The Selection (The Selection #1)


The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kiera Cass

Blurb:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Review:

Knee-jerk reaction. Literally. I kneed His Majesty in the thigh. Hard.

So, here's the deal: I never actually wanted to read this book. It was something I was aware of but I had heard almost only negative things about. But I had also heard that it is a very easy/light read and one practically flies through without needing to use one's brain at all. Which was, coincidentally, just what I needed last Sunday (my new semester at university started on Monday and the entire week before I've been struggling to read anything because I couldn't concentrate on anything not-university). And it did deliver – to a certain extend.

Honestly, I hoped this book would be more fun. You know, the unintentionally-so-bad-it's-good kind of fun and I guess it could have been had it not been this strange. Like, I could have made fun of America (btw: urgh, I hate her name so much) for being involved in this strange love-triangle ("I could have" doesn't mean I actually would have) but she took that possibility away from me by acknowledging that she's in the middle of a love triangle and basically telling the audience: "see you next book when I might tell you what boy I've chosen ;–)".

Seriously, is it just me or is America drastically strange? I don't understand her thought-process at all. Or anyone else's, for that matter. Why is everyone so weird in this book? Sure, it was quick to read but it was such a messed-up reading experience because I couldn't understand anybody. Maybe I'm simply too focused on ascribing everyone a three-dimensional character that it's really mind-boggling to me to read about very one-dimensional characters but, no, that can't be it because they'd sometimes do shit that was clearly out-of-character so probably they were simply poorly written. Yeah, I'll stick with that.

Also, I get really annoyed by dystopian worlds/societies that are built rather shittily but pretend to be the creme de la creme of world-concepts. Don't shove your stupid history into my face if it's, clearly, at least somewhat shit. Just ignore there is supposed to be an outside world because I'm willing to do so and you're only shooting yourself in the foot here, pal. I'm willing to accept stupid princess-bachelor but "old history books are forbidden DUMDUMDUM"??? Nope.

That being said, if I ever feel super stressed out, I'll probably read the second book just to keep my head on straight. (Not that I managed to read anything non-university related at all this week. It's really sad, actually.)

Rating:

Initially, I gave it 1/5 stars but I think it wasn't infuriating enough to warrant that rating. I'll bump it up to a more neutral 2/5 stars.

Details:

Name: The Selection
Deutscher Titel: Selection
Series: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 336

Comments

  1. Lisa | Prettytigers BücherregalNovember 10, 2017 at 8:57 AM

    Huhu :)

    Ich muss ehrlich gestehen, dass ich die Reihe bisher noch nicht gelesen habe und sie auch nicht sehr weit oben auf meiner Wunschliste steht ;) Wenn ich mir deine Rezi so anschaue, dann muss ich mir mal überlegen, ob ich die Bücher nicht doch komplett von der Wunschliste streiche *lach*

    Liebe Grüße,
    Lisa von Prettytigers Bücherregal (Blog & Facebook)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ImagoalaNovember 12, 2017 at 9:55 PM

      Ja, wie oben schon gesagt, ich würde eher davon abraten, wenn du nicht auf hart bescheuerte Menschen und hart bescheuerte Dystopien stehst. xD Allerdings ist es natürlich wirklich eine Geschichte, die man einfach sehr schnell durch hat, die nicht anstrengt aber trotzdem ablenkt, auch das hat seinen Platz, ich will da ja nicht komplett negativ sein. :)

      Delete

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