For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

I read this book upon the recommendation of many of my friends. There came a point in time where everyone I knew were raving about the series, talking about how cute it was and how it gave them intense feels. I had a feeling I wouldn't like it very much, just from reading the synopsis alone, but I decided to trust my friends on this one and read it. After reading it, I'll admit that I didn't dislike it as much as I thought I would, but I didn't really like it either. I think it was an odd mixture of all that hype and my personal expectations for this book that caused me to feel the way I feel about this novel.

This book has that cliche romantic feel to it that I'm sure a lot of teenagers would like. It's a rather feel-good book with not much angst, a perfect guy, and an 'I- don't-think-I'm-pretty-but-I-actually-am' heroine. I felt like this type of story is rather overused. I know that there's a reason why this trope is very popular in the YA genre, but I guess I was just expecting more from a book that everyone told me was amazing. It was nothing special, really. It was sweet. It had its moments. There were some parts where I could definitely see why people would love the book. The thing is: a good book cannot rely on just those moments alone. Every book is unique, but not every book is special. I was looking for that special thing in this, but I just couldn't seem to find it. The plot was normal. The writing was fine. The characters fit perfectly into the usual character archetypes. I'm so frustrated because there is nothing inherently wrong about this book, nothing bad at all, but there's nothing particularly good about it either. Everything is just completely... average. 

Through all of that, there are still a couple of good points this book had. It touched on certain topics like poverty, starvation, elitism, and politics that I thought were really good to see in a YA book of this kind. Although those themes were not the main focus of the story, the author made sure to highlight them at least once in the story. That makes you realize a bunch of things about society and how it really works.

I won't be recommending this book or re-reading it, but I will not warn you against it either. A lot of my friends really enjoyed this, and as everyone has different book tastes, you might find this to be an absolutely charming read. For a new reader of YA, this might be a good book to get hooked on the genre, but if you already read YA, have already explored more daring stories, you might want to let this one go.