She crushed me utterly -- Kiera Cass' The One (Selection Series)

I'd give .75 stars if I could.  

[Spoiler and in-depth review below] I loved book 1 and 2. I hate this book. She writes around the action.  She kills for characters I love.  And left me crushed and preferring every other book I've hated more than this.  How can a series that's so good be so heartbreaking.  I want entertainment not heartbreak. I have enough death and loss in real life.  There was one or two moments in the book that were fun.  The epilogue was pretty and a feeling of "finally!",  plus interesting with her tense shift.  But I hate this book and feel utterly betrayed by the author.  I may finish the series,  though if bk 4 keeps going down hill then I won't bother with 5 but I no longer plan to find everything by her and read it, which was my plan before this book.  I don't even have the words for how let down I am. She had everything going to make this my new favorite series and dethrone someone I have loved since I started reading and she liked it all in this book with these four characters,  even though she finally killed the one I wanted dead.

***** Final thought:  I would not be so let down and furious if I didn't Kiera Cass wasn't amazing.  Were she merely mediocre, I might have praised this work but as she is so much more than mediocre this is an insult to the characters and the world she created and I am heartbroken.  

Spoilers and in-depth review:

Okay, so it took a while to fall in love with book one but I was working out on the elliptical and still have thirty minutes left so I forced myself.  Slowly I started to fall in love with it and then I couldn't put it down.  My work outs became hour long affairs, or more.  I pride myself on getting to the "will they live or die" highest climactic moment of any book and putting it away to increase the anticipation. Book One broke my iron reserve and I went through it so quickly, I broke my other reading rule.  I paid full price for book 2.  Book 2 slowed down and wasn't anything close to the fireworks of book 1 but I still loved it enough to keep working out and reading so long each day, sometimes twice, and to buy book 3 again at full price.

Book three started slow for me but I decided to give it time and a chance.  Seriously, it felt like that scene from a Knight's Tale with Chaucer trudging through the dirt and mud... I digress.  But at some point it still peaked my interest. I loved the addition of the northern rebels and finally getting more of them.  I truly enjoyed August and Georgia.  King Clarkson suddenly became a melo-dramatic villain that I absolutely hated but I trudged on.  Sometimes Maxon was so stupid that I wanted to close the book on him and ride off with Aspen.  In fact, even though Maxon is my choice for America I think Aspen is the best character in this entire series, with her father as the second best and Celeste (who I detested originally) taking a surprising third.  America and Maxon tie for fourth. 

The scene where Aspen sneaks them out for the meeting was grand, the attack and her getting shot and nearly lost, magnificently entertaining.  But the death of Micah was the first chink in the armor of this author.  She was quickly becoming my favorite and about to dethrone a favorite author who has reigned for 20 plus years.  

The scene where America brings the Italian Princess and Georgia to tea was a terrific coup, but then I'm let down that more wasn't made of  that and that the storyline wasn't explored and developed more deeply between all of them and with the rebels.

Killing her father sunk the book for me.  I would never read it again but I planned to continue reading and to read other books--that is no longer the case.

Kota never grew and they never really used him for anything but the one blow up. That was a let down all the way around, I would have loved to see him grow or try to manipulate her standing for his own good more. 

I saw Lucy coming a mile away. I fully approve.  

The end comes hard and fast in an ugly way.  It's like she ran out of paper and couldn't write small enough to get it all in.  I'm okay with the Deus Ex Machina of killing off King Clarkson and had, in fact, been expecting it.  Maxon's reaction was far too strong, his lack of being able to listen far too unrealistic.  Anger and hurt yes, but with such a choice before him... no.

And here is the crux of the matter.  She creates Aspen as this wonderful, heroic character that knows the palace well enough to navigate secret meetings safely among other things.  And yes he clearly knew something was wrong but in this scene she wanted the surprise and to write off characters so badly that she was untrue and unfair to Aspen. True, he knew something was up, but I don't believe for one second he would have been tricked into believing those southern rebels were palace guards, not with how American saw them. It was so obvious. And they certainly would not have been able to get out of position and behind Celeste to shoot her head off before Aspen alerted or shot himself.  I believe the first shot would have been his.  Less of the known characters would have died; in fact, he would have had his own brought in back up because he would have known there was a problem and brought the men he trusted in. It was no remotely realistic for me.

