The Selection by Kiera Cass

Title: The Selection

Author: Kiera Cass
Pages: 327
Genre: YA / Distopian
Source: Amazon Vine Program

America Singer leaves her home behind to compete against 35 other girls for none other than winning the heart of her country’s prince. While this book is somehow compared to The Hunger Games, all I kept thinking about was The Bachelor. Full of makeovers, interviews, dates with the Prince, and the inevitable girls being voted off, all while the Prince of Iléa. narrows down his selection to the one girl who will be his future wife and Queen of Iléa.

I loved the dystopian aspects of the novel (don’t I always?) - the story opens with some insight into America and her family, which was vital in order to understand the caste system in this future world. Families are labeled by caste depending on their career and income while all future family members continue to be labeled with the same caste (career, income, etc.). Neat concept if you ask me. While I was interested in the dystopian-ness of the story, I was not too thrilled with the story overall. I would also like to note, that I did not base my review on any of the author’s antics or mean-spirited commentary with a fellow reviewer(s).

America Singer (ugh – that name! – and she does sing, just in case you were wondering) was an unremarkable heroine. While likeable and very talented (not only did she sing, but she also knew various languages and played several instruments), there was really nothing about her that stood out. I originally looked forward to the competition between the selected girls (because yes, I am a fan of The Bachelor/Bachelorette) – but there was no cattiness or raunchy behavior. Instead I found the girls to be dull. I was thinking maybe The Hunger Games comparison came from the girls duking it out on random competitions (think Survivor) where the last man (or in this case woman) standing was the winner – but that wasn’t the case either.

I found the writing was juvenile at times. I would have liked to understand more of the political background and less of the characters and their personal lives, but it seems the author and I were not on the same page. I also thought it was wordy – in fact, too wordy at times.

Fans of reality television and dystopians (those with a lighter edge to them) may enjoy this one. Sadly, I was not a fan and do not plan on continuing with this series.