The Selection: A Romantic Drama

The Selection by Kiera Cass is a compelling novel about doing what is both good for your heart and for your family. I really enjoyed this book. America Singer, our main character, struggles to be the girl everyone wants her to be. America has fallen into ruin, and that's what our main character is named after. There is now a caste system in the country, and America is in a lower class but falls in love with someone who is even lower than her. Her marriage to him would be unacceptable. The selection is where girls can rise above their caste and become the queen of the kingdom, by marrying the prince, thereby becoming a princess. They're picked from a random lottery and even though it tears her to go, she'll do so when she is picked to receive the weekly money for her family. Soon, a heart felt breakup between her and her love follow, because Aspen (of a much lower class) does not wish to hold her back. 

She's then told that whatever the prince wants... it'd be wise to give it to him. Here, girls have to be virgins or it's punishable by death. Well, when the prince is being completely innocent she freaks out and basically does this... 

So, maybe our hero isn't going to be the perfect princess. She looks just about as funny as this when she tries...even requesting pants...

However, this character is someone most girls will be able to RELATE TO. I think that's the most important part about this book. The character doesn't just fall for one thing. She's not the smartest, she's not the prettiest, she's not the most popular. However, she has a shot to be a princess, and yet she doesn't do it at first. She's naive and wants love. Love that turns out to be so much more difficult than she ever imagined. America must discover the secrets of her own heart as well as the secrets of her country. There's so much more going on here than romance. When it becomes clear, her head getting straight, then the author will spin it around on you.

This isn't my favorite book, but it's a good one, and when the author left me with a cliffhanger for book two I felt like this: