The Selection by Kiera Cass

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.
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Pink highlighting are spoilers, just highlight over them to see them                    

                        Rating:  3 of 5 stars

                        Series book: Yes

                        Will I read the Next: Yes

Who the hell wouldn't want to be a princess? Answer: America Singer. This book was so much better than I expected it to be. Now I know you can read other reviews and alot say how much they hated this book. It's fluffy, they say. Go watch the Bachelor instead , they say. WRONG, I say. Now I can see why you might say that, the whole idea of the selection does remind me of a certain TV show...but there's also more than that. You have to step back and look at the big picture. There are the problems with the caste systems, the rebellion, and then there's the Selection. I would say I don't regret reading it, but it wasn't amazing either.

I liked the writing style. Kind of blunt but still smooth. I do feel like America's life in "poverty" was a little offensive. America had it good. Food on the table, makeup, clothes, electricity, she had a damn TV. That is not poverty. That is just not rich, but not poor. She's middle class, nothing worse. I feel like the sixes, sevens, and eights were more accurately written.  There really wasn't much imagery, and I couldn't even really picture Maxon or anyone else clearly. All I could picture of Maxon was that he was blonde. Aspen was  dark haired. That's all.

Okay so the plot was the Bachelor but with a royal twist. Obviously not very original. Very predictable. The occasional rebel attack promised a more interesting plot in the next book, maybe.

America is such a cliche. Like in these Dystopian books the main character is like-able because they're genuine and they're fighters. I could tell from when I read the synopsis that America was gonna be the "people's princess," if you know what I mean. She's gonna be lower class and genuine. She's gonna be nicer than the other girls but isn't gonna be outright about it. I'm not saying I didn't like America, I just didn't like the general cliche of her personality. The rest, other than Maxon and Aspen, were pretty 2D and weren't really as significant as I thought they should have been. They were in the book a ton, but it wasn't really easy to focus on those parts.

So there just had to be a flipping romance in the last 30 page of the book. I'm totally team Maxon on this one. Usually I'm all for the first that whoever the main character is in love with. But at this point, Aspen told her to go, she was getting over him, and then he just HAD TO SHOW UP. God, I hate love triangles. I like how the relationship with Maxon was slow and sweet. And Maxon himself was sweet. And then theres Aspen. In this book he is described as gorgeous. He's also described as sweet. In my opinion a guy worth fighting for isn't one who tells you to leave, to go fall in love with this other guy, basically breaking your heart in the process. SO with that, Aspen sure as hell ain't worth it. I feel like without him I would have liked the book alot more. 

Favorite quotes:

“I hit your thigh!”
“Oh, please. A man doesn’t need that long to recover from a knee to the thigh” 

“No, I’m not choosing him or you. I’m choosing me.” 

“. . .true love is usually the most inconvenient kind.” 

SUMMARY OF REVIEW(In case you don't actually feel like reading the review):

Writing:  3 out of 5

Plot: 3 out of 5

characters: 3 out of 5  

Romance: 3 out of 5

Overall: 3 out of 5

PG a few makeout scenes, then just kissing