Status
Available
Call number
Call number
F Cas
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
HarperTeen (2013), Edition: Reprint, 352 pages
Description
"Sixteen-year-old America Singer is living in the caste-divided nation of Illéa, which formed after the war that destroyed the United States. America is chosen to compete in the Selection--a contest to see which girl can win the heart of Illéa's prince--but all she really wants is a chance for a future with her secret love, Aspen, who is a caste below her"--
Original publication date
2012-05-01
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member squirrelsohno
I had plenty of initial reservations about reading THE SELECTION, I admit that – certain online fiascos and a plot that I felt somewhat iffy about. But I decided that the other part of me, the part that wondered if this book might possibly charming and a take on reality dating shows that YA has
Maybe I should listen to my first instincts better, because in all honestly, I really did not like this book. It’s not particularly well written, I was completely apathetic to the characters, and I just was only compelled to know if maybe the story would have a dramatic twist to keep me reading. And even that never happened.
THE SELECTION is the story of America Singer, a 16 year old girl living in Illea, the remains of the United States after World War 3 and the takeover of the US by the Chinese, then the Russians, then being saved by a private citizen named Gregory Illea who turned the country into a monarchy and installed himself as King. America has been Selected from caste Five (artists, singers, etc – very lowly and poor in this universe) to compete for the hand of the Crown Prince, Maxon, in a reality-style competition between 35 teenage girls. The winner becomes the future Queen of Illea. Except America has a secret… She’s in love with a lower caste boy named Aspen.
Okay, so THE SELECTION has been described as THE HUNGER GAMES meets ‘The Bachelor’. This is not a very far off assessment. It’s like an idea that someone would come up with if they were reading THE HUNGER GAMES while watching ‘The Bachelor’ and thought that marriage to a prince would be a be a better prize than simply making it out alive (don’t worry, no girls are killed, although dresses are ripped by jealous girls and there is backstabbing). It’s an interesting concept, but part of me expected there to be more cameras, more formalized dating, more rose ceremonies and limos and crying confessionals. Instead, the reality element was left to once a week for the girls to sit on stage during a news broadcast, but other than that, nope.
I feel like this entire story was a missed opportunity. It had the chance to be a striking take on reality television, the divide between economic classes, the role of women in society, and instead it went the route of fluff. It would have also worked well as fluff, but there was little fluffy about it. Angst, angst, a stereotypical villain (rich girl who insists that because she is rich she is entitled to everything), and a little more angst (woe is me, I have two hot guys who want to marry poor, plain old me).
America was not a character I could find myself cheering for. She seemed to have little personality other than being meek and (as I’ve mentioned) angsty, dragging two boys around by the nose because she’s unable to choose. And the world she lives in isn’t much better – there are plot holes about the caste system, the history of Illea, and the foundations of the Selection. A great deal of this book came off as superficial, from the writing style (nothing frilly, just basic, everyday writing) to the characters, few of whom had any personality or substance. I wish we had gotten to know more of these characters, but having 35 girls, many of who are named only to disappear into the woodwork, makes this impossible.
Maybe I wished for too much out of this one. While it wasn’t a baaaaad book, it wasn’t good. It was really just…meh. With plot holes and boring characters and a really awkward question about virginity followed by the girls being advised to do whatever the Prince asked of them (you know teenage boys), THE SELECTION isn’t a book I will recommend. It doesn’t go for hard hitting or for satire or for fluff, it just stays in the safe zone of boring for the entire length of the story, and safe isn’t good enough.
VERDICT: Even though it had a great deal of potential, this story falls flat with shoddy world building, boring characters, and dull writing. Instead of rising to the occasion such an interesting plot could present, it remains safe and boring.
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yet to show, was too hard to resist. So I requested this book on Edelweiss and loaded it up onto my Kindle, insisting to myself that the reviews from authors that I trust and like and other reviewers would be right, that I would love this book.Maybe I should listen to my first instincts better, because in all honestly, I really did not like this book. It’s not particularly well written, I was completely apathetic to the characters, and I just was only compelled to know if maybe the story would have a dramatic twist to keep me reading. And even that never happened.
THE SELECTION is the story of America Singer, a 16 year old girl living in Illea, the remains of the United States after World War 3 and the takeover of the US by the Chinese, then the Russians, then being saved by a private citizen named Gregory Illea who turned the country into a monarchy and installed himself as King. America has been Selected from caste Five (artists, singers, etc – very lowly and poor in this universe) to compete for the hand of the Crown Prince, Maxon, in a reality-style competition between 35 teenage girls. The winner becomes the future Queen of Illea. Except America has a secret… She’s in love with a lower caste boy named Aspen.
Okay, so THE SELECTION has been described as THE HUNGER GAMES meets ‘The Bachelor’. This is not a very far off assessment. It’s like an idea that someone would come up with if they were reading THE HUNGER GAMES while watching ‘The Bachelor’ and thought that marriage to a prince would be a be a better prize than simply making it out alive (don’t worry, no girls are killed, although dresses are ripped by jealous girls and there is backstabbing). It’s an interesting concept, but part of me expected there to be more cameras, more formalized dating, more rose ceremonies and limos and crying confessionals. Instead, the reality element was left to once a week for the girls to sit on stage during a news broadcast, but other than that, nope.
I feel like this entire story was a missed opportunity. It had the chance to be a striking take on reality television, the divide between economic classes, the role of women in society, and instead it went the route of fluff. It would have also worked well as fluff, but there was little fluffy about it. Angst, angst, a stereotypical villain (rich girl who insists that because she is rich she is entitled to everything), and a little more angst (woe is me, I have two hot guys who want to marry poor, plain old me).
America was not a character I could find myself cheering for. She seemed to have little personality other than being meek and (as I’ve mentioned) angsty, dragging two boys around by the nose because she’s unable to choose. And the world she lives in isn’t much better – there are plot holes about the caste system, the history of Illea, and the foundations of the Selection. A great deal of this book came off as superficial, from the writing style (nothing frilly, just basic, everyday writing) to the characters, few of whom had any personality or substance. I wish we had gotten to know more of these characters, but having 35 girls, many of who are named only to disappear into the woodwork, makes this impossible.
Maybe I wished for too much out of this one. While it wasn’t a baaaaad book, it wasn’t good. It was really just…meh. With plot holes and boring characters and a really awkward question about virginity followed by the girls being advised to do whatever the Prince asked of them (you know teenage boys), THE SELECTION isn’t a book I will recommend. It doesn’t go for hard hitting or for satire or for fluff, it just stays in the safe zone of boring for the entire length of the story, and safe isn’t good enough.
VERDICT: Even though it had a great deal of potential, this story falls flat with shoddy world building, boring characters, and dull writing. Instead of rising to the occasion such an interesting plot could present, it remains safe and boring.
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LibraryThing member sunset_x_cocktail
The plot of this book is obvious and predictable. I detest shows like The Bachelor and Bachelorette so I avoided this because that's just what the premise is. 35 girls, 1 crown to be won.
The main character has an air of something....annoying about her. (And a rather annoying name, usually if I
I was admittedly ready to dislike the price as on first meeting he came across as a pompous *ssh*l*. His character did develop quite well throughout the story, he had a personality and mind and wasn't a card board cut out swooner. The world building was interesting as well, its a dystopian but there was a rather well thought out reasoning and history as to how to the world came to be.
I'm not sure its the smartest way to find a Crown Princess, but admittedly this is a guilty pleasure read for me. Its annoying, but impossible to stop reading. I had to go out and get the other two books in the series, one paperback, one hardback and wound up getting the Selection again in paperback so I could have the complete set.
I know how it ends, but I'm still looking forward to the in-between book to see how the plot develops.
The main character has an air of something....annoying about her. (And a rather annoying name, usually if I
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don't like a character name I won't read the book but I got this from Amazon when I was drunk). Despite the annoyance of the characters, and the asinine plot, its actually a very compelling read.I was admittedly ready to dislike the price as on first meeting he came across as a pompous *ssh*l*. His character did develop quite well throughout the story, he had a personality and mind and wasn't a card board cut out swooner. The world building was interesting as well, its a dystopian but there was a rather well thought out reasoning and history as to how to the world came to be.
I'm not sure its the smartest way to find a Crown Princess, but admittedly this is a guilty pleasure read for me. Its annoying, but impossible to stop reading. I had to go out and get the other two books in the series, one paperback, one hardback and wound up getting the Selection again in paperback so I could have the complete set.
I know how it ends, but I'm still looking forward to the in-between book to see how the plot develops.
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LibraryThing member furieous
I had to stay up all night to finish this book, but not for the reason you think. The plot does a good job of hooking you, but very little happens, and I was waiting for something exciting to happen. I didn't even realize when the climax of the book had occurred until I checked the page number.
There was no meaning to the story. The only thing that comes close to showing a hidden depth is the classism between the girls. The rebels were fighting the government for some unknown cause, and America briefly wonders why there are no history books.
The part I found hardest to accept was that she determinedly says that no boy owns her and she is her own person, therefore rejecting the love triangle, but proceeds to agonize over her choice. I was tempted to buy the other two books because it didn't feel like the story had even come close to ending and I was curious about how the story would play out, but I changed my mind because of the plot holes and dramatization.
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While it is a good premise, I did not feel that there was much risk being taken. The main character wasn't taken out of her comfort zone other than to leave home. In fact, she embraced leaving since she was angry at Aspen. Climaxes require the character to be knocked off balance, which America wasn't. She felt like a Mary-Sue with a slightly more developed range of interests. The world was not very developed, and the villains (Celeste and the rebels) remained either two-dimensional or faceless. It felt as though someone had taken the part of "The Hunger Games" where Katniss is made presentable in the Capitol and expanded it.There was no meaning to the story. The only thing that comes close to showing a hidden depth is the classism between the girls. The rebels were fighting the government for some unknown cause, and America briefly wonders why there are no history books.
