The Selection
by Kiera Cass
The easiest way to describe this book is a cross between Cinderella and the Bachelor. In the post modern Kingdom of Illea Prince Maxon is gearing up to be King, but first he needs to find his princess. Enter the Selection. Across the country girls between 16 and 20 are eligible to apply for the selection. 35 lucky girls will be chosen at random to be escorted to the castle and compete for Prince Maxon's affections to potentially win both a man and a crown. One of the girls chosen is America, a girl who is a five. No, this is not to say she's not pretty enough to be a ten. Five is her families caste. In Illea there are eight castes with royals at the number one spot and the impoverished scrounging at eight. When America is picked for the Selection she reluctantly goes, leaving her first love, family, and hungry home behind in exchange for jewels, maids, and a prince. See? Cinderella and the Bachelor. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the working title. But all said this was a pretty entertaining read.
America is a girl who doesn't know her strength, and she is a perfect underdog to root for even when she doesn't even know what she wants her endgame to be. Do we root for her to reject Maxon or fall in love with him? Root for her to reunite with her first love, Aspen, or to use her time in the castle to move on? Or do we want her to be queen most of all and defy the status quo? It's all very juicy. Not to mention the rivals and friendships that come out of interactions with the selected girls, the tyranny of the king, and rebels attacking the castle.
This book might be easily described as Cinderella-Bachelor, but it delivers past that expectation. This book is fun and infuriating in a addicting way, and it continues for three more books! With a fourth and a fifth to continue the world established in the original trilogy. Be warned that this won't be the deepest of reads, but you can still have a lot of fun in the shallow end.
