The Selection by Kiera Cass

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Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: 4/24/2012
Genre: YA, Dystopian

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.

I've had this ARC sitting on my pile for a little while, but didn't have any plans to read it in the near future. What peaked my interest was the announcement that this book was being made into a TV series. I figured it must have a pretty intriguing story line to be adapted to the small screen, so I figured it was definitely worth reading now.

The characters were all fairly easy to connect with. The main character America, was very strong-willed and obviously really cared about her family, especially her younger sister. I felt myself getting really irritated with her in the beginning, and I'm not exactly sure why. She had every right to be upset by her mom trying to push her into applying for the Selection since her heart already belonged to Aspen, but I couldn't wait for her to stop whining about how unfair it all was. There was an easy solution to all of this: just don't enter the competition! It wasn't required, but she did it anyway because it meant so much to her mother and Aspen. I'm sure if she had put her foot down and refused (which I feel she would have done if she truly had strong feelings for Aspen), they would have gotten over it. Alas, then there would have been no story; therefore, I guess we'll let that all go in light of the fact that it was crucial to story progression. 


Let's talk about the love triangle, because it seems like you can't have a YA book without one. I liked Aspen, but he was stupid for pushing America into applying. He said he wanted her to have the chance at a better life; if they really cared that much for each other, I don't think he would have been able to let her go. I'm not buying into the whole "he's so noble, he loved her so much he let her go" bit. I would rather a guy fight for me than presume to know what would make me happy. I found myself rooting for Prince Maxon as soon as we are introduced to him. He's charming, down-to-earth, and impossible not to like. I actually got irritated when Aspen showed back up later in the book, since I knew America would end up confused and probably hurt one (or both) of the guys who have feelings for her. The book ended on a cliffhanger, so we don't know who she will ultimately pick yet.


This author certainly used some incredibly popular books as her influence. The two I could see reflected the most were Wither and The Hunger Games. I'm not saying The Selection is on the same level as those books, because that's far from the truth. It just contains many similarities. It is only like The Hunger Games in that America is from a relatively poor family and then goes on to compete against 30-some other girls. At least America's competition is for a hot hunk of man meat and not simply to survive. I couldn't get over the parallels to Wither. Both America and Rhine are forced to live in a mansion where they are unable to leave of their own free will. The difference of course is that Rhine is forced into this and America signs up for it. They both feel incredible resentment towards the men seeking their love at the beginning, but eventually develop feelings for them. As they explore this blossoming relationship, they are also faced with the fact that they have feelings for someone else in the house; for Rhine it was Gabriel, for America it was Aspen. In The Selection, America has servants to do her makeup and make her dresses; in Wither, Rhine has a personal servant who does her makeup and makes her dresses. As you can see, there are plenty of similarities and I probably didn't cover them all. Because of this, I gave The Selection 3 stars. It didn't feel like I was reading anything especially new or exciting. In fact, it gave me a serious case of deja vu and I couldn't stop comparing it to other books. 


Despite the problems I had with it, the book was still written fairly well, which helped me finish. The ending was predictable since most books these days are part of a trilogy. I haven't decided yet if I really want to read the next books in the series, but I think other people will love this story despite the similarities it has to other favorites.

If you would like to learn more about the author, Kiera Cass, check out her webpage and Twitter.