In The Selection, thirty-five girls are chosen to compete for the hand of Prince Maxon. Not much else to it. Great concept in a way. Horrible dystopian landing. Author trolls their readers' Goodreads reviews. Book gets way too much credit. One of the worst writings I have ever read. That’s just the brink of it.
Enter America Singer, the worst and most typical YA protagonist in the history of main characters. She’s ‘not-like-other-girls,’ a phrase commonly used when someone tries to set themselves out to be quirky or extremely different from the rest unnaturally. She has red hair, which is great, but the author describes it as rare and such. She plays music, which apparently no one else does. In addition, various other things that add to this case. Her only goals are to be the perfect wife and mother, and fall desperately in love with Aspen Leger, her neighbor. No other ambitions except to become the perfect wife. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Aspen Leger, another guy with no personality. Likes long walks on the beach and to occasionally sneak into his ex’s room in the palace as a royal guard which may lead to her execution. That's true love (infatuation) right there. His only traits are: good-looking and stupid.
Prince Maxon, pampered prince with no spine. Does whatever he is told to do, and is somewhat in love with America. Key word: somewhat. He treats this like looking for clothes or trying foods. It's a bad simile, but that's what it reminds me of. Completely oblivious to everything going on in the kingdom and in the castle, I might add. Great male lead, wow. Ten out of ten.
The book attempts to be dystopian, but in all reality I could never place it in that category. There isn’t much of an explanation as to why there’s a hierarchy to what was once the United States. Or why girls have to be married first to become intimate with their partner. Or the whole caste thing going on. The whole idea is utterly confusing.
What hurts most about this book is that it gets way more attention than it deserves, not in a wrong way at all. The writing is bland, and I’ve read books that are absolutely amazing, but don’t get the fancy cover or a large fan base as this one has. In addition, the author and her friends on Goodreads, a book website, trolled reviews that don’t rate highly on this book. Nonetheless, high chances of this becoming a movie. I hope to get front row seats at the premiere. I have to be its number one fan, in all honesty.
HOWEVER, Marlee, one of the contestants, revived this book for me. She deserves the world. I would rather read a book from her perspective. The lashing she got was uncalled for. I don’t blame her for it, if I had to compete for Maxon’s love I would do the exact same thing.
In conclusion, I hate this book. Did it have potential? No. Am I a fan of the author? Absolutely not. Should you read it? Of course.