America Singer is a 5, a social class that are mostly artists and performers. As 5's her family generally has enough to eat and a place to live, but there are times when they must choose between eating and having their home heated. America has a secret relationship with a boy who is a 6. Marriage outside your caste is frowned upon, and America's mom would be devistated to know she was dating someone of a lower caste. One avenue to attain a higher status is to participate in "The Selection," a process by which the crown prince chooses a bride from amoung his countrywomen. When America is invited to participate in the "Selection," she, at first, refuses. But when even her boyfriend urges her to go, she takes the plung, but only because she knows how much her being a participant will help her family. What she doesn't know is how much she is going to end up really liking the prince.
This is the first book in one of the most popular YA series in our library. All the time I have teens or their parents looking for "books like The Selection." I finally decided I better read it, and can see why it is so popular. It is a distopian Cinderella story, pretty similar in plot to both Cinder by Marrisa Meyer, and Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. In all three, a girl doesn't understand how stunningly beautiful she is, and is surprised to find she has caught the attention of someone way above her station. In all three books the Prince/Magical Being is just as attracted to her for her strong morals, as her good looks. Cass's world building is interesting and her characterizations are good. I enjoyed the book but am still deciding if I want to committ to read the whole series. I must admit, YA fiction isn't really my favorite genre (with some exceptions) and I only read the first books in both the Cinder and Twilight series and then got tired of the raging hormones. (2012, 327 p)
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