Customer Reviews

The Selection

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lately I have come across The Selection on several best of lists. Spurred on by the many recommendations I decided to read The Selection although I'd initially decided based upon the book synopsis that this wasn't a book for me. I'm not a fan of The Bachelor. I kinda abhor the idea, and the plot of The Selection is almost a spin on the idea of the bachelor. But I was won over by the recommendations and the pretty cover.

The Selection is a Young Adult Dystopian novel following our reluctant heroine America Singer, who unexpectedly finds herself participating in a bachelor style competition to win the hand and heart of her nation's crown prince, Prince Maxom. America was resistant to even entering the competition but because of the benefits her family would reap from her inclusion, she reluctantly agreed to enter confident that she would never be chosen. Of course, America is one of the 35 girls selected and departs for the palace to win the hand of the prince or perhaps not.

The Selection was an easy read. The story was entertaining but lacked substance, a little fluffy to be honest. I thought the idea of the story was interesting and some of the world building was intriguing if a little under developed. The dystopian society is created upon social caste levels, the upper crust being 1 and the homeless being 8, with a ruling monarchy. But I was left with many questions about how the world and society operated.

The characterisation was a little problematic. America is a likable if passive heroine and a little whiny. America is level 5, a member of a lower caste but her initial boyfriend Aspen, a member of an even lower caste was basically a servant. She didn't really understand his position and was a little self obsessed. Her vision of their future was on the whole rose tinted. I liked America's family. I enjoyed the dynamic between American and her father and younger siblings. Mum was a little pushy and one dimensional but overall I liked her family.

Once at the palace, I felt the other girls in the contest were superficial. Their characters were under developed and essentially either good or bad. Although I did enjoy the descriptions of the pretty dresses. Also, a love triangle develops but I just didn't feel the chemistry. There was no spark between the heroine America and the two male leads. Perhaps I was little thrown by Prince Maxom dating and kissing so many women at once. With regard to Prince Maxom, I wasn't really a fan. I thought he was bland.

So, to all intents and purposes I thought The Selection was okay. I had no strong feeling either good or bad for this story, and I don't suppose that I will read the next book in the series.

My Rating: 5/10

This is a world with Kings and Queens and Princes and Princesses. A world where royalty rules, and the Princes are just as gorgeous as Prince Harry. Yet we are not inside my imagination (yes, Prince Harry is very much so in my imagination. Did you see him over the Jubilee weekend? Phwoar). We are in the future.

Welcome to the world of Illea, a country that has grown from the ashes of its past to rise up once again to be the super power it once was. Where the current King's son, Prince Maxon, is about to choose his bride. But remember, this is the future. In the past, Kings and Queens sold off their daughters and sons for allegiances - and still do, in this new world - but in Illea, the Prince gets a choice. 35 girls, from all over the country, from a range of castes, whittled down to one girl, who would then become Princess of Illea, wife of Prince Maxon and a future Queen.

For America Singer, however, this is not a perfect world. Her love for a boy a caste below hers means that they have to keep their relationship a secret, and soon America finds herself thrust into the spotlight when she becomes part of The Selection, the broadcasted event to find the Prince's future wife. America doesn't want to be a part of the Selection, but she soon realises that she doesn't have a choice, and instead befriends the Prince. But what consequences does this have for America, especially in a country where rebellion grows daily, just like her feelings for Maxon?

The Selection was a novel I have been looking forward to reading since I first heard about it, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Just the way that Cass has created this new country, and the history behind Illea, was enough to captivate me. It was so refreshing to see a dystopian novel taking a new approach to the way society has developed. So many dystopian novels concentrate on a world that has progressed in the future in terms of technology, way of thinking etc. Don't get me wrong, I love this, but The Selection managed to create a world that I loved. The whole idea of going back to the way things used to be - using caste systems, having a Royal family rule the country - was what I loved most about this book. How other countries had joined together as well - such as Sweden & Norway (Swendway, I think it was called) made me laugh at first, but the more I thought about it, the more logical it sounded.

