Friday Reads - January 20.

Hi booklovers

Another week gone by, another Friday Reads.

Sadly, I didn't get to finish Heartless this week even though I managed to read a big part of it on Monday because I was at home sick.

On Tuesday I started Non-heir by Rachel E. Carter. I got this free prequel novella after registering on her website.

I've also been approved as a member of her review team, so I've already received the ebook of First Year, the first book in her 'The Black Mage' series. 

I'm hoping to finish Non-heir this weekend so I can move on to First Year next week. Btw, I loooooove these covers, they are so stunning!

I listened to about two hours of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I'm really enjoying this, Stephen Fry is the most perfect narrator for these books.

So this week, I'm just going to continue and hopefully finishing Non-heir and Heartless. But I'm not going to push myself to speed through Heartless, I want to enjoy it. 

I went to the library this week to pick up my teacher's card and I saw that they finally had the Selection series so I decided to get The One, since I've only read the first two books. I'm not sure if I'll pick it up straight away. 

I also borrowed The ocean at the end of the lane by Neil Gaiman. I've heard great things about this book and the author, so if I'm in the mood for it, I'll pick it up soon.

What are you going to read this weekend / the upcoming week? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

The Selection by Kiera Cass - non-spoiler review.

Hi booklovers

Today I'm going to review a book I've had on my wish list for ages, but since I wasn't sure whether or not I would like it I decided to get it from the library and that is The Selection by Kiera Cass.

Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Genre: YA, dystopia

Format: paperback

*Story:
The story begins with hundreds of girls receiving a letter inviting them to participate in 'the Selection', a chance to become crown prince Maxon's bride. One of these girls is America Singer, a talented musician. America doesn't want to participate but both her secret lover and mother insist that she does. Reluctantly, America does enter and of course she gets chosen to be one of the 35 contestants.

*Characters:
-America Singer: She's a 'five' who's in love with Aspen, a boy from 'six'. (I had to stop myself from putting District in front of the numbers.) Although she doesn't want to, she decides to enter the Selection anyway. When she gets chosen to be one of the Selected, this is the perfect opportunity for her to get away from Aspen, since he told her he can't see her anymore. America constantly downplays her own qualities and beauty, which make her more loveable - at least according to the audience watching the Selection - but really got on my nerves.

-Aspen Leger: America's secret lover. I found Aspen to be a typical 'male' because his pride doesn't let him appreciate what America does for him. He 'has to be' the caretaker and provider. Can you tell I'm not that fond of him?

-Prince Maxon: He seems to be a very stiff, spoiled guy at first, but he's actually rather witty. Typical for his 'position', he doesn't seem to be aware of what goes on outside the palace. Being forced to choose a wife through 'the Selection' seems to bother him sometimes, but he can't do anything about it.

*Plot:
In this 'dystopian' world, the population is divided into castes. It's almost not done to marry into a lower caste. Each caste has its own 'profession' or 'talent'. Like I said before, I had a hard time not comparing this to the Hunger Games.

*Overall rating:
I went into this book with low expectations. Like I said, this book has been on my wishlist for a couple of years, but after hearing/seeing a lot of mixed reviews I put off buying it. In the end I decided to get it from the library and I'm glad I did. Glad because I didn't spend money on it. I enjoyed reading it and I flew through the story, but it also definitely has a lot of flaws.
The difference between America and the other girls is a bit too obvious, making her the one to stand out. We don't really get to know the other girls either, just how they behave towards Maxon or one another.
There is very little world building, it's more of an info dump, but nothing memorable. The caste system isn't explained very well either. Even though they talk about the differences between the castes, we don't really get to experience what it's like to live there.
SPOILER:

I also found that the story of the rebels wasn't done very well either.And of course, there is the typical YA trope: the love triangle :-s

I gave this book three stars, because even though this story isn't the best dystopian story I've ever read, I did find myself wanting to keep reading.
I've already read The Elite and also gave it three stars.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies