March Reading Wrap-Up

Where February flew by, March felt like it might have been the longest month ever. Lucky for me, that left plenty of time for reading. And even luckier for me, I finally got around to reading The Selection Series, which I’ve been dying to get to but for some reason wasn’t willing to commit to a 5 book series until now. I also had a larger than usual amount of NetGalleys to read before they released in late March or April, and I was able to check over half of them off my list: A Million Reasons Why by Jessica Strawser, At First Sight by Hannah Sunderland, and The Weekend Away by Sarah Alderson.

Read on for my full March reading list and thoughts!

A Million Reasons Why

After Caroline’s husband buys the family DNA test for Christmas, they move on and forget their results. That is, until Caroline receives an email from a newly matched, long lost half-sister, Sela.

Caroline learns her parents are keeping a lot of secrets and needs to figure out how to navigate life after this complete bomb was dropped on her. But it only gets crazier. Sela is in need of a donor for a kidney transplant.

There were a lot of details to keep up with in this book. The author kept me on my toes, sliding hints and clues at whats to come along the way.

The only complaint I have is that some of the sub-plots seemed unnecessary. I’ve missed the point of including Keaton entirely. I also didn’t fully understand the agreement that Walt and Caroline had to... not fall in love?

This wasn’t my favorite book but the twists and turns throughout kept my attention well enough.

Thanks to NetGalley, Jessica Strawser and St. Martins Press for the eArc in exchange for my honest review!

Goodreads Summary:

When two strangers are linked by a mail-in DNA test, it’s an answered prayer―that is, for one half-sister. For the other, it will dismantle everything she knows to be true.

But as they step into the unfamiliar realm of sisterhood, the roles will reverse in ways no one could have foreseen.

Caroline lives a full, happy life―thriving career, three feisty children, enviable marriage, and a close-knit extended family. She couldn’t have scripted it better. Except for one thing:

She’s about to discover her fundamental beliefs about them all are wrong.

Sela lives a life in shades of gray, suffering from irreversible kidney failure. Her marriage crumbled in the wake of her illness. Her beloved mother and lifelong best friend passed away. She refuses to be defined by her grief, but still, she worries about what will happen to her two-year-old son if she doesn’t find a donor match in time.

She’s the only one who knows Caroline is her half-sister. That Caroline may be her best hope for a future. But Sela’s world isn’t as clear-cut as it appears―and one misstep could destroy it all.

After all, would you risk everything to save the life of the person who turned yours upside down?

From the moment Caroline meets Sela, both must reexamine what it really means to be family, the depths of a mother’s love, and the limits and the power of forgiveness.

The Selection

If you love the royals, the bachelor and the hunger games, The Selection basically combines those two concepts, adds on a dystopian twist and will easily become your new favorite book series. America

Singer is happy enough working as a musician by day and having a secret love affair by night. But, when the Prince of Illéa is looking for a wife, America is pressured into signing up by both her family and her boyfriend - and even more shockingly, she’s chosen to compete.

America could not care less about competing to be the next Queen of Illéa, but she continues to compete in order to continue to get the payments each girl receives for her family. She is even up front about this with the prince himself. But what she doesn’t expect is to maybe, kind-of, sort-of start falling for him during the process.

I could not put this book down. I’m so happy I waited until I had all of the books in the series to begin, because I immediately picked up the second in the series. All of the characters have some major flaws but I couldn’t help but love them all anyway.

Goodreads Summary:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

The Elite

As soon as I finished the first book in this series, I picked up The Elite and finished it within a day.

The story begins right where we left off with only six girls left competing for Prince Maxon’s heart. While I still loved this book, I felt more frustrated with America during The Elite. She flip flopped between Aspen and Maxon every other page. America was such a strong heroine in the first book, but here we see her become insecure and indecisive which felt like such a step backward for such a strong character.

However, that’s not to say that this book didn’t keep me hooked because it definitely did. I dove straight into the third in the series upon finishing this one but with a little worry that I might not enjoy the next one as much.

Goodreads Summary:

The Selection began with thirty-five girls. Now with the group narrowed down to the six Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon's heart is fiercer than ever—and America is still struggling to decide where her heart truly lies. Is it with Maxon, who could make her life a fairy tale? Or with her first love, Aspen?

America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America's chance to choose is about to slip away.

The One

With the final book of this series, we finally know who Prince Maxon has decided to choose as his wife and the next Queen of Illéa - but wow it was a crazy ride to get there.

The One was a huge turnaround from The Elite with way more action to keep me turning the pages. However, I still found myself missing the original, fierce, strong America from the first book. In The Elite, we found her flip flopping between Maxon and Aspen every other page of the story, but here she suddenly 100% behind her decision with one man, and completely dragging the other along for what seems like no reason.

