Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Title: The Selection        

Author: Kiera Cass

Publisher:  HarperTeen

Publication Date: 4.24.2012

Pages: 327

Genre: Dystopian

Series: Yes (The Selection #1)

Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: A+

Summary (from Goodreads):

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 the palace and compete for the heart of the 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.

Review:

First of all, I wish people would stop comparing this book to The Hunger Games. The Selection is its own brand of awesome that needs no comparison to another epic dystopian novel to help it find a ready audience. If the summary doesn’t draw you in, try the first chapter and I dare you not to be consumed by this golden novel Kiera Cass created.

I fell in love with America from the beginning. She’s a strong, vibrant character that jumps off the pages. I loved cheering for her, and my heart broke for her. She’s put in an impossible situation but makes the best out of it. She has the insane inner strength that is such a testament to younger girls. I also loved that she didn’t readily throw her heart away. She’s reserved and tempered when it comes to love, something sorely remiss in a lot of YA novels nowadays.

Aspen and Maxon … I still feel like the jury’s out on these two. I love both for different reasons, but if pressed to choose, I’m leaning towards Team Aspen right now. Not that Maxon isn’t amazing and funny and kind, but there’s something about the scenes America and Aspen have together that makes me root for them.

Cass is a great writer. I loved the way she built this world and the rules and customs she outlined in it. I love the caste system (well, not that I’m pro-caste system … you know what I mean!) and how an integral part it plays in the novel. Cass does a splendid job explaining things, and I can’t wait to see her build upon it in future novels.

This book is just, for lack of a better word, amazing. From the moment I started it to the time I finished it five hours later, I could think of nothing else but America, Aspen, and Maxon. This world that Cass writes, and these characters she breathed life into, swept me away. I could have easily read the next ten book in the series in the same sitting had they been available to me (sadly I believe this is a trilogy and my ten book statement a bit dramatic). It’s just that good.

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