Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Selection by Kiera Cass
Published: April 24, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 336
Series: The Selection #1
My Rating: 2 of 5 stars

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 Review: Well this book was certainly different. I'm not sure if I like it yet and I'm not sure what to think of the whole idea of this Illéa place but something about it made me want to keep reading so it can't be all that bad. I don't think I'd normally pick up this book but my book group here on Goodreads was reading it and I saw it at my bookstore so I thought why not?

For some reason this book reminds me of The Hunger Games. I think it might be the whole Selection part of the book. It was kind of like the reaping in The Hunger Games. America went into the Selection for her family because they were starving and very poor so they needed the money. In a way I think this is similar to how Katniss stepped in for Prim. I'm not saying that this book is even close to the awesomeness of The Hunger Games but some of The Selection was similar to it.

What I didn't like
-America. No not the place the person. She was constantly saying how normal looking she was and how she would never win the Selection even though everyone tells her that she's pretty and it's clear that Maxon likes her. I really don't need to hear that from a fiction character.
-The name America. I couldn't stand this name for some reason and every time they would say her name I would think of someone in a costume in the shape of the U.S. Yes I'm aware that's strange but I couldn't help it. To me America is a place not a person.
-Illéa being a Monarchy. I just don't believe that America will turn into a Monarchy after we fought to get away from one. Plus most Monarchies don't last. People revolt against them and they fail.
-The Rebels. To me they didn't seem like very scary people. So America and the other girls had to hide out for a while and none of them got hurt. They didn't seem like that big a deal to me.
-The random history lesson in the middle of the book. I had no idea what was going on and I didn't really understand the entire point of it. I don't really care about Illéa history and I don't really want to know about fake history.

What I liked
-Aspen
-Kota (I think it's just because his name is so cool because we really only get to know him through America and she says he left their family to become a Two)
-The idea of Ones, Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives, Sixes, Sevens, and Eights. It seemed like an interesting idea to me and I would like to know more about each ranking.