7. The Selection

     Another of my readings: The selection. The selection is set in a further future, after the IV World War (and yes, there was a III World War, after which The United States was invaded by China), when The United States changed its name to Illea because the previous name was associated with China. After that Illea's society was divided into 8 factions. Each faction had a specific job and acquisitive power. The main character's name is America Singer, she is a 5 and is, ironically, a very talented singer, but despite that, she and her family didn't have much money. America also had a secret boyfriend, Aspen (a 6), with whom she met some nights after curfew. One day she is forced by her mom to inscribe for the selection, a process in which the prince of Illea chooses her future wife out of some selected girls from Illea. This tradition will put America in the castle, brokenhearted and on the public eye, two things that she absolutely hated as much as being forced to marry Maxon, the prince if he chose her.

    This collection of books was a birthday present from my friends. I had already read them in Spanish, and I actually really liked them, but they were even better, if possible, in English. I was so delighted by them that I read the first one during the first week of college, the second one during last weekend and the last one is still to be finished, but I'm on it. No need to say this but they were so easy to read. One of my favourite quotes was said by Maxon: 

"Break my heart, break it a thousand times if you like. It was only ever yours to break anyway."

    And my second favourite one is said by Aspen: 

"I love you America Singer, it's just the way it is. The sky is blue, the sun is bright and Aspen endlessly loves America."

    The relationship stablished between America and Maxon is electric, you can just sense the good vibes between them only from reading a few pages. I have to admit that sometimes Maxon is a bit of a simp for America but she really went through hell in the second book with Maxon. This is why, if I had to rank the books I would say that the first one (the selection) is the champion; close enough the third one (the one) takes the silver medal; and the second one (the elite) ends up being my least favorite one because it sort of centers around Aspen and America's relationship.

    There are some continuations and extras to these books like "The heir" and "The crown". I know it's a bit of a spoiler but, my blog is full of them so: These books are about Maxon and America's daughter: Eadlyn. She is now the one who has to go through the selection and pick her future husband.

 

    Kiera Cass, the author, has also created new continuations that give other points of view to the story and I am definitely going to read them. Some of them are: The prince, The guard, The favorite and The Queen. The prince gives us an insight into Maxon's mind, the guard tells the same story but from Aspen's POV, the favorite tells the story of Marlee, America's best friend from the selection, who fell in love with a guard and then was severely punished; and The Queen tells Maxon's Parent's selection. They can be read separately or in a big book called "Happily Ever after", which apart from those stories also contains Celeste's POV, Lucy's scene, a bonus epilogue, a map and various illustrations.

 

    Personally the books I enjoyed more are the first ones and the least "The Prince" and "The Guard", because there was almost no point on reading them. "The Queen", "The heir" and "The crown" are definitely there too but they are not too good to be with the 3 first ones and they are not too bad to be placed with "The prince" and "The guard".