That said, after everything went to crap, she was true to Aspen and allowed him to be the hero we all knew him to be.  Even with Micah and the father's death, I would have still been an avid fan if the Queen wasn't killed (I also believe guards would have been to her at once and she would have been more concerned with her son than her husband--so her whole death did not ring true) and if I hadn't been made to finally love Celeste and then lost her.  This is a young adult story not a drama or tragedy but I believe the author merely lacked the finesse to finish some of the truly great lines she had going and to delve deeply.  This was a sad waste and a horrible insult to the rest of her series.  Instead of merely trying to resolve it all in a few pages she should have resolved a few points and written a book four in this current time period so that she could truly unpack the wonderful lines she had with the rebels and the Italians and develop them--the father's involvement with being a rebel most importantly.  I am so heartily disappointed I wish I could morally ask for a refund.  But even more so I am disappointed because I thought I had found a new author to love and follow; however, I have merely been teased with what could have been greatness.  

**** Please note, if you like unneeded and unearned death or are at least unbothered by it, you should still read this.  I just have enough loss in my day to day life that I don't need an author who will make me love a character and kill without foreshadow or need.

Not Alone is on its own in the high levels of enjoyment it provides

This book is able to remain light and entertaining enough to carry me through a dark valley of my own while caring so many truths from God and still leaving room for Him to speak. That's the Christian half of my review. The story half is this: she has created characters that read so true I sometimes forgot they were only characters. She handled the action in a subtle way so as not to disturb me but also with enough page space, ink, and grit that she wasn't afraid of it. I will be buying a hard copy ( despite a few typos -- I have to be honest and acknowledge them but I can't complain because I enjoyed the book too well) and can't wait to read the others though what I really want is more Becca and Jared. I read this page turner in 2.5 days when I usually read slowly making a month a quick read. Also love the San Bernadino and sequoias reference.NOT ALONE: The Detectives of Hazel Hill - Book One (Christian Romantic Suspense Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1724117319/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_GfkzDbQ0C9HWN

Waiting on the Apocalypse or the TV

Just as everyone seems to have their own usually strong (and sometimes luke warm) opinions on end times and the actual apocalypse, this book's plot comes out in wonderfully the same way.  There are many opinions readers can form while experiencing this story, but it's not until the end is revealed that readers can be sure who is right and who is wrong.  Yes, this can be said on mysteries and other books, but there was something quite enjoyable about being in this book right beside Walter questioning and discovering points as he does.  Readers go down the rabbit holes, wondering who is trustworthy and what is what it seems, start to wonder if it's paranoia, and then get to see what's really going on.

Apocalypse TV is a novel that goes through one character's start of self-discovery, from a death in the family, into, and through the reality tv show.  This character questions things that he may never have thought about enough prior to question and he grows, oh how he grows.  Whether readers are looking for a book to read for sheer pleasure, or for a book club or classroom discussion, Apocalypse TV will hit this mark.  There are multiple characters so that readers can connect on many layers, but also only one real main character and readers become involved in his mind so effortlessly that it is easy to feel what he feels and to think about the events how he does, even making the reader's own natural thoughts just become ways readers root for him to consider.  Every reader might handle this situation differently, yet there is an artwork and beauty to Allbaugh's writing that allows every reader to understand at least why his protagonist reacts the way he does.  

Follow the link below to get a copy and take a read.  You will walk away with a new way to look at reality shows specifically and your fellow humans in general. 

