Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication: January 1st, 2012
Pages: 327
Song I Played While Reading: Jealous by Nick Jonas
Rating: 3.5 stars
For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime.
The opportunity 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, and leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she begins to realize that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.
Good God this cover is gorgeous. Its one of my favorites, and always has been since the second I laid eyes it. ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE COVER DESIGNER.
This book started out slow for me. I didn't particularly care for any of the characters, and actually thought Maxon to be a complete bore. I mean "dear"? Really? What man uses that term to a lady? I was literally picturing a 60 year old man instead of a hunky blonde guy. He was a gentleman but almost to a fault; polite, quiet, and.. boring. And America was a little bland for my taste, too. They all gradually grew on me, and at some parts I really found myself connecting with her fears over being in the Selection (there is absolutely NOTHING scarier then a bunch of teenage girls fighting over a guy), and once I hit the halfway mark I really stared enjoying it.
The world was pretty interesting. Set in the future, America is no longer America. (The country, not the main character) It's now called Illea and has reverted back to a monarchy. Citizens are grouped into castes that run by numbers, One through Eight. One are the royalty and Eight are the poor people. It all reminds me of a mix of both old and new; we're set in the future, but the laws about birth control and pre-marital sex are very strict. Obviously back in the day there really was no birth control unless you had money, so the poor people were popping out babies like there was no tomorrow. This is a big issue in the story, and I was a little disappointed with how America handled it. She's a Five, so she's kinda stuck in the middle, but has gone through some rough times. She knows people in the lower castes, so you would think a part of her would see the Selection as more then just a cage she's stuck in. She could make a change, whether or not she truly loves the prince, and bring up all the injustice the lower castes go through. But she never once thinks of that. I get she didn't want to be in it in the first place and was dealing with being separated from her family and Aspen, but you would think at SOME point it would have smacked her in the head that hello?? YOU HAVE A VOICE HERE. MARRYING INTO THIS FAMILY COULD HAVE SOME PERKS. GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS.
But I did overall enjoy her character, particularly towards the end. She treats everyone equally and is fair and honest. Those are qualities I love in a character, so I'm hoping she'll be the bomb diggity in these next two books.
Now onto the boy department. From the beginning, I didn't trust Aspen. He just seemed off and distant. Their relationship seemed weird, and it bugged me that neither of them thought to progress status wise with it. Who knows what other girls he could have been seeing during the day, so I want him out. Pronto. Maxon (even though I know the outcome of this Selection since I read the synopsis of The Heir), definitely was a bit stiff in the beginning, like I mentioned earlier. But he loosened up and made some jokes, and I finally started to like them together. I mean honestly they acted like a married couple. Could no one else see how comfortable they were around each other? I love how they were friends in the beginning, because y'all know THE BEST RELATIONSHIPS START OUT AS FRIENDSHIPS.
The ending was unexpected but exciting, though I am wondering what the hell Cass has planned out. We've got a lot of small side stories we can work with, from the rebel attacks to working on the caste system. I hope we get more info on the other countries as well. And maybe address the fact that theres no history books and no one seems to really know what happened in the past??? Anyways, solid start to this series and I plan on diving into The Elite the second I finish this post!
Quotes
"I didn't want him to worry or be upset; I really thought we could handle it. If we just planned for everything we could, we'd make it through everything we couldn't. Maybe I was too optimistic, maybe I was just too far in love, but I really believed that anything Aspen and I wanted badly enough, we could make happen."
"If you don’t want me to be in love with you, you’re going to have to stop looking so lovely. First thing tomorrow I’m having your maids sew some potato sacks together for you."
"Mom was bossy. Even in print I could hear her tone, smugly congratulating me on already earning the prince's affections and telling me firmly to keep up whatever I was doing.
Yeah, Mom, I'll just keep telling the prince that he has absolutely no shot with me and offend him as often as I can. Great plan."
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