Review: The Selection Series, by Kiera Cass

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Norma_Rudolph
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Review: The Selection Series, by Kiera Cass

Post by Norma_Rudolph »

Just finished reading "The One," which is number three in The Selection Series, by Kiera Cass.
I got sucked into this story about a year ago and have been bouncing on my seat, waiting for this last one to come out.
It's a Cinderella sort of story set in a dystopian country which was once America. In fact that is the main character's name.
America is a singer, a 5, which means that she is in the 5th cast and poor, but not as poor as Aspen, who is 6. She and Aspen plan to marry, but keep it secret because he is beneath her and her parents would not be pleased.
Then, America is "selected" to be one of the girls that may get to marry the prince, which is a dream that only a few lucky girls ever get a chance at.
Enter Prince Maxum. America is drawn to him in spite of herself and find him to be not as stuffy and horrid as she expected. It become apparent that Max is drawn to her as well, in spite of the crazy mistakes she keeps making.
Anyway, a love triangle develops and I will not spoil anything by telling you who she ends up with, only that I was very pleased with the ending.
My only criticism of the book is that it may dray out the story just a little too long, with one disaster after another, but even at that it was easy to get through. Oh, and the kissing and petting gets a little out of hand (they come very close), but for most people it's probably mild enough, I'm a bit of a prude when it comes to YA books.
4 out of 5 stars for this one . . .
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Post by fari30 »

I absolutely LOVED this series! I read the Selection and the Elite in June of 2013 and I was HOOKED!! I was SO excited when The One came out!! I borrowed the book from my friend and read in in two days! The ending was sweet and loved it! Though, some things weren't exactly cleared by the end but it was all good otherwise! I have never waited like this for an ending and was SATISFIED with it. I mean, I waited for the release of Allegiant... but I hated it... So, ya! Finally a series with a good and AWESOME ending! Really liked it! <3
My weekend is all booked!
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chicalovestoread
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Post by chicalovestoread »

I read the first 2 books in this series, I loved the first one The Selection, so I was so excited to read The Elite and I was very disappointed :( I can't even read The One, I'm usually not this negative about books.

-- 19 May 2014, 16:42 --

I read the first 2 books in this series, I loved the first one The Selection, so I was so excited to read The Elite and I was very disappointed :( I can't even read The One, I'm usually not this negative about books.
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jrankin0607
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Post by jrankin0607 »

I read the first two books in the selection series a year ago and then finally got to read "the one" about a week ago. America is a strong lead character in the story I like the dystopia feel that kiera fit into it. With the caste system it reminded me of the matched series somewhat and veronica diverngent series. But I feel that it stands alone. I was kinda let down with the middle/ending of the one because I don't feel any resolution with how she left it. Over all id recommend it and id give it 3 out of 4 i enjoyed the series and dont regret being sucked into that world because hopefully theres a version in the rebels pov maybe? Outside looking in lol anyone think so?.
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Post by danniiiilove »

This is a GREAT series! i finished every book the same day i started reading them. Keira Cass made a pilot and pitched it to the CW- it initially got accepted but when they sat down to figure out a time slot they ended up nixing the show because it just didn't fit at the time. I think it would be a really cool movie! The love story is great and all but i really like what's happening in the background, the way society is and needing to fight for equality. the love story is an added bonus, especially since i was on team Aspen for the majority of all 3 books! definitely a great read!
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Mrseaddy16
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Post by Mrseaddy16 »

