The Selection Series by Kiera Cass

The first time I heard about the Selection series was back in Seventh grade, when my friend had been raving about the series. The series had completely slipped out of my mind; that was until the summer, when I saw someone reading the Selection series outside. That was when I decided to devote time to reading this series.

The Selection series is a five-book series with multiple novellas. However, the series can be broken down into two sets: the first three books following the life of America, and the last two following the life of her daughter.

The Selection, The Elite, and The One

The Selection series takes place in the dystopian world of Ilea, which once was the United States. In this world, the citizens have been separated into different castes, with each caste having a different dedicated job. America is the main character of the first three books in the series and was born in the fifth caste: the caste dedicated to artists.

The book series revolves around the prince of Ilea, Prince Maxon, and his selection game; a competition broadcasted across the country to determine the wife of the prince. America’s boyfriend, Aspen, encourages her to apply to be a contestant. To America’s disappointment she is one of the thirty-five girls who is selected. However, upon arriving at the castle, her view of Prince Maxon evolves, and is replaced by complicated feelings instead.

The Heir, The Crown

The last two books of the series follow the life of Princess Eadlyn, the daughter of Maxon and America. However, this Ilea is different; the castes have been removed, and citizens aren’t defined by them anymore. 

When she hits 18 years old, she too has her own selection. However, continuous plot twists occur affecting her selection.

One thing I liked about the selection series was the plot twists that kept me curious and on the edge of my seat at parts. Additionally, I thought the first book of the series was a nice introduction to the rest of the series.

However, I wasn’t a huge fan of the remaining books of the series, especially the second half. While the first book seems well written, the following books went at a pace that was too slow for my liking and eventually created confusing points in the plot of the stories. 

The second half of the series didn’t get better; I wasn’t a big fan of Princess Eadlyn’s personality, ultimately only getting me a couple chapters in before I decided to put the series away. Growing up in a palace, as the heir to the throne makes Princess Eadlyn spoiled, and unkind at times. For example, there was a situation when one of the selection candidates stated that his parents used to be in the 2nd caste, but Princess Eadlyn replied by saying something along the lines of “so, my parents were in the 1st caste.” In my opinion, the personality of Princess Eadlyn greatly differs from the personality of America, who grew up poor. Additionally, in the second half of the series, America’s personality changes a lot. Even if America had matured, a quality that made America’s personality stand out in the first half of the series was her short temper. This specific quality, as well as some others, appeared to have completely disappeared making America seem like a completely different person.

Overall, I wasn’t a fan of this book series, but if you like slow-paced, dystopian and romance genre books, maybe this book is for you!

• Hyelynn