Book Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Published: March 26,2013; Paperback; 327 pgs.
Age Group: YA
Genre: Romance, Dystopia

Description:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.


Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Review: 

Not your usual Bachelor setup, but a fun read just the same.

Kiera Cass has created something unique that sits somewhere between The Hunger Games and The Bachelor, featuring characters who are easy to connect with and a world that's not far off from our own media-obsessed culture. While this ins't something I'd normally pick up, I was intrigued by the idea of a girl being forced to participate in a competition to be queen of a country built on the caste system, a system which has done nothing but make every day of her life a struggle.

America is a pretty, talented girl, but it's easy to forgive her for being so much better at life than the rest of us at that age (or even now) because she's human too. She's passionate and stubborn and, now that I'm thinking about it, reminds me a lot of Elizabeth Bennet, always fighting someone or something, even if it's herself. It's easy to relate to her and her struggles, whether that's butting heads with her mother, grieving over lost love, or suffocating under social pressures; you just want the girl to catch a break.

The world in which America lives is possibly even more fascinating than the characters themselves, having been built out of the ashes of the United States after the Fourth World War. With little left of their country and their livelihoods, the people created a monarchy and divided the classes into nearly impossible to break castes. The only perk being The Selection, a contest started by lottery to pick the Prince's bride from among the commoners, which serves to remind them all of their history and rise from ruin.

I was sucked in by Cass's writing and America's magnetic personality and read the entire book in one sitting. Honestly, I've been pitching this story to my friends since I finished it, regardless of their tastes, because of how easy it is to fall into it. Once I reached the end, although it's pretty obvious we expect America to make it through the contest, I needed to know what would happen next, who she would choose to be with, what she would do about the world around her. I highly recommend this to anyone remotely interested in romance, reality television, dytopian worlds, or realistic fiction.

Buy It Now:

Amazon. B&N.com. Book Depository. IndieBound.