The part I found hardest to accept was that she determinedly says that no boy owns her and she is her own person, therefore rejecting the love triangle, but proceeds to agonize over her choice. I was tempted to buy the other two books because it didn't feel like the story had even come close to ending and I was curious about how the story would play out, but I changed my mind because of the plot holes and dramatization.
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LibraryThing member Sweet_Serenity
I give up. I don't think I can finish reading this book and keep my sanity. It is really, really awful. I mean, people talk about Mary Sue's all the time, and usually I think they're being a little bit harsh (ie. Twilight). But America Singer is the most banal, simpering, stupid character that has
*Everyone tells her she's pretty but she refuses to believe them. Really? I would have SO MUCH MORE respect for her if she just owned it. Or at least gave reasons why she doesn't think she's pretty- maybe she thinks her hair colour is drab, or her posture is crappy... maybe she was bullied as a kid for her looks. SOMETHING.
*She puts everyone else into neat little categories; this person is bitchy and slutty and fake, this person is SO sweet... etc. etc. Ad nauseum. To be fair, this could be fixed towards the end of the book, but I don't care enough to find out.
*Continuing on from the above, the gender roles are kind of crappy in this book- some of that is the patriarchal dystopia thing, but so far the book just hasn't explored it in a thoughtful way at all.
*She is a pushover. She enters the competition for really silly reasons (though this is essential to the plot- that she's good & pure & sunshine & lollypops). Because her mother & boyfriend tell her to. I would have respected her if she'd done it for the money & power, to infiltrate the palace, for giggles, because she was forced to, to make her ex jealous, to make the prince fall in love with her.... Something that shows she has a personality,ambitions, a life. But of course, she doesn't actually want to win the competition, making her the pure little sweetheart with no evil thoughts. She's just coasting along....
As for the book itself, the world is very lazily constructed, the characters are 2D & the dialogue is kind-of lame.
I would not recommend this book to my worst enemy!
Rant over.
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ever been written. Here are a few of the things that really bugged me:*Everyone tells her she's pretty but she refuses to believe them. Really? I would have SO MUCH MORE respect for her if she just owned it. Or at least gave reasons why she doesn't think she's pretty- maybe she thinks her hair colour is drab, or her posture is crappy... maybe she was bullied as a kid for her looks. SOMETHING.
*She puts everyone else into neat little categories; this person is bitchy and slutty and fake, this person is SO sweet... etc. etc. Ad nauseum. To be fair, this could be fixed towards the end of the book, but I don't care enough to find out.
*Continuing on from the above, the gender roles are kind of crappy in this book- some of that is the patriarchal dystopia thing, but so far the book just hasn't explored it in a thoughtful way at all.
*She is a pushover. She enters the competition for really silly reasons (though this is essential to the plot- that she's good & pure & sunshine & lollypops). Because her mother & boyfriend tell her to. I would have respected her if she'd done it for the money & power, to infiltrate the palace, for giggles, because she was forced to, to make her ex jealous, to make the prince fall in love with her.... Something that shows she has a personality,ambitions, a life. But of course, she doesn't actually want to win the competition, making her the pure little sweetheart with no evil thoughts. She's just coasting along....
As for the book itself, the world is very lazily constructed, the characters are 2D & the dialogue is kind-of lame.
I would not recommend this book to my worst enemy!
Rant over.
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LibraryThing member BookAddictDiary
Part reality show and part fairy tale, everywhere I turned The Selection was being touted as an exciting new dystopian novel, complete with a unique cast system and an unexpected approach to the concept of reality TV. Not to mention plenty of pretty ball gowns and possibly romance. While I am
I guess I need to stop getting my hopes up. There have been far too many novels lately that have completely deceived me with the blurb and gotten me excited about something that turned out to be nowhere near as interesting as I'd hoped for. Maybe I need to stop reading what I want the blurb to say, and focus on what it actually says.
The Selection is not a dystopian novel. It's a teen romance with a thin nod to reality TV and fairy tales that has virtually no conflict, weak characters, and far too many inconsistencies. While I did read an ARC, it seems like more work needed to be done before the book would be ready for publication.
In the world of The Selection, society has been divded into a rigid caste system made up of the haves and the have-nots. Young America is a lowly Six who happens to be in love with an Eight named Aspen. America's mother, of course, wants her to marry up instead of down. So when America has the opportunity to join The Selection, her mother pushed America into it. Reluctantly, America leaves Aspen behind and journeys to the palace with 35 other lucky girls to win the heart of Prince Maxon and become next queen (think The Bachelor with a royal twist). And though America has no interest in winning The Selection, she becomes friends with Prince Maxon.
That's the first thing that I had trouble with. If America was so in love with Aspen and really didn't want to participate in The Selection, then why didn't she just go home? Or make a serious effort to be booted out, like refuse to take part in activities or be cruel to Prince Maxon? No, instead her idea of going back home is befriending the prince and, of course, he becomes fascinated with her because she treats him a way that he is not accustomed to (think, the prince and Danielle in Ever After, and in many other stories). Does America really want to go home? Yeah, I don't buy it.
Then, there's the setting. Readers are introduced this a strict and semi-interesting caste system, but virtually no time is dedicated to exploring the system further, even though it is such an important element of the world. There is no explanation of why the system exists, or of any detail about what the different levels are and why they are that ways. Readers are expected to just accept the setting. There's also a rebel group thrown in, probably to give the novel some conflict or action, but it's incredibly underdeveloped.
I really don't like writing negative reviews, trust me. The Selection did have a few fun moments that were interesting to read, and unexpected, but for the most part it was just hard for me to get into this book with its many flaws. This novel really had some great ideas at its core, but they were just never realized. This book may work for some younger readers, but it just didn't work for me.
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completely sick of the cascade of romance-driven teen novels out there, I was hopeful that the other elements of The Selection would be enough for me to see past the romance and be enjoyable in its own way. I was truly hoping for another interesting dystopian setting with possibly a satirical approach to reality TV.I guess I need to stop getting my hopes up. There have been far too many novels lately that have completely deceived me with the blurb and gotten me excited about something that turned out to be nowhere near as interesting as I'd hoped for. Maybe I need to stop reading what I want the blurb to say, and focus on what it actually says.
The Selection is not a dystopian novel. It's a teen romance with a thin nod to reality TV and fairy tales that has virtually no conflict, weak characters, and far too many inconsistencies. While I did read an ARC, it seems like more work needed to be done before the book would be ready for publication.
In the world of The Selection, society has been divded into a rigid caste system made up of the haves and the have-nots. Young America is a lowly Six who happens to be in love with an Eight named Aspen. America's mother, of course, wants her to marry up instead of down. So when America has the opportunity to join The Selection, her mother pushed America into it. Reluctantly, America leaves Aspen behind and journeys to the palace with 35 other lucky girls to win the heart of Prince Maxon and become next queen (think The Bachelor with a royal twist). And though America has no interest in winning The Selection, she becomes friends with Prince Maxon.
That's the first thing that I had trouble with. If America was so in love with Aspen and really didn't want to participate in The Selection, then why didn't she just go home? Or make a serious effort to be booted out, like refuse to take part in activities or be cruel to Prince Maxon? No, instead her idea of going back home is befriending the prince and, of course, he becomes fascinated with her because she treats him a way that he is not accustomed to (think, the prince and Danielle in Ever After, and in many other stories). Does America really want to go home? Yeah, I don't buy it.
Then, there's the setting. Readers are introduced this a strict and semi-interesting caste system, but virtually no time is dedicated to exploring the system further, even though it is such an important element of the world. There is no explanation of why the system exists, or of any detail about what the different levels are and why they are that ways. Readers are expected to just accept the setting. There's also a rebel group thrown in, probably to give the novel some conflict or action, but it's incredibly underdeveloped.
I really don't like writing negative reviews, trust me. The Selection did have a few fun moments that were interesting to read, and unexpected, but for the most part it was just hard for me to get into this book with its many flaws. This novel really had some great ideas at its core, but they were just never realized. This book may work for some younger readers, but it just didn't work for me.
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LibraryThing member theWallflower
I guess I'll start with expectations, the blame for which I shall receive none. It shall go to the marketing team and author. The description makes it sound like a cross between The Bachelor and The Hunger Games, which I was fine with. The ceremonies and reality TV part of The Hunger Games was my
The first red flag was all the telling in the first chapter. Exposition, exposition, exposition. Not even infodumped in a clever or interesting way, just *plop* there it is. The universe is described to us like it was a textbook.
And then it's nothing but cliches. I swear to god, I thought I was reading the Dystopian YA twitter account. Society's in a caste system that sorts people because of course there is. Her family is poor. It includes a little sister and an overbearing mother. There's a love triangle between the guy she left at home and the guy society expects her to pair with. There's rebels and a dictatorship and interviews and dresses and a Cesar Flickerman and my god did this author create anything on her own? I know "everything is a remix" but at least use some unique ingredients (how about The Hunger Games with dwarves?).
For a book about thirty-five teenage girls competing to marry a prince, it's surprisingly chaste. Like a Mormon version of Survivor. Getting a kiss is like winning the lottery. I would think, in a competition where the prize is you and your family being set up for life with money and power and royal titles, there should be boobs flopping out all over the place.
No one acts plausibly, least of all the main character. She doesn't want anything, she's just along for the ride. She doesn't take action, action happens to her. The only thing going for her is "feistiness" compared to the other snobby upper-class girls. She's not even really competing with them--she sets herself up as a confidante, but of course, this means the prince likes her best. As a result, there's no conflict. They're all trying to help each other, instead of figuring out who your friends an enemies are. It doesn't even conclude like a normal book. It just ends--there's no climax, no build-up. It's like they just cut it off at 300 pages so they could call it a series.
