**I'm going to treat this series as one book for two reasons. 1) I read all 3 books in about 48 hours, so it felt like one continuous book to me. 2) I liked all 3 books equally and didn't feel like any of them stood out of the crowd enough to warrant its own post.
The Selection
The Elite
The One
Looking for a lighter read, I found this gem in the YA section and devoured it. It's like a mash-up of The Hunger Games and The Bachelor, all set in a fairy tale kingdom. 16-year-old America Singer reluctantly signs up to be on a reality show set up to find a match for the newly eligible prince of the kingdom, Maxon. Unlike the rest of the beauty queen wannabes and Maxon superfans, America is there to help her family, who is unfairly placed near the bottom of the kingdom's broken caste system. She develops a funny friendship with the prince along the way and finds herself enjoying the whole ordeal more than she expected.
Although the series starts out feeling like it might just be fluff, Cass does an excellent job of intertwining the dating escapades with more serious undertones of unrest in the kingdom. And what would a YA dystopian novel be without a love triangle? Although many of the elements in the book are similar to previous YA dystopian trilogies, The Selection provides a refreshing take on the genre. Usually by the 3rd book in these series, I feel like the author has given up and created a terrible ending. The Selection is the first trilogy of its kind that had me interested and satisfied to the end.
One warning: When I started The Selection, I thought the whole "Selection" process would be done in the first book. When I finished #1, I had to rush to the library to grab the next two books so I could find out what happened. My suggestion: grab all three at the same time. You'll be done with all three in a couple days anyway.
Once you've finished the series, you can join me in anxiously awaiting The Heir, coming in May 2015. It serves as a sort of epilogue to the series, giving you a view of what comes after happily ever after.
Overall Rating: 4 stars
Content Warning: There are a few slightly steamy make-out scenes and a few suggestive comments referencing what will come post-wedding, but nothing graphic or alarming. There are also a few mild swear words. Overall, it's very tame. I would let my 13 year old read this.
Target Audience: teenage girls or any female with a bit of a romantic streak
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