You can't beat unrequited and forbidden love as well. America and Aspen's story line made my heart melt, and I really connected with America's feelings. I loved how she wasn't opposed to the Selection in terms of rebelling against it, but more because she believes in true love - and how much she loved Aspen. I thought that Maxon as a character could have been a bit more developed - as much as I wanted to connect to him, he didn't make my heart go all in a tizzie. That was Aspen's job. Other minor characters, such as the King and Queen, could have been a little it more developed as well, as I felt like we didn't really know them quite as well as we could have.

Overall, The Selection wasn't a fast paced, full of action dystopian like some of my favourites, but it had it's own charm. The subtle way that Cass gave us an idea of what the world was like, post invasion and post war made the novel charming in that old fashioned way that I totally lapped up - being a total period drama junkie, this was right up my ally, and I am literally hanging off the edge of my seat waiting for the next book in the series.

A five out of five from me!

2.5 stars

I'm absolutely mystified that I finished it and managed to somewhat enjoy it.

The premise of The Selection seemed really fun. 35 girls out of all that applied in the nation would be picked to compete to be the new wife of Prince Maxon and become the future queen. I love bad reality TV and thought this was right up my street. Unfortunately, the premise is pretty much where the fun stopped.

For something billed as a dystopian novel, the world-building was tenuous at best. There is a caste system in place, from 1-8. The heroine, America Singer, is one of the lower castes, 5, full of artists. We are told that her family are just above poverty, but she not only has a roof over her head but she has her own room, a meal (with leftovers) every evening and and even a treehouse. From what I gathered, they don't have cakes and make-up. What a sorry existence.

America then gets guilted into applying for the Selection by her society-climbing mother and her too-manly-to-be-burdened-by-guilt boyfriend Aspen. As timing would have it, Aspen breaks up with her for being able to provide for him (this guy has serious caveman issues). So she enters the Selection single, and moony over Aspen. However, she does end up getting to know Prince Maxon and discovering he's got a little more substance and slowly becomes his friend, then falls for him. As luck would have it, Aspen somehow also crawls his way back into her life, and you have here a very standard love triangle.

The writing is terrible. It's a classic case of telling not showing. When appearances are described, it's very amatuerish and emotions are portrayed too obviously. If someone is sad, it's almost like they come out and say "I'm sad". This gives the impression that all the characters are caricaratures and they lack the depth and complexity that makes you want to care about them. And I find that I don't really care about America, Aspen, Maxon or who ends up with who.

There also wasn't very much plot to the book. Girls leave the Selection, but you don't find out enough about them to care why or be sad that they did. There is a particularly horrible girl, who is supposed to be the antagonist, but the best she could do was rip a sleeve off America's dress. There are random attacks of rebellion by some unknown outside forces (the North and South), but it was very sporadic and disconnected with the rest of the story. I think we were supposed to feel the girls were in danger (I didn't), and I'm still not really sure why that was even included, except to make the book "more dystopian". It also ended very abruptly, and it as a short book as it was. I felt like the author is saving up for the sequels, but I think a little more could've actually happened in this book, if only to make me care a bit more about what happens next.

Oddly enough, I do, though. Like those bad reality shows, I kind of want to see how it all pans out, even though everything has been utterly predictable so far. I think morbid curiosity is the best thing to describe how I feel about the book. I'm hoping Cass throws some twists and spends more time developing the characters so we can be truly invested in their inevitable departures.

Hellow,
After reading such a "classic" like the Hobbit, I was looking for some light read, something princess like, a book that would make me sigh and smile and all that jazz.
So, this is one of that books where you get totally drowned by the beauty of the cover. I can totally say that most of the time it's a nice way to get involved in a story without knowing nothing about it, and even sometimes, be surprised. Well, unfortunately, this was not one of that times.

I will start with the main character, America Singer, let me guess? She lives on the "old american state"( this is part of the storyline, sorry for the little spoiler), and yes she is a singer. It's true, not only a singer, but a very confident one that talks all the time about how amazing she sings and plays all sort of instruments, but you only see her play one time,and the description of this act is so poor it gets lost in the way. One advice for future books, if you want to develop a musician character try to search a bit more about music.
She complains a lot that she is poor, although for the descriptions she seems to have a very normal medium life.
The world building it's so poor that only on the second half of the book you begin to understand the difference between classes. I think the most important thing when you want to do a dystopian is the world building, all the rest can be add, if you were more interested in doing a romance, you should have done it on the "real" world, because this middle term was not enough, at all.
I won't even start with all the similarities with "The Bachelor" because I am not american and although i know what it is, i never saw the show and for what i know i would not be a fan of it.
The thing that made me really dislike the book, was that is quite xenophobic with chinese people, this part of story was really absurd and makes me think this is far of from any dystopian I read so far.
The romance it's not unforgettable, the love triangle it's annoying and nothing really stand out in neither of the male characters.
I rate this with 1,5 ,more towards one than two. I can't say i advice this to anyone, although i wouldn't say for you not to read it too, because it is not that horrible, it's just meh, indiferent, i will probably not remember most of the story in some months, and that it's not a good thing at all.
Regards,
Yours sincerely,
SkeletonOrchid