Surprisingly, I'm not depressed that this book got published. I am depressed that readers rated so high. It's so shallow and cliche. I kept reading because I was waiting for that "more"--that reason it garnered such attention. But it never came. And that's three hundred and thirty-nine pages of my life I won't be getting back.
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favorite. I'd like to see what happens when that's expanded to a whole universe. But the author is doing her best to make it feel like a dystopian YA novel/clone of THG, but it doesn't get any more savage than a Disney Channel original movie.The first red flag was all the telling in the first chapter. Exposition, exposition, exposition. Not even infodumped in a clever or interesting way, just *plop* there it is. The universe is described to us like it was a textbook.
And then it's nothing but cliches. I swear to god, I thought I was reading the Dystopian YA twitter account. Society's in a caste system that sorts people because of course there is. Her family is poor. It includes a little sister and an overbearing mother. There's a love triangle between the guy she left at home and the guy society expects her to pair with. There's rebels and a dictatorship and interviews and dresses and a Cesar Flickerman and my god did this author create anything on her own? I know "everything is a remix" but at least use some unique ingredients (how about The Hunger Games with dwarves?).
For a book about thirty-five teenage girls competing to marry a prince, it's surprisingly chaste. Like a Mormon version of Survivor. Getting a kiss is like winning the lottery. I would think, in a competition where the prize is you and your family being set up for life with money and power and royal titles, there should be boobs flopping out all over the place.
No one acts plausibly, least of all the main character. She doesn't want anything, she's just along for the ride. She doesn't take action, action happens to her. The only thing going for her is "feistiness" compared to the other snobby upper-class girls. She's not even really competing with them--she sets herself up as a confidante, but of course, this means the prince likes her best. As a result, there's no conflict. They're all trying to help each other, instead of figuring out who your friends an enemies are. It doesn't even conclude like a normal book. It just ends--there's no climax, no build-up. It's like they just cut it off at 300 pages so they could call it a series.
Surprisingly, I'm not depressed that this book got published. I am depressed that readers rated so high. It's so shallow and cliche. I kept reading because I was waiting for that "more"--that reason it garnered such attention. But it never came. And that's three hundred and thirty-nine pages of my life I won't be getting back.
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LibraryThing member AmberFIB
First of all, let me address the fact that I am aware of the drama caused by Cass and her agent when the agent decided to call a certain blogger horrible four letter names and insult her on twitter because of a bad review. I'm also aware of the follow-up that came where the agent insulted everyone
Now, onto the book itself. I feel that my readers are mature enough and intelligent enough to decide for themselves if they want a book or not. This idea sounded interesting before the drama, and I figured that I'd give it a try and then give an honest review. If my readers decided to buy the book, then that's their prerogative. My job as a blogger is to bring honest and fair reviews of the latest books to my readers in order to help them make a decision about whether or not to spend their hard-earned money on a book. I hope my reviews do that. So, I requested this ARC because this was one of the most anticipated books of the year. I set aside my ill feelings for Cass not firing her agent and the agent's disgusting attitude and read this book like I'd never heard of any of the drama surrounding it. Luckily, I'm good at separating things. Unfortunately, I really did not like the book. Turns out I wouldn't have bought the book even without the drama because it just really did not agree with me. At least now I know I'm not missing out.
The main thing that stood out to me with this novel is that it claims to be a dystopian. It tries to be a dystopian. However, it is NOT dystopian. This is the most pathetic attempt at a corrupt society that I've ever seen. The reader's first taste of how "horrible" this society is was when America mentioned that they have no Halloween. WHAT?! NO HALLOWEEN?! THE BLASPHEMY! Okay seriously, if the society was that bad, I don't think anyone would be whining about no Halloween. Oh and a couple other holidays moved, which was apparently the worst.thing.ever. Other than the terribly upsetting and heartbreaking movement of holidays and the fact that girls weren't supposed to have sex until marriage, I think that the author was trying to focus on the caste system. Well, what country doesn't have a caste system? If you look me in the eye and try to tell me that America (the country, not the whiny character) doesn't have a caste system, then I will tell you to stop taking drugs and pay attention to current affairs. 99% and all that. We have classes, and it is incredibly hard for people to improve their class standing. That = a form of a caste system. But I digress. This is not a poli-sci course, it's a book review. So we have this not-so-bad caste system, a lack of STDs (probably) and no Halloween. Tragedy.
I mean sure, being told when you can and cannot have sex is a bit oppressive, but again, how is that different from our society? Girls get judged for having sex now. Guys don't. Wow. Cass really got creative with this one. Furthermore, the writing for this novel was juvenile at best. Every character acted like a 12 year old, and the plot was ridiculous. I'm pretty sure Cass just watched an episode of the Bachelor and decided to write a book about it. She may have even stolen the contract from the show to get ideas since the things asked of the girls (are you a virgin? Sign here to say the Prince can do whatever he wants to you when he wants to) sounds a lot like something Hollywood would come up with.
Because I didn't see the tragedy in any of this, I just could not get a feeling of suspense. The book dragged on for me. The pacing was fine, but the book just dragged because I was so bored. I also hated the characters (and their names... seriously wtf?), which didn't help matters any. Also, there was not much world-building. The environment Cass envisioned may have been much more terrible than the one she wrote down on paper. However, that awfulness did not come across, at least it didn't to me. More world-building may have caused me to enjoy this novel a lot more.
Basically, this book was not for me. It was too immature (keep in mind that I'm an adult reading YA literature. That may have something to do with it). I didn't feel like the society was really that different from our society. Things were just a bit more pronounced, extreme, and rigid. Seriously, it was no stretch of imagination to create a place like this. I also hate reality TV, and since this reminded me of the one episode I watched of the Bachelor, that just really did not appeal to me at all. I'd recommend this book to people who like reality TV (God knows there are a lot of them) and younger teens. The writing and story would appeal more to them.
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who defended said blogger or disagreed with her rude and immature actions. Because of this, I never had a plan to buy the book. I will not support or condone that type of disrespectful behavior. Not everyone is going to enjoy something. If you can't deal with that, then you shouldn't be in any form of entertainment. A flimsy apology does not make this situation okay. If Cass had fired her agent, I would have had better feelings about this. However, she did not. She seems to be fine with her agent calling her readers obscene names. Well, I for one am not okay with that. If you want to see what happened, then click here and scroll down to comment #270. Now, onto the book itself. I feel that my readers are mature enough and intelligent enough to decide for themselves if they want a book or not. This idea sounded interesting before the drama, and I figured that I'd give it a try and then give an honest review. If my readers decided to buy the book, then that's their prerogative. My job as a blogger is to bring honest and fair reviews of the latest books to my readers in order to help them make a decision about whether or not to spend their hard-earned money on a book. I hope my reviews do that. So, I requested this ARC because this was one of the most anticipated books of the year. I set aside my ill feelings for Cass not firing her agent and the agent's disgusting attitude and read this book like I'd never heard of any of the drama surrounding it. Luckily, I'm good at separating things. Unfortunately, I really did not like the book. Turns out I wouldn't have bought the book even without the drama because it just really did not agree with me. At least now I know I'm not missing out.
The main thing that stood out to me with this novel is that it claims to be a dystopian. It tries to be a dystopian. However, it is NOT dystopian. This is the most pathetic attempt at a corrupt society that I've ever seen. The reader's first taste of how "horrible" this society is was when America mentioned that they have no Halloween. WHAT?! NO HALLOWEEN?! THE BLASPHEMY! Okay seriously, if the society was that bad, I don't think anyone would be whining about no Halloween. Oh and a couple other holidays moved, which was apparently the worst.thing.ever. Other than the terribly upsetting and heartbreaking movement of holidays and the fact that girls weren't supposed to have sex until marriage, I think that the author was trying to focus on the caste system. Well, what country doesn't have a caste system? If you look me in the eye and try to tell me that America (the country, not the whiny character) doesn't have a caste system, then I will tell you to stop taking drugs and pay attention to current affairs. 99% and all that. We have classes, and it is incredibly hard for people to improve their class standing. That = a form of a caste system. But I digress. This is not a poli-sci course, it's a book review. So we have this not-so-bad caste system, a lack of STDs (probably) and no Halloween. Tragedy.
I mean sure, being told when you can and cannot have sex is a bit oppressive, but again, how is that different from our society? Girls get judged for having sex now. Guys don't. Wow. Cass really got creative with this one. Furthermore, the writing for this novel was juvenile at best. Every character acted like a 12 year old, and the plot was ridiculous. I'm pretty sure Cass just watched an episode of the Bachelor and decided to write a book about it. She may have even stolen the contract from the show to get ideas since the things asked of the girls (are you a virgin? Sign here to say the Prince can do whatever he wants to you when he wants to) sounds a lot like something Hollywood would come up with.
Because I didn't see the tragedy in any of this, I just could not get a feeling of suspense. The book dragged on for me. The pacing was fine, but the book just dragged because I was so bored. I also hated the characters (and their names... seriously wtf?), which didn't help matters any. Also, there was not much world-building. The environment Cass envisioned may have been much more terrible than the one she wrote down on paper. However, that awfulness did not come across, at least it didn't to me. More world-building may have caused me to enjoy this novel a lot more.
Basically, this book was not for me. It was too immature (keep in mind that I'm an adult reading YA literature. That may have something to do with it). I didn't feel like the society was really that different from our society. Things were just a bit more pronounced, extreme, and rigid. Seriously, it was no stretch of imagination to create a place like this. I also hate reality TV, and since this reminded me of the one episode I watched of the Bachelor, that just really did not appeal to me at all. I'd recommend this book to people who like reality TV (God knows there are a lot of them) and younger teens. The writing and story would appeal more to them.
