The Selection

The Selection
Kierra Cass

This book was described to me as The Bachelor Meets the Hunger Games and with it introduction like that, how could I NOT read it? Royalty, dystopian literature is almost the trifecta of perfect reading.

In the Selection by Kierra Class were are introduced to America Singer, a young teenaged girl who lives in the Country Illéa, created after the 4^th world war from what once was North America. The country of Illéa is  a monarchy  ruled by an Eight caste system and while we are only vaguely introduced to the system we learn that America is a 5 and pretty much stuck in the middle of the system ( Lower Middle Class to Working Class). America’s family is musicians and artists who could always use a little extra money. So when a notice about The Selection arrives at the door and offers money for America’s participation, she is reluctantly talked into joining.

The Selection is the bachelor part of the story. This nationwide completion consists of 32  young, eligible Bachelorettes from Illéa compete to become the new Queen. In Illéa, the Queen is chosen from among the people, the commoners in a Bacheloresqe style completion where the Prince and his family choose the next Queen. All castes are invited to participate Whisked off to a life of luxury in the palace the girls compete for one-on-one dates and stolen kisses with the Prince. The selections is a life changing event for all involved- the families receive compensation for their daughters  and the young women become tabloid  (or what passes for tabloid in Illéa) fodder and their lives and experiences are captured on television for the world to see. 

When America arrives she is still pinning over the love of her life, Aspen, whom she left back home after a break-up. Not interested in Maxon she is only there for the money and the experience. However, once she arrives she finds that that she actually like Maxon and as the competition heats up, things gets interesting and then the book ends- literally.

True to form, this book is definitely like The Bachelor, especially in the fact that I got sucked into this book and couldn’t put it down, despite a thousand other things I needed to be doing.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story. I thought it was a neat plotline that was original. It did border on more fluffy chick-lit YA than a real Dystopian novel.  While a brief history of Ilea was give, there was no real explanation of what it mean to me a citizen of Ilea or what the caste’s were and why the really existed.

Also, I have to mention how much the names bugged me in this book. The main character in the book is America Singer- we learn where her first name comes from and her last name is her occupation but this does not follow through for others in the book. We meet an Ana Farmer who is a …farmer, but other naming conventions fall short and some are just annoying- Amberly, Maxon. Then we meet Aspen. I know it’s weird but it just annoyed me that some people had names of cities, states then there were normal names and then those names that make teachers cringe when we see them on rosters.

So aside from the lack of “dystopia” and the names, I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the sequel. I hope it is as good as this one and that it won’t be drawn out over three books.