Review Detail

Hmm. How to feel, how to feel, how to feel...

It's hard to know exactly how I'm meant to feel about this book.

On one hand, I'm kinda happy that the series managed to close in such a way (unlike some series' *cough* Divergent *cough*). On the other hand...I'm not totally convinced The One was well thought out.

Why, you may ask?

Simple. Because nothing is actually simple. Nothing! I mean, we've spent two whole books emphasising the fact that nothing about this world, or its characters, is simple. And yet here we are, simplifying things in the final book.

Exhibit A: the over-simplification of emotions

One word: Maxon.

For those who have read The One, only that word is needed to convey my feelings on the issue.

For those who haven't read The One, I'll put it a different way. Needless to say, even now, I'm still totally Team Maxon. But I'm Team Maxon 'Who Actually Has A Detailed & Varying Range of Emotions'.

Not Team Maxon 'My Anger Brings All The Available Girls To The Yard'.

Maxon's anger is often justified (seeing that America has not yet ceased to be an annoyingly predictable mess of a heroine). But it's so...2D. He has tantrums. Yes, you read that right - Maxon has tantrums. And not grown-up ones either.

As Sophie's review of The One put it: 'Newsflash, Maxy-boy. You already did that when you agreed to the Selection. And throwing a temper tantrum like a little boy is not the way to solve your problems.'

I couldn't agree more, Sophie!

As for Aspen...let's not even go there.

I have zero cares to give about Aspen at the moment. End of story!

Welcome to an ending that will make you weep.

True, it isn't Veronica Roth's. But at least Veronica Roth had the decency to write Allegiant's ending properly. She didn't go on a killing spree. She didn't include some major character reversals. She finished things off in the same style she began them...even though she broke all of our hearts in the process!

Basically, nothing about The One flowed.

Flow is so important in books. Stories shouldn't be put together like leftover puzzle pieces. Dialogue shouldn't be stilted, or robotic & forced. The easy way out of the situation shouldn't be just to kill as many characters as possible.

Spoiler alert: lots of characters die.

And most of their deaths can be described in the same way The One's plot can be: pointless. Totally, facepalm-inducingly, pointless.

But, that said, it's still the end of a good series.

This series started off with some amazing concepts and potentially great characters. And although The One didn't manage to reach the same level of awesomeness the previous books did, it's still part of a reasonably good YA series.

So, my rant aside, if you want to find out how it all ends feel free to pick up The One for yourself.

Or...go read some fanfiction. Or write your own ;)

However, there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

Why, you may ask?

The answer: http://unlocktheselection.com/

And with that lovely webpage comes an exclusive bonus epilogue for The One which made me a very, very happy fangirl!

There's even some irony in there:

'I made my way across the floor, sampling some hors d’oeuvres on my way. None of the food seemed terribly appealing, though. Maxon’s favorites weren’t necessarily mine, I just had to trust that everyone else would enjoy the selection.'


From a selection of girls to a selection of food, huh?!

There's also an excerpt from the upcoming book The Queen on that page as well, so check it out it get the chance :)

With more books in this series to come, it seems like The One - despite its flaws - doesn't have to carry the weight of being the final book and summing everything up nicely, any longer.

Looking forward to seeing what this series brings us readers soon :)