During the course of this book, I had many reactions: curiosity, frustration, excitement, impatience, and prolonged bouts of suffocating boredom. Which is another way of saying this book made me fall asleep. I admit a large part of my decision to read The Selection was influenced by its gorgeous cover. A cover that nice should have an awesome book to go with it, right? Not exactly. It's extremely popular and a lot of my friends really liked it, so I guess I'm the black sheep in that sense. I just found it sort of underwhelming. 
 The beginning was difficult for me to get into. I had a few false starts in which I started reading the book but then set it aside for something more interesting. Nothing about America's narration or the writing really stood out to me, and at some parts it just felt like a really long monologue. *yawn* I saw nearly every plot twist coming from a mile away, and I honestly don't feel the need to read the next books in the series because I can just find out what happens from reading the synopsis. 
 Most of the characters were "what you see is what you get" stereotypes, and I found it pretty hard to get attached to a lot of them. Most of the time, America was a pretty admirable heroine and didn't do things that were completely stupid. She's your typical feisty, independent redhead and had other things on her mind than just flirting with one of her boyfriends. (That's right, there's a love triangle. And it's not that great.) She actually cares about her family and puts them before herself. Celeste, on the other hand, had zero character development whatsoever and was basically there to garner sympathy for the other characters that had to put up with her. Just because she's rich doesn't mean she has to be a stuck-up butt face all the time! Also, some of the names were ridiculous. I mean, Tiny? Really? And what's worse is that she was described as having a petite figure, high voice, and being very timid. Ummm... okay, then. 
 Now, I shall introduce you to America's not-so-lovely love interests. We have Aspen, America's first love who is a caste below her, making it difficult for them to be together. I thought he was okay until he totally freaked out about America making him dinner, because apparently he's the man so he should be the provider and he can't stand having a woman feed him with nothing to give in return. Well, I'm sorry to injure your pride, Aspen, but America's a caste above you and probably has more money than you ever will, so if you love her you better suck it up and eat the freaking food. 
 And then we have Maxon, crown prince of Illea. America entered the Selection, a sort of reality game show where 35 girls compete for the hand of the prince, in an effort to please her mother and Aspen. Maxon was portrayed as a type of Prince Charming, with a kind-hearted and generous disposition, and a briefly mentioned interest in photography, but it all felt kind of fake and cringe-y. His relationship with America seemed stiff and forced. I also thought he at least valued America's opinion until he went all "stuck-up royal jerk" on her. I guess he thought he knew best because he was royalty or whatever. 
 I didn't find either one of the contenders especially attractive or swoon-worthy, and in some ways the whole Selection thing with Maxon was actually kind of creepy. I mean, listen to this: 
 "You are all dear to me. It's simply a matter of discovering who shall be the dearest." 
 Yep. He actually said that. If I were America, I would have gone with my original gut feeling and stayed far away. 
 Also, why do people keep comparing this book to The Hunger Games? That's almost an insult to THG and the dystopian genre in general. I mean, I get the game show aspect, but beyond that they have nothing in common. The Selection hardly qualifies as dystopian. This book had so much potential for world building and the creation of a dystopian atmosphere, but instead it was just frou-frou fluff, sparkly dresses, and rainbows. I had to keep reminding myself that I was not, in fact, reading a fairytale romance. 
 If you don't especially care about your books having substance, then The Selection is fine. It's an interesting concept with a strong main character that isn't too annoying, at least most of the time. But if you're like me, this awesome GIF about sums it up: