Book Review: The Selection

I finished The Selection  today in the morning. I think the book was better getting towards the middle, but then kinda dropped at the end. Fortunately for us, the book continues to The Elite  as a sequel.


 You know the drill, summary first.

Summary:  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. 

Well what do you think? The book was a nice read with 327 pages. 

The following paragraph contains SPOILERS! Read at your own expense.

The beginning focused on America Singer and Aspen Ledger. It was a perfect little universe and knowing most books, they break up a ship that you don't get to know yet. 

I felt how heartbroken America was when Aspen broke it off with her. And being very emotional, I cried, just a little. The good thing for America was that she got to go to the castle for the Selection. Being upgraded to a Three and making some friends at the palace, she meets Maxon when she felt homesick in the corridors. They have this funny thing with Maxon not calling America "my dear". 

I started to like Maxon and America together. But major PLOT TWIST... Aspen is back. And it's hard to choose between the guy you dated for two years that dumped you and still likes you to the guy that provided a sanctuary for you to mend your heart. Being America, she tries to keep Aspen safe and her family well.

I think it was when America started to cheat on Maxon that I didn't quite like her. I knew she felt guilt, but she also enjoyed Aspen's company quite a lot. 

End of SPOILERS, you may read now.

America treats her maids as very important people and confidants. It's like finding a good friend. There is also America's younger sister, May, a very perky girl. You'll like her letters to her older sister. 

There were many rebel attacks at the palace, that you will read about if you choose to pick up the book and the prince will have to choose very soon who will be continuing on in the Selection as the Elite. 

The novel faces the many truths of parents, hiding a secret, being sad, and loving a person (or two). You can have to read the book through America's point of view and her way of seeing the world. And Keira Cass does a great job of showing us that the luxurious life that we wanted might not always be the best.

It's the character's decisions that you judge them on. I think by the end of the book, you'll want to read more to know who America ends up with and who wins as an Elite.

Overall: 7.8/10

It didn't totally satisfy me, but it was good enough to make me start reading The Elite. 

Signed,

Ivy