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LibraryThing member colorwalk
After I finished this book, my sister asked me what I thought and this was the gist of what I said:
My name is Thailand Sleeper. I live in a little province called Lovely in the Kingdom of Thainalaysia (which, according to the history I'm supposed to just know and not learn, used to be separate
My sister looked at me like I had gone crazy, and all I could do was shrug. I guess it doesn't bode well when my strongest impressions of the book are the hilarious naming sense, strange uses of adjectives, awkward sentences, and terrible world-building.
I debated whether to give this a 1-star rating, but I don't actually hate the book at all. Overall, it was underwhelming, baffling, and mildly entertaining at times - though according to my thoughtful brain, I was likely entertained for all the wrong reasons.
The ending, however, was something I was frustrated with. I kept waiting for something to happen, for the story to move. And then when it looked like it might finally start to get somewhere, it ended. Yeah, ugh.
The thing is, to me, this book is the kind that requires deactivation of brain cells to enjoy. Since I was looking for something brainless to read, I suppose it worked out. Somewhat. It's just that the book is missing a plot, and it would have been nice if that was included. In the end, all I got was a long setup with zero resolution. I felt jibbed.
Apparently, I have to read the next book to get to the meat... except it appears to be mainly about the worst things I hate in love triangles (if the reviews are to be believed). Does that mean things aren't actually going to move at all until the third book? I shudder.
What to do.
My name is Thailand Sleeper. I live in a little province called Lovely in the Kingdom of Thainalaysia (which, according to the history I'm supposed to just know and not learn, used to be separate
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countries called Thailand, China, and Malaysia). I have a very helpful desk... I'm pretty sure it just sprouted arms and typed this all up for me. This book, on occasions, also made me shake a thoughtful but menacing foot at it (which was a very interesting look for my foot, btw).My sister looked at me like I had gone crazy, and all I could do was shrug. I guess it doesn't bode well when my strongest impressions of the book are the hilarious naming sense, strange uses of adjectives, awkward sentences, and terrible world-building.
I debated whether to give this a 1-star rating, but I don't actually hate the book at all. Overall, it was underwhelming, baffling, and mildly entertaining at times - though according to my thoughtful brain, I was likely entertained for all the wrong reasons.
The ending, however, was something I was frustrated with. I kept waiting for something to happen, for the story to move. And then when it looked like it might finally start to get somewhere, it ended. Yeah, ugh.
The thing is, to me, this book is the kind that requires deactivation of brain cells to enjoy. Since I was looking for something brainless to read, I suppose it worked out. Somewhat. It's just that the book is missing a plot, and it would have been nice if that was included. In the end, all I got was a long setup with zero resolution. I felt jibbed.
Apparently, I have to read the next book to get to the meat... except it appears to be mainly about the worst things I hate in love triangles (if the reviews are to be believed). Does that mean things aren't actually going to move at all until the third book? I shudder.
What to do.
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LibraryThing member ErlangerFactionless
First of all, I am so tired of poorly-though-out dystopias, I could scream. And this one was poorly thought out. The world-building is almost nonexistent. The whole caste system Cass has created fails to make any sense. In what universe would having a caste of *artists* make sense? What if you
Second of all, I am so tired of love triangles… especially love triangles in dystopian novels. Arrrrgh! I can’t really write anything intelligible on the subject. I just don’t want them anymore. And the one in this book is super-noxious because as soon as Cass mentions on, like, page two of the book or something, that there’s a draft for the guys and some of the drafted men end up as guards in the palace, you know exactly what is going to happen. (To top it all off, it conveniently puts the drafted dude in a really high caste, which would totally do away with one of the major points of tension in the novel, so again… obvious.) Why not just put a neon sign on it? Also, in every last YA love triangle, it is always so freaking obvious who is going to “win” in the end (actually, _The Hunger Games_ is a major exception to that, which is another reason it is a cut above its many imitators) and there’s really no suspense. Who on earth ever thought Bella would ever pick anyone but Edward? I mean, clearly some people did, but they were also delusional.
Speaking of Bella, I am so tired of self-deprecating heroines. You know what song I hate? I hate that One Direction song, “You don’t know you’re beautiful/That’s what makes you beautiful.” What load of crap are we feeding our young women these days? Why must we hate ourselves to be lovely? Why is being confident in one’s beauty always a hallmark of a “bad guy” character?
And speaking of ideas we are feeding our young women, why is it acceptable in this novel for the main character’s boyfriend to freak out because she makes more money than he does? I’m serious. They guy goes on a full out, “It’s my job to provide for you” rant and actually breaks up with her over this! And how come if a girl marries a boy in a higher caste, she moves up, but if she marries a boy in a lower caste she moves down? I mean, I can sort of accept that as part of the “dys” in “dystopia,” but it is still sexist claptrap that I don’t appreciate seeing perpetuated. And trying to make your main character not appear to be the girly ball of sexist ideas she actually is by making her prefer to wear pants? Puh-leeze.
Last of all, I am so tired of trilogies. Look, you can’t write a third of a book, end it abruptly, and then call it a “trilogy.” That’s not a trilogy. That’s milking a cash cow. Can’t anyone write a stand-alone novel anymore?
For all that, I really liked this book. I’m not going to go into the whole Bachelor meets Cinderella style plot or anything -- which is both a ridiculous and interesting at the same time -- but for some reason, once this book gets going, it really gets going. I almost put it down at the start, due to the aforementioned issues, but for some reason (okay, I was waiting in the car for my husband and I didn't have anything else to read) I kept going and I really, really enjoyed the story. I mean, it isn’t life-changing and if it didn't have a sequel built in, people would probably forget about it before the summer, but it turned out to be a fun read.
I read through it pretty quickly, laughed a bit, really enjoyed the character of Prince Maxon, was surprised by more than a few things and will definitely read The Elite when it comes out. Go figure.
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can’t do anything artistic? (In fact, this is even brought up in the case of the main character’s little brother who cannot paint, nor sculpt, nor sing, nor play an instrument…. you get the idea.) What about rich pop stars? Are they still “lower caste?” It was confusing and weird. Second of all, I am so tired of love triangles… especially love triangles in dystopian novels. Arrrrgh! I can’t really write anything intelligible on the subject. I just don’t want them anymore. And the one in this book is super-noxious because as soon as Cass mentions on, like, page two of the book or something, that there’s a draft for the guys and some of the drafted men end up as guards in the palace, you know exactly what is going to happen. (To top it all off, it conveniently puts the drafted dude in a really high caste, which would totally do away with one of the major points of tension in the novel, so again… obvious.) Why not just put a neon sign on it? Also, in every last YA love triangle, it is always so freaking obvious who is going to “win” in the end (actually, _The Hunger Games_ is a major exception to that, which is another reason it is a cut above its many imitators) and there’s really no suspense. Who on earth ever thought Bella would ever pick anyone but Edward? I mean, clearly some people did, but they were also delusional.
Speaking of Bella, I am so tired of self-deprecating heroines. You know what song I hate? I hate that One Direction song, “You don’t know you’re beautiful/That’s what makes you beautiful.” What load of crap are we feeding our young women these days? Why must we hate ourselves to be lovely? Why is being confident in one’s beauty always a hallmark of a “bad guy” character?
And speaking of ideas we are feeding our young women, why is it acceptable in this novel for the main character’s boyfriend to freak out because she makes more money than he does? I’m serious. They guy goes on a full out, “It’s my job to provide for you” rant and actually breaks up with her over this! And how come if a girl marries a boy in a higher caste, she moves up, but if she marries a boy in a lower caste she moves down? I mean, I can sort of accept that as part of the “dys” in “dystopia,” but it is still sexist claptrap that I don’t appreciate seeing perpetuated. And trying to make your main character not appear to be the girly ball of sexist ideas she actually is by making her prefer to wear pants? Puh-leeze.
Last of all, I am so tired of trilogies. Look, you can’t write a third of a book, end it abruptly, and then call it a “trilogy.” That’s not a trilogy. That’s milking a cash cow. Can’t anyone write a stand-alone novel anymore?
For all that, I really liked this book. I’m not going to go into the whole Bachelor meets Cinderella style plot or anything -- which is both a ridiculous and interesting at the same time -- but for some reason, once this book gets going, it really gets going. I almost put it down at the start, due to the aforementioned issues, but for some reason (okay, I was waiting in the car for my husband and I didn't have anything else to read) I kept going and I really, really enjoyed the story. I mean, it isn’t life-changing and if it didn't have a sequel built in, people would probably forget about it before the summer, but it turned out to be a fun read.
I read through it pretty quickly, laughed a bit, really enjoyed the character of Prince Maxon, was surprised by more than a few things and will definitely read The Elite when it comes out. Go figure.
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LibraryThing member ljduett
I originally planned on shying away from this choice but changed my mind when it popped up on my internet library.
First let me start with that cover.
What I hate: I'm tired of the new cover trend of girls in formal gowns. Has anyone else noticed that almost all YA books with female MC's have a
Maybe it's just me.
What I like: I like the damn dress which really annoys me. Perhaps that is why I hate all those formal gowned girls, because I wish I could sucker punch them and steal their clothes. I also enjoy how the girls are lined up in a mirrored room. It reminds me that the cover still has some link to the actual book's plot. Lastly, I like that color of blue. Frosty.
So what about the book itself?
The book follows America Singer (eye roll at the name) who is chosen with over thirty five other girls to compete for the hand of their prince's hand in marriage. Sadly, America isn't too happy about that since she's in love with somebody else...at first anyway.
Yes, I know that's a brief description but honestly, not much else is happening in this book, trust me.
Anyhoo, overall the story was done fairly well though the names given in this story are horrible at best and abysmal at worst. I'm surprised that Cass didn't go for the gusto and not leave her characters with names normal people would be teased for. But that's no sweat of my back if she named her prince something dorky like Maxton. (Eye roll at the name). After all, what's in a name?
