Kiera Cass

Don’t miss this captivating novella from the world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series! Set just after the Selection is narrowed down to the Elite, this story gives readers a glimpse into the heart and mind of America’s first love. Before America Singer met Prince Maxon, she was in love with a boy named Aspen Leger—who never imagined that he would follow America to the palace as a member of the royal guard . . . The Guard also includes a teaser to The One, the thrilling third novel in the Selection series. Epic Reads Impulse is a digital imprint with new releases each month.

A Novella

The Guard

Nessa Luna

Meh. Didn't like Aspen before I read this story, still don't like him after I've read it. That will be my review. Oke doei.

Beatriz Pereira

It may be a bit biased but I didn't like it much. I was dreading it almost. Felt like it was too long (mind you thus has 64 pages) for the character that he is. The same old same old. Excited for the favorite now!

Fátima

La verdad es que jamás me gustó Aspen. Yo jamás lo tuve como una opción a diferencia de América. Y solía darle como puntos extra el hecho de que actuaba bastante maduro durante los libros principales y eso era algo que no podía quitarle como mérito. Sin embargo después de leer esta pequeña historia, creo que ni siquiera tiene eso, nosotros lo veíamos a través de los ojos de América, y por eso había cosas buenas que decir de él, porque ella lo adoraba. Pero ahora, estando dentro de sus pensamientos no pude evitar verlo como una persona egoísta y orgullosa, que no ama realmente a América, pero que tampoco la quiere dejar ir. Que no soporta que una mujer pueda lograr más que él. Desde luego no me cae mal, ni lo odio, ni mucho menos, sin embargo él no sería jamás mi elegido.

Cynthi

Livie Isbill

Maxon Schreave is absolutely perfect, and nothing about Aspen has ever ever ever intrigued me, but I appreciate him now. No, he's not as incredible as Maxon, of course, but he's not such a bad guy. I liked reading from his point of view. Aspen isn't as bad as I thought.

ERIn

Seeing Aspen’s POV on the storyline of what happened in The Elite was so refreshing! I enjoyed this little novella!😊

Alice

I don't know why I am doing this to myself. Keep reading this series, I mean.

I was already BIG TIME not an Aspen fan (I mean, the guy kicks away his girlfriend and then thinks he can get her back by barrelling back into her life, whining non-stop in a holier-than-everyone way, and ranting about her current kinda-boyfriend. Smh man, who do you think you are), but now I pity him. For being such an insipid character. Ugh.

Why did we get Aspen's perspective from The Elite and not, you know, from The One, when things get a little bit more healthy on the romance side for the double love triangle? (view spoiler)[A blooming love story between him and Lucy would have been so much better than his constant crying over losing America. We only get like two lines from Lucy in The Guard. Her father speaks more to Aspen than she does. (hide spoiler)]

And it's incredible how every character in this series has a knack for making things only about themselves. I'm still retching from having to read this twice: 
(view spoiler)[America: "I feel so stupid."
Aspen: "You're not stupid."
"I am, too."
"Mer, do you think I'm smart?"
"Of course."
"That's because I am. And I'm way too smart to be in love with a stupid girl. So you can drop that right not."


...


 (hide spoiler)]

Also, can we please stop and nod at how well Aspen knows his beloved girl? 
"But while America was aware of the bad around her, the consequences that could come if things ever went wrong [...]"Are we talking about the same America? The one whose "little stunt" on the report almost got Maxon killed and her sacked? Yes? Ah.

Bailey Lagarde

It was intriguing to hear Aspen's side of the story, how he saw things, those things really helped me understand a bit more about somethings that occurred in the book.

Katie Egan

I feel for Aspen...but I'm still Team Maxon

damla

this... didnt have any new information? the only new thing i learned is that aspen sent money to marlee's boyfriends family but thats it. this was so unnecessary.

As seen on Caity Reads.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of this novella. I have an interesting relationship with novellas, I either really enjoy them or I end up feeling really “meh” about it. This novella was definitely the latter for me. It wasn’t terrible, but I don’t think it added much to the story, therefore didn’t serve much of a purpose. Though this may be partly due to the fact that I do not like Aspen’s character.

I find it really difficult to stand behind a character who doesn’t put much thought into how other people feel, or how his actions affect America. For instance, saying you love someone and then continuously doing things to put her life (and his) in danger doesn’t say much to me. If you love someone, you protect them, right?

Overall, I wouldn’t really recommend this novella. Maybe if you like Aspen’s character, but I just didn’t really find it necessary for the story. There were a couple of scenes that we didn’t get in the other books, which was nice, but not enough to really mean much. In all honesty, this probably should have been a two-star rating for me, but I think the extra scenes bumped it up originally. I don’t like going back on my ratings.

Dani Pesayco

"The Guard: A Selection Novella" by Kiera Cass 

Rating: 5 stars

After "The Elite," this was a pretty good read to calm down my senses. We finally get inside Aspen's mind this time, much like how we got into Maxon's mind in "The Prince," and I understood where Aspen was coming from this whole time. It was a bit refreshing to find out Aspen's POV, someone who wasn't a royal or one of the Selected. I especially liked the scene where Aspen and America's maids got together. It was humbling and nice. This is a great follow-up to "The Elite" and kept me thinking about what will happen to the final book. We shall see about that :)

Iliana Elizabeth 

Todo hubiera sido más sencillo si alguien le hubiera dicho a Aspen "simplemente no te quiere". No necistaba ver los hechos desde su perspectiva, sobre todo con el 85% del texto mostrando diálogos exactos de La Selección. Lo único que puedo afirmar con toda certeza es que sea como sea, en cada historia encuentro una nueva razón para odiar al rey. Todos los caminos conducen a Roma ¿No?
 Nunca odié tanto a Aspen como vi que lo odian muchas personas que leyeron el libro, pero supongo que es por la razón que siempre uso para no odiar a estos personajes puntuales: son adolescentes. Y de la forma que los hacen ver en su adultez, podemos ver que aprendieron mucho y no son lo mismo que eran. Me cuesta verlo de otra manera porque siendo honestos, a la mayoría de nosotros le encantaría abofetear a nuestras versiones adolescentes por alguna acción o palabra que hoy consideramos una estupidez.
 Las tres estrellas son porque me entretiene lo suficiente para leerlo de una sentada, puedo rescatar algunas cosas y no padezco la lectura ni la resiento. Me gustó, no me encantó, pero creo que la autora nunca apuntó a que este libro "encante", sino simplemente a que entretenga y bueno, venda.

yerin

razan 

okay to be honest i don't think America should end up with anybody because she's SO STUPID and annoying both Aspen and Maxone deserve better then her , BUT if i had to choose i'll go with Team Aspen he seems to like her more or at least he shows more emotions toward her 
 (can i ship Aspen and Lucy if this America\Aspen thing didn't work out? , no ! Okay !)

Giulia 

3.5!
Considerando che mi aspettavo una schifezza, non è stato poi così male ;) Aspen è un personaggio interessante, lo vedo benissimo con Lucy!

The Guard A Novella

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