The Betrothed

 

What did I just read? Was this even the same wonderful author that gave us beautiful stories like the siren and selection? I'm about to go on a rant so sit back and relax while I tell you the same thing it seems like everyone else is saying just in a lot more words.

*****************************SPOILERS AHEAD************************************

First off, the family relationships, was there anything even remotely original about their relationship?
Her parents hate their daughter and treat her like crap so she turns to the tight-knit family that never let each other down. After all that grief and supposed non-stop complaining about them it took a total of 2 seconds of her talking to her mother before the mother was a changed person. If she had taken the time to talk to her parents before then could the whole hastily put together plot been avoided? The world may never know.

Secondly was how this book defined "Best friend".
Best friend as in someone who actually hates you and wishes for your failure? Sounds less like a friend and more of a villain in disguise. Delia Grace fell short of all expectations of female friendships. It talks about their friendship being 10 YEARS long and yet it was one dimensional and made a mockery of every friendship ever. Hollis had defended her through everything and yet no emotions were present when she basically called her a spoiled brat who was unworthy of anything. This is a perfect example of a toxic relationship.

Third, how does the word steamy cover three mildly average kisses?
Personally I think steam means some actual emotions. In which case this book completely lacked any resemblance of emotion. It was actually boring in most cases and the romance was so unbelievable that I could not truly care less about what happens next. The only way to save this series is to restart it and create characters with depth. Silas, I was intrigued by at first. That was until I realized the book was basically over and he was still in the equivalent of a prologue in development. In some cases "love at first sight" can be believable and it can make your heart soar in anticipation of what to come, in this case, it was as though a high schooler was trying to write a romance for an English class and had yet to learn how to create characters. Another thing that bothered me was how Silas kissed her and was UPSET that she ran away even though she was practically engaged to another MAN! Doesn't that seem low? Silas had the exact same lines as Jameson just tweaking the words slightly. He literally just used the remix version of Jameson's compliments. Speaking of Jameson, for someone who wasn't supposed to laugh often that fool couldn't seem to stop laughing. He would have been more interesting as the cliche villain king than whatever the crap he ended up being. It would be generous to call that a love triangle and he even let her run away as if it was nothing. He was a really interesting person who I could learn to like, but then he went jerk-mode within an hour. Except it is a kindness to say that he even had that much depth because, in reality, he was just a puppet to the longest most pointless prologue to a real book.

Finally, the ending. was rushed and so unexpected. Plot twists are great when they are believable but when they are pulled out of thin air for the purpose of shocking people they just make me mad. I get shocked and awe are all part of true storytelling but I am neither shocked nor in awe of this book, I am just upset. It could have been pulled together in a way I may have excepted but with no true sorrow over the loss of her TRUE LOVE, it felt like it didn't even happen. Hollis actually let an old woman she didn't know truly well to stop her from doing everything in her power to save her HUSBAND and her FAMILY. What happened to strong women defeating the odds or at least trying. She gave up before the battle had even begun. I am disappointed in the lack of feeling she had for the loss of everyone in her life. Tears shouldn't even begin to describe the true pain she should have felt and yet tears were all the readers were given.

I expected more from such a great author who I truly admire. The Selection will forever be one of my all-time favorites but this book I am choosing to see as an accident in the timeline of Kiera Cass's professional career.

-KATIE