The description and writing style by Cass was enjoyable and easy to follow though some of the lines in The Selection were sadly third grade level dorky. Still, I could see past all that as Cass made up for her immaturity by actually letting her characters build relationships rather than fall instantly in love and live happily ever after. Kudos to Cass for that. A little reality in fiction land.
On top of that, Cass keeps her MC true, honest (well mostly), and completely and utterly herself. This is something I really enjoyed throughout the plot, she was no regular weak kneed girly girl.
As for the prince, well he's a likable sort and I enjoyed that about Cass' story. Too often, authors let their male characters fall into the same ol' bad boy mold. Not Prince Maxton. He's a gentleman and utterly understanding. BUT, I do hold a little grudge that he's so willing to have a harem. Does he really need over thirty girls? I think not.
So what didn't I like about The Selection?
Well as I mentioned earlier, the corny lines which thankfully were sparse. I also didn't enjoy all the giggling Cass' character did in this story. That should stop. Giggling is annoying, not cute. Perhaps substitute giggling with chuckling or just plain laughing.
I don't care as long as GIGGLING is stricken from overuse.
I also didn't enjoy that Cass tried to add a measurement of danger to her story by throwing in some rebels. Don't get me wrong, the rebels are fine and dandy by themselves but their attacks were obviously planned by my five year old nephew who loves throwing food and trashing rooms. I never felt any true danger in the plot when Cass described her rebel attacks. I literally shook my head and skimmed to the better parts.
But other than those little peeves, The Selection was a good light read and I plan on following Cass' story in the sequel. So, I give Cass' book four stars.
First let me start with that cover.
What I hate: I'm tired of the new cover trend of girls in formal gowns. Has anyone else noticed that almost all YA books with female MC's have a
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picture of some young thing dressed as if ready for prom?Maybe it's just me.
What I like: I like the damn dress which really annoys me. Perhaps that is why I hate all those formal gowned girls, because I wish I could sucker punch them and steal their clothes. I also enjoy how the girls are lined up in a mirrored room. It reminds me that the cover still has some link to the actual book's plot. Lastly, I like that color of blue. Frosty.
So what about the book itself?
The book follows America Singer (eye roll at the name) who is chosen with over thirty five other girls to compete for the hand of their prince's hand in marriage. Sadly, America isn't too happy about that since she's in love with somebody else...at first anyway.
Yes, I know that's a brief description but honestly, not much else is happening in this book, trust me.
Anyhoo, overall the story was done fairly well though the names given in this story are horrible at best and abysmal at worst. I'm surprised that Cass didn't go for the gusto and not leave her characters with names normal people would be teased for. But that's no sweat of my back if she named her prince something dorky like Maxton. (Eye roll at the name). After all, what's in a name?
The description and writing style by Cass was enjoyable and easy to follow though some of the lines in The Selection were sadly third grade level dorky. Still, I could see past all that as Cass made up for her immaturity by actually letting her characters build relationships rather than fall instantly in love and live happily ever after. Kudos to Cass for that. A little reality in fiction land.
On top of that, Cass keeps her MC true, honest (well mostly), and completely and utterly herself. This is something I really enjoyed throughout the plot, she was no regular weak kneed girly girl.
As for the prince, well he's a likable sort and I enjoyed that about Cass' story. Too often, authors let their male characters fall into the same ol' bad boy mold. Not Prince Maxton. He's a gentleman and utterly understanding. BUT, I do hold a little grudge that he's so willing to have a harem. Does he really need over thirty girls? I think not.
So what didn't I like about The Selection?
Well as I mentioned earlier, the corny lines which thankfully were sparse. I also didn't enjoy all the giggling Cass' character did in this story. That should stop. Giggling is annoying, not cute. Perhaps substitute giggling with chuckling or just plain laughing.
I don't care as long as GIGGLING is stricken from overuse.
I also didn't enjoy that Cass tried to add a measurement of danger to her story by throwing in some rebels. Don't get me wrong, the rebels are fine and dandy by themselves but their attacks were obviously planned by my five year old nephew who loves throwing food and trashing rooms. I never felt any true danger in the plot when Cass described her rebel attacks. I literally shook my head and skimmed to the better parts.
But other than those little peeves, The Selection was a good light read and I plan on following Cass' story in the sequel. So, I give Cass' book four stars.
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LibraryThing member justablondemoment
I really loved this book. Yes it was simple and a very fast read but something about it really captured me. I'm a sucker for Cinderella like stories and this reminded me of those. Oddly enough it kind of reminded me of Hunger Games. The whole class thing and the competion. I had heard they are
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making this book into a movie and I hope they do it justice. Looking forward to the next installement. Show Less
LibraryThing member Mirandalg14
I expected a little more from this. I felt like I only got 3/4 of a book. What is it with people needing to have a trilogy?
LibraryThing member brandileigh2003
The Selection drew me in from the beginning. I really connected with America. I could see similar character traits in her as myself, and then others that makes her stronger, others that I knew she had much room to grow and change. Character development and growth is really what gets me involved
I feel like I have read this before. And I can't figure out where. Maybe it is just my readings of Ester or a christian fiction that was based on Ester... But anyways. The addition of Aspen and her loving a lower class definitely makes it unique and puts America, the main character in a more precarious position. I understand completely her choosing to participate in the selection to help her family because while she isn't the lowest class, they do struggle for food. She also decides to do it because Aspen doesn't want to live with the guilt of holding her back. There was a lot of tension going into making this decision, and that was just the beginning of what kept me reading this book.
The other girls in the competition were fun to read about. Some, like Marlee made me smile. She was so open and I loved the budding friendship between her and America. Others, like Celeste--well, let me just say that she made a perfect character to hate. There are others that I wished I could get a peek inside their mind and their time with Maxon.
And oh, Maxon. At first, I thought much like America, that he was stuck up and unreachable. But as she got to know him, my heart melted and I was pulling for her to be able to leave Aspen in her past and chose him. Ms. Cass did a great job writing this and set this up, because I was all prepared to pull for first love and forbidden romance, but I loved the interactions between America and Maxon. How their friendship formed, and their bantering and open, vulnerable moments together.
The ending completely took my breath away, and I can't wait for The Elite so I can figure out where America goes next in her journey, and figure out more to make my decision as well as find out hers.
Bottom Line: Breath taking romance with an underdog main character that I was cheering for with all my heart.
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emotionally and otherwise in stories, and I knew that watching America would be a journey that I did not want to miss out on.I feel like I have read this before. And I can't figure out where. Maybe it is just my readings of Ester or a christian fiction that was based on Ester... But anyways. The addition of Aspen and her loving a lower class definitely makes it unique and puts America, the main character in a more precarious position. I understand completely her choosing to participate in the selection to help her family because while she isn't the lowest class, they do struggle for food. She also decides to do it because Aspen doesn't want to live with the guilt of holding her back. There was a lot of tension going into making this decision, and that was just the beginning of what kept me reading this book.
The other girls in the competition were fun to read about. Some, like Marlee made me smile. She was so open and I loved the budding friendship between her and America. Others, like Celeste--well, let me just say that she made a perfect character to hate. There are others that I wished I could get a peek inside their mind and their time with Maxon.
And oh, Maxon. At first, I thought much like America, that he was stuck up and unreachable. But as she got to know him, my heart melted and I was pulling for her to be able to leave Aspen in her past and chose him. Ms. Cass did a great job writing this and set this up, because I was all prepared to pull for first love and forbidden romance, but I loved the interactions between America and Maxon. How their friendship formed, and their bantering and open, vulnerable moments together.
The ending completely took my breath away, and I can't wait for The Elite so I can figure out where America goes next in her journey, and figure out more to make my decision as well as find out hers.
Bottom Line: Breath taking romance with an underdog main character that I was cheering for with all my heart.
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LibraryThing member deslivres5
Yeah, the cover pulled me in.
Yeah, it did remind me of The Hunger Games: dystopian, contests, strong female lead, two guys, etc.
I love reading YA fiction and this one was featured on my public
library's new YA books for the month, so I snapped it up.
I didn't realize it was going to be a trilogy, as
to eschew new book series because I hate to have that long wait.
But I'm glad I picked this one up.
I have probably several years ahead before my questions are answered:
- The author has given us a taste of several other main characters whom I'm waiting to find out more of their back story.
- The society and the threats to the royal family -- what are the two rebel factions really after??
- Who will Prince Maxon ultimately choose in his princess contest??
- I love the main character, America, who is strong, funny, loyal and kind. With who will she ultimately wind up?? I have my vote!
Yeah, it did remind me of The Hunger Games: dystopian, contests, strong female lead, two guys, etc.
I love reading YA fiction and this one was featured on my public
library's new YA books for the month, so I snapped it up.
I didn't realize it was going to be a trilogy, as
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I've begunto eschew new book series because I hate to have that long wait.
But I'm glad I picked this one up.
I have probably several years ahead before my questions are answered:
- The author has given us a taste of several other main characters whom I'm waiting to find out more of their back story.
- The society and the threats to the royal family -- what are the two rebel factions really after??
- Who will Prince Maxon ultimately choose in his princess contest??
- I love the main character, America, who is strong, funny, loyal and kind. With who will she ultimately wind up?? I have my vote!
