Originally published in 2012, ‘The Selection’ is the first in a series that has been amazingly popular. I’ve steered clear for reasons I’m a little embarrassed to admit – the pictures of frilly dresses on the cover and the focus on romance just haven’t appealed to me. Needing a book to fulfil the requirements of a reading challenge meant I decided to pick up this ARC from NetGalley that had been languishing on my Kindle and see what all the fuss was about.
The premise is straightforward. In America of the future – now named Illea – society is divided into eight castes. The Selection is, for want of a better word, a game-show where thirty-five chosen girls compete to win the love of Prince Maxon. Slowly the numbers are whittled down, until the new queen is chosen.
Our heroine, America Singer, comes from Five so she is used to being hungry and feeling out of place. She is in love with Aspen, a family friend, but he convinces her to sign up for the Selection as he’s embarrassed at not being able to provide for her. Make no mistake, we’re in very familiar territory here, and there’s a lot of similarities with a number of popular YA novels of recent years.
Though the idea behind the novel is drawn straight from some awful reality dating show, Cass portrays the girls and their shifting relationships so well. America is a likeable character, and Prince Maxon was a lot more interesting than he first appeared. Watching their relationship develop provided plenty of amusing moments, and it was interesting to watch the process at play. I’m keen to know what role the rebels will play in the rest of the story, and I think there’s an interesting story behind the queen. Much as I was rooting for the romance, I liked the reappearance of Aspen – who I felt should have just got over his pride – and wonder what that will come to signify for America.
Reading this was akin to the experience of eating Haagen-Daazs ice-cream…you know it’s not a healthy treat, thoroughly enjoy it while you’re in the moment and then hope nobody notices what you’ve done! I’m going to have to read the rest of the series to satisfy my curiosity about what happens next.