The Selection Book 1
Divergent/Hunger Games meets the bachelor! I know I said I don’t usually read YA, but that was kind of a lie. I don’t usually read -young- YA. This was a great example of a book to burn through on a Sunday afternoon. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
The royal heir is really isolated, I’m sure we’ll dig into why he’s so sheltered in a future book in the series. It’s another YA book with a love triangle, first love vs new love. I really couldn’t understand why Maxon posted the guard at her door so casually, and how he didn’t notice that she wasn’t protesting at this intrusion on her independence this time.
The exposition through the history lessons etc was really well done, there’s not a lot of context given initially for how North America ends up in this particular dystopian future. Cass made it pretty plausible, through invasion caused by defaulting on debts, followed by perceived weakness and opportunism.
Overall, a really interesting take on a dystopian future with a rigid caste system and a not evil, but oblivious ruling class. Easy, light reading, great reader engagement. I’m sure there’s more to learn about why the system is setup the way it is, and I’m here for it!
Highlights:
- Mid-Caste woman kicking butt
- Unpretentious and interested royal heir
- Cool dystopian world building
Lowlights:
- really close in vibe to other notable YA series
- main character is a little bit too much of a Mary Sue
- Ugh, forgiven so quickly? risking so much for a jerk? Ugh.