Layla's Reviews > The One

~ 1 star ~

This book was pure trash. It's just. . . NO. I don't know who thought some of the stuff in this book was a good idea. It's arguably just as bad as The Elite, maybe even worse depending on what angle you look at it from. I was going to read the novellas for the sake of it and maybe even the two other books following their demon spawn child, but I'm done with this series. It was an experience, and I don't regret it, but I have so many books I want to read, and I would rather spend it on books I think are good.

This book did that one thing where it just kills everyone for no reason in the finale, which I hated. It didn't properly talk about or address the fact that the King pysically abuses and harms Maxon just as I predicted. It was just used as a plot device, which is not great.

America was annoying as ever, same with Aspen. The drama was pitiful and tiering. The writing and dialogue was cheesy and cringey. The plot and world-building is yet again not satisfying, and close to non-existent.

The way it dealt with the rebels was unsatisfactory and abrupt, and way too easy. Maybe this books should have just stuck to the romance and "The Bachelor" aspect of this instead of trying to do something it couldn't achieve.

I was promised character development for Celeste, but that is not what development entails. It was so lame, she's still shallow and her motives do not make her any more lovable or better. It just confirms what America has been complaining about the past 2 books.

The love triangle will be the death of me, but I guess I have that in common with the all the characters that simply died for no reason. This book basically says that cheating on your significant other is fine, because love can overcome even that. And then the book ended, everyone is happy, Maxon and America are married, yay, end of story. Thanks for the torture.

I want to pay homage to the best part of this experience, which is all the nicknames for Aspen:

Aspirin
Aspen tree
Asparagus
Asteroid
Astrology
Astronomy
Asphalt(Credit)
Ashtray(Credit)
Ashcan(Credit)
Asthma(Credit)
Asphyxia(Credit)
Appendix(Credit)
Aspen Dental(Credit)
Asphodel(Credit)
Aspertame(Credit)
Asshat(Credit)


Honestly, I'm just done with these wannabe-dystopian books. I've even made a shelf dedicated to just that. This series wasn't my taste, and I think it just made me dumber than I already am.


Audiobook Review:

I chose this mindlessly because I needed an audiobook for the ride to the beach. It wasn't my favorite. Everything was said seductively and with a bit of a sigh, plus it made the cheesy writing shine. Turns out having it read to me, gives me more second hand embarrassment than reading with my eyes. But otherwise I think it is okay. Not much to say here.