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LibraryThing member titania86
America Singer is part of the low end cast reserved for artists and musicians. Her family isn't the richest and sometimes struggles to make ends meet. Her situation is nothing compared to Aspen's, the boyfriend she has in secret who is a lower caste than her. When the Selection comes about, her
I kind of expected to hate The Selection because it's all about romance and love triangles. However, the writing really drew me and and the characters are just wonderful. I described this to my friends as The Bachelor mixed with The Hunger Games without the killing. I appreciate that the romance is right up front so I know what I'm getting into when I read. I get annoyed when books look like they would be awesome dystopias but turn out to be romance centered and the dystopia is pushed to the background. The dystopia in this novel is interesting: a futuristic society after the fall of the US where inhabitants are born into a caste and can never move up. Each caste has a kind of theme where the people in it can only do a limited amount of jobs. It sucks if you have no interest in the caste's jobs like America's little brother. I think it makes sense that music and art are so low in this system because of how our society views them. Music and art are considered luxuries and are the first be cut in schools when money is tight even though they are essential to every society in existence. I would love to see more of this world.
America is a great assertive and strong character. She doesn't let the low caste she was born into hinder her in any way. She cares fiercely for her family and will stay as long as possible to benefit their lives as much as possible. Her romance with both Aspen and Maxon actually make sense and isn't just the instalove that is so prevalent in YA novels. They grow to like each other over time and actually build a relationship. America has complicated feelings about these two love interest and I wasn't annoyed for one second like I thought I would be.
The Selection is a great romantic dystopian read. The characters are wonderful and their relationships are believable. I was just a little annoyed that The Selection wasn't finished by the end of the novel. I will definitely be reading the next book and I hope the world building gets more detailed and explains more about the dystopia.
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mother sees it as a dream come true. Thirty five girls are chosen out of all the applications of every girl who wants to be in the running (which is just about all of them within the eligible ages) to go on a reality television show and try to woo the prince. The girls' families get money and prestige and the girl who marries the prince shoots straight to the top of the caste system. Even the girls who don't win rise above their born stations. America is one of the thirty five girls and it's her worse nightmare. She has no interest in a stuffy, boring prince when she has true love at home, but her family needs her help. So she is in the running for a crown she doesn't want in a palace periodically under attack. Things change when she actually meets Prince Maxon. Will she win The Selection or will she choose her true love at home?I kind of expected to hate The Selection because it's all about romance and love triangles. However, the writing really drew me and and the characters are just wonderful. I described this to my friends as The Bachelor mixed with The Hunger Games without the killing. I appreciate that the romance is right up front so I know what I'm getting into when I read. I get annoyed when books look like they would be awesome dystopias but turn out to be romance centered and the dystopia is pushed to the background. The dystopia in this novel is interesting: a futuristic society after the fall of the US where inhabitants are born into a caste and can never move up. Each caste has a kind of theme where the people in it can only do a limited amount of jobs. It sucks if you have no interest in the caste's jobs like America's little brother. I think it makes sense that music and art are so low in this system because of how our society views them. Music and art are considered luxuries and are the first be cut in schools when money is tight even though they are essential to every society in existence. I would love to see more of this world.
America is a great assertive and strong character. She doesn't let the low caste she was born into hinder her in any way. She cares fiercely for her family and will stay as long as possible to benefit their lives as much as possible. Her romance with both Aspen and Maxon actually make sense and isn't just the instalove that is so prevalent in YA novels. They grow to like each other over time and actually build a relationship. America has complicated feelings about these two love interest and I wasn't annoyed for one second like I thought I would be.
The Selection is a great romantic dystopian read. The characters are wonderful and their relationships are believable. I was just a little annoyed that The Selection wasn't finished by the end of the novel. I will definitely be reading the next book and I hope the world building gets more detailed and explains more about the dystopia.
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LibraryThing member poetrytoprose
The Selection by Kiera Cass is many things, but one thing it is not is a dystopian novel. Labeling it as such only creates high expectations about the world building and I felt that The Selection’s attempt of a controlled society was very flimsy. Yes, there was a caste system, rules for the
So what IS The Selection? I thought it was a light read that heavily focused on the competition of 35 girls vying for the affection of Prince Maxon. It had the typical mean girls, pretty dresses, makeovers, and gossip. I wish more time had been spent developing the girls, and perhaps their provinces at the same time to flesh out the world of Illéa, but it was still easy to get swept into their drama.
As far as characters go, I thought America was a little bland. Kiera Cass attempted to make her a strong lead, but I didn’t really get that from her character. Still, she did have her likable moments and I can appreciate the fact that she’s trying to figure things out for herself. For the love interests, Prince Maxon easily wins as my favorite. Aspen was whiny, insecure, and a bit of a jerk, so no thanks! Maxon had his faults, but he came across as a much more open minded, sweet guy. Plus, he’s a prince and who doesn’t love a prince?! The rest of the characters were either not developed enough for me to have an opinion or, in the case of America’s maids and some of the other contestants, they sort of blended together.
The Selection is the first in a series and Kiera Cass definitely left me hanging. This is probably one of the worst cliffhangers in recent memory and it’s not because I’m anxious to find out what’s next; I simply think The Selection had a complete non-ending. What was that?! As it is, I’m not sure how this particular story will be expanded into multiple books without feeling dragged out, but I guess we’ll see!
Though I obviously thought there were some shaky aspects to The Selection, I did enjoy it quite a bit. I was into all the drama of the competition and America’s growing friendship with Maxon was a highlight. The ending was aggravating, but I’m curious to see how Kiera Cass will continue on with the story. I’ll definitely get around to reading the next book.
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country’s citizens, and — gasp! — rebel groups, but they all came across as superficially inserted into the story; they served no purpose except for proving that dystopian is the thing to do in the YA market at the moment. Every time there was a mention of the different castes, or a “threat” from the rebels, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes because it lacked so much depth and Kiera Cass did not explore any themes with her world.So what IS The Selection? I thought it was a light read that heavily focused on the competition of 35 girls vying for the affection of Prince Maxon. It had the typical mean girls, pretty dresses, makeovers, and gossip. I wish more time had been spent developing the girls, and perhaps their provinces at the same time to flesh out the world of Illéa, but it was still easy to get swept into their drama.
As far as characters go, I thought America was a little bland. Kiera Cass attempted to make her a strong lead, but I didn’t really get that from her character. Still, she did have her likable moments and I can appreciate the fact that she’s trying to figure things out for herself. For the love interests, Prince Maxon easily wins as my favorite. Aspen was whiny, insecure, and a bit of a jerk, so no thanks! Maxon had his faults, but he came across as a much more open minded, sweet guy. Plus, he’s a prince and who doesn’t love a prince?! The rest of the characters were either not developed enough for me to have an opinion or, in the case of America’s maids and some of the other contestants, they sort of blended together.
The Selection is the first in a series and Kiera Cass definitely left me hanging. This is probably one of the worst cliffhangers in recent memory and it’s not because I’m anxious to find out what’s next; I simply think The Selection had a complete non-ending. What was that?! As it is, I’m not sure how this particular story will be expanded into multiple books without feeling dragged out, but I guess we’ll see!
Though I obviously thought there were some shaky aspects to The Selection, I did enjoy it quite a bit. I was into all the drama of the competition and America’s growing friendship with Maxon was a highlight. The ending was aggravating, but I’m curious to see how Kiera Cass will continue on with the story. I’ll definitely get around to reading the next book.
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LibraryThing member psteinke1122
GoodReads Synopsis: 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 the palace and compete for the heart of the 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
My Thoughts: This is the first book in a planned trilogy that has been described as “The Bachelor” meets “The Hunger Games”. This is not a true representation. It may describe the trilogy overall, but not this story. This is more, “every girl’s fantasy of being a Princess” meets “The Bachelor”
I loved this book, it had such incredibly sweet and tender moments between America and Maxon…like the television interview, and the “bet” about May. I loved that America was honest with just about all things. And the one thing she did hold back, was pretty necessary. I loved that the King and Queen had met through this process, did truly fall in love, and love each other still.
I loved America…I was rooting for America. She made a point going into the “competition” to be herself, and she was true to that. When she goofed, she apologized. She was honest with Maxon from the start. She became his friend…that’s when I knew she was a goner. She was able to show him life from her perspective, which was much closer to the bottom than the top…and she was able to do it in a manner that wasn’t patronizing. She is an “every girl”.
I loved Maxon…I’m rooting for him also! He saw something in America. That spark she has. Maybe it’s the fact that she is a fiery redhead, just like yours truly?? He came back for more even after she’d dressed him down and their first meeting. And came back yet again after a trip around the gardens didn’t turn out quite like planned. He was a goner from that first dressing down.
Not a fan of Aspen…He seemed almost obsessive and stalkerish. He treats America like a possession rather than a person. One thing he did, that I totally agreed with, was the whole getting America to apply for the Selection. I can see where that might have come up down the line in their lives had they still been together. I’m definitely on Team Maxon!
I really did love this little gem. I think I know where the rest of the series will go and may post my predictions at some point. But one thing I am certain of…I will be rereading The Selection many, many times!
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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
My Thoughts: This is the first book in a planned trilogy that has been described as “The Bachelor” meets “The Hunger Games”. This is not a true representation. It may describe the trilogy overall, but not this story. This is more, “every girl’s fantasy of being a Princess” meets “The Bachelor”
I loved this book, it had such incredibly sweet and tender moments between America and Maxon…like the television interview, and the “bet” about May. I loved that America was honest with just about all things. And the one thing she did hold back, was pretty necessary. I loved that the King and Queen had met through this process, did truly fall in love, and love each other still.
I loved America…I was rooting for America. She made a point going into the “competition” to be herself, and she was true to that. When she goofed, she apologized. She was honest with Maxon from the start. She became his friend…that’s when I knew she was a goner. She was able to show him life from her perspective, which was much closer to the bottom than the top…and she was able to do it in a manner that wasn’t patronizing. She is an “every girl”.
I loved Maxon…I’m rooting for him also! He saw something in America. That spark she has. Maybe it’s the fact that she is a fiery redhead, just like yours truly?? He came back for more even after she’d dressed him down and their first meeting. And came back yet again after a trip around the gardens didn’t turn out quite like planned. He was a goner from that first dressing down.
