Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: YA Romance/Fantasy
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen; Reprint edition
Source: bought it (via e-reader)
Blurb: 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.
Okay, so can I just say WOW?!! WOW. W-o-w wow. It’s weird, too, because when I was looking at getting it and looked at the reviews on Amazon and GoodReads and such, the reviews were all anywhere between 1 star and 5 stars. (Whaaaat?) I guess this book is for some people and not for others, but it was definitely for me.
Okay, so first thing’s first: I really connected to the characters.
Aren’t America and Maxon gorgeous?! At first, I was all for America and her childhood first love, Aspen Leger. But then when he gave up on her, I was like blech. Then I noticed his name sounded a lot like Aspirin. I was pretty much a full-fledged Maxon + America shipper since the beginning. (No spoilers here, though, promise!) Aspen eventually came around too, and I was kind of mad at him because he kept ruining America’s feelings and making her doubt how much Maxon really liked her. On the surface, all of the characters seemed shallow and cliche, but then they went a lot deeper than I expected for this type of book. Two thumbs up, and three if I had an extra!
More than the love story (which is, of course, the main thing going on in the book), was the relationships of the girls competing to be the next queen of Illea. (And wife to Prince Maxon.) Some of the girls I clicked with, especially with Marlee, America’s closest friend. But most of the time I was just like…
By the end of the book, I was like “NOOO IT CAN’T END NOW I HAVE TO PAY FOR THE NEXT BOOK!!!” But of course, I did. I had to know what was to happen next. Writing this AFTER I’ve read the entire series is hard, too, but I truly did adore this series. However it had ended, I probably would have been happy. I LOVED it though. The next two reviews on the next books will go more into detail, but I just… I loved this book. Loved it.
Four and a half books!
The Selection was AWESOME, seriously. I love America’s name, haha 😉 The GIFs you used are spot on – the third one especially, so true! Plus, can I just say: Maxon is gorgeousssss. *melts*
YESSS. Me too! I love the story, behind it, too 🙂 I saw the third one was like Yesss that describes how I felt perfectly!! He issss!!! I love the GIF of Maxon I found, I think that’s exactly what he should look like 😀
I loved this book! Most of the time, I was just thinking how Aspen should just GET OUT OF THE WAY BECAUSE HE’S LOOKING AT
THE FUTURE QUEEN! I mean, he’s cool and all, but I mean Maxon…….. Like, is there even a decision?! I wrote a parody of a song for a project on this book, and it was pretty cool. I just don’t really like the other characters because they’re mean. I also didn’t like the fact that there were so many attacks, each ending similarly. I think with each attack, the suspense for what was going to happen during the attack (was my grammar correct for that…?) decreased. 🙁 I’m still trying to find someone who has The One so I COULD FINALLY READ IT! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG!!! Okay. Breathe. I’m breathing. I need to calm down. BUT I NEED THAT BOOK!
Ohhhh my you’re going to love it, particularly the way you feel about Aspen. He kind of ruins things and messes with America’s feelings, um… okay, A LOT. I believe your grammar was correct, lol. I really think there isn’t a decision, I mean COME ON. Then America would get annoyed because he was off with the other girls and such but I’m like “If you’d tell him you loved him and wanted to be the queen he would send them all home!!” and then she was still letting go of Aspen mostly because, I think, they were just together for so long, not because she loved him. But yeah. You’re gonna love it 😛 *Rant Over* 😀
Guess what? There is another book in the selection series coming out!