Here is the summary of the book:
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.
Some decades later the world has risen anew with its own set of rules and orders that are needed to be followed to remain spot clean in the eye of the law. Caste system has swept the world, monarchy is back and the public is divided into numbered sectors. In this Caste blown society, a one in a million chance for 35 girls to get Selected, escape the life they were born into and enter a world with glittering jewels and camera everywhere, and compete for the heart of Prince Maxon, who is ready to get married and settle down. Not only do the selected girls get the chance to win the heart of the prince but also her families will be compensated with money, money that they will most certainly need. Who wouldn't want that....
Well things are much more different for America Singer, for her its a nightmare. Hailing from a 5s family of artists, they skimp on food and clothing and there’s been times when they’ve had to go without but not that often. America is self-sufficient where she is. She has a magnificent voice, can learn any instrument very fast and most importantly is in love, with a gorgeous boy named Aspen, a caste down from her. They had maintained this secret relationship for 2 years but when the time of the selection comes around he encourages America to enter in it. It promises a better life for her and her family even more so than that she could get with Aspen.
Love is a magical feeling but sadly it is not enough to provide for food, clothing or shelter for the person if you don't have the money to afford it, a sad reality which Aspen knows and encourages her to enter. She is selected and amidst her grief at being separated from Aspen she enter the one place her hated her whole life, the palace.
But it all starts to change when she sees that the palace is not all bad, its opulence and magnificence astounds her, the food is delectable, she gets to wear new clothes and has 3 maids attending on her. But the biggest surprises is that the Prince whom she had hated for forever turns out to be not so bad. They strike a friendship of sorts, Prince Maxon ever having any close confidantes and America looking at the Prince in new light, finds him very dear to her heart. It is no mistaking that she is falling in love with the young Prince.
The Selection, a first in the series is in league of its own. Beautifully and very simply written and an easy read, this marks a much more grounded dystopian reality. The world building is done marvelous. The setting is exceptionally created. The characters are dynamic. America, Aspen and Maxon's love triangle and the setting of the selection is very much reality show esque, with all the back-biting comments and clever moves to get girls disqualified. We all know why and how America came to enter in this selection with no intention of marrying the Prince....the author has done a great job in that aspect making us all connect to America's plight. Her and Maxon's interactions are some of the best parts of the book. But there is still danger lurking outside the safety of the palace with rebels, raiding, looting and infiltrating the palace in search of something. This is another part I liked about the author she kept the rebellion under a shroud of mystery hopefully unveiled in the next books. On this note I'd like to say that i'm rooting for Maxon and America in the end, I am at the moment liking Maxon much more than Aspen because he understands what America is going through and respects her and not act all proud like the other one....oh I wanna read the next one so bad....
Love is a magical feeling but sadly it is not enough to provide for food, clothing or shelter for the person if you don't have the money to afford it, a sad reality which Aspen knows and encourages her to enter. She is selected and amidst her grief at being separated from Aspen she enter the one place her hated her whole life, the palace.
But it all starts to change when she sees that the palace is not all bad, its opulence and magnificence astounds her, the food is delectable, she gets to wear new clothes and has 3 maids attending on her. But the biggest surprises is that the Prince whom she had hated for forever turns out to be not so bad. They strike a friendship of sorts, Prince Maxon ever having any close confidantes and America looking at the Prince in new light, finds him very dear to her heart. It is no mistaking that she is falling in love with the young Prince.
The Selection, a first in the series is in league of its own. Beautifully and very simply written and an easy read, this marks a much more grounded dystopian reality. The world building is done marvelous. The setting is exceptionally created. The characters are dynamic. America, Aspen and Maxon's love triangle and the setting of the selection is very much reality show esque, with all the back-biting comments and clever moves to get girls disqualified. We all know why and how America came to enter in this selection with no intention of marrying the Prince....the author has done a great job in that aspect making us all connect to America's plight. Her and Maxon's interactions are some of the best parts of the book. But there is still danger lurking outside the safety of the palace with rebels, raiding, looting and infiltrating the palace in search of something. This is another part I liked about the author she kept the rebellion under a shroud of mystery hopefully unveiled in the next books. On this note I'd like to say that i'm rooting for Maxon and America in the end, I am at the moment liking Maxon much more than Aspen because he understands what America is going through and respects her and not act all proud like the other one....oh I wanna read the next one so bad....
"A dystopic reality-tv esque swoony-worthy and charming fairytale of a prince in search of a wife and a girl trying to find herself"
Genre : Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Publisher: HarperTEEN
My Copy: Publisher and edelweiss
Rate: 5/5 (It was Awesome)
Publisher: HarperTEEN
My Copy: Publisher and edelweiss
Rate: 5/5 (It was Awesome)
Great review!! I just recently read/reviewed The Selection and I really liked this one and I am glad you did too :)
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen the trailer for this! Great review for a great book. I can't wait for the next book. :)
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