"The Selection" by Kierra Cass

So recently I finished "The Selection" by Kierra Cass. I didn't want to read it when I first saw it. I looked at it and knew it was going to be terrible, but for some reason I told myself that I was going to read it anyway. I'm sad to say I was right.
So, if you've never heard of "The Selection", which a great number of you probably haven't, it's the story of this dystopian world in which there is a caste system, and every time they have a prince who is old enough to marry they go through this process called the selection to determine who he is going to marry. Now America is our main character, and she's a five, and she's hopeless in love with this random guy named Aspen, who's a six. She's good at music. She enters the selection to be allowed to save money to marry Aspen who brutally breaks up with her the night before she gets chosen for this program. She meets Maxon, who is super cute, and stoic, but still awkward. They get attacked by these rebels. A lot of people leave. Maxon whines about his feelings, America starts to have feelings. Suddenly out of the blue a wild Aspen appears and America feels all conflicted about shit, and they make out again, even though it's against the rules. More rebel attacks, and suddenly America is one of six girls left and Maxon is saying that if it were simple he would've married her a long time ago. America then whines about how she doesn't know what she's doing but is happy about being in the top six
Now let me talk about why I hate this plot so much. It isn't because I could pick up any dystopian novel in the young adult section and find a lot of similar plot points. It's not that there are no real interesting moments to this book, only long periods of dull exchanges supposed to cause tension. Well, those play a part in it  but really, I hate it because there are so many plot points that are just left there, I mean you could probably write an entire book using the barely started plot lines. The rebel plot line is just stuck in there with no real purpose. So is the caste system, like I can't even tell who is who and I don't know how one moves castes but we know it is possible, I don't actually understand why it was there. And there is nothing redeeming about the entire Aspen plot line.
I'm going to talk about the characters now. This paragraph will be about America, and the next one will be about Maxon, and then I will write a third paragraph about everyone else. Now, America is such a stock character it hurts slightly. She has bright red hair (why I hate the exotic red head stock character is another rant for another time) and she is happy with what she has. And she's snarky and spunky. Oh, and she loves Aspen and has romantic feelings for Maxon. That's a complete summary of her character. Can you see why I don't like her?
Maxon is a whole other beast because he almost has less development that America. He loves America, but that is about it. Oh, and he does nice things occasionally. That's it.
The other characters exist. A few of them are nice, most of them aren't. Aspen loves America. That's all I can write about them.
This book isn't very good. It just seems to not actually care about itself. It just exists. But being the person I am, I will read the others because I hate unfinished stories. But you fair reader should not read this book.

UP NEXT: Hush, Hush: Becca Fitzpatrick.

     Today, I'm going to review the book "Heat Wave" by Richard Castle. This book is based on the TV show Castle. If you don't know the premise of Castle it follows the story of detective Kate Beckett and Richard Castle, a writer, who shadows her for the inspiration about a series of crime novels. Do yourself a favor and watch the show.
     The story follows Nikki Heat a detective, and Jameson Rook a journalist who are trying to solve the murder of a real estate tycoon. Except for the fact that several other people got murdered along the way. There is also some art theft and scandal involved. And some people hook up with each other. A dude gets arrested. There are some romantic moments.
     I read this book while I was working a garage sale and it was dynamic enough to keep me from boredom. But it is not great in any sense of the word. The story is very similar to something you'd see on an episode of Castle except a little empty. Every character in the book can be matched to someone in the show except not as interesting. Each character lacks something that makes their tv counter part dynamic.
    I could have hated the book a lot more than I did and I don't think my opinion had anything to do with the fact that I adore Castle because I've met super fans who love the book and hate the book. I just wish the writing had been a little bit better.
    Overall, I'd read the next one but I probably wouldn't read this one again. Take that to mean what you will.
   Do you think I'm crazy? Think I'm preaching the truth? Let me know in the comments or at my tumblr  justblameitonmyotp.tumblr.com.
-C

Hey, I'm one of the people who run this blog. I don't know anyone outside of the group that runs the blog so I'm going to introduce myself to the internet. I'm not going to tell you my name but you can call me C. Or at least that's how I'm going to sign my posts. I read every type of book but I tend to read more young adult fiction, and because of scheduling, at least this semester, a huge number of "novels of literary merit".
Don't be afraid to leave a comment, or find me on tumblr at justblameitonmyotp.tumblr.com. I love talking about books and hearing a multitude of opinions.
Can't wait to read with you!
-C.