By Kiera Cass
Genre YA Dystopian
Rating ⭐️⭐️
Synopsis
Take ABC's The Bachelor, sprinkle in a dystopian world and angst ridden teens and you have The Selection.
First Sentence When we got the letter in the post, my mother was ecstatic.
This book has been taunting me since its release in 2012. Dystopian books were all the rage and ABC's The Bachelor still a big hit so I'm sure the author thought to herself this would make a great premise for a YA book. And sadly, the public ate it up. I heard so many good things about this book from Goodreads. I resisted. I heard so many good things from fellow bloggers. I resisted. Then my sister read the whole series and warned me it was ridiculous but addicting. I gave in. Sigh! You know what they say: If you can't beat 'em, join' 'em.
All that being said, I went into this one with incredibly low expectations. Always a smart move, if you ask me. And, well, it was exactly what I expected. Predictable and unoriginal. Still, I wasn't completely put off by the book. I thought the story was entertaining enough. About as much as an episode of The Bachelor and at least this book was clean.
My biggest hang ups aren't about any of that, though. What bothered me was I picked up this book totally wanting a stupid fluffy read with an big fat love triangle. Hey, don't judge. I was in the mood! Anyway, I just didn't like either of the love interests. In fact, I wasn't really a fan of the MC, America either. Sigh! So now do I read the rest of the series? No really. I'm asking. I'm more of a plot girl than a character girl so not being invested in the characters doesn't really bother me. And I am sort of interested in where the plot is going. So...what do you say? Have you read the series? Does it get more interesting plot wise or is it just about the love triangle? Should I finish the series?
Should you read it?
If you haven't already I guess you could give it a go. It's not the worst thing I've ever read.
I bought this one when it first came out, but I still haven't gotten to it. I've heard very mixed reviews, so yeah, I keep putting it off. Your review doesn't make me want to speed up the process either. Ha ha.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sorry. I wouldn't rush into it.
DeleteI wanted to read this really bad when it first came out, but then I heard it's all about the love triangle and you know how I feel about love triangles, so yeah. I haven't given in yet and I don't know if I ever will.
ReplyDeleteSee! And I heard the second one isn't as bad with the LT but I'm I no rush to get to it.
DeleteI'd say the plot gets a little more involved and even surprisingly intense at times, but my guess is it will still drive you crazy. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm guessing too.
DeleteLove your synopsis! And I'm sorry the characters weren't more likeable and interesting. I haven't read this series, but you have nothing to lose if you try book #2. After all, if you don't like it after the first 25-50 pages, you can always quit. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is true! Thanks.
DeleteI read this series, but even for fluff it annoyed me (and don't get me started on all the stupid ass names!). Trust me, you won't miss out on not reading the sequels.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! They do have stupid names.
DeleteI have been curious about this, but wouldn't rush out to read it either. Maybe one day!
ReplyDeleteYeah. No rush.
DeleteI think I stayed away from this one for the opposite reason to you! I'd read and heard so many bad reviews of this one and then there was all the drama involving the author on twitter/goodreads that I just decided not to go there. And I too would have expected fun fluff and would have been annoyed at the lack thereof!
ReplyDeleteOoo! I missed the drama. There was drama?
DeleteAll I ever heard about was how bad this series is, so I've stayed away. Plus, I actually read a sample from Kindle and it was incredibly stupidly written from what I could tell. I knew I wouldn't like it. Can't tell ya anything about the rest of the series, but do hope you figure out where the story actually goes.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah. The writing was awful. I think that's half the reason I don't want to continue.
DeleteI don't know why this one drew me in either, I wasn't a huge fan of the characters or storyline at first either. I think give the 2 novellas (The Queen and The Prince I think) a try before anything else, it gives a little more depth to the story for the plot lines and characters, I think that is what started making the series for me.
ReplyDelete