Not a fan of Aspen…He seemed almost obsessive and stalkerish. He treats America like a possession rather than a person. One thing he did, that I totally agreed with, was the whole getting America to apply for the Selection. I can see where that might have come up down the line in their lives had they still been together. I’m definitely on Team Maxon!
I really did love this little gem. I think I know where the rest of the series will go and may post my predictions at some point. But one thing I am certain of…I will be rereading The Selection many, many times!
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LibraryThing member STACYatUFI
America has absolutely zero desire to enter the selection. She has been in love with a boy in a lower class then her's for some time and Aspen is the only one she wants to be with for the rest of her life. To please not only Aspen who loves her and only wants the best for her but also her family
America is not like most girls vying for the attention of the Prince Maxon. She is there for the money for her family and that is it. Once she is in the house and finds out Maxon is nothing like she imagined she cant help but feel drawn to him and want to spend time with him. Everything she felt coming into the situation is turned on its heels and she is just a bundle of confusion not knowing what she really wants. I have mixed feelings about Aspen. You could tell that he loves America but him pushing her into the selection then wanting her back kinda ticked me off. Maxon, I really like him. I am totally rooting for him and hope that Aspen doesn't mess up Maxon and America's chances. (but of course where would the drama be if that was how it went)
The whole Selection reminded me a lot of "The Bachelor" There are a bunch of girls from different situations vying for one guy that will change their lives. Some are in it to find love and others are in it to find status. There was a lot of predictability in THE SELECTION. I was able to see what was coming next on most occasions. I really enjoyed most of the characters. There are so many personalities thrown in it made for some great situations. The romance is chaotic like you would expect. Lots of cattiness and awkwardness. The world that the book is set in is well explained and easy to imagine. I'm sad that we didn't get farther along in the story before the book ended. Of course a lot happened, I'm just impatient lol. After getting through the book I'm way to invested in the story not to read book 2 when it comes out.
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she enters anyways thinking there is no way that she would ever make it in anyways. America not only makes it into the selection but she decides to give it a chance and her life is forever changed.America is not like most girls vying for the attention of the Prince Maxon. She is there for the money for her family and that is it. Once she is in the house and finds out Maxon is nothing like she imagined she cant help but feel drawn to him and want to spend time with him. Everything she felt coming into the situation is turned on its heels and she is just a bundle of confusion not knowing what she really wants. I have mixed feelings about Aspen. You could tell that he loves America but him pushing her into the selection then wanting her back kinda ticked me off. Maxon, I really like him. I am totally rooting for him and hope that Aspen doesn't mess up Maxon and America's chances. (but of course where would the drama be if that was how it went)
The whole Selection reminded me a lot of "The Bachelor" There are a bunch of girls from different situations vying for one guy that will change their lives. Some are in it to find love and others are in it to find status. There was a lot of predictability in THE SELECTION. I was able to see what was coming next on most occasions. I really enjoyed most of the characters. There are so many personalities thrown in it made for some great situations. The romance is chaotic like you would expect. Lots of cattiness and awkwardness. The world that the book is set in is well explained and easy to imagine. I'm sad that we didn't get farther along in the story before the book ended. Of course a lot happened, I'm just impatient lol. After getting through the book I'm way to invested in the story not to read book 2 when it comes out.
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LibraryThing member pacey1927
I really, really enjoyed "The Selection" by Kiera Cass. I was engrossed from the very start of this book and the pages flew by. I had limited reading time and still finished the book in two days. The idea of the book is really unique. It is very "reality tv show" but in this instance the theme is a
Our heroine is 17 year old America Singer (don't get me started on her name, I hate it and find it pretentious but I won't use it against the rating in this book as its obviously my own person peeve). America is a class five, a class made up of artists and classical musicians. Her entire family is supposed to make their living in these arts. They are only three classes from the very bottom class. Their is never any extra food, and everyone would always like more to eat, but they have a roof over their heads so they are doing better than some people. America is secretly in love with Aspen. Since Aspen is a six, a relationship between the couple would be frowned on by all. America would have to loss a class to be with him. So the two meet and exchange words and kisses in secret. Aspen wants more for America and begs her to enter her name into the 'princess' lottery. She is being pressured to do so by her mother and sister as well. Figuring there is no way she will ever be chosen, America enters.
You can probably guess that America ends up as one of the chosen 35 young women competing for Prince Maxon's hand in marriage. This is where the novel became truly engrossing for me. I loved the competition and the time in the castle. Although I liked Aspen well enough, once I met Prince Maxon, there was no doubt which man I was rooting for America to end up with. The scenes between Mer and Maxon crackle with humor and energy. Where we are told there is a spark between Aspen and America, we FEEL the spark between Maxon and America. They learn so much from each other and I really think they compliment each other well. But things are not easy.
Life with 34 other woman can't be easy, especially with them all fighting for the same guy. There are friendships formed and enemies made and more than a few stories intrigued me. I am hoping to find out more about what Marlee is hiding and what Celeste is up to. Also their are some threats to the safety of the royal castle, the servants there, and the girls in the competition. There are two bands of rebels, with differing agendas, who occassionally attack the palace. In the first book there are a couple of attacks shown but we never have a good idea of what is motivating those attacks or if maybe the royal family is hiding something. There are very brief and sporadic hints of things to come. There is nothing obvious about what is really going on here.
To be honest, though this book is billed as a dystopian, it is a light one to say the least. I never felt like there was anything really big at stake. They people are kept held to their 'caste' systems which isn't fair but their isn't any urgency to their situation, no obvious change simmering beneath the surface. When Mer brings the issue of hunger up with Maxon, he immediately feels bad about it and comes up with a plan to help those poorer classes. All in all, this felt like a lovely, fun fairytale. Maybe in the next books there will be more of a turn toward the dystopian elements. As the first book stands though, I don't feel it.
I can't give it less than five stars because I did have so much fun reading it. The writing is solid and engaging. I liked the main characters quite a bit. If the whole rebel thing was taken out of the book it would have lost nothing in my eyes. I really can't wait to find out who else gets eliminated from the competition and who America finally ends up with. That alone is reason enough for me to stay with this series.
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group of 35 girls from different classes who are picked via lottery to move to the castle and compete to win Prince Maxon's heart and thereby the royal princess title. This would be a dream come true for any of the girls but it is especially promising for the girls from the lower classes who have to struggle to have their basic needs met.Our heroine is 17 year old America Singer (don't get me started on her name, I hate it and find it pretentious but I won't use it against the rating in this book as its obviously my own person peeve). America is a class five, a class made up of artists and classical musicians. Her entire family is supposed to make their living in these arts. They are only three classes from the very bottom class. Their is never any extra food, and everyone would always like more to eat, but they have a roof over their heads so they are doing better than some people. America is secretly in love with Aspen. Since Aspen is a six, a relationship between the couple would be frowned on by all. America would have to loss a class to be with him. So the two meet and exchange words and kisses in secret. Aspen wants more for America and begs her to enter her name into the 'princess' lottery. She is being pressured to do so by her mother and sister as well. Figuring there is no way she will ever be chosen, America enters.
You can probably guess that America ends up as one of the chosen 35 young women competing for Prince Maxon's hand in marriage. This is where the novel became truly engrossing for me. I loved the competition and the time in the castle. Although I liked Aspen well enough, once I met Prince Maxon, there was no doubt which man I was rooting for America to end up with. The scenes between Mer and Maxon crackle with humor and energy. Where we are told there is a spark between Aspen and America, we FEEL the spark between Maxon and America. They learn so much from each other and I really think they compliment each other well. But things are not easy.
Life with 34 other woman can't be easy, especially with them all fighting for the same guy. There are friendships formed and enemies made and more than a few stories intrigued me. I am hoping to find out more about what Marlee is hiding and what Celeste is up to. Also their are some threats to the safety of the royal castle, the servants there, and the girls in the competition. There are two bands of rebels, with differing agendas, who occassionally attack the palace. In the first book there are a couple of attacks shown but we never have a good idea of what is motivating those attacks or if maybe the royal family is hiding something. There are very brief and sporadic hints of things to come. There is nothing obvious about what is really going on here.
To be honest, though this book is billed as a dystopian, it is a light one to say the least. I never felt like there was anything really big at stake. They people are kept held to their 'caste' systems which isn't fair but their isn't any urgency to their situation, no obvious change simmering beneath the surface. When Mer brings the issue of hunger up with Maxon, he immediately feels bad about it and comes up with a plan to help those poorer classes. All in all, this felt like a lovely, fun fairytale. Maybe in the next books there will be more of a turn toward the dystopian elements. As the first book stands though, I don't feel it.
I can't give it less than five stars because I did have so much fun reading it. The writing is solid and engaging. I liked the main characters quite a bit. If the whole rebel thing was taken out of the book it would have lost nothing in my eyes. I really can't wait to find out who else gets eliminated from the competition and who America finally ends up with. That alone is reason enough for me to stay with this series.
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LibraryThing member BornBookish
I didn’t really know much about this book going into it except that it was dystopian, which was enough to make me pick it up. Plus the cover is really pretty!
I finished this book in six hours, which is pretty fast for me. I read three hours before bed and then three hours as soon as I woke up. I
-I don’t have to wash my hair; I can just throw it into a bun.
-I can skip wearing makeup; I only have one class today. Big deal.
-Am I really hungry? Or can I skip lunch?
I’m not even kidding. I could not stop reading I had to know what happened before I left and if that meant I showed up to school as an unshowered, unmakeuped, and hungry person than so be it.
The dystopian aspect of the book takes a back burner to the competition of the Selection and romance aspect of the story. There is talk at the beginning of the different castes 1-8, ones being the royalty and eights being the servants. Each person is assigned a caste, women who are lucky enough might marry a caste or two above themselves but no one ever marries below. This is why America, a five, and the boy she loves, Aspen, a six, must keep their love hidden.
