The inevitable train wreck of her lies looms on the horizon for months in an overlong morality play building to the climax that includes tidy resolutions to all the character arcs that are quite heartwarming but, in the case of Cass’ estranged mother, narratively unearned.ĭespite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod. But Rowan doesn’t want to be a dirty little secret and doesn’t see why Cass can’t be honest about this part of her life. Pansexual Taylor is a gamer, a little bit punk, White like Cass, and so, so great-but she still can’t help comparing her to Rowan, Cass’ online best friend and role-playing ship partner. But on the other hand, Cass is finally dating her amazingly cute longtime crush, Taylor. Also, her mom has suddenly left Minneapolis and moved to Maine to be with a man she met online. And sure, maybe she’s missed a college application deadline. Now, turning to her role-play friends to cope with her fighting parents, she worries that people will judge her for her fannishness and online life.

Back in middle school, she had what she calls a gaming addiction, playing “The Sims” so much her parents had to take the game away. But there's lots of descriptions of dresses.Ī probably harmless, entirely forgettable series opener.Ĭan a 17-year-old with her first girlfriend prevent real-life folks from discovering her online fandoms?Ĭass is proudly queer, happily fat, and extremely secretive about being a fan who role-plays on Discord. Scant explanation is made for the ructions that have created the current political reality, and the palace is laughably vulnerable to rebels from both the North and the South, neither of whom are given any credible motives. Shabby worldbuilding complements the formulaic plot. Prince Maxon is much nicer than she expected, but she will remain loyal to Aspen. She's chosen, she goes to the palace, she draws the ire of the other girls with her beauty and the interest of the prince with her spunky independence. But pressure from both her family and Aspen causes her to relent, and the rest is entirely predictable. America, a Five, doesn't want to join the Selection because she is in love with Aspen, a Six. The winning girl will become queen, and her family will all be elevated to Ones. One girl will be chosen by lottery from each province to travel to the Capital and live in the palace so the prince can make his choice. In a rigid, caste-based dystopian future, Illéa’s Prince Maxon has come of age and needs to marry. In this case, if it wasn't ' The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games,' it was pretty darn close. It's a bad sign when you can figure out the elevator pitch for a novel from the get-go.

The selection series book 1