“Sometimes people don’t know whether to interpret silence as confidence or fear.”
America Singer is one of the fortunate girls who has been selected for The Selection – a competition. The prize? The heart and hand of the deviously handsome – but apparently boring as hell – prince, Maxon Caliv Sohreave and the crown of Illéa.
35 stunning girls… 35 competitive rivals. It is a chance of a lifetime for America. By stealing the heart of Maxon, she can have the crown on her head, power in her hands and basically anything handed to her on a silver platter.
But this is not what she wants. She wants to marry her first love, Aspen. But alas! This dream is easier dreamt than lived. She has a lot of things to worry about. They are from different castes which is the reason for all their problems. But now that she is a part of the Selection, she has begun to question if this, is what she really wants in life. Read the first installment of The Selection, to begin with, the not – so – easy journey of America living as a princess.
Honestly, I couldn’t agree more with the beginning quote. The quote is flawlessly perfect and philosophical. Talking about the book, The Selection is set in future dystopian America presently known as Illéa. There are castes and positions. America is a Five & Aspen is a Six.
One thing which could have been better would be the introduction of the caste system. Later in the novel, this system is elaborated but due to the lack of information in the first few chapters, the book might be confusing for some.
The Selection is a beautiful but girly novel. Cass has a way to intrigue you and end every chapter with something dramatic that you have no idea what to expect in the next few chapters. But no matter what, the book was good. Sorry, but just good. It was not so extraordinary that I initially assumed. But, I do need to admit that of all the dystopian novels I have read, I found this one to be the best.
Seriously though, neither did the book exceed my expectations nor did it let me down. It just about touched them. But one good thing was that it was not your Cinderella retelling. This book was definitely one of its kind. Also, there were many laugh out loud moments which, honestly, I wasn’t expecting in such a serious set of the novel.
The worst part was that the book had a love triangle. A freaking Love Triangle! I loathe love triangles with every single inch of my bones. I get worked up in such cases and tend to have very violent thoughts about the protagonist who has to choose. Even when it is obvious that you belong with the first person, you end up giving hope to both the protagonists and ultimately hurt both of them. Like Hell!? What is your problem? Go Big or go home! Choose one but do not hurt the other one by giving him hope!
Apart from that, the characters were somewhat realistic. Keyword being ‘somewhat’. Although, I really did like Maxon. His character was something which exceeded my expectations. I expected him to be slightly cocky, self – conceited and very strict. Rather, I found he was the polar opposite of it. He was really kind and gentle. He was just like a normal teenager forced to gain maturation earlier than usual because he was a prince.
America’s character was what frustrated me the most. She is very whiny and at times, ungrateful. The first time she met Maxon, she lashed out at him. Why? Because she was terribly homesick and not over her breakup with Aspen (her boyfriend and first love). The only thing I liked about America was her determination. She had some self – restrain and did not immediately take any action. No matter what anyone said to her, she rarely talked back. Though, during most of the part of the novel, it was a very pleasing idea to somehow get into the novel and give her a piece of my mind (more like my hand).
Anyway, excluding the few moments when I had the utmost desire to hurl my laptop out the window, the book was a quick read. You should definitely give the book a chance because the second book in the series The Elite is better than this one. So, in my opinion, you should give this series a go.
The book did teach me a few things like every book does. It is not easy to live with power and authority and have everyone love you. This is mere fantasy. Not everyone will like you if you are above them. They will be envious and they will try to bring you down. But no matter what, you should never lose your cool and learn to let their envy guide you to your destination. After all, we all know that “It is the fear of looking stupid that stops us from becoming AWESOME…”
So, until the next time…
Adios Amigos!
