Warning: if you haven’t read The Selection series by Kiera Cass, DON’T read this review! (Spoilers!)

Well, hello there. Were you expecting me today? I know this post is late, but I’ve finally approved and answered all of your sweet comments from Friday and here I am! I read this novella by Kiera Cass (finally!) over the weekend and I’m so glad I finally did. You see, there are five books in The Selection series: three of which follow America and Maxon, and the last two (one that hasn’t been published yet) follow their daughter, Eadlyn. There are several novellas that follow different characters in the books, and this one follows Queen Amberly, Maxon’s mother.

{So proud of this picture!}

I love reading books where you follow both the parents’ and the childrens’ stories; you get insider information that the parent and their child don’t have. I get to see why her father turned out this way, or why his child doesn’t like such-in-such. In The Selection series, you meet King Clarkson, Maxon’s father. He is a very abusive and controlling man, and Maxon grows to hate him with all his being. (It’s a very sad relationship.) Yet Queen Amberly, Maxon’s mother and Clarkson’s wife, is so devoted to him. Unconditionally.

I was always confused as to why Amberly submitted so much to Clarkson when he hurt her again and again, both physically and verbally. But in this book, which shows how Amberly met Clarkson and how their relationship and personalities began, I came to a better understanding of why Amberly loved him so much.

Since the book is a novella, it’s essentially a mini-book; only eleven chapters. But I felt that I still had a very good insight into Amberly and Clarkson’s lives when they were younger.

Personally, here are my thoughts on the king and queen: In his own way, I do believe Clarkson loved Amberly. But he did many things wrong. From the get-go, he expected to be submitted to and craved a wife who would be wholly devoted to him, and Amberly definitely fit the bill. It is understandable, however, because of Clarkson’s parents’ failing marriage, and how they both treated each other. Clarkson needed someone who would care for him and follow him willingly, in all circumstances. It made me feel terrible for young Clarkson, yet angry at the same time… but there were moments when even I swooned over him. Kiera did a fabulous job of making me realize why Amberly fell so hard for him.

Speaking of Amberly – basically, she’s “loved” Clarkson for so long, from the time she starts her selection, she feels like she knows him already. He’s like a celebrity in her eyes, since she was a little girl. It’s like Kiera explained it back in May when I got a book signed by her and videoed part of the Q&A. (If you start the video at 0:18, she explains.)

“It doesn’t make sense, does it? ‘Cause Clarkson’s kind of a jerk and Amberly’s amazing! So WHY? Okay, let’s pretend that I hadn’t married Callaway. And that Harry Styles was into short, chubby girls. And he came to my front door… and it turned out that he maybe wasn’t so awesome, but I had adored him for so long, I was like ‘I must be with you.’ She had idolized him for long, she could overlook so many of his flaws. I think in his own way, he genuinely loved her, and there were things that he did wrong. But he thought that she was great.” 

Overall; I loved this novella. As short as it was, Kiera did a wonderful job explaining on how things came to be. 4 stars! 🙂

have you read the selection series or any of the novellas? thoughts on queen amberly? =)