Apocalypse TV a novel by Thomas Allbaugh

Die Like an Old Warrior Never like a Melted Flake of Snow

          "Once we have taken our last breaths, our stories in history have been written" (McManus 20).  In Erwin Raphael McManus' The Last Arrow: Save Nothing for the Next Life, more than theological or even spiritual advice is given.  McManus uses this book to teach us how to live and, yes, how to die.  I was especially tickled that he referenced the ancient Samurai (and a quote that was used to illustrate the people of Star Trek's Klingon Culture-- yes, I'm a trekker) "Today is a good day to die".  For the Klingon's the phrase is shortened to "Today is a good day" but the "to die" is implied in their culture.  Growing up as a Trekker, I often thought that the Klingon's were just brutal and violent so, in their minds, the day one dies would have to be a good day.  However, with McManus' explanation and the added depth of the Samurai culture, I have decided that this phrase, both phrases really, says something so much greater than an acknowledgement of death or any tip of the hand to brutal violence.  It says more than even the honor I might guess at with the Samurai connection.  A person fully believing that it is a good day for him/her to die means that they believe their life is complete.  They have left nothing undone, they have saved nothing for later; in short, everything they had and possibly even more, has been used up for the purpose of their life and there is nothing left that they could do.
          Perhaps reading this in the wake of my G-pa's death is a bad idea, perhaps it's brilliant. But one thing I do know, reading it through my grief has allowed it to touch me in raw spaces I would have normally had the strength to keep walls up around.  My G-pa was the type of man I believe McManus is talking about.  He loved his Savior, his wife, and his family (including the dogs) with such a passion that I am only familiar with its strength and feel because I was lucky enough to be one of those he loved.  He was disciplined his whole life, having a time for exercise (even the day of his heart attack), for politics, definitely time for spending quiet time for God, and then he had the rest of his day.  The rest of his day he fixed things that needed fixing, he cultivated his orchard, wrote his pirate books, watched the classic movies of the golden age (teaching me a true love of them as well--serious, check out Quo Vadis), was a child at heart playing with us younger ones, and, I truly believe, enjoyed being ornery.  He was far from perfect as that ornery streak shows, but G-pa lived his all every day and when the final day came, while none of us were ready to see this strong man go, he had no regrets.  Oh his brother had regrets he apologized for that day, he stole blue suede shoes from his older brother, but G-pa he was ready to go to his Savior, Jesus Christ.  And as he died, he spoke with each of us, comforting and holding me, pinning my cousin-in-law on his faith and where he was at with it, and having so many other interactions that I wish we'd had constantly with him but we were too busy trying not to use up everything, trying to save part of ourselves for the next day or the next interaction and this time, this time there was nothing left to save it for with my G-pa because this was the end of our earthly time with him.  But I have to say, to use McManus' words and draw my example of McManus' text being seen in real life to a close:
                             "May you die with your quivers empty.
                              May you die with your hearts full.
I watched my G-Pa do this, and from reading this book The Last Arrow, I feel I have even more tools to live and die the same way.

It's Dark Here, How Can We Light it Up?

     What is the one thing sure to dissipate and dissolve darkness?  Light.  What is God? What are we supposed to be as the body of Christ in this world? What does the enemy not want in the world? Light can be an answer for all of these questions.  In Samuel Rodriguez' 30 day devotional called Be Light, this subject is discussed in depth.  
     "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong.  No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it" (Pratchett qtd. in Rodriguez 15).  This is true.  Rodriguez goes in to detail on darkness and how prevalent it is in the world.  He even takes the reader through what it would have been like in ancient times after the sun went down.  Modern readers, it seems, take light for granted, but that wasn't always the case.
     Without giving much away, this devotional takes the reader on a month of travel within the Word, the book itself, and within his or her own soul.  There is soul searching that will be brought up.  There are places where the reader will reach realizations they never considered and there are places where the reader will think of things he or she is shocked not to have considered before.  Another reader, Kate Boudoin, responded to one of the later entries in the blog Other Than Expected on Word press and the point Boudoin made was one that hits readers hard and lingers for days after.  It is Rodriguez' section on two things being unable to reside in the same place at the same time.  Fear cannot co-exist with faith, one's past cannot co-exist with one's future, and the dark cannot co-exist with the light, so let Christ's light shine through you and Be Light.

