The Selection by Kiera Cass: A Review

Okay so though this will be scheduled to be posted at a reasonable hour I'm going to let it be known that I'm writing this at 2:50am having just put the book down. If the rest of my family weren't asleep I think I would be screaming to the high heavens on my hands and knees begging Kiera Cass to make America and Maxon happen!

But let's rewind because that definitely needs explaining!

So the book I am reviewing today is another that I received for Christmas and another that I've had my eye on for a while for one Kiersten White author of Paranormalcy describes it as a dystopian fairy tale and to be perfectly blunt there could not be a more perfect book for me to read! Dystopian fiction? Love it! Fairy tales? Hello I'm 18 and I’m still head over heels in love with the Disney films I was raised on!

Okay let's just get this out there:

How beautiful is that cover? Well I think it’s gorgeous props to whoever designed it they pulled me in and made me want to be the girl on the cover!

Anyway down to the book. (Summary from Goodreads.com)

"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."

So where do I begin, well for starters the plot isn't particularly strong and it seemed a bit slow going at first but it picked up the pace in the second half only for you to be hit with the WHAM "End of Book One" which equals me being devastated. (Okay slightly dramatic I will admit but it just seemed a little bit sudden of a place to end it)

Okay aside from all that I truly enjoyed this book, I fell head over heels in love with Prince Maxon, and just wish that Aspen would BACK OFF!! You had your chance boy now it's Max's turn! Ah here comes the part that bugs me . . .  that dreaded love triangle that I loathe so much I wrote a post about it which you can read by CLICKING HERE. I was happy that Aspen appeared at the start then left, devastated that he reappeared, but I guess it was inevitable but because I'm a sucker for a good fairy tale I will read the second book and just pray that America and Maxon come to their senses and just pick each other.

Side note: honestly America if you don't want Prince Maxon I'll gladly take him off your hands!

I like this book it's a good soft romantic tale perhaps not quite Young Adult, I feel it may have made too much of a point of avoiding describing violence amongst other things which perhaps may gain more focus in the sequel which I hope it does.

However having read the synopsis for the sequel I get this horrible feeling that America chooses Max and that this disaster that happens whatever it is then drives her back into the arms of Aspen. I pray I'm wrong! Please let it be the other way around!

Okay I wanted to avoid sounding like a crazed fan girl which it would seem I failed at but what can you do. I fell in love with the story I'm a sucker for fairy tales I just wish that Aspen's involvement had ended when America left for the Selection and then I would really love the story as such my distain for the Love Triangle plot device refrains me from giving this book 5 stars, but I will hold out hope for at least some partial resolution in the sequel. At least America wasn't talking about how much she wanted to be with Maxon throughout the book only to undermine it by running straight back to Aspen like most love triangles so I applaud Miss Cass for that, I lose respect for a character that undermines themselves. America remains confused and I can deal with that for now.

Book 2 is due for release in April 2013 and I am rocking back and forth with want for that book.

Until then if you love fairy tales like me give the book a shot it may just surprise you I didn't expect to like it as much as I did!

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