Rating: 3.75 
 From the surface, this seemed like the epitome of all good books: an interesting hook, a decent storyline, a male love interest, well-developed characters. (Skip to the bottom paragraphs, if you want to hear the pros) However, throughout the entire story, the plot, the story, seemed all too familiar. Then it hit me; "Princess Academy" by Shannon Hale sound familiar? Maybe that's why it felt I was rereading because the story is basically 80% exactly the same- a poor girl, separated from her family, picked to be in a contest, with girls of all kinds, to fight to be the bride of a young prince...later attacked by bandits who want something. Ironically, that's the summary of "Princess Academy." If I had retold this exact summary to someone who has read both books, I would bet a hundred dollars they couldn't tell which book I meant. Of course, there are differences, but in general, it's not so much different. I've heard it's a mix of "The Bachelor" and "The Hunger Games" and yes, it is, but I feel not even as much as this book. 
 More and more as I read, many parts seemed cliche to me. Some are listed below. 
 - Every book seems to need a mean girl in it who is hardcore competition, and that girl, was Celeste. The one who does anything possible to get the attention. 
 - Maxon - To the young main character, he seemed snotty, but turned out to be nothing like she expected. He's the secretive one, who's insecure, but finds a woman who understands him. Familiar? 
 - America - She's "different" "unique", the sassy one who gets the attention because she's someone who's ladylike like the others, and instead gets the real attention. She has no real friends in her hometown, but somehow earns them in a different setting 
 - There's also something that gets in the way of the main character staying with her love interest- and that, obviously, is another guy that she also seems to love. 
 That's all I'm going to name, because, that, to me, is just the most prominent cliche moments. 
 However, all the criticism aside, this was a book that I enjoyed reading because there weren't many parts that just on and on...it kept the reader interested. I always wanted to know who would be eliminated, how America would turn out, and the characters were nicely developed, so I felt the need to continue. She had just the right amount charm for me to like this book and continue without having to even think of putting it down. Her writing is fantastic, and she clearly has massive potential. I don't how she did it, but it was good. There were many fantastic moments and I understand the hype, even though I'm biased because "Princess Academy" came out first, and it seemed like a copy. Although it may seem like a copy, it's the best version that anyone could possible read. (Almost like when you read an original essay, and someone copies you, but makes it better) I couldn't bear to give this a 4, because well, the original is always the original will never change. 
 I liked this book while reading it, but while rating it, I had to look at the book as whole, and that itself, didn't shock me. For readers, if you have read something like "Princess Academy," you might not want to read this unless you wouldn't mind rereading it. If you haven't read that, but have read books like "The Hunger Games," and enjoyed that, this would be a good book for you to enjoy; a little bit similar, with a girlish touch.