Loosened Threads Distort the Pattern

          "Answers don't come easily" Though this was mentioned in the protagonist's thoughts during this last book to The Amish of Summer Grove series, "Gathering the Threads" it is still perhaps the most viable lesson, thought, and truth from this series and in life.   I am a person who takes her time reading.  I don't devour books, I savor them, often reading up to the big climax that makes the reader wonder what will happen and if the protagonist will live or die (they'll live or I'll be done with the book) and then putting it away to sleep on the anticipation and thus draw it out just that much longer.  I could not do that with this book.  I tried.  I simply could not do it.  There was something so compelling about this book, nay the entire series.  I am quite sure that if I were suddenly given a chance to live a day, weekend, week, or even a month in the Amish way of life I would welcome the opportunity.  Cindy Woodsmall has a rare gift for bringing to life a culture I know nothing about and creating a desire to see and experience it. 
          In this book, I have to admit that there was much pain.  Where the other books in the series brought on questions (questions I'm still mulling over even while I can't put them into words) this book gave pain.  What's truly interesting is that I knew from the beginning where at least some of this pain would come from.  I called it because of my experience with reading Amish Vines and Vineyards by Woodsmall.  In that series I was (at the time) disappointed in the direction the characters' relationships took, but in this one I approved so I did not expect the pain.  Somehow Woodsmall reached into my life, through the characters and their actions, drew out what has been killing me this season (as though she'd stalked me personally) and put it on to the page.  I remembered little details I hadn't thought of before and wept for all that was lost right there beside Ari and still I read on.  There is pain but she works the reader through the pain and for the first time in my life I can say it was cathartic.  My only concern with this series is that it ended a way I didn't see coming and I'm not sure I believe was the characters choices more than they were writer imposed.  Woodsmall ended two of the characters I really enjoyed together and I know they needed that but the way that it happened just didn't quite ring true to them.  Not entirely, there's something that nags at me and I can't quite get it.  I believe it may go with the sacrifice and which sacrifices were made.
         Still, I loved this series.  It is my favorite of her series thus far, though I admit I haven't read them all.  I'm hoping to rectify that so I can say without a doubt that this is my favorite series.  The growth the characters all underwent was amazingly well written and beautifully crafted.  It is my fervent wish that everyone I know would read this series and then come sit down with me so we could discuss it.  There is that much fodder for discussion.  Thank you Woodsmall for sharing your gift and the world of your characters.  Now, if you could only figure out how to not leave the reader out as the world of the characters matches on you would solve perhaps the world's oldest "small" problem.  Please keep writing!
          The painful part of life is knowing when the threads that form our pattern are loosened what we should do with them.  Must they be clipped, or is there a way to tighten and gather the threads?

https://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Threads-Novel-Amish-Summer/dp/1601427034/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500445431&sr=8-1&keywords=gathering+the+threads+cindy+woodsmall

Get what you want... that's where the questions crop up

         "Periodically all inhabitants of Earth groaned under some type of lack, and people who were worth their salt learned to cope without taking it out on others or using drugs"(Woodsmall).   In book two of The Amish of Summer Grove, Fraying at the Edge, there are so many themes covered, but the biggest one of those is the idea of dealing with frustrating and sometimes horrifying events in life with grace so that those around us do not have to pay in pain along side us. 
        There are parts of Fraying at the Edge that are difficult and some that are painful.  Life is not always what we expect.  And people often make it so much worse by presenting arguments supposedly for our best interests but actually just to make us think and once we begin thinking we can't stop.
         Arianna and Skyler are wonderfully crafted characters.  They draw us in--just as the side characters do--but more than that, it feels like we're interacting with friends and not characters.  All of them change and soften and grow more complex with this book.  In particular, Nicholas (who I thought I didn't like) became complex, human, and actually likable.  The first book was a fast read but this one was even faster.  Cindy Woodsmall is quite a brilliant writer and I look forward to the third and final book of this series.   This book has gone places that I've never seen another book go, Amish or otherwise, and it has caused so much deep thought about my own life and the lives of those I love that it almost hurts to think of the razor's edge Ariana left us on.https://www.amazon.com/Fraying-Edge-Novel-Amish-Summer/dp/1601427018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500180393&sr=8-1&keywords=Fraying+at+the+edge+Cindy+Woodsmall