Helpful Score: 1
Wow! It was hard for me to stop reading (technically listening on my way to work) this book and I was disappointed when it was over. Now I can't wait to get The Elite for my library! The book is labeled YA Fiction so I had never looked at it but, a friend of mine who is an English teacher recommended it so I gave it a try. Great, engaging book. I fell in love with the character of Maxon. Aspen though was one I really didn't like even from the beginning. America has a strong personality, stands up for herself and for the most part knows her own mind and that seems to be the trend in female lead dystopian novels today, so that aspect is not new. I can't wait to continue the series and see what happens next.
I enjoyed this book. It is written for a fairly young audience - middle school as opposed to high school. Fair warning: there is no ending. I get annoyed with trilogies that are really just one book split into three parts. This is not a self contained story but a section of a 3-part book. Maybe best to wait until all 3 are published.
This book is very much like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Cinderella all rolled into one.
Some similarities:
Illea is very much like Panem.
The Selection is pretty much like the Reaping.
Hunger Games has the tesserae, where families of The Selected are also compensated.
Hunger Games has "tributes", Selection has the "selected".
Hunger Games has "career tributes", the Selection has the "elite". The Hunger Games was broadcast on national TV as the ultimate in reality TV, so is The Selection.
The castes aren't unlike the districts in the Hunger Games or the factions in Divergent. Each caste specializes in their own industry, if you will. As a Five, America is only three tiers away from rock bottom.
Each of the Selected will get to travel to the capitol...I mean...the castle to stay with the royal family. Not unlike Katniss' trip to the castle...dang...I mean capitol, she is fitted for dresses, all while being filmed by a reality TV crew.
The names of the characters were quite distracting. (Names like Tiny, Tuesday, Gerad, and Kamber.) I don't know how one pronounces "Maxon". At first, I made it sound like "Jackson", which was really distracting and detracted from the story. I think "Mason" rolls off the tongue much easier.
Of course, there is the requisite love triangle. But it isn't entirely convincing. Much like Peeta and Katniss, there really isn't any chemistry between Aspen and America. It almost makes you wonder what America is angsting over.
The Selection is an easy read and I did find myself saying "Just one more chapter" well after I should have gone to bed. But, be prepared to not have any questions answered in book one. Apparently, there is a rule that no stories involving a dystopian United States can be resolved unless there is a trilogy.
I lowered my rating to 2.5, because there should have been some sort of resolution. Instead, Cass leaves her readers hanging!
Some similarities:
Illea is very much like Panem.
The Selection is pretty much like the Reaping.
Hunger Games has the tesserae, where families of The Selected are also compensated.
Hunger Games has "tributes", Selection has the "selected".
Hunger Games has "career tributes", the Selection has the "elite". The Hunger Games was broadcast on national TV as the ultimate in reality TV, so is The Selection.
The castes aren't unlike the districts in the Hunger Games or the factions in Divergent. Each caste specializes in their own industry, if you will. As a Five, America is only three tiers away from rock bottom.
Each of the Selected will get to travel to the capitol...I mean...the castle to stay with the royal family. Not unlike Katniss' trip to the castle...dang...I mean capitol, she is fitted for dresses, all while being filmed by a reality TV crew.
The names of the characters were quite distracting. (Names like Tiny, Tuesday, Gerad, and Kamber.) I don't know how one pronounces "Maxon". At first, I made it sound like "Jackson", which was really distracting and detracted from the story. I think "Mason" rolls off the tongue much easier.
Of course, there is the requisite love triangle. But it isn't entirely convincing. Much like Peeta and Katniss, there really isn't any chemistry between Aspen and America. It almost makes you wonder what America is angsting over.
The Selection is an easy read and I did find myself saying "Just one more chapter" well after I should have gone to bed. But, be prepared to not have any questions answered in book one. Apparently, there is a rule that no stories involving a dystopian United States can be resolved unless there is a trilogy.
I lowered my rating to 2.5, because there should have been some sort of resolution. Instead, Cass leaves her readers hanging!
Loved this book. Plot really pulls you in, simple but elegantly written. I keep wanting to find out what will happen with the main characters. Believeable Dystopian story. Can't wait for book two.
So perhaps I'm at an advantage since I never watched the Bachelor tv series. I tried once but hated it. However I really enjoyed this book from the very first page. I love the main character America. She is such a strong female lead. She is so comfortable with who she is as an individual. She doesn't try to change herself to fit in with the higher castes or gain the attention of Maxon. She just wants to be herself. she doesn't want to lose who she is during the Selection. That to me is very admirable. Not to mention she never lowers herself by being mean or playing mind games with the other girls in the Selection.
I really felt for America when Aspen leaves her in the tree house after she entered the Selection just for him. Here she plans her entire future with him and leaves her like it's not a big deal. I can kind of understand his reason behind it. He is a man and wants to take care of the people he loves but being a Siz makes it almost impossible. Afterall he has his mother and siblings to help support and with America being a 5 she is a little higher up in society than he is. How can he ever take care of her. So I can understand the why doesn't mean I have to like. He wants the best for her even if that means not being with him. So I of coarse found myself cheering for him in the beginning.
Then of coarse enter Prince Maxon. I really didn't want to like him from the beginning. Afterall I was hoping Aspen would come back. Yet the more and more I read about Maxon and his interactions with America the more I found myself liking him. He is completely clueless with the dating thing. He is shy, smart, sweet, and very considerate with all the girls in the selection. We see his friendship with America grow through out the book. He opens up with her and she helps him to see what life is really like. You realize that for a prince he is really just a normal person wanting to make a difference and wanting to make that difference with a true partner. So of coarse I found myself cheering for Maxon as well.
