So I have my giant reading list for the year and three of the books I read this year were not from my reading list. Ha, figures... I think I aim too high. However, when I posted my reading list I asked for recommendations and my friend Leah recommended The Selection by Kiera Cass. I read it and away I went with the entire trilogy. Leah quoted it as "It's a quick, fun read with lots of romance-y-ness." She was right and I loved it.
Of all the popular trilogies right now... Hunger Games, Divergent, and Matched that I have read, this was the only series where I loved the ending and I felt satisfied with how they wrapped everything up. All of the others felt rushed or unresolved in the end or completely off in left field from where the series started but this one kept me interested the entire time and I felt the resolution was planned from the beginning, making everything fall into place. I mean don't get me wrong, there were a few chapters here and there where I was thinking, "Oh no, is she starting to go off on a tangent?" but then she would bring it back in.
This book is set in a time in the future when The United States has fallen weak and has evolved into the caste system. Everyone is marked by their station with little hope of promoting themselves to a better level. The book is centered around the "selection" which is basically a G-Rated version of the Bachelor. Thirty-five girls are chosen from all of the castes to come and live at the castle where they date the Prince and he chooses his bride to be, to become a princess and one day the queen, from this group of girls.
Now don't just go and pooh pooh it off, off of that; it's actually a lot of fun. I think what I liked the most is the main girl in the books, America Singer. She is spunky, speaks her mind, kind, confident, considerate, fun, strong and lovable. But I also liked the entire other story going on; the books are not just about the Selection, they were also about how to improve the country and bring equality back to everyone.
Yes, this is a teen novel so of course this was light and fluffy but I didn't care. It was fun to be giddy and imagine being dressed up in the fancy ball gowns with all the girls and secretly hating Celeste (I guess you'll just have to read book to find out why we hate Celeste... or do we?). It was one of those books where you wished life really was that fair: a prince noticing you for being you and instantly falling in love with you just because you surprised him for being true to yourself.
The Selection
The first of the trilogy. The first 35 girls to be selected to the palace to be part of The Selection. This is where we meet the girls, the royal family, the hand-maids, the royal guard and of course... Prince Maxon.
The Elite
The group is narrowed down to 6 girls... "The Elite." America is torn between her childhood love and her new love for Maxon. While also the palace is being invaded by "The Rebels"... but what on earth could they be after?!
The One
The group is down to 4 girls and Prince Maxon must chose "The One" but not without some trials. The country is in chaos with riots, they King is trying to sabotage the relationship between America and Maxon, family members are dying, and the list goes on.
