The Selection by Kiera Cass Review

(Photo: kieracass.com)

 

         The Selection by Kiera Cass immediately caught my eye and not only because the dress on the cover is beautiful. The Selection promises to be a mixture of The Hunger Games and The Bachelor. The on-your-toes action of Hunger Games mixed with some juicy Bachelor drama? I was sold! However, after reading, I am sad to say: The Selection by Kiera Cass should not be a selection on your reading list.

            Years into the future, the United States has been renamed Illéa after it has been destroyed by war and divided into 35 provinces. The new country is not only divided by provinces, but by castes as well. Caste One is held by the royal family in contrast to Caste Eight, which faces starvation and poverty.

America (I-bet-you-can-guess-her-occupation) Singer, the story’s protagonist, belongs to Caste Five. Although her family is not dirt poor like those in Caste Eight, they still struggle with financial issues. Her “caste climber” mother has the solution to their economic problems—The Selection. The Selection consists of 35 girls (one from each province) competing for the prince’s hand in marriage.

Being selected brings fame and fortune, however, America does not want either. Instead, she wants to marry her secret boyfriend Aspen, who belongs to Caste Six. However, as fate not so surprisingly turns out, America is selected to compete and is whisked away to the palace to win Prince Maxon’s affections.

            While The Selection’s plot might seem like a good idea in theory, it is not executed well. If you are like me and expect a mixture of The Bachelor and The Hunger Games, you will be greatly disappointed, since it’s not as entertaining as The Bachelor or as well written as The Hunger Games. Furthermore, The Selection feels unoriginal, as many aspects of the novel seem to come straight from The Hunger Games and the recent raft of other dystopian novels. Now, I’m not one of those people that constantly belittle any new dystopian book and think that The Hunger Games should be thrust onto a dystopian pedestal (even though it is one of my favorite series). However, if you are directly comparing your novel to The Hunger Games, I am going to find similarities, and I found plenty in The Selection.

            Likewise, I was completely dissatisfied with the "dystopia" (I use this term loosely) aspect of the novel. Although The Selection is set in the future and sells itself as a dystopian compete-or-die book, there is nothing truly dystopian in the novel. Sure, the author throws in that there is a war and the previous United States has fallen apart, but other than that, it is simply about the girls vying for Prince Maxon’s attention. A true dystopian novel focuses on a current problem in society and exaggerates it to show possible consequences for our behavior. The Selection does neither and attempts to establish any type of dystopia in a flimsy history lesson.

            Besides lacking in content, The Selection’s characters are lackluster. America’s character is completely inconsistent. The author tries to make her a strong heroine, but she only comes across as another flighty teenage girl. Hint: Red hair is not the only characterization for being strong. However, I did enjoy when she told Prince Maxon she was there for the food. That is totally something that I would do. In addition, there are so many contestants that I struggled to remember their names and personalities. The most popularly mentioned contestants have one-dimensional personalities and add nothing to the story.

            The so-called “love triangle” is laughable at best. Honestly, I have not idea which relationship to root for since neither guy is very appealing. Aspen’s personality is too hot and cold, and he becomes easily angered. On the other hand, Prince Maxon is awkward and stiff. However, to the author’s credit, Prince Maxon is at least not the typical, arrogant male lead of the young adult genre. Nevertheless, it is hard to tell how America, or us readers, can fall for either.

            Yet, the worst part of the novel is the dialogue. The dialogue, especially between America and Prince Maxon, is forced and uncomfortable. The author tries to make Prince Maxon sound like royalty, but instead, it just makes him sound gawky and strange. I literally cringed at one scene and had to put that book aside. I am even an awkward person, but the scene was so awkward that I struggled to read it!

            All in all, I am not a fan of The Selection. However, I am interested in checking out the second novel in the series to see if it improves. 

Disclaimer: I borrowed The Selection from my library. I am not being compensated for this review in any way! All thoughts and opinions are my own.