Recap + Review | The Selection - Kiera Cass

Monday 2 January 2017



Title | The Selection 

Author | Kiera Cass 

Publisher | HarperCollins Children's Fiction

Source | Review Copy & Purchased Copy

My Rating | 5/5 


Thirty-five beautiful girls. Thirty-five beautiful rivals…
It’s the chance of a lifetime and 17-year-old America Singer should feel lucky. She has been chosen for The Selection, a reality TV lottery in which the special few compete for gorgeous Prince Maxon’s love.
Swept up in a world of elaborate gowns, glittering jewels and decadent feasts, America is living a new and glamorous life. And the prince takes a special interest in her, much to the outrage of the others.
Rivalry within The Selection is fierce and not all of the girls are prepared to play by the rules. But what they don’t know is that America has a secret – one which could throw the whole competition… and change her life forever.


Dawn-Tracy says; 

I don't think I have EVER read a book in such a short amount of time as this one. Many people who read claim to have been sucked into the storyline but I can honestly say that I was well and truly swallowed whole by this book. It captured me so intensely that when I woke up the following day from reading it I just 'felt' like I was actually living in this dystopian world - and I admit, when I came to, I was disappointed that I was not living in this dystopian world and was in fact a human on Earth. In 2016. 


This is one of the books of my summer in 2016 and I can't believe that I am still so hyped up about this book that I am reviewing it again. Read my first review of The Selection that I wrote back in August 2016 here . It was my most popular read (according to goodreads with well over 750,000 other readers having enjoyed this book last year). 

I'd never read a fantasy novel or in fact a dystopian novel before this one, and wow - what a welcome to the genre I got! I devoured each page within a single day before desperately purchasing books 2, 3, 4, + 5 at around 1am in the morning when I finished reading this one! I became hungry and addicted. And it had nothing to do with The Hunger Games ;) 

So what got me so captured, hungry and addicted? 



The storyline! The characters are living in a world and society where everyone is assigned a number depending upon their class in society - Ones are the Royal Family, and Seven's and Eights are the lowest class. Prince Maxon is obviously a One, and America Singer is a Seven. America is dating an Eight (Aspen) when the competition to find Prince Maxon's bride, wife and future queen is announced. America enters - not willingly - as her heart is firmly with her Eight even if it does mean lowering herself class wise in society.

When America discovers that she has been selected, she realises that she will have to live at the palace and compete for Prince Maxon's love and hand with 34 other selected. But America has a plan to lose and is so far from caring about the competition she lets Prince Maxon know of her plan to lose. 



The competition between the girls is fun, yet intense and I loved the drama and girly sisterhood of it all. It was so compelling and addictive I could not put it down. I had a few favourites and didn't care for many of the girls being evicted out of the competition. I loved the glitz and glamour of the ball gowns and the private maids each girl had. It reminded me of the old tv show I used to watch; Ladette to Lady, mixed with Cinderella + the UK's own Royal Love Story with Prince William and Kate with it's own perfectly fantastical twist and take on it all. 



The Selection was a perfect read for me, even as a 28 year old (I was 27 when I read it - you know that makes such a HUGE difference ;) ), and any Young Adult you know would love this book especially if they want a hip version of romance.

We can safely say that America doesn't get booted out of the competition - "hello - there are 4 further books!" but the twists and turns in the plot made for very exciting reading, which is why I immediately started book 2 The Elite which I will review in the coming days.

Books are written for entertainment and enjoyment, a way of escaping and relaxing and this book did ALL of those things for me and more. I now have fond memories of Summer 2016 through reading this amazing series of books.

If there was ever going to be a series of books that I re-read time and again, it will most definitely be these ones.

Thank you Kiera Cass for writing such a spectacular series of books that made me question which reality I was living in, that gave me the happiest summer memories ever, and please ... don't stop writing... ever... I can't wait to read more from you. You rescued my love of reading and books at a time in my life when I felt like giving it up. 


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