Possible Spoilers
I laughed, I cried, and many times caught myself holding my breath, while reading this series. While the story line is, in my opinion, overdone (One man must choose from a group of women, eliminating them little by little, until only one is left to be his wife) the plot is both thrilling and unexpected. Each book, in this overwhelming trilogy, is worth reading, however, together they create an emotional ride, that will take you a few days to recover from.
Kiera Cass does an amazing job at helping you connect with each and every character, giving you hopes for them, taking those hopes away, and starting all over again, leaving you not knowing which way is up and which way is down. But this does not disable these books from being addicting, instead it makes you unable to put them down, hanging on to every line and every word.
In book one “The Selection” we meet America, a 17 year old girl who loves her family and loves to sing. She considers herself a girl next door, nothing remarkable. She lives in a world far from the one we live in today, taking place after WW4, yep, World War Four! There are caste systems and royalty. America and her family are fives in a caste system ranging from one to eight. She lives in a family of artists and is happy with her place in the world. She is even in love, secretly.
Pushed by her mother, and a surprising other source, America signs up for The Selection, a selection of girls chosen to live in the palace, compete for the crown, and the love of Prince Maxon. America, not thinking much of herself enters never imagining that she would be chosen to become one of the selected, but fate has other plans.
In book two “The Elite” we follow up, with the now labeled, Lady America, and find a girl torn in two. Unable to trust her feelings and not knowing her own heart, America is fighting within herself. She makes mistake after mistake, only to make her more confused each time. Not knowing if she is cut out to be a princess, or even if she wants to be.
In book three “The One”, America has made her choice, but is still holding her walls around her heart, and she doesn’t even know she is doing it until it may be to late. Not until the last possible moment will she find out if she will have what she wants and if she really wants it.
I give this series 5 stars
These books are unpredictable and thrilling. Filled with danger, suspense, and romance. I don’t remember the last time I was so effected by a novel, I just finished two days ago and I still catch myself drifting off in my thoughts about these characters.
“The Selection” trilogy has made my top 3 picks for this years reading recommendations. I applaud you Kiera Cass, you have created a series that will be widely talked about and already is…..I see movie rights in your future!!!
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tracibg
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Post by tracibg »

The Selection by Keria Cass has become one my favorite series. I believe that books are written extremely well and the story is captivating. It is The Bachelor meets Divergent. I laughed, gasped, yelled, cried and rejoiced throughout the series. I believe Cass has created a gem of a series. Cass said in a recent interview regarding where she got the concept for the story. She mentioned that she wondering ‘what if Cinderella didn’t want to be a royal?’
The protagonist female, America has tremendous growth through the series. She is also mentally and emotion immature. I believe the second book is where she begins to mentally mature with the new amount of information she gains about her country and the royal family history. She questions everything and seeks for truth and understanding. The third book she finally comes to terms with her feelings for both men in the story, Maxon and Aspen. She learns what lust, infatuation, comfort, safety and love really mean, and which of the two men she truly has an attachment too.
What I like about America is that she is a relatable young woman. She has self-esteem issues regarding her appearance, her status in the castes system, and belief in herself. It takes Maxon, America’s father, and some of the other female contestants to help America recognize her potential.
I recommend this book to anyone that wants an innocent feel good romance.
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sarah_jane
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Post by sarah_jane »

The Selection series was absolutely addicting! I could not put the books down and read all three in less than a week! Although I would get extremely annoyed with America at times and her irrational ideas I was captivated by Maxon and story of the Selection as a whole. I loved the series and want to read more of Kiera Cass's future works.
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Post by emilywagner »

I discovered this series when Amazon recommended The One to me. I read all three books in 2 days. Love the dystopian society and the characters!
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Norma_Rudolph
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Post by Norma_Rudolph »

It looks like there may be a made for TV movie of the series. Has anyone seen this or heard anything about it?
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allesha
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Post by allesha »

It sounds good, added to my TBR!
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Post by bettiekrueger »

Maxon was my favorite part of the entire trilogy, I found the main character to be very flat.
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IamSherlocked2018
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Post by IamSherlocked2018 »

I loved The Selection when it first came out, however I just thought the books progressively got drier as the series went on.
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Post by jmjennings14 »

I was really disappointed in this series as a whole. I was pretty excited about it when I started reading it because it had a lot of potential with the dystopian setting and the love triangle. I think that there could have been a lot more focus on the rebels and the history but it was pretty glossed over and only used vaguely. The love triangle got old really, really fast and made me dislike the main character a lot. I felt like she had no character because she literally flopped between the 2 guys depending on which one she was with at the moment. I got so annoyed with her that I stopped relating to her and/or sympathizing with her. The only saving grace was that some of the secondary characters were likable. Overall, I liked the concept behind the series but it wasn't well executed in my own opinion.
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Post by Shauna18 »

I loved this series. I finished all three books in two days. I am not really a fan of sad endings but I liked this anyway. I was surprised by the ending but I kind of rolled with it. It was a pretty good book and it kept me up until 6AM reading. 4.3/5 stars for the series.
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