Book Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Title: The Selection | Author: Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection  Book #1

Genre: Young-Adult Fiction, Romance, Dystopian

Format: Kindle e-Book

Date Finished: May 21, 2013

CoffeeNCrackers Rating: 4 Cups of Coffee

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 to 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. -Goodreads

My Review

When I was trying to find a light reading (usually from YA realm), the gorgeous lady in blue dress on the front cover of The Selection really caught my attention. So, I picked this book. Though the synopsis doesn't wow me I decided to read it anyway just for fun. Surprisingly, Kiera Cass gives me more than what I expected. I really liked The Selection. Being told from the main character, America's point of view, the book started with her daily life and family and the social structure of the fictional country called Illea, where citizens are divided into castes. Then there's the Selection where girls are putting their names to be selected for the prince's future wife candidates. America is not interested but her family and boyfriend encourage her to participate for being the Selected means she's helping her family and herself for a better life. She is selected with 34 other girls and they have being put together in the castle to compete for Prince Maxon's heart and to be a queen. Well, if you ever read The Hunger Game, the premise sound familiar isn't it?

Right from the start I was hooked up with the story and characters. Kiera Cass did a very good job with the Selection because even though this a romance story, when most of the writers tend to exaggerate and make things complicated, she doesn't go over the top in narrating it. This makes the story more believable and easy to relate to. I really like America Singer due to several reasons. First, she is not fighting to win Maxon's heart let alone the crown but for her family to get a better life. Second, she keeps true to herself and speaks her own mind which I think it is a real beauty of a girl. She is not pretending to be someone she is not. The relationship between America and Maxon also is kind of cute and the parts that I really enjoyed and keep my eyes glued to the pages throughout the story is when they are having their dates. When I think that America and Maxon will fall to each other, then comes the annoying character, Aspen, her ex-boyfriend to win her heart's back. Argh! I hate love triangle. 

"No, I'm not choosing him or you. I'm choosing me"

Though the story enjoyable and fun, I still have some issues with this book. I don't really like Cass's selection of names for the characters especially the main character, America Singer. It is such a weird name and I don't really like it. Same goes to Maxon Schreave, Aspen, Marlee, Caleste, Bariel, Sosie and several others.The names got my tongue twisted. In addition, there are some characters which I think should have more roles to make the story more interesting. For example the antagonist character, Celeste. She is an interesting character, however she's not involved much in the story's development, which I think a mistake done by the author. 

All in all, it is an enjoyable ride. I'm having so much fun reading The Selection and can't wait to read it's sequel The Elite. So for readers out there, if you love Beauty Pageant Contest or The Bachelor, I recommend this book to all of you. Happy reading!

FOOTNOTE: This review is linked up to Saturday Situation hosted by Candace of Candace's Book Blog and Lori of Pure Imagination.

FOOTNOTE #2: This review is also linked up to Book Review Party Wednesday a fun weekly meme hosted by Cym Lowell

First Impression: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Title: Mockingjay | Author: Suzanne Collins

Series: The Hunger Games #3

Genre: YA Fiction, Action, Dystopian

Format: Paperback, 455 Pages

Date Started: June 10, 2012

The Blurb

Young Katniss Everdeen has survived the dreaded Hunger Games not once, but twice, but even now she can find no relief. In fact, the dangers seem to be escalating: President Snow has declared an all-out war on Katniss, her family, her friends, and all the oppressed people of District 12. 

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My First Impression 

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Advanced Rating: 4 Stars

I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather. -1st line

Now comes to the last part of the "game". Katniss' final battle. Well, at the beginning of the book I found out that Katniss is having a hard time to figure out whose side she should be on. Feeling betrayed by Haymitch and utterly disgusted by what the Capitol had done to District 12, she's trying to figure out what is the best move she should do next. Separated from Peeta but having Gale by her side, I can't wait what will happened in this final part of the Hunger Games. I really think that Katniss' characters is more mature in this final part, so does her sister Prim. I adore them.

Coming Soon: The Kill Order

I just completed the Maze Runner trilogy and it was such a great read. Then, I find out that this one will be coming out soon, I am pretty excited. How it all started will be revealed in this book and I just can't wait to find out more about it. 

 

Title: The Kill Order | Author: James Dashner

Series: The Maze Runner #0.5

Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian, Adventures, Action, Sci-Fi

Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages

Expected Publication: August 14, 2012

Publisher: Delacorte Press

 

The Blurb

 

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares seared the earth and mankind fell to disease.

The Kill Order is the story of that fall.

A prequel  to The Maze Runner trilogy, The Kill Order has been in the works since the completion of The Maze Runner. The  story of civilization's fall was kept under wraps and is the explication of the events that began this bestselling series.

“The prequel is something that has churned in my mind since before "The Maze Runner" was even complete. It's been hard to keep it a secret! I'm excited to finally share the news and I can't wait for my readers to see how it all began," shared author James Dashner.

