Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection, #1
Genres: Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher: HarperTeen (Imprint of HarperCollins)
Date Published: April 24th, 2012
Edition: Paperback
Source: ARC (Provided by Publisher)
Rating:
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 Review:
There are so many gorgeous covers for 2012, and this one was no different. I just had to pick it up. Thankfully, it’s not all about the cover though. Despite the fact that it’s pretty much a dystopian version of The Bachelor, which I am definitely not a fan of, this was a really fun book for me.
As far as it being labeled a dystopian though, I would probably argue with that. I would label it more as a straight out romance, maybe a fantasy romance, because the dystopian elements are a little iffy. There are rebels but at this point they simply resemble criminals or terrorists to me. The Selection process isn’t even mandatory. Each girl has the choice to enter or not and each girl can really leave whenever she wants to. Then there’s the caste system, which could be a bit dystopian-ish, but it also just sounds a lot like our class system. If you’re born poor, you stay poor because of the lack of opportunities money provides. I think it actually would have been pretty cool to adapt it more as a fairy-tale retelling of Cinderella instead.
Other than that though, the book was really fun and I really liked America. Who, despite the strange name, was a really good person and I thought she was a pretty strong protagonist. She is just generally a good and genuine person, so I really liked her. I can definitely see why she would stand amongst the other girls who were part of The Selection.
The two love interests, Maxon and Aspen, are so hard to choose from! They’re just so sweet and I truly fell for both of them almost equally. Honestly, I don’t even know what team I would pick to be on for this one. Which is tough because usually I am able to decide on my team right away. So that’s going to be a rollercoaster throughout the next books.
Speaking of which, I guess that’s one other problem I have. I can’t claim to know what’s going to happen in the next books. Perhaps we’ll learn more about the rebels and the dystopian elements within the world. But at this point, I can’t imagine what could happen in two more books. I think perhaps if another 50-100 pages were added to this book, it could’ve happily been a standalone. That’s not to say I won’t be reading them though because I did really enjoy this one so I’m definitely looking forward to the next book!
Overall, this is a really fun and pretty light on the conflict book. Lots of love drama, but that’s always fun anyways. So I’d recommend it if you’re a romance fan because there’s lots of that. If you’re looking for strictly a dystopian, then this probably isn’t really what you’re looking for because although it seems to be labeled that way, it’s definitely more of a romance.
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