The Selection- Ruby

Summary

The Selection is a dystopian future book about a girl named America Singer, a young, independent, and strong-willed teen who lives a relatively normal life in her society. Her country, Illéa, is divided into castes from one to eight. The lower your caste, the worse your job, and the poorer you are. America is a five, the caste made up of artists and musicians. America’s life changes when she is chosen to participate in the selection: a competition between 35 girls to win prince Maxon's hand in marriage and the crown. She arrives at the palace greeted by luxury a five rarely sees. While the prince is not the cold, rigid snob she expected him to be, she can’t bring herself to seriously compete for him because she wants to be with Aspen Leger, a six she had a secret love affair with back home. As the book goes on she begins to have feelings for Maxon, and considers the possibility of staying with him. Just as things are getting started between them a new draft of soldiers arrives at the palace and one of these soldiers is none other than Aspen Leger himself. To make this situation even more completed the castle is attacked twice by a mysterious group of rebels. The book ends with America in the middle of  this confusing situation.

Connection

I made a connection between The Selection and The Hunger Games because both competitions are broadcasted for people’s entertainment. Both contests are used by the government to ensure their hold on power. Another connection I made is between The Selection and the real world. In The Selection, while prince Maxon can only marry one of the thirty five girls it is totally okay for him to simultaneously have affairs with several of them at once. However if one of the girls is discovered to be in multiple relationships, prince Maxon is expected to put them to death. This reminds me of polygamy (the practice or custom of having more than one spouse, especially wife, at one time). This is a tradition practiced in many African countries and is also a part of early Mormon beliefs. This is an issue that the characters struggle with in The Selection and an ongoing topic today with international human rights and women's rights organizations. 

Recommendations

I would recommend this book to people who like the dystopian future genre. While I could have done with a little more resistance from the characters against the selection (in my opinion one of the most corrupt and twisted ideas in the book), this is a dystopian future book with all the violence and twists a book of that nature entails. I would also recommend this book to people who like romance novels. It is a big part of the book while it wasn't my favorite aspect.  People who read this book should be okay with books that move at a slow pace, especially between main events. Readers who want lots of action should look elsewhere. To anyone else I’d say this book is a worthwhile read.