The Selection Review

by Kiera Cass

Rating: 3/5

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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I think if I picked this up when I was a teenager, I might have enjoyed this more. I was excited for this one, truly. But I was just disappointed by the end of it.

This felt like The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor. Where we see a new age of the world we know, there’s a new government system across the globe, and for the US, it’s taken more of a royal route. The prince is coming of age and ready to marry, but in order to find a wife, they hold a competition where any lady between the ages of 16 and 20 can apply to enter, no matter their position in society. Thirty-five “random” ladies are selected to move to the palace, and the prince will spend time with them all until he makes a decision.

So, yeah. A teen version of The Bachelor set in a dystopian society. Again, I was hopeful. I love dystopians, and the idea of “the selection” sounded like a fun Bridgerton affair. But the execution fell flat for me.

We follow America, who doesn’t even care to be there. She’s still pining over her ex, who dumped her right before they made the selection. To her surprise, she’s picked, and we watch her as she navigates being around other ladies who actually want the crown, all for various reasons.

The drama we see felt very insignificant for the most part. We mostly see a lot of fluff details, rarely anything substantial. We don’t even see the prince interacting with them all that much. It was just disappointing.

And at about 80%, we’re still learning the details of how the social classes are set up. I felt, at this point in the book, we should already understand all the basics of this universe and society. I should not still be learning basic information and world-building like that. In fact, even at the end, I still had some questions about the basic logistics.

And the “twist”, I totally saw coming, from a mile away. But despite expecting it, it still made me angry. Mostly at how obvious it was. Massive eyerolls. 

This was just not it for me. I won’t be continuing the series.

Maybe if I was a teen again, I might have enjoyed this more.