When America is chosen as part of The Selection, she’s mad. She has no interest in becoming a princess or falling in love because she’s already in love with Aspen. But when America meets Maxon, he is nothing like she imagined, exceeding each and every one of her expectations. America starts to develop feelings for him. Are these the feelings of friends or something more?
I’m sure you’ve already guessed that there is a bit of a love triangle that goes on here. Yup. There were times I hated America. I felt like she was stringing both guys along because she couldn’t make up her own mind but how could she? I was just as confused as she was. Aspen? Maxon? Aspen? Maxon? I can’t even decide, so how could she?!
I wasn’t expecting the major cliffhanger that was the ending. I think I might actually lose my mind waiting for the sequel. This has been one of my favorite books of the year so far!
I finished this book in six hours, which is pretty fast for me. I read three hours before bed and then three hours as soon as I woke up. I
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wasn’t sure if I would be able to finish before school but I was determined. I HAD to finish! As I was reading and time was running out I was going down a mental checklist in my head. It went a little something like this…-I don’t have to wash my hair; I can just throw it into a bun.
-I can skip wearing makeup; I only have one class today. Big deal.
-Am I really hungry? Or can I skip lunch?
I’m not even kidding. I could not stop reading I had to know what happened before I left and if that meant I showed up to school as an unshowered, unmakeuped, and hungry person than so be it.
The dystopian aspect of the book takes a back burner to the competition of the Selection and romance aspect of the story. There is talk at the beginning of the different castes 1-8, ones being the royalty and eights being the servants. Each person is assigned a caste, women who are lucky enough might marry a caste or two above themselves but no one ever marries below. This is why America, a five, and the boy she loves, Aspen, a six, must keep their love hidden.
When America is chosen as part of The Selection, she’s mad. She has no interest in becoming a princess or falling in love because she’s already in love with Aspen. But when America meets Maxon, he is nothing like she imagined, exceeding each and every one of her expectations. America starts to develop feelings for him. Are these the feelings of friends or something more?
I’m sure you’ve already guessed that there is a bit of a love triangle that goes on here. Yup. There were times I hated America. I felt like she was stringing both guys along because she couldn’t make up her own mind but how could she? I was just as confused as she was. Aspen? Maxon? Aspen? Maxon? I can’t even decide, so how could she?!
I wasn’t expecting the major cliffhanger that was the ending. I think I might actually lose my mind waiting for the sequel. This has been one of my favorite books of the year so far!
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LibraryThing member Annesanse
Why I Read It: The cover. (I didn't even know what the book was about when I bought it.)
Oh my goodness, I loved this book! A word of warning, it does cut off very suddenly, but it was such a great start to a series! It felt basically like a mixture of Hunger Games and the Bachelor.
There were parts
Oh my goodness, I loved this book! A word of warning, it does cut off very suddenly, but it was such a great start to a series! It felt basically like a mixture of Hunger Games and the Bachelor.
There were parts
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where I just couldn't stop smiling. The chemistry between America and Maxon was sooo awesome. I honestly think they're my new favorite couple. I liked Aspen too, but I looooved Maxon!!! I really can't wait to read the next book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Abibliophobic1
I picked this book up after my roommate stole it from my shelves and read it herself. She couldn't stop talking about the book and so I caved and dove in! After starting, I finished in two days and was cursing Kiera Cass for not writing book two fast enough!
We begin our story in the future country
The Selection is what I like to think of as a good blend of The Hunger Games, The Bachelor and Cinderella, in a very, very good way! I was a little wary of this book because of it's slight similarity to The Hunger Games. The distopian future theme, the drawing of names and a few other parts of the book felt eerily similar to THG. I ended up having to check myself. Books, of course, have similarities. Just because Suzanne Collins is brilliant and came up with a cool idea, doesn't mean that other people don't have similar, yet very awesome ideas.
I really couldn't put this book down. I think the best way to describe this book is subtly addictive. While I've been reading books like City of Lost Souls and Insurgent, that are very fast paced and full of action and violence, this book was such a relief because it wasn't crazy intense the whole time. I felt comforted reading this book and I felt I could relate to the characters.
I love our main character, America. She is strong in her own right and really fights for her beliefs. Gotta love a heroine who is strong at heart. I also loved the charming Prince Maxon, but I really didn't like her other love interest, Aspen. I thought that he was a little too selfish and I found myself wanting to kick some sense into him a few times. While he professes to be thinking only of America and her well being, it's clear that he's selfishly thinking of his pride the entire relationship. All of his big problems are his own doing. His selfishness really bugged me, but didn't stop me from falling in love with The Selection.
Well done Kiera Cass! I can't wait for book two!
8 out of 10
Happy Reading :)
Allison
imabibliophobic.blogspot.com
We begin our story in the future country
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that came out of a ruined United States, now called Illea, where an 8 leveled caste system is upheld. Our main character, America, is in the 5th caste and her family members are artists and singers by trade.Within the Royal family, it is custom for the Prince to find his wife through the process of Selection. Girls in the country of Illea can put their names in a drawing to be one of the 35 girls selected to compete for Prince Maxon's hand in marriage and the crown. While America wouldn't dream of entering because she is far too in love with another man named Aspen, though a series of events she finds herself entering, and of course is chosen. The Selection takes us through the trials and tribulations of America and her competitors as she finds that the Prince may not be as horrible as she had once thought and she begins to question all of her carefully made plans for her future.The Selection is what I like to think of as a good blend of The Hunger Games, The Bachelor and Cinderella, in a very, very good way! I was a little wary of this book because of it's slight similarity to The Hunger Games. The distopian future theme, the drawing of names and a few other parts of the book felt eerily similar to THG. I ended up having to check myself. Books, of course, have similarities. Just because Suzanne Collins is brilliant and came up with a cool idea, doesn't mean that other people don't have similar, yet very awesome ideas.
I really couldn't put this book down. I think the best way to describe this book is subtly addictive. While I've been reading books like City of Lost Souls and Insurgent, that are very fast paced and full of action and violence, this book was such a relief because it wasn't crazy intense the whole time. I felt comforted reading this book and I felt I could relate to the characters.
I love our main character, America. She is strong in her own right and really fights for her beliefs. Gotta love a heroine who is strong at heart. I also loved the charming Prince Maxon, but I really didn't like her other love interest, Aspen. I thought that he was a little too selfish and I found myself wanting to kick some sense into him a few times. While he professes to be thinking only of America and her well being, it's clear that he's selfishly thinking of his pride the entire relationship. All of his big problems are his own doing. His selfishness really bugged me, but didn't stop me from falling in love with The Selection.
Well done Kiera Cass! I can't wait for book two!
8 out of 10
Happy Reading :)
Allison
imabibliophobic.blogspot.com
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LibraryThing member Margaly
This book was AMAZING.
I initially got interested in it because it reminded me of something else that I read a couple of months ago. This book got me hooked almost instantly. The first few chapters were a bit slow, which may be due to my immediate dislike of Aspen, but once we got to the actual
Yes, there is a love triangle aspect in this book, but I think it's done in a way that's different from other novels. We see both relationships develop and it's not something that came out of nowhere. The book is just really interesting. I finished it in two days and on the last day I just sat there reading it for about 3 hours straight. I can't wait for 'The Elite.'
I initially got interested in it because it reminded me of something else that I read a couple of months ago. This book got me hooked almost instantly. The first few chapters were a bit slow, which may be due to my immediate dislike of Aspen, but once we got to the actual
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Selection I couldn't stop reading. The way Kiera Cass slowly evolved America and Maxon's relationship while creating character development for all the other characters was remarkable. Yes, there is a love triangle aspect in this book, but I think it's done in a way that's different from other novels. We see both relationships develop and it's not something that came out of nowhere. The book is just really interesting. I finished it in two days and on the last day I just sat there reading it for about 3 hours straight. I can't wait for 'The Elite.'
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LibraryThing member Jellyn
Getting a little sick of YA dystopias with love triangles that are also trilogies whose first book leaves off in a bad spot! But I liked the main character and the two boy characters and I'm a sucker for games/tests/reality competitions, so yea, I liked it.Also read it entirely in a day, so it must
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LibraryThing member RivkaBelle
Review originally published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.com
I really was not sure what to expect going into this reading, other than the cover is gorgeous. I've heard taglines like "The Hunger Games meets the Bachelor", but since I've neither read nor seen either, it didn't help me out any.
There's a lot going on in The Selection, and a lot of history and mysteries are only hinted at. It definitely sets readers up for the next novel in the series, and I for one will be picking it up to see what happens. America started out a little whiny and delusional (heh), but she started growing on me as she started engaging her brain. Prince Maxon I love. And Aspen...don't get me started. (Not a fan.) Safe to say this was a pleasant surprise.
I really was not sure what to expect going into this reading, other than the cover is gorgeous. I've heard taglines like "The Hunger Games meets the Bachelor", but since I've neither read nor seen either, it didn't help me out any.
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What I got was a story with more depth than I expected. America is one of 35 girls selected "randomly" to compete for the hand (and heart) of Prince Maxon. It's the world's weirdest beauty pageant, if you will. But it's more than that - America, as a member of one of the lower castes, helps Maxon see what's really going on in the country he's to take over. They form an unexpected friendship, and in turn, Maxon shows America that not everything she assumed about him was correct either.There's a lot going on in The Selection, and a lot of history and mysteries are only hinted at. It definitely sets readers up for the next novel in the series, and I for one will be picking it up to see what happens. America started out a little whiny and delusional (heh), but she started growing on me as she started engaging her brain. Prince Maxon I love. And Aspen...don't get me started. (Not a fan.) Safe to say this was a pleasant surprise.
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