If you are looking for a good book series, I could not recommend Kiera Cass’ The Selection more. It is a five-book series, with Happily Ever After acting as a companion to the series (Happily Ever After consists of four novellas and exclusive never-before-seen content and scenes).

The captivating story takes place in a country by the name of Illéa, with a monarchy as their form of government. The citizens are split up into castes that range from Ones to Eights, Ones being the richest, Eights being the poorest. There are restrictions based on the castes, which determines professions, living situations, and wealth. Life for the richer castes is swell, but for those that are Fives or higher, life is a constant struggle. Many of them starve, are forced to do difficult labor and get sick because of the polluted air in which they live. 

America Singer, the protagonist of The Selection, is a Five. Her family has a hard time getting a sufficient amount of food, but they get by. She is in love with her neighbor, Aspen, who is a Six and has an even harder time putting food on the table. Prince Maxon, the only son of the King and Queen, is holding a selection to find a wife—essentially, The Bachelor, but for royalty. Any girl of the right age can enter the selection, but only 35 are chosen. America is resistant to enter because of her love for Aspen, but her mother pushes her to enter. Eventually, America does enter as a favor to Aspen, who asks her to join so he knows he is not holding her back from anything. She does not expect to be chosen, as practically every girl that is eligible has signed up, but she is chosen and the story takes off as she participates in the competition at the palace to gain Prince Maxon’s love. America and Maxon’s love story is stretched out over three books (not including the novellas and extra scenes). Well, let me tell you, three is not enough! Their story demonstrates raw, difficult, beautiful love and has set my expectations way too high. Their story is one of friendship, bravery, and of course, love. The story follows America and Maxon as they discover who they are as individuals, and who they are together. 

In the fourth and fifth novels of the series, The Heir and The Crown, the story picks up eighteen years later when America and Maxon’s daughter, Eadlyn, holds her own selection. Eadlyn’s storyline is focused more on Eadlyn’s future as Illéa’s Queen and the responsibilities that come with it, rather than America’s storyline, which is mostly based on romance—but of course, there is a little bit of that here and there, as she is in search of a husband. I think that Maxon’s selection was way more predictable than Eadlyn’s. Right up until the end I wasn’t quite sure how everything would get tied up. While it was heartwarming to get a glimpse into America and Maxon’s future, I think that Cass should have just left it at the third novel, The One, the last book from America’s perspective. Eadlyn’s story was not bad per se, but nothing could possibly live up to America and Maxon and I would have preferred to have their story be the last in my mind.

The companion novel, Happily Ever After, includes four novellas from the perspectives of other characters in America and Maxon’s life that provide more depth and background to the story. Praise to Cass for also giving us the closure we need in this novel by telling us where the other women end up after the selection. There are also brilliant illustrations and a map of Illéa. You can read Happily Ever After after you finish The One or in between the books. I personally chose the latter.

When I first bought The Selection I didn’t realize it was a series. My heart sank when I read at the end of  The Selection “End of Book One”. I immediately forced my mother to buy the rest of the series. The week I was waiting for the rest of the books to deliver may have been the longest of my entire life. These books are such page-turners I swear I literally did not put them down from the second they arrived. One night I couldn’t stop reading and when I turned to check the time it was 8 a.m.! While I don’t recommend staying up until 8 in the morning reading, I do recommend this beautiful series. Honestly, all I can say is good luck to all of the teenage boys who will never live up to Prince Maxon, a fictional character who could beat out any real boy I know.