The Selection (The Selection, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jul 05, 2015 Sarah rated it it was ok

Ridiculous. Such a blatant rip-off of Twilight, Hunger Games, and a dozen other YA novels. And not a very well-written rip-off at that.

Yet I can't stop reading them. Damn those flat, undeveloped characters who can do no wrong unless they're the bad guys. ...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Jill rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya, dystopian

SPOILERS:

Argh! Why why why with the love triangles?! I'm more or less okay with them as a plot device, but this one felt really artificial with what felt like "Hey look who just happened to show up?" approximately 20 pages before the end of the book - it just felt unbelievable. And I wanted to throw the book across the room!

As far as dystopian YA fiction goes, this is fairly light. There sounds like there is some unrest and dissatisfaction in the kingdom, but it's all sort of glossy. So for an ...more

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Jul 20, 2017 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: dystopian-and-post-apocalyptic, stayed-up-way-too-late, young-adult, romance, based-on-a-folk-tale, lily

This is a very fluffy, silly book that I couldn't help enjoying. I thought it was going to be a retelling of Cinderella, and it is, sort of, but mostly it's a retelling of The Bachelor, in a far future setting. Nothing in this story will surprise you; you will expect all of it before it happens, because this is that kind of book. But it's still enjoyable. I found the characters to be surprisingly likeable. The writing is not mind-blowing, but I think the author has a gift for creating characters ...more

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Feb 02, 2014 Jillian rated it liked it

I started reading for the premise - think The Hunger Games meets "The Bachelor - and stayed because the story was quite compelling. I ended up reading the whole thing in a matter of hours, getting sucked into the developing relationships between America and the other girls as well as Maxon, not to mention the overhanging rebellion. What's Marlee's secret? What are the rebels looking for?

(view spoiler) ...more

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Jul 21, 2016 Renata rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, audiobook, ya

On one hand this book is not very good and does not make very much sense, but also it was very compelling and we couldn't stop listening to it and immediately, frantically put a hold on the next one in the series. So...there's that.

The Selection--basically The Bachelor for a prince to find a princess--is a great concept for a book. The worldbuilding around this dystopian future is very stupid and makes no sense and it's basically just handwaving to create set dressing for the Bachelor, I mean, S ...more

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Dec 03, 2021 Andronike rated it liked it

I’m not a big romance person, so the whole “The Bachelor” setup of this book doesn’t appeal to me at all, but the writing was interesting enough to keep reading. And now I’m invested and want to read the sequel. I think I’ve figured out the upcoming twist. The characters are well-developed, even the minor ones I’m invested in and hope to see more. Plus, the world building and main character America Singe, are totally relatable in every way, which is refreshing for a non-contemporary YA novel.

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Jul 06, 2014 Andrea Thatcher rated it it was ok

Is this a great book? no. Does it borrow a little too heavily from Divergent and Hunger Games and, heck, the Bachelorette without coming close to the complexity and quality of writing of the former two? Yes. But it's seriously not as bad as a lot of these reviews. Look at it. You know this is a frothy princess novel going in. I enjoyed it for what it was and will probably read the rest of the series in between more serious and ambitious reads. ...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Akilah rated it liked it

Shelves: 2013

Exactly the kind of light fluffiness I needed.

I could've done without the dystopian element, though. I didn't really think it added anything to the plot, and once I stopped being annoyed by it and (rightfully) ignored it, I enjoyed the book a lot more. ...more

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