The Selection - mini book review

"When we got the letter in the post, my mother was ecstatic. 

She had already decided that all our problems were solved, gone forever. 

The big hitch in her brilliant plan was me." 

"I didn't want to be royalty. 

And I didn't want to be a One. 

I didn't even want to try."

The Selection

In the book which is often described as "The Hunger Games meets the Bachelor," Kiera Cass tells the story of America Singer, a middle-class girl living in a prejudice society which is run by a mostly-inoperative monarchy. 

It is every girl's dream to marry a prince and become a princess. Every girl, that is, except for America Singer. America is a stubborn seventeen-year-old girl who hates doing what she's told. When her family received a letter informing them that America was eligible to enter The Selection--a competition between thirty-five other girls between the ages of sixteen and twenty to compete for the prince's hand in marriage--America wanted nothing to do with it. The odds of getting selected were slim (about the equivalent to someone winning a lottery), but America didn't even want to try.
Not only did she despise the thought of leaving her life behind and having to marry the seemingly stuffy Prince Maxon, but America also had a secret; she was in love with Aspen, a nineteen-year-old boy who was a caste below her. The caste system, numbering from One as the highest to Eight as the lowest, was taken very seriously. America was a Five and Aspen was a Six, meaning that a marriage between the two of them would not be a praised one.
After a series of events and a plethora of persuasion, America decided to enter the Selection. Lo and behold, she got...well...selected. From that moment on, America's world turned upside down and her life changed forever. 

Just like every YA fiction novel, there were things I loved about this book and things I couldn't stand. Rather than trying to get super analytical and critical (much like the people who write reviews on Goodreads...those readers are scary!), I decided to simply write up a Pros & Cons list on The Selection. 

Pros:

• story was very fast-paced; it never felt like it was dragging 
• most of the Selected girls were very relatable; they felt real 
• had a different feel to it; wasn’t just like The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Mortal Instruments, etc. 
• lots of drama 
• the maids reminded me of the maids in Downton Abbey and I don’t know how that’s relevant but I liked them so I’m making this a “pro” 
• decent character development between America and Maxon 
• May. So many giggles while reading her dialogue. 
• entertaining minor characters 

Cons: 

• because the story moved quickly, more could have happened 
• the teenage girls were SO REAL (aka: annoying) 
• really weird character names 
• mostly romance; not a lot of action 
• very...very...very much like The Bachelor *cringe*
• lots of drama 
• relationship between America and Aspen was way too dry (and physical) 
• unclear background story about Illéa as a nation 
• love triangle was very forced and cliché 

All in all, I appreciated this book. While it didn't exactly give me a sense of purpose or bestow any life lessons upon me, it provided me with girly entertainment and I loved it. Other than two short make-out scenes, this book didn't try to be sexy and I greatly appreciated that. Also, the friendship-that-grows-into-something-more between Maxon and America is adorable. I have to say, though, my favorite relationship was the father-daughter relationship between America and her dad. It warmed my heart, and some aspects of it reminded me of my own relationship with my dad. I loved it. 

I give The Selection 4 stars and suggest you read it if you're looking for a sweet story that will entertain you and leave you wishing you could own a closet full of beautiful palace dresses. 

Wait, what?

I Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie

Hi, world. My name is Lauren and I like books. No. I mean, I reeeeeeeally like books.

Whether I'm happy, sad, angry, passive, content, anxious, lonely, or surrounded by people I love, books are always there. They are more to me than just a collection of words used to pass the time. Books are like a portal; a passage to another realm. I can escape my own reality and dive into the reality of someone else. Sounds like a wonderful thing, right? Wrong. (Well, partly wrong anyways.)

Let me set this straight: authors will break your heart and crush your soul. They don't feel bad about it, either. In fact, they love it. They thrive on it. They make their money off of it. The worst part? A sick part of me actually enjoys the pain through which writers put me. I subject myself to it over and over and over again because--regardless of the fact that I may cry when my favorite character dies--I just have to find out what happens to the rest of the lot.

Ahh, characters. They can either make or break a story. They are people who did not even exist until the writers created them. They are people whom we feel we actually know. Yet, in spite of the fact that they...well, aren't real (ducks and hides from crazy character fanatics), I love them. Sometimes, I love them more than I love actual people. Harsh? Nah. True? Absolutely. Authors have a way of making some characters so perfect, even with their character flaws. 

Look at Percy Jackson, for example. I would gladly fight Titans with him any day, even though he can be completely irrational and he often makes stupid decisions without thinking first. Regardless, he is such a brave human being who always puts the well-being of his friends and family before his own. Moment of silent appreciation for the writing talents of Rick Riordan. 

Now let's take a look at Jace (SPOILER ALERT!) Herondale. He's rude. He's snarky. He has absolutely no value of personal space or privacy unless it's his own. He can kill demons like nobody's business, yet he's terrified of ducks. But you know what? I. Love. Him. Brava, Cassandra Clare, for writing one of the greatest and most complex characters in modern literature. Regardless of the fact that Jace shows his nasty tough-guy exterior all too often, he has a giant heart and loves so many people with all of his being. Even though it sometimes seems as though he's just looking out for himself, in retrospect, everything he does is for the well-being of someone he cares about. That's what love is, folks. 

Moving on. Who else can we fangirl over other than one miss Katniss Everdeen?! I'm not going to lie, Katniss drove me crazy for about 2 1/2 books in the esteemed Hunger Games trilogy. I mean, come on, for a majority of the series all that goes on in her head is "I choose Gale and the rebellion. NO, I CHANGED MY MIND! I choose pretending to love Peeta and keeping my family safe. Lol jk, that failed, so I choose fighting back and rebelling again. Wait, never mind, I actually might love Peeta for realz and I want to do everything I can to protect him." BACK AND FORTH AND BACK AND FORTH AND BACK AND FORTH. However, in spite of the fact that Katniss' indecisiveness annoyed the living daylights out of me, I loved it. Why on earth is that? Because it's so relatable. Take a look at every teenager that you know. I guarantee that not a single one of them knows exactly who they are or exactly what they want. They are confused, lost, and constantly changing their minds. Katniss is the literary embodiment of every real-life adolescent.

I could ramble on and on about different books and characters and plots and whatnot, but I'll stop here. Point is, books are my not-so-guilty pleasure! Seeing as I read so much, I'm always looking for new stories. Comment below with your favorite books, and I'll check them out!

Stay nerdy, my friends.

❤