★
In the main series, Queen Amberly is the epitome of poise, grace and love…
BUT back in her day, she was quite the feisty girl (well, kind of) (okok, not really)
I mean, she did shock the entire world when she (a lowly Four) won the Selection and was granted the honor of marrying Prince Clarkson.
But as far as being fiesty (or at the very least…interesting)? Nope. Nada. Zilch.
When we read her own story, every bit of magic and love fizzled out – like a firework on the fifth of July. Nothing special, nothing wondrous and ultimately, a bit sad.
For as harsh as his words were, his voice seemed to caress my name.
It was depressing to watch this young girl so easily fall prey to the manipulative, cruel prince. When he finds out that Amberly was poisoned in her home country (air quality, etc) – he recoils in horror at her infertility and her diseased body.
And yet, as much of a victim Amberly is…I still couldn’t stand her. She chose her life. She lets Clarkson be her everything right away – no independent thinking, no attempt to assert herself.
“His world looked like a storm. I was going to be its center.”
She’s chosen not for her love, or for her looks…merely because she’s willing to obey Prince Clarkson’s every whim. He swears her to secrecy? She doesn’t tell a soul. He tells her to cut her hair? She lobs off nearly a foot.
He says to jump, and she’s already jumping.
Because if it was a choice between him or me, I didn’t think I’d be able not to put him first. He was the prince, and his life was invaluable to the country. But more than that, it was invaluable to me.
Thank goodness this one was short – I don’t think I could’ve handled much more of it.
Audiobook Comments
Okay, in Book 1 – Queen Amberly didn’t have an accent but her sister had a strong southern twang (since they were Fours from the south). In this one, Amberly is said to be from Honduragua and has a fittingly strong native accent from that area. So, how did Amberly have a native Honduraguan accent while her sister is a southern belle? Somebody didn’t plan out the audiobook too wellllllll…..
Interested in this one from Kiera Cass? Buy it here: Amazon
Miranda Reads 
This cracked me up: …”every bit of magic and love fizzled out – like a firework on the fifth of July.” Sorry this wasn’t an enjoyable read, Miranda. And yeah, obeying and putting a love interest first is not for me!
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It was such a frustration 😛
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I feel you! I absolutely feel you!
I wanted to jump into the page and shake some sense into her.
Like: Girl! No! You’re a person not a doormat!
But between her background and personality, it’s perfectly normal she was overwhelmed and desperate to be chosen by a person she had already idealized in her mind. From where she stood, he was everything and she was nothing, and there was no one to tell her or teach her any different.
Really, I can perfectly understand why Clarkson chose her, if he saw his parents constantly fighting each other, it makes sense why he would look for someone who never fought him on anything. And if that doesn’t lead to an abusive and toxic relationship, I don’t know what does.
I think it’s ironic how Maxon and his father chose to do the exact same thing (Look for a marriage completely different of their parents) and went about it in opposite directions.
Clarkson chose dominance and control in the relationship. Maxon chose cherishing and supporting his partner.
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