
Ratings314
Average rating3.7
Still wanna know how this book made me cry happy tears = spbbing for nearly 30 minutes straight
Celeste is gone ugh I hated her and liked her at the same time she did not deserve getting shot in the head!!!! The King and Queen I'm not shocked the king is dead.. I wanted him long gone but the Queen WHY WHY WHYYY!!!!
My FAVORITE on this series. This book is perfect. A perfect ending. Did I already said perfect?
TLDR: If you're reading this book for the rebel plot, prepare to be disappointed.
–spoiler warning–
I'm not one to write reviews, but this book was a complete letdown. I got to the end of these books with one hope, really: to find out how the Prince would work with the Northern rebels, how America's father got involved with them, more info about the rebels, why the North Rebels needed the diaries, the difference between North and South - more details about that whole plot line! The end of the book had none of that. This book's ending was rushed and unsatisfactory. The whole book just ended with: We find out Dad was a Northern Rebel, Maxon makes his decision, Maxon finds out about Aspen, South rebels attack, I love yous, suddenly all the bad guys are defeated, they get married and Maxon is king, and somehow everyone is happy. The entire plotline was closed in around ten pages without explanation in an effort to finish the book, maybe?
And I won't even START on the capriciousness of each of the characters, the ridiculous amount of flip flopping on America's, Maxon's, Celeste's, and the other girl (whose name I don't even remember). Their personalities would do a complete 180 within the span of 3 pages.
The problems with the King are fixed by.. killing him off?
Feels like a waste of time to have gotten this far with no payoff and a less-than-lackluster ending.
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.
Reread: Mega goed einde van de triologie!! Er zijn zo veel momenten dat ik hoopte dat America nu eindelijk zou zeggen dat ze van Maxon hield. En we zijn ook achter zoooo veel dingen gekomen! Haar vader was een Noordelijke rebel, Kriss was ook een rebel, Lucy vind Aspen leuk etc. Ik zat soms te lezen met mijn mond open van verbazing! Ik vind het einde nog steeds heftig met de rebellen, maar ik denk dat dit wel het beste einde had kunnen zijn! Ik was eerlijk gezegd best blij dat de koning was omgekomen tijdens die rebellen aanval en vond het erg jammer dat de koningin ook vermoord was.
Maar echt een mega goed boek! Alles komt heel mooi tot een eind in dit deel
4.25!!
My fav book so far...America annoyed me again:( but I was able to get past that..I lovee how the book ended and now I want to read the next 2 books in the series just to see how America and Maxon are..Lovee it!!
So I was so frustrated with the characters while reading this book. The whole back and forth with the emotions was driving me crazy. It's obvious America and Maxon are in love with each other and America finally realizes that but then keeps second guessing how she feels about Aspen and if Maxon really loves her and she just kept putting off telling him how she felt because she thought if he didn't love her like she loved him Aspen would still be there. Ugh it was so frustrating I wanted to reach into the book and slap all of them. That being said though I was fully sucked into the story and enjoyed the journey. I'm pretty sure this was originally supposed to be a trilogy and I thought this books ended pretty well except I wish the story involving Maxon's dad would have ended differently because I felt like it was building up for something to happen but then what happened seemed like the easy way. Overall I'm still enjoying this series even though it is definitely flawed.
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”
The ending... Eh. Was okay. Overall this book is not good. Will probably finish the series anyway, just for the political side of things, though i think they could've ended the series here and it would've been fine.
Starting to feel quite repetitive and I'm losing patience with America. But I'm curious enough that I will probably continue?
This was always my favourite book in the series ❤️❤️
(After my reread in 2021 I can still say this is my favourite book xD).
When America chose to stay at the end of the last book, she should have told Aspen there was no hope for him! She annoyed me a little I must say. If the palace wasn't compromised Maxon would not have picked her, even though he loved her!
4 stars Well, the ending was pretty predictable, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it!
TGIF
Thank God It's Finished.
I can't tolerate America's idiocy anymore...
Extra 1 star coz it's happily ever after... Whatever, I don't really care, actually, I just love the cover.
I've said the word ‘hate' a lot in the past few reviews, and I'm going to use it even more. I HATED MAXON. I really did. The last part of the ending and the final choice. The things he said were not okay. If I was in the Selection, then I would've refused to marry him. He really was a dick. He said to America that he wanted to be with her, but went with Kriss and.... I just didn't get it. I hated them for that.
The book itself was as good as the others. Up to the next few Selection books! <3
Daamn, this book was so emotional, the end made me cry like a little child. I'm so happy! Can't wait to see what will happen next.
This book went way better than book 2. It still had plotholes and too many indecisive moments of both America and Maxon. Some “plot twists” weren't that shocking. I guessed the connection between America's dad and the rebels, but I didn't believe in the fast rebel attacks with that many deaths since almost no one died in the first two books and now.... boom! Tousands of deaths!
The end wasn't sophisticated for me... It felt super flat and knowing about the next two books and the fact that they aren't really America's story, kinda leaves me.... a little bit empty.