Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Selection by Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: June 7th 2012
Cover Love: 9/10
Source: Review
Add to: Goodreads

Goodreads: Thirty-five beautiful girls. Thirty-five beautiful rivals… It’s the chance of a lifetime and 17-year-old America Singer should feel lucky. She has been chosen for The Selection, a reality TV lottery in which the special few compete for gorgeous Prince Maxon's love. Swept up in a world of elaborate gowns, glittering jewels and decadent feasts, America is living a new and glamorous life. And the prince takes a special interest in her, much to the outrage of the others. Rivalry within The Selection is fierce and not all of the girls are prepared to play by the rules. But what they don’t know is that America has a secret – one which could throw the whole competition… and change her life forever.

My Review:

I absolutely adored The Selection. It's the tale of a young girl called America Singer who lives in a caste divided country and is chosen to take part in the Selection - a process where 35 girls compete for the chance to be married to Prince Maxon. I've heard it being described as Cinderella meets The Bachelor and this is very true!

America is a great character to read about, I felt like I got on really well with her. She was stubborn and not afraid to be herself -which I loved. She must have been the only girl in Illea who didn’t want to take part. She was very funny too and had me laughing most of the time. SPOILER ALERT*(highlight to read) Hooray! Finally someone who doesn’t completely crumble every time a guy breaks up with her! I know it’s very sad, but thank god she wasn’t like some girls who don’t know what to do with their lives and don’t know how they’ll ever be happy ever again! SPOILER ALERT FINISHED* :) I understand why some people don’t like her or she grated them as she was an amazing singer and could play six instruments -or something and had two guys chasing her, but underneath all of that she was a well rounded character.

I felt really sorry for Maxon, he seemed like such a nice guy too. It would be so embarrassing having to find a bride on national TV in front of the whole nation and his parents for the first time. There were certain moments that were just so awkward but in a kind of cute way and I think he’ll definitely grow on me. I liked how he wasn’t how everyone assumed he would be like. He had a sense of humour and seemed really lonely.

I will always be an Aspen fan <3 hehe. I really like him! He’s selfless and truly cares and adores America and this is obvious from the first moment we meet him. There are obviously moments when things go a bit awry but it all comes back together. He’s not in it for the majority of the book, but the bits he are in are wonderful. All the other characters all had their own little personalities too, Marlee sounded so sweet! Celeste, grr.. me and her would not get along. I can see some hair pulling between her and America in the future! :)

The plot is good, not the best as I could guess what was going to happen before it did, but it was still great. The ending is CRUEL! I was flipping the pages happily then BAM end of the story. I was like WHAT?! I need the next one so badly! So beware if you don’t like cliffhangers.

Overall, The Selection is a great story with characters that jump out of the page and will leave you gasping for more.

4 out of 5 stars.

*Thank you to HarperCollins for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.