I found this book really bizarre, I was really excited to read it. The cover is stunning and it sounded really different. I was not necessarily disappointed in it, the book was ok and I managed to read it all. It is not a bad book it is just that I didn't find it very interesting.

I think it is because I feel like I have read this book before. It is another story about a girl who thinks she is a nobody but everyone else thinks she is perfect, who finds herself stuck between two dashing men. It is a story I have read a million times. The problem with The Selection is that it doesn't actually do anything new to make it stand out from all those other books out there.

The writing is good, that is not a problem here. It is easy to read, descriptive and sometimes funny. The characters are all how they should be. America is feisty and headstrong but lacks for any other personality, it doesn't help that everyone continually tells her how beautiful, amazing and perfect she is. The more the book went on the more I grimaced whenever this happened. It felt like the author was trying to embed the fact that America is perfection on our brains and I didn't like it.

The boys are exactly how they should be to. Max is charming, sweet and cute. Aspen is passionate, strong-willed and a little dark. There is nothing to really love or hate about either of them. They are likable enough but I felt no strong connection to them at all.

I also found the ending bizarre. It just kind of ends I was watching the percentage creep up on my kindle and wondering how in the 2% I had left the book was going to end...well it doesn't really at least it felt like it like. It does leave it in an interesting place, I think I was just expecting for it to end after The Selection was over and for the next book to pick up after that.

At the end of the day I think this book was just not dark enough for me. I like my dystopian to be full of peril and crumbling buildings. I like freedom fighters and rebellions. The truth is The Selection is a romance book which is fine it fills the romance genre perfectly. The Selection shouldn't be judged as a dystopian novel.

The Hunger Games this book is not, so if that is what you are looking for here you will be sorely disappointed. But if you are looking for a little angsty romance then this should be right up your ally.

To begin with I didn't have really strong feeling about this book, it's well written and I love Cinderella stories.

There are some good moments, I thought America's first meeting with the prince as well their first official date was funny and I liked America's character for most of the story.

My problems with this book are that America seems to be two people depending on which chapter you're reading. She is strong and feisty one moment and the next she let her backbone go on holiday. Also the Dystopian angle seems to be an afterthought - there is minimal world building to begin with and the history lesson halfway through feels awkward and placed.

The "hints" of what's to come in future books are boulder sized, like a neon sign of THIS IS IMPORTANT, TAKE NOTE. It takes the mystery out of reading and that's a pity because I could actually see some really good potential with The Selection.

But the thing that really annoyed me what that there is no ending! I knew this was Book 1 but there needs to be an ending. Nothing happened, apart from America deciding she actually quite likes the prince after all.

Sometimes as you are reading a book, you think realize that it isn't the most award winning piece of literature out there, but that's ok because you're really enjoying yourself. That's how I felt about The Selection by Kiera Cass.

I liked the mildly dystopian flavor which came across at the beginning; the society here is split up into castes of varying wealth and resources are more limited for the poor. I also liked the idea that the crown Prince would have to pick his new bride from the normal population, in an effort to bring solidarity to the country. Some have said they felt that there was a Hunger Games feeling to the book, and I think that only runs so far as the fact that girls (who have applied to be chosen for the selection presented to the prince) are interviewed on TV in a game show type of atmosphere.

The heroine of the book, America, reluctantly puts herself forward for the selection to please her loving but overbearing mother; I thought that was really amusing and many readers might relate to a fussy mom! I certainly loved her long-suffering father. America doesn't expect to be drawn from the thousands that apply, and really her heart isn't in it when she is picked as she is secretly in love already with the boy from next door, Aspen, who cruelly dumped her over wounded male pride. So she gets sent off to the palace to play a game she isn't interested in, and it makes her really quite amusing to read; she has no qualms about speaking her mind because she isn't worried about being sent home at all, she doesn't worry about not being lady-like and she isn't afraid of chiding the Prince.

