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A review by feliciarene
The Selection by Kiera Cass
3.0
Unfortunately, The Selection was not a win for me like it was for so many other people.
The Selection is a YA dystopian fiction about a 16-year-old named America Singer who lives in a caste-based society where citizens are divided into social classes based on their occupations. Despite being on the lower-end of the caste system, America's life is fairly normal and she's headed towards a normal future with the love of her life. That is, until The Selection. 35 girls from Illéa are to be picked from a lottery to compete to become the wife of Prince Maxon and America's name is drawn.
I think for me, the main problem I found with this book was the fact that it felt sort of juvenile, in both the plot and the writing. There's nothing wrong with that! But it's not the sort of book I enjoy reading. I love YA novels, but I prefer to read more mature YA. Basically, I felt that the concept of the plot was pretty interesting. I liked how the Selection was viewed as an exciting opportunity, but in reality, it was kind of disturbing to pluck girls randomly out of their homes and have them compete to be queen. I was really hoping for a great disillusionment from the characters, but that didn't really happen? The Selection was just a cute sort of way of pushing a romance between America Singer and Prince Maxon. It wasn't what I had expected or necessarily wanted to take away from the novel.
I was pretty let-down by the dialogue. For me, the dialogue is the spine of a novel. There was the potential for this dialogue to be really sharp and witty, but it just felt watered down in reality. I found America to be almost insufferably shrill. But I thought Maxon's dialogue was way worse in terms of the cringe factor. There's no 19-year-old in the world - including princes - who would say "my dear" that much . Maybe the first time it was goofy and cute, but it eventually became intolerable.
Mostly, I just wasn't invested in the plot, nor did I find it believable. There's some suspension of belief necessary to enjoy any work of literature, particularly in dystopian fiction or fantasy. But at a certain point, I just couldn't believe that this plot could actually happen. America constantly broke every rule thrown at her and then admitted (?) to these things to Maxon, the prince himself, without any repercussions. At. All.
Overall, this was an enjoyable story - but it wasn't for me. I really wanted it to be something I would enjoy. And I bought the sequel in advance, expecting to like the first book. But maybe the lesson here is that I should stick to more mature YA from now on!
Full Review: Link
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The Selection is a YA dystopian fiction about a 16-year-old named America Singer who lives in a caste-based society where citizens are divided into social classes based on their occupations. Despite being on the lower-end of the caste system, America's life is fairly normal and she's headed towards a normal future with the love of her life. That is, until The Selection. 35 girls from Illéa are to be picked from a lottery to compete to become the wife of Prince Maxon and America's name is drawn.
I think for me, the main problem I found with this book was the fact that it felt sort of juvenile, in both the plot and the writing. There's nothing wrong with that! But it's not the sort of book I enjoy reading. I love YA novels, but I prefer to read more mature YA. Basically, I felt that the concept of the plot was pretty interesting. I liked how the Selection was viewed as an exciting opportunity, but in reality, it was kind of disturbing to pluck girls randomly out of their homes and have them compete to be queen. I was really hoping for a great disillusionment from the characters, but that didn't really happen? The Selection was just a cute sort of way of pushing a romance between America Singer and Prince Maxon. It wasn't what I had expected or necessarily wanted to take away from the novel.
I was pretty let-down by the dialogue. For me, the dialogue is the spine of a novel. There was the potential for this dialogue to be really sharp and witty, but it just felt watered down in reality. I found America to be almost insufferably shrill. But I thought Maxon's dialogue was way worse in terms of the cringe factor. There's no 19-year-old in the world - including princes - who would say "my dear" that much . Maybe the first time it was goofy and cute, but it eventually became intolerable.
Mostly, I just wasn't invested in the plot, nor did I find it believable. There's some suspension of belief necessary to enjoy any work of literature, particularly in dystopian fiction or fantasy. But at a certain point, I just couldn't believe that this plot could actually happen. America constantly broke every rule thrown at her and then admitted (?) to these things to Maxon, the prince himself, without any repercussions. At. All.
Overall, this was an enjoyable story - but it wasn't for me. I really wanted it to be something I would enjoy. And I bought the sequel in advance, expecting to like the first book. But maybe the lesson here is that I should stick to more mature YA from now on!
Full Review: Link
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