Kiera Cass
Genre: YA alternate history, dystopian
Hardback: 346 Pages
Publication: May 5, 2015
by Harper Teen
Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she’d put off marriage for as long as possible.
But a princess’s life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can’t escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.
Eadlyn doesn’t expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn’s heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she’s always thought.
The Selection books are definitely a hit or a miss for people. It’s certainly one that I had to be in the mood to read; otherwise, I would have dnfed it within the first pages.
I can definitely see where readers have had a problem with Eadlyn’s attitude. There’s a lot of negativity surrounding her with her insecurities. She doesn’t want to be queen, she doesn’t want to go through a Selection, she doesn’t want to show her vulnerabilities to anyone, she doesn’t want. . . a lot of things, and unfortunately she focuses so much on what she has to lose that she doesn’t think as much about what she has to gain. Having gone through the Selection with America, we know what is lying in wait for Eadlyn, and it is so hard for us to watch her damage so many potential relationships. She’s also pretty bratty. She makes offensive remarks, doesn’t look past the surface level of people (she doesn’t know a lot of things about people who she’s known for pretty much as long as she’s been alive), and it takes her a while to even try to get to know some of the Selected.
It’s all too easy to focus on Eadlyn’s bad attitude, her lack of appreciation for what she has in her life, and her poor treatment of the Selected boys. What’s harder to narrow in on is the reason for Eadlyn’s behavior. Once we get to the heart of it, I think Eadlyn is a lot easier to relate to—though I’m by no means trying to justify her actions. And I think a lot of us can relate to the fear of falling in love and the fear of losing our loved ones.
What I find most compelling about this novel is how Kiera Cass gives us a heroine that rejects the possibility of love because of her fear of baring her heart to someone else. As much as I want to judge Eadlyn for the hurt she causes when she rejects peoples’ attempts to get to know the real her, I can definitely relate to her feelings. At some point, I believe that most, if not all, of us have been afraid to share something about ourselves with somebody. Baring our hearts to a potential love interest is the hardest of all, especially if we allow ourselves to believe that it might work out. After all, the fear of losing someone, something, is pretty scary. In this regard, I believe this is an important novel because it tells us that it’s okay to be afraid. We just shouldn’t let our insecurities keep us from moving forward (and I do believe that Eadlyn is going to move forward).
Another beautiful thing about this novel is how Eadlyn’s parents reassure her that it’s okay not to come out of the Selection with an engagement. Yes, they do want to see an engagement, but they constantly reassure Eadlyn that she has her own strengths and to embrace them. Eadlyn is not America, but she has her own talents. For example, she has an excellent fashion sense, she has a loving relationship with her family, and she has a strong sense of loyalty to those she cares about (though it does lead her to make offensive remarks to her brother and drive him away).
All that said, this made for a light entertaining read that helped me get through an afternoon sick at home. While I may prefer more intense, plot-driven books, I do need books like this in my life 🙂
Source: Library
Rating: 3 stars
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Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
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