THE SELECTION By Kiera Cass

THE SELECTION By Kiera Cass

Categories: Young adult, fantasy

In a dystopian future, America Singer lives in the middle of a caste system with her family. The country, formerly America, is now divided into different fractions with a royal family dictating over all castes. The royal family’s eldest son is of marrying age, and the king and queen decide to arrange his marriage based off a selection of all the finest eligible young ladies in the land. This is a problem for America because she has no interest in raising her status in society. More importantly, she is secretly in love with a man below her station. Handsome Aspen has been meeting with America in secret to steal kisses and dream about their future. When America is chosen to enter into the competition to vie for the Prince’s affections, her mother has to bribe her into even filling out the paperwork. I liked the quick-paced story; nothing in this book was drawn out.
The back story of why America as a country fell was interesting and nothing outrageous (sorry, no aliens or zombies), China came to collect on its debt and America was unable to pay so war broke out with many more countries clamoring for a slice of the pie. This story takes place in the aftermath of all that, where the royal family has been established a short while and has been unsuccessfully bringing the people back together. The main character was likeable and full of spunk (she makes a bet with the prince and asks that if she wins she is allowed to wear pants in place of fancy ballroom gowns). There’s a lack of imagination in her name, she is a singer by profession and it’s also her last name. Mostly the story was a pleasant escape to relax into. Strong lead female character, who was likable. I read it on my Kindle while on vacation and found myself up quite late one night just to finish it. The sequel will be titled The Elite, due out in April of this year.  Any fan of fancy gowns, dating shows or teenaged heartache will enjoy this book.