America is now torn between 2 men. Her first love, the boy she has loved for 2 years, and the boy she planned on marrying or the boy that is trying to make a difference in his country and wanting to do so by sharing his life with a partner no matter what her caste is or was. Honestly I don't know how she is going to choose or who she is going to choose. They both are great male leads. You can't help but like them both. Of coarse I always cheer for a happy ending and I think no matter which guy she ends up with will be perfect for her. At the sametime I can't help but be upset knowing one of the guys won't be chosen.
I am truly looking forward to book 2 in this series. I seriously hope that Celeste gets what's coming to her. Hopefully in the form of humiliation infront of everyone!!!
I really felt for America when Aspen leaves her in the tree house after she entered the Selection just for him. Here she plans her entire future with him and leaves her like it's not a big deal. I can kind of understand his reason behind it. He is a man and wants to take care of the people he loves but being a Siz makes it almost impossible. Afterall he has his mother and siblings to help support and with America being a 5 she is a little higher up in society than he is. How can he ever take care of her. So I can understand the why doesn't mean I have to like. He wants the best for her even if that means not being with him. So I of coarse found myself cheering for him in the beginning.
Then of coarse enter Prince Maxon. I really didn't want to like him from the beginning. Afterall I was hoping Aspen would come back. Yet the more and more I read about Maxon and his interactions with America the more I found myself liking him. He is completely clueless with the dating thing. He is shy, smart, sweet, and very considerate with all the girls in the selection. We see his friendship with America grow through out the book. He opens up with her and she helps him to see what life is really like. You realize that for a prince he is really just a normal person wanting to make a difference and wanting to make that difference with a true partner. So of coarse I found myself cheering for Maxon as well.
America is now torn between 2 men. Her first love, the boy she has loved for 2 years, and the boy she planned on marrying or the boy that is trying to make a difference in his country and wanting to do so by sharing his life with a partner no matter what her caste is or was. Honestly I don't know how she is going to choose or who she is going to choose. They both are great male leads. You can't help but like them both. Of coarse I always cheer for a happy ending and I think no matter which guy she ends up with will be perfect for her. At the sametime I can't help but be upset knowing one of the guys won't be chosen.
I am truly looking forward to book 2 in this series. I seriously hope that Celeste gets what's coming to her. Hopefully in the form of humiliation infront of everyone!!!
When I first heard about this I was thinking it was going to be a terrible version of America's Top Model or something. I have been wanting to read this book for a year and a half and finally had access to a copy to read. I enjoyed it so very much!
A girl named America is in an age group eligible to be selected for princess and future queen of Illeca (they explain this name later). She is not interested in being a part of it, but her family insists. She decides to go ahead with applying and is chosen. This book is not just about some competition of sorts, but is about a heart deciding what is best.
I really enjoy reading about America's character. She is very sweet and caring for others over herself, a quality I think all should have. Therefore I was glued to the book and wish I didn't have so much to do in between reading it so I could have read it straight through, but alas, that was not possible. Of course she has her downsides too, but then again I know teenagers don't always have it all together.
A girl named America is in an age group eligible to be selected for princess and future queen of Illeca (they explain this name later). She is not interested in being a part of it, but her family insists. She decides to go ahead with applying and is chosen. This book is not just about some competition of sorts, but is about a heart deciding what is best.
I really enjoy reading about America's character. She is very sweet and caring for others over herself, a quality I think all should have. Therefore I was glued to the book and wish I didn't have so much to do in between reading it so I could have read it straight through, but alas, that was not possible. Of course she has her downsides too, but then again I know teenagers don't always have it all together.
Good plot, strong characters but only a third of a book. I enjoyed the story up until the last page. There is no ending as the story carries over into the next installments: The Elite and The One. Would have given a four star review but am a firm believer that a story in a book should have a beginning, middle and ending - not an ending two books away.
The Selection = The Hunger Games meshed with Red Rising meets âThe Bachelorâ. There's a caste system (like Red Rising), but pretty much everyone is hungry, unless you're a One, Two, or Three. Each caste has a particular job set that they provide to the nation (kinda like Red Rising & Hunger Games), but generation or so, a lottery happens where eligible girls from the age of 16-20 enter their names into a pool (a la Hunger Games) to get picked to compete for the love of the prince with 35 other girls (and here's âThe Bachelorâ). Considering The Hunger Games and Red Rising are among my favorite series, and âThe Bachelorâ is (sadly) a guilty pleasure⦠I, of course, loved this book. #sorrynotsorry
Just like âThe Bachelorâ the girls compete for the prince's love on television, but they don't show the dates. It's more of a weekly recap that happens while the host interviews each girl and the prince. But the prince doesn't have a time limit on who quickly he needs to find his future bride. Mostly because she's going to be the next queen of the country so⦠no pressure!!!
But now America is torn between Maxon, the prince she thought she would never even like, and Aspen, her first love. Ugh! My heart can't take it!
Just like âThe Bachelorâ the girls compete for the prince's love on television, but they don't show the dates. It's more of a weekly recap that happens while the host interviews each girl and the prince. But the prince doesn't have a time limit on who quickly he needs to find his future bride. Mostly because she's going to be the next queen of the country so⦠no pressure!!!
But now America is torn between Maxon, the prince she thought she would never even like, and Aspen, her first love. Ugh! My heart can't take it!