Prince Maxon was a charming mix of well rehearsed gentleman and bumbling teenage boy, and his character was endearing. I liked his private chats with America, and I loved the romantic interludes between them. America struggles with what to do as her feelings for Maxon conflict with her feelings for Aspen, and it does seem to be a real dilemma. I will draw a Hunger Games parallel here, because I felt that the choice for America was much like the choice Katniss faced: the guy who has always known you, or the new guy who is going through the same thing you are. I enjoyed it, and I've certainly picked a side!! (Go Team Maxon!!)

The plot was developed well and nicely paced, with little seeds planted that will sprout into very interesting developments in book 2... the rebels, who are they, what do they want, and what is up with Marlee?!

All in all, I thought this was a really fun read which I gobbled up in a matter of hours, and I am looking forward to finding out what happens next!

The Selection is an intriguing, beautiful and charming novel - one that honestly, really surprised me. Kiera Cass captivated me from start to finish with her exciting and lovable story and I loved every single minute of it.

America Singer lives in a world where everything is ranked by numbers. With her and her family being a five, they struggle sometimes when it comes to providing food and have to work for a living. So when the opportunity to become the next future Queen arises, America's family are quick to suggest she try out. America is luckily picked and is now amongst thirty-five girls who have been selected to try and win Prince Maxon's heart. But how can America try to win the Prince's heart when her heart belongs to Aspen; a six, who she can never have a future with, because of his low ranking? And when America meets Prince Maxon, he isn't what she expected and soon starts to fall for him.

The Selection - wow, where do I even start with this review, yeah - I loved it! It's full of magical and lovable scenes that really make you want to keep reading. I was expecting a complicated world because generally, with dystopian books they tend to have a lot of details, but the author did a great job giving you the right amount of information at the right time and not once, did I feel overwhelmed.

I loved the whole story in general. I have never watched the Bachelor - which I know this book is being compared too, so for me, it was a whole new world and it really worked well within the story. But not only that but I feel that this book has so much more to offer than just any old book. It's full of hope, love and drama and it's even pretty heart-breaking at times too, because of what the characters go through. America, is a really likable girl, she's stubborn, fiery and honest. You really feel for her when things don't work out with Aspen but then of course, Prince Maxon comes into the picture - who by the way, I'm totally rooting for. He opens her up to a world she never thought she could ever experience and I just absolutely adore him. He's everything you want from a guy and he's sweet and loyal. So yes I am Team Maxon! And that ending - wow, I still can't decide if I loved or hated it...but I'm thinking I'm leaning towards loved! I do wish the book was longer because I would have loved to see the outcome of the Selection but I think the author did the right thing ending it were it did. I can see big things happening for book two because of the selection, the love triangle and the attacks on the palace and I'm very eager to find out where the story goes next.

Now as I said before, this book really surprised me and the reason for that is because of the drama surrounding the author, her publicist and a reviewer. Now I don't like to get involved with thing like this but I couldn't help notice the drama and honestly, it really did put me off reading this book. The only reason I picked it up was because of the ever so wonderful HarperCollins UK who offered me a review copy and as you can see, I'm so, so glad I read it. So, I urge reader's who - like me has been put of reading this book to read it and I promise you won't be disappointed.

Overall, The Selection was a fantastic novel and one I'd highly recommend. Kiera Cass has convinced me she deserves a place in the YA community and I cannot wait to see more work from her.

This series is brilliant. I love the mix of romance, luxury and fantasy. Couldn't wait to read The Elite (book 2 in the series) when I finished The Selection, and it didn't disappoint either!

Before buying this book I was rather suspicious that it might be a cheesy romance novel. However, throughout the whole book, I was constantly reminded of the hunger games (obviously, not as good) but it just had an element to it that made it surprisingly good. It had many similar themes to the hunger games but it was more on the romance side although the best part about the book was that it wasn't cheesy !! At the end there's a bit of a cliff hanger and I can't wait to read the next book to see what happens.

It was brilliant !