The Selection (The Selection, #1)

by Kiera Cass

[clementine]

I read a not so favourable review of this book, and even though the reviewer more or less said DO NOT READ THIS BOOK EVER, I have a need to consume any and all futuristic/dystopian book that crosses my path. So I downloaded it. And then, today, I started reading it. And then a few hours later, I finished it. I don't even remember the last time I read a book in one sitting like that. I just kept reading and reading and reading and you're probably thinking, "Wow, she couldn't put it down, that's awesome," but, no, stop. Because it wasn't an awesome book. It was a book that was compulsively readable.

So, it was better than I was expecting. I thought it would be pretty bad. I thought I would be checking every few pages and going, "Are you KIDDING me? I still have 200 pages to go?" And, no, I really can't explain why I downloaded it in the first place if I didn't even expect to enjoy it one little bit, but I did download it and I did read it and I did kind of somewhat enjoy it, at least enough to read it it one sitting.

I mean, it's obvious that the author was influenced by The Hunger Games and it pains me to make that kind of comparison because The Hunger Games is intelligent and easily the best YA dystopian I've read for a number of reasons and The Selection just isn't intelligent or even really dystopian. Normally I wouldn't even make such an accusation, BUT. BUT. BUT. There are such obvious similarities that I had to roll my eyes a little. And I think if you're going to be inspired by The Hunger Games and not even try to hide it even a little bit, you need to do a better job of it. Because the similarities are clear, and there's no way I'm NOT going to be comparing the two in my head, and there's no contest between the two.

The protagonist... ahh. The best way she's been described is in the review I originally read of it: It’s like she tried to write a Katniss but accidentally Bella Swanned her. And... yeah. It's true. "Oh, stop calling me pretty even though I am apparently the most beautiful 16-year-old girl in the entire country, it's so annoying!" Ugh, stop it. Just stop it. She was also infuriatingly naive. Like, yes, everyone can tell the prince is in love with you, why are you not at all aware of that? Maybe that's a fault of the writing, though; I suppose it's believable that a girl who apparently doesn't think she has any redeeming qualities wouldn't even consider for a second that the prince of her country would like her, but it was so OBVIOUS to me that I was just annoyed.

The other characters were really just archetypes. I didn't care about Aspen, and Cass didn't give us any indication as to why I should care about their relationship. Maxon was obviously supposed to be cutely awkward, but he was just another guy in a YA book and his ignorance about his country was like UGHHHHH STOPPPPPP I HATE THIS.

What else? This book failed at being dystopian, although Cass obviously tried. The caste system was a feeble attempt at showing how messed up the world was, and the history lesson (which was obviously just there to tell us more about the world) didn't really paint a picture of desperation that you would normally see in dystopian novels. Cass had such a good opportunity to contrast the desperation and poverty of the lower castes with the extravagant wealth of the royalty, but she missed the mark here, making a few references to how much America loved the food!!!!11 and not much more. The whole thing was just so shallow.

And, you know, the ENTIRE plot is us waiting to see if America will choose Aspen or Maxon, and it ends in a cliffhanger. Which is like... what. Come on. We don't need A SECOND BOOK for this. Do you really think your shitty story deserves another 300 pages just to find out which guy your lame protagonist picks, like we don't already know? Come on now.

Two generous stars because it kept me entertained for a few hours before I thought about it more and got angry at how frustrating and not good it was.