The Selection

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The Selection
Kiera Cass
HarperTeen

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.

 Oh man, talk about a love-hate relationship with a book. I feel like quoting the nursery rhyme about the girl with the curl down the center of her forehead who "when she was good, was very very good, but when she was bad, she was horrid."

 Okay, what I liked: the general princess-ness of it. I admit it; I'm a girly-girl. Reading The Selection was akin to watching Say Yes to the Dress on TLC. Not a whole lot of substance and some objectionable content to boot, but lots of pretty dresses. I did like the main storyline- it was very much a futuristic book-of-Esther type of thing. And though the modern society was certainly flawed (something that I'm sure will come more to light in the subsequent books) it wasn't so absolutely horrid that you felt depressed about the whole thing. I liked the heroine; I liked the prince. It didn't feel total dystopian to me, and I liked that.

 I did *not* like the more-passionate-and-sensual kissing scenes I attempted to skim or skip over. I really, really could have done without that, especially in what- the first chapter? After reading that I was sure I would dislike the character of America, and while I admit I lost a bit of respect for her because of it (call me prudish,legalistic, I don't care; that's just my honest opinion on the subject) I will say that overall, I really liked her, and the fact that she was determined that her sudden fame would not change her. I also liked the fact that she wasn't so terribly worried about what other people thought of her, and her (mostly) close relationship with her family. It was refreshing to see a lot of small, tiny things scattered throughout the book that was also shown in a positive light- everything from importance on family to praying.

 But then there was that horrid love triangle. Like, the most annoying love triangle I've ever read. When I first started reading and you had that kissy bit with her and her boyfriend Aspen, I immediately thought to myself, okay- she's going to end up with him, so I'm not even going to entertain the notion that she'll end up with the prince. *Right.* I ended up really loving Prince Maxon and totally rooting for him...which made it really hair-pulling when *SPOILER* Aspen showed up again. Personally, though I liked how her previous relationship with Aspen affected the way she related to the prince, I personally think it would have been better had she -I don't know- got over him? But I hate indecision like this and really wish the guy had never shown up again *END OF SPOILER* Let's just say that Aspen rubs me the wrong way, and I hate how the love triangle takes a girl who I really did like and makes her bordering-on-annoying.

 Yep, this was one of those books where you feel as if there had been one or two tweaks to content and plot, it would probably be an absolute favorite. Will I probably read the other books? Yeah. But does that make certain aspects of it any less a disappointment? No. And thus this book gets a really mediocre 3 stars, not because it was mediocre at all, but rather because it was one that I could neither love nor hate, even though I dearly wanted to do the former.

 Rating: 7 (3 stars on Goodreads)

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