 

 ** Preorder "The Kill Order" now at Amazon.com or visit the James Dashner's  website for the updates.

Wishlist: April 12, 2012

Seriously I have no idea how to start blogging again. It seems like all my ideas just stuck in my head, couldn't come out into words. I didn't review for almost half of the year, thanks to my working life! and I'm damn sure that my writing is getting rusty. Well, it is rusty. But I am so happy to write again and hopefully I can do it more frequently from now onwards. Maybe, piling up my wish-list would be a brilliant start. Don't you think so? Well, I do.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Divergent Book 2

One choice can transform you or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves and herself while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

Note: I've reluctantly rated the first book, Divergent, with two stars. Mixed feeling. Though I like the premise and the setting of the story, but the characters development failed to impress me. The story also was a bit dragging in the beginning but towards the end of Divergent, the story started to catch my interest, the reason why I'm so looking forward for this second installment.

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

The Mortal Instruments Book 5

The demon Lilith has been destroyed and Jace has been freed from her captivity. But when the Shadowhunters arrive to rescue him, they find only blood and broken glass. Not only is the boy Clary loves missing–but so is the boy she hates, Sebastian, the son of her father Valentine: a son determined to succeed where their father failed, and bring the Shadowhunters to their knees.

No magic the Clave can summon can locate either boy, but Jace cannot stay away not from Clary. When they meet again Clary discovers the horror Lilith’s dying magic has wrought Jace is no longer the boy she loved. He and Sebastian are now bound to each other, and Jace has become what he most feared: a true servant of Valentine’s evil. The Clave is determined to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. Will the Shadowhunters hesitate to kill one of their own?

Only a small band of Clary and Jace’s friends and family believe that Jace can still be saved and that the fate of the Shadowhunters’ future may hinge on that salvation. They must defy the Clave and strike out on their own. Alec, Magnus, Simon and Isabelle must work together to save Jace: bargaining with the sinister Faerie Queen, contemplating deals with demons, and turning at last to the Iron Sisters, the reclusive and merciless weapons makers for the Shadowhunters, who tell them that no weapon on this earth can sever the bond between Sebastian and Jace. Their only chance of cutting Jace free is to challenge Heaven and Hell a risk that could claim any, or all, of their lives.

And they must do it without Clary. For Clary has gone into the heart of darkness, to play a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing the game is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she even still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?

Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

Note: First of all, the cover is so gorgeous. Second of all, I was so enchanted by City of Bones and currently absorbed with the City of Ashes. Third of all, I have all four books including City of Glass and City of Falling Angels. And fourth of all, I don't see any reason not to have this one as well.

First Impression: The Maze Runner

Hi welcome to "First Impression". Let me tell you what's going on today. First I will share the first line of the story and my opinion on the the book that I've just started reading: the cover, the story, and will give an advance star rating to the book. Second, you'll share with me your "First Impression" by linking it back to Coffee N Crackers through the link widget below. Rules: The book must be a book that you just started reading, not a book that you already finished. Easy right? And you can post your First Impression whenever you start reading a new book: no specific day.

 *****

The Maze Runner by James Dashner: The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids the Runners venture into the labyrinth, trying to find an exit from this hellish place.What is this place, and does Thomas hold the key to finding a way out? 

He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air. - 1st line 

The Cover: I love the cover. It's a simple one but the walls covered with green (weed??) look beautiful and definitely a world that I would love to know.  

The Story: I already read through a few chapters and found out that the story have a good start. The Maze Runner looks like a story that I'll enjoy reading as the premise of the book sounds interesting and original. I would expect something enthralling  and captivating and it will bring me through an unforgettable ride of adventure and action.  


Advanced Star Rating: 5 Stars

CNC Book Discoveries #1

"The Sherlockian" by Graham Moore:  Dec. 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle had killed Sherlock Holmes In 1901, he abruptly resurrected the hero. Why? He never explained but his diary, now missing can tell everything. Harold White a literary researcher uses wisdom and methods gleaned from countless detective stories, takes up the search, both for the diary and for the killer of Doylean Scholar.

"The Holmes Affair" by Graham Moore: Victorian London: Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker roam the dark streets of Victorian London searching for clues as to what happened to the girls who were brutally killed. Modern-day New York: Harold White is solving the mystery of Conan Doyle's missing diary and Doylean scholar murder. 

"Wither" by Lauren DeStefano: At age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years to live. Thanks to a botched effort to create a perfect race, all females live to be twenty, and males live to age twenty-five. After Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she is desperate to escape from her husband’s strange world, her attempts to flee brings her into a society spiraling into anarchy.

"Feed" by Mira Grant:  Two experimental viruses escaped the lab and combined to form a single airborne pathogen that swept around the world in a matter of days and raised the dead. Newsflesh trilogy follows a team of bloggers, led by Georgia and Shaun Mason, as they search for the brutal truths behind the infection. "Feed" is the first book of the trilogy.  

Teaser Tuesdays Dec. 28, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays: A fun weekly meme Hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading where readers share the teasers sentences from their current reads. For this week's teaser, I pick from the book I'm reading, "The Iron King", the first book from Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa. 

The Iron King: In determination to find her brother who was taken by fey, Meghan travels to the world of Nevernever and experiences countless of adventures. With help of Grim, Puck and Ash, she's now going to fight the mighty Iron King, Machina and free her brother.

His fingers tightened on mine and pulled me forward. Startled and overbalanced, I looked up at him, and then he was kissing me. The Iron King, pg. 282