Review #249: The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kiera Cass

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“I hope you find someone you can't live without.I really do. And I hope you never have to know what it's like to have to try and live without them.”

----Kiera Cass

Kiera Cass, an American author, whose The Selectionseries has taken the whole YA-lit world by storm, no that's very true, so I, feeling bit left out from all the hype about this book, went ahead and bought out all the books(literally!) from this exciting dystopian series from Amazon India. Let's face it, it's not that brilliant as it claims to be. Yet still, somehow, the book has imprinted it's charm and glory into my heart. Maybe those impeccably gorgeous gowns and dresses did the trick!



So one-by-one, I'll review each one of the books from this series. Let's begin with the first book, The Selection which is just an introduction to the world set apart from ours in a distant future, let's just say the author created a post-apocalyptic America, called Kingdom of Illéa, where the people are separated via caste system based on their professions, to prevent them from rioting against one another(sounds familiar! Sigh!). Hence there are 35 states and each state has 8 different castes and when the prince of Illéa comes to a marriageable age, the kingdom will select 35 girls through a lottery(not again!!) who will then go to the Capital and live in the palace where the prince will select the most suitable girl for himself, and on the same time, these 35 girls will compete against one another to try and win over Prince Maxon's heart.


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 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.


Being an unbiased reviewer, I must stop comparing the book to The Hunger Games, it doesn't look good! But anyhow, since I'm reading this book in the year of 2015, whilst, I've read The Hunger Games way back in the year of 2009, I believe it's quite obvious that the storyline of The Hunger Games has imprinted on to my mind strongly and it is taking time for me to not to look for those tiny similarities between the two books.

Anyways, let's move on with the review,

America Singer is a young girl who is a five (caste) since she is in the working class like singing, dancing etc. She is in love with a six, Aspen and that is really bad for her caste, I mean to be in love with someone with a caste lower than yours, but anyhow, she is a terribly brave young lady who knows what she wants until she is forced by her family and also by her boyfriend to take part in The Selection and reluctantly she puts her name into it and predictably her name comes out of the lottery, followed by a bad break up with Aspen. The main reason for her reluctance was that she thinks that Prince Maxon is a huge snob, until she meets him at the palace and things started to move under her feet, whereas on the other hand she seems to remain loyal to Aspen and his love, but Prince Maxon stole her heart right at the very first glance. That's it guys, next you'll have to read on to know what happens next!

Before saying out anything bad/good about this book, let's just take a moment and wow at the enchanting and irresistible book cover!! 5 glittering stars for that oh-so-pretty book cover

What's so good about this book? Nothing that will matter!! Honestly, the unnecessary hype behind this book, (I know the dresses are playing tricks on the readers' minds!! ) is making the book like something stone-turning in the face of YA-lit. Whoever follows my reviews, well they very certainly know this that I rarely give a book below 3star rating, unfortunately, for this book, I choose to give it 3 stars.

The writing style is very captivating and the author have laid out her plot in an appealing manner that will easily woo a young mind. The prose is glamorous and tastefully played out. The characters are all very strong and there's lot of room for character development. There's lot of brain-twisting events to keep the readers on the loop till the very last page. The book ends with a BAM- a major cliffhanger which immediately made me pick up the next book in this series. The love triangle predictable yet interesting to watch it unfold between the characters. There is also a lot of funny and charming moments to give a ray a sunshine over the haze of dark twists, confusion and plotting and scheming and unnecessary attacks from the other sides of the world.

Now the meh part!

I wished the world building made more sense to the whole sets of events occurring, especially, the author gave a very crappy version of future America! The book opened with a real slow pace, or rather say in a very uninteresting manner which failed to build up any spark upon my mind. The narrative is not that strong enough to engage me in the conversations. The chemistry between the three characters is very shady and maybe it was the author's intention to leave her readers' minds in a cloud of dust and confusion about who really wants whom.

In the department of characterization, there is honestly no depth among the main as well the supporting characters, except Maxon who developed a lot through the pages of the book and in the end, he seriously made me fall for his delicious looks as well as for his kind heart. America is a regular teenager out in the world behaving like thirty year old, who is very strong and funny and always loves to speak her own mind, even if she is hurting someone with her comments. Honestly, in a nutshell, it could have been much better.

So before the movie comes out in the near future, (didn't you knew, Warner Bros has purchased film rights for The Selection!!), let's read this book.

Verdict: So girls and fellas, if you enjoy a chic-y, glamorous, wow-y, breath-taking and action-filled YA dystopia, then you must go for it! 
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Author Info:
I am a graduate of Radford University with a B.S. in History. I grew up in South Carolina and currently live in Christiansburg, Virginia with my electrical engineer hubby, car-obsessed son, and princess-loving daughter. I'm a #1 New York Times bestseller, woohoo! I'm also a valued customer at my local cupcake shop.

Things I hate:

When people fail to use turn signals, flying, salads.

Things I love:

Office supplies, boy bands, desserts.
Visit her here


Book Purchase Links:

•  Amazon US 
• Amazon India