The Selection by Kiera Cass

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 a palace and compete for the heart of 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.

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Incredibly trite. Good for tweens who still love fairy tales but are taking an interest in fashion and love triangles. For anyone else you've got to be pretty bored.

There are little scraps of distopian future, reality show, and politics tropes and more focus on any of those could have made it more interesting but mostly it's all about fashion, bland friendships, and PG makeout scenes. The narrator dodges saying words like “sex” or “rape” but the topics come up multiple times.

I listened to the audiobook, which is incredibly lackluster. The reader has just one “male” voice, so it can get confusing on the few occasions two males are actually interacting. Her “female” voice is her normal speaking voice, so there's no variation there. Spoken aloud, the names of the two love interests, Maxon and Aspen, are similar enough that I got confused several times.

ik moet dit boek even goed late bezinken. ik weet niet zo goed wat ik ervan moet vinden.

Amazing start to the series. I really enjoyed the different characters and learning about them. America is definitely a strong main character and I loved reading about her relationships with different characters in the book, especially Marlee and Maxon.

This book has a real undertone of The Hunger Games about it - future society changed by war in which the society has been segregated. A young girl is selected from her village to compete in a competition which could end her family's struggle for food and survival.

Sounding familiar but the similarities didn't end there, girl is in love with a boy from her village but is whisked away by a team who make her over in preparation for the competition. This competition however is not a fight to the death but one to decide whom the Prince of the Kingdom will marry and 37 girls need to vie for his hand.

I really loved this book probably because it had all the strong plot lines that made me love The Hunger Games so much. I liked America the lead character and loved the whole love triangle between America, her first love Aspen and Prince Maxon. I'm going Team Maxon!!

A set of 3 books in the series will see the story to it's conclusion, with book 2 ‘The Elite' being available now and 3 still to be published. I cannot wait for more but at £1.99 I felt this book was worth it but I'm not sure the 2nd is worth its current price tag of £4.98 - I will be waiting a while to see if it drops just a little