The Selection - a review

On the back: 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.

So hang with me, I've never written a book review before.

First off, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed The Hunger Games, or Divergent. It contains many of the same elements of that makes dystopian teen fiction so addicting. The book revolves around America Singer, a strong female character with whom I had a love-hate relationship. On the one hand she's strong-willed, has a definite sense of right and wrong, and its fiercely devoted to her family. On the other hand, she suffers from the same short-comings that you could see with any teenager with such limited life experience. She makes rash decisions based on emotions and doesn't always consider the consequences for those around her. Cass did a great job making her believable and lovable. I often found myself so worked up over America's actions that I would sigh with contentment, and yell with frustration. My husband gave me some strange looks and was slightly amazed that I literally didn't hear him at all when here tried to ask me a question while I was reading this book.

The other main characters that you spend a lot of time with are Prince Maxon and Aspen. I really enjoyed Maxon as a character. Cass continued to develop him as a character throughout the book and I was definitely rooting for him to find someone who would love and respect him. I won't reveal how she made his character evolve, it might give away to much, but he was not the Prince that I was expecting.

Aspen is America's "first love" but I wasn't so in love with his character. He seemed pretty one-sided to me. You don't learn enough about his character in my opinion to make him endearing, he just seems kind of selfish.

Overall I would say this book is like a mash-up of The Bachelor and a teen dystopian fiction novel. I thoroughly enjoyed The Selection, and immediately read the next two books, The Elite and The One. I was sad when it was over and I am still searching for my next read. It was nice not to worry about any adult scenes or read a lot of vulgar language. Overall I would give the book an A-. Mostly I wish it was longer because a few parts felt rushed to me.

I hope you enjoyed my book review. :)

-Cas