The political aspect of this trilogy was kind of in the background the entire time, without really serving a clear purpose. But, I was thankful it had been lingering throughout because it made for an eventful ending and in my opinion, saving The One from being just as frustrating as The Elite.

The Selection series is set to become a movie series on Netflix and I’m really excited to see how this series is brought to life. I’m also secretly hoping that the writers make some changes to help improve what I felt was lacking throughout the first three books.

Goodreads Summary:

The time has come for one winner to be crowned.

When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

At First Sight

Nell thought she was having a typical day when she entered her usual lunch spot, Cool Beans. What she didn't know is that she would meet Charlie, drop her sandwich on him, unknowingly save his life, and alter hers forever.

When I first picked up this book, I was expecting the typical rom-com style story. What I was not expecting was a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching love story that would also take a deep dive into mental health, depression and the grieving process. Hannah Sunderland did a beautiful job writing this story, making the reader fall head over heels in love with both Nell and Charlie, and root for them both the entire way through.

This is one of those books that I'll be thinking about for a long time and wishing I could check-in on the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hannah Sunderland and Avon Books UK for the eArc in exchange for my honest review. I'm looking forward to seeing what Sunderland puts out next! At First Sight will be released on April 1st.

Goodreads Summary:

Two strangers. Two chance meetings. One extraordinary love story…

Nell and Charlie feel a spark when they meet by chance in a cafe. But they don’t trade numbers, or surnames, so there’s no way they’ll meet again.

But the next day, Nell’s phone rings at work. Somehow, impossibly, Charlie is on the other end. And he needs her help.

Nell is about to save a life, fall in love … and risk everything for a perfect stranger.

The Heir

Spoiler alert if you haven’t read the first three books in this trilogy, skip over the next two book reviews!

As we now know, America and Maxon had their happily ever after. In The Heir, we move forward twenty years and center on the life of their first born daughter, Eadlyn. Since Maxon and America made some changes to the laws so that the first born - regardless of gender - will always be the heir, Eadlyn is preparing to take over the monarchy from her father.

Eadlyn is fiercly independent. She has absolutely no plans to get married prior to taking over. But, after Maxon and America rid Illéa of the castes twenty years prior, things didn’t pan out how they imagined and people are still unhappy. Their solution? Eadlyn host a selection of her own to distract the people.

While I really enjoyed diving back into a selection, I didn’t feel as invested in this one. I felt like we didn’t get to know as many of the selected as we did in the previous books. Some of the connections we did see between Eadlyn and the selected felt unauthentic. Which, I guess was Eadlyn’s goal, but as a reader felt frustrating. In fact, Eadlyn as a character was frustrating and unlikeable.

Overall, The Heir felt like 340+ pages of build up for the next and final book in the series, The Crown.

Goodreads Summary:

Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon - and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible.

But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.

The Crown

Finally, the end of the selection series is here. Princess Eadlyn has realized that maybe she will find true love at the end of this, but with who?

The Crown was a quicker read than the other books in the series, less than 300 pages. And it felt quick. Suddenly, Eadlyn realizes she is in love… with exactly who I expected from the start but a suitor that as a reader, we really didn’t see the connection build. Although, it didn’t feel like there was a connection built between any of the selected and Eadlyn, except maybe for a brief second, Kile.

While I loved being able to continue in the world of Illéa, I felt like the series probably should of ended with Maxon and America. These additional last two books felt forced and I definitely lost interest as it went on.

Goodreads Summary:

When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

The Weekend Away

Kate and Orla have been best friends for most of their lives. The girls promised one another that they will always make time for an annual girls trip each year, but life got in the way the past few years. So, their girls weekend to Lisbon is long overdue.

But, on their first night out, things get out of hand and when Orla wakes up in the morning, Kate is missing.

The Weekend Away kept me hooked from the start. The story is a typical mystery/thriller but I thought the author did a fantastic job of leaving the reader clues along the way, keeping things exciting, and developing the characters.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery. I was pleasantly surprised with the “who-dun-it” aspect of the book, and did not see the ending coming.

Thanks to Netgalley, Sarah Alderson and Avon for the eArc in exchange for my honest review. The Weekend Away will be released on April 13th.

Goodreads Summary:

Two friends go on vacation. Only one comes back.

Orla and Kate have been best friends forever. Together they’ve faced it all – be it Orla’s struggles as a new mother or Kate’s messy divorce. And whatever else happens in their lives, they can always look forward to their annual weekend away.

This year, they’re off to Lisbon: the perfect flat, the perfect view, the perfect itinerary. And what better way to kick things off in style than with the perfect night out?

But when Orla wakes up the next morning, Kate is gone. Brushed off by the police and with only a fuzzy memory of the night’s events, Orla is her friend’s only hope. As she frantically retraces their steps, Orla makes a series of shattering discoveries that threaten everything she holds dear. Because while Lisbon holds the secret of what happened that night, the truth may lie closer to home…