The Selection by Kiera Cass - Review

I picked this book up after my roommate stole it from my shelves and read it herself. She couldn't stop talking about the book and so I caved and dove in! After starting, I finished in two days and was cursing Kiera Cass for not writing book two fast enough!

We begin our story in the future country that came out of a ruined United States, now called Illea, where an 8 leveled caste system is upheld. Our main character, America, is in the 5th caste and her family members are artists and singers by trade.Within the Royal family, it is custom for the Prince to find his wife through the process of Selection. Girls in the country of Illea can put their names in a drawing to be one of the 35 girls selected to compete for Prince Maxon's hand in marriage and the crown. While America wouldn't dream of entering because she is far too in love with another man named Aspen, through a series of events she finds herself entering, and of course is chosen. The Selection takes us through the trials and tribulations of America and her competitors as she finds that the Prince may not be as horrible as she had once thought and she begins to question all of her carefully made plans for her future.

The Selection is what I like to think of as a good blend of The Hunger Games, The Bachelor and Cinderella, in a very, very good way! I was a little wary of this book because of it's slight similarity to The Hunger Games. The distopian future theme, the drawing of names and a few other parts of the book felt eerily similar to THG. I ended up having to check myself. Books, of course, have similarities. Just because Suzanne Collins is brilliant and came up with a cool idea, doesn't mean that other people don't have similar, yet very awesome ideas.

I really couldn't put this book down. I think the best way to describe this book is subtly addictive. While I've been reading books like City of Lost Souls and Insurgent, that are very fast paced and full of action and violence, this book was such a relief because it wasn't intense the whole time. I felt comforted reading this book and I felt I could relate to the characters.

I love our main character, America. She is strong in her own right and really fights for her beliefs. Gotta love a heroine who is strong at heart. I also loved the charming Prince Maxon, but I really didn't like her other love interest, Aspen. I thought that he was a little too selfish and I found myself wanting to kick some sense into him a few times. While he professes to be thinking only of America and her well being, it's clear that he's selfishly thinking of his pride the entire relationship.His selfishness really bugged me, but didn't stop me from falling in love with The Selection.

Well done Kiera Cass! I can't wait for book two!

Also, check out my post on The Selection coming to CW soon!

8 out of 10

Happy Reading :)