The Selection

Madeline M

The Selection Book Review

The Selection by Kiera Cass is the first book in its series, which currently has five books, and I do not think I will continue reading them.  Readers we follow America Singer who lives in a futuristic United States of America as she struggles with money in her household and her forbidden love.  This new United States is a monarchy and has a social class system called ‘castes’ where the Royal family are labeled as ‘ones’ all the way to homeless people who are labeled as ‘eights’.  This system has made it so homeless people stay homeless forever, the royal family stays in power forever, and everyone in between stays where they are forever.  Once a prince or princess is of marrying age, The Selection takes place.  Girls across the country of any caste can enter into a raffle to be chosen as one of the 35 contestants to marry the Prince, sort of like a dystopian ‘bachelor’.  After her family begs her to, due to the fact they are low on money, America decides to enter and is chosen to take part in it.

This book actually has a cool concept, but is based on a cliche.  I have read this book at least twice before, but with different characters and settings. ‘A girl living in a futuristic society that was meant to be perfect but has major flaws gets caught in a love triangle and her actions will either save or destroy the society she lives in and she also no personality’.  It sounds a lot like Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and Veronica Roth’s Divergent.  There is even going to be a movie adaptation.  

America was mostly an awful and bland character to read about.  She has an “I’m better than you” mentality and is really rude to most people she interacts with.  I feel as if the only part of the book where I approved of her actions was the end, where she finally decides to stop being wishy-washy about boys and think of her own well-being and what she wants.  The end of the book was perfect in my opinion, it was a cliff-hanger but I don’t feel compelled to read more of this series.  I am perfectly content with the end of this book.  

**Spoiler in this paragraph**

I think that The Selection might have been a better read if there wasn’t a love triangle and America wasn’t bland and rude.  I actually like Prince Maxon's character, he’s cute, funny, nice, and genuinely cares about the people he’s ruling and all of the girls in the selection, but I wish that he and America had stayed friends.  They had the cutest friendship and I’m tired of seeing that girls and boys can’t just be friends, it has to be something more.

In conclusion, I feel as if The Selection is an okay read to pass the time, but if you have a better book on hand then read that instead.