In preparation for the new release in The Selection series (written by the wonderful Kiera Cass) that is coming out in early May, I decided to reread the existing books in this series and immerse myself in the glimmering world of .
For those of you who are unaware what this series is about, here is a brief synopsis:
The story is set after the fourth World War. The U.S. was taken over and after it was newly named Illea.
Making up the population of Illea are the eight castes, with Ones being the nobility and Eights being the most destitute (basically think the Factionless from Divergent or the people of District 12). Whenever a new prince comes of age, there is a competition that allows the “daughters of Illea” (aka the common folk) a chance to win his heart and the crown.
Reviews have labeled this as The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor, though to me it’s a very small comparison.
Our main character is named America Singer. She’s a Five, which means she is a musician. She is in love with a boy named Aspen Leger, who is a Six. Aspen is very poor and has to do a lot of manual labor to support his very large family. They have been dating in secret for two years and always talk about how they are going to get married one day. When the sign-up for The Selection comes around, Aspen tells America to sign up even though she doesn’t want to. She agrees to make him happy, and then he dumps her. Shortly after America is chosen along with thirty-four other girls to go live in the palace and meet Prince Maxon. America makes it clear to Maxon that she doesn’t want to compete for him, but instead she’ll be his friend and be able to help him lower down the candidates for his future wife.
The cover is beautiful, the story is interesting. Even if you aren’t super girly or interested in the whole princess thing, you would probably still enjoy this. There are a lot of fluff moments, but it’s not too overdone. I would talk a bit more about the characters, but I feel like I might start spoiling it. But if you think this is something you would enjoy, definitely check it out.
