The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Selection by Kiera Cass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Blurb: 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.

 Review:

Initial thoughts:

OMG THE COVER!!!


After reading:

I actually enjoyed The Selection a lot. Ms. Cass mixed the modern world with a dystopian one quite well, and I loved, loved, loved the story. Even though many a times the story just felt like a dystopian version of The Bachelor, it still managed to keep my interest through and through. What can I say? I'm a sucker for Prince Charmings and pretty dresses and gowns. ;)

Now, I can totally see why some people wouldn't like this story too much but some of the hate reviews I read after reading this book, did seem pretty extreme.



The story, from the beginning was engrossing. Though I couldn't find myself liking America right from the start, the writing-style and the story was good enough for me to continue. And oh, am I glad I did. As the story continued, America started to grow on me. Her nature was pretty sweet and the fact that she was honest from the beginning with Maxon was admirable. :D

To be honest, Aspen just seemed a but too whiny for my liking. I mean, I know he was poor and things were so hard for him and all that but somewhere between, I just lost interest in him and the swoon-worthy factor was just sadly missing.

Needless to say, I favoured Maxon even though he came off as a little uptight in the beginning. But as the story moved on, he just turned into this incredible guy who could be just perfect for America and vice versa.

The rest of the characters were well-developed too but I just wish there was a little more action and spark in the story instead of people just hiding inside cellars while the attacks happened. There wasn't really anything to get excited over (excluding the part where the evil girl tried to rip off the protagonist's dress out of jealousy :P) so it was a smooth read which got slightly bland at times.

Overall, due to some minor issues here and there, I couldn't really give this one a five stars. I also wish that the ending was less abrupt. It didn't come off as a cliff hanger at all, just a really, really strange ending. Other than this, the book was good enough. I'm definitely gonna read the next book which is still not published. :(
Anyway, my suggestion is to judge this book on your own. The reviews for this one are vastly contrasting. So if you loved the cover (like me) and found the blurb to your liking (like meeeeeee) then I would say go for it! ^.^

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