Anna Todd's After, a contemporary young adult romance based on Harry Styles fanfiction, gives me mixed emotions. Tessa has been picture perfect her whole life, but when she goes to college and meets British bad boy Hardin, she starts to change her ways. First off, Tessa and Hardin's relationship is entirely toxic; during most of their interactions, they're drunk, lying, fighting, or using each other as a distraction.
This young-adult novel is about a sixteen-year-old redhead, named America Singer, who was chosen to be a part of the Selection where she will compete to win the heart of the charming prince. Most girls would be ecstatic about such an opportunity, but not America. She already has her life planned out for herself, and she is fearful that this will ruin her chances of having a future with Aspen, her secret love.
Majesty is the second book of the American Royals series, where America is ruled by a monarchy, so warning: spoilers ahead. Now that her father is dead, Beatrice must learn how to rule her upset nation and manage her increasingly complicated love life. Meanwhile, Samantha and Nina need to get over their recent heartbreak, but for Daphne moving on is not an option. Like always, she’ll stop at nothing to get Jeff back.
American Royals explores the idea of a monarchy in America. Beatrice, the perfect eldest daughter, is in line for the throne. Her parents are pressuring her to get married, but want her to pick from a small list of potential suitors. Samantha the next oldest. She and her twin Jeff love to party, but Sam endures the wrath of the press while her brother is adored. Nina is Samantha’s best friend and often feels overshadowed. She’s secretly in love with Jeff.
Anna Bright’s The Boundless, the sequel to The Beholder, is an amazing finish to Selah’s adventure. Selah’s stepmother sends her across the seas to find a husband, and now she is not only worried about finding love, but also helping the resistance to defeat the tsarytysa. Her next stop is the Shvartsval'd, a kingdom inside the Imperiya, to meet Prince Fritz.
The Beholder by Anna Bright has the perfect hints of familiar fairy tales scattered throughout her book, but also has elements that make The Beholder an original adventure story about a girl named Selah. Selah is in line to be the Seneschal of Potomac, but her stepmother sends her away to find a husband without giving Selah much of an option, and her sick father doesn’t really have a choice either.
American Born Chinese, written by Gene Yang, is a graphic novel about a high school boy, an annoying cousin, and a king who doesn't accept himself. Jin, a high school boy, always struggles with racist stereotypes as he is from Chinese background. He meets a boy, Wei Chen, who is also Chinese, but he is considered a FOB (Fresh off the Boat). Jin first judges him, but sooner than later, they become best friends.
The Heir is the fourth book in Kiera Cass’ Selection series. This novel takes place about two decades after The One as America and Maxon’s daughter and heir to the throne, Eadlyn, is of age to marry. During this time, the kingdom is going through a crisis as uprisings are staged to fight the unrest due to the elimination of the castes. Eadlyn is forced by her parents to hold a Selection to distract the people of Illéa while they try to get everything under control.
Kiera Cass’s second installment of The Selection series, The Elite, was good, but it wasn't as good as its predecessor. In this book, America struggles to decide between Maxon and Aspen as the Selection is narrowed down to six girls. Overall, this book was super frustrating.
In The One, the third book of The Selection series and the final installment of the original trilogy, Kiera Cass has managed to write a book that I loved and also frustrates me to my core. While The Elite frustrated me because of things that seemed meaningless, this book frustrated me because there was almost too much happening.
