I have to admit it took me awhile to start reading this
series. I had seen the books in the bookstore, but the covers just didn’t
immediately speak to me. A girl in
a fancy ball gown? Just wasn’t my
usually type of book. Then I did
what I always encourage my students to do, read the back cover. It sounded a lot like the TV show, The Bachelor. An hour of mindless television once a week is one thing, but
did I really want to read a book based on the same idea? Then I read a few pages and that’s what
finally got me. There is something
about Kiera Cass’s writing, or maybe it’s her storytelling, but I was
immediately pulled into this royal world, a palace filled with unimaginable
luxury especially for some like America Singer one of 35 girls chosen for the
Selection. America is a Five, one
of the lower castes in the country.
She’s knows what it’s like to be hungry and not to have heat or
electricity in the cold winter months.
Yet suddenly she’s been chosen to compete for the heart of Prince Maxon,
only she can’t decide if she really wants it or not. Can she ever forget her first love, Aspen?
Even though I found myself getting frustrated with the indecisive
nature of America, I couldn’t put either of the books down. After I finished The Selection, I was anxious to start The Elite to find out what girl would be sent home next from the
Selection and why. Often when I read science fiction I find myself trying to predict
what will happen next based on the chain of events in the story. So far it has been almost impossible to
this with this series. Just when I
think I have the characters figured out, something else happens and I’m left to
start guessing again. After
reading the first two books in the series, I still have absolutely no idea who America
will chose in the end. I don’t
even know what I hope for, but I do know that based on the books so far, it
will be a surprise!
