Unfortunately, my wish did not come true. The Selection has suffered from ill-thought out world-building from its very first pages, and I had hoped that the author would explain more about how this dystopic world came to be. I won’t say much on this topic because my first two reviews are about this issue, but suffice to say, the world-building didn’t magically improve in The One. The world-building never does come together Unfortunately, being slightly more exciting is really the only good thing I can say about this story. I wasn’t particularly impressed with how or why these events occurred, but they did make The One feel like a much more interesting and fast-paced read than the last two books. Thus, I commend Cass for her significant improvement in having things actually happen in the plot of The One! Instead of sitting in the palace for a couple hundred pages, whining about love and boys, America talks with rebels, gets shot, and tries to be politically manipulative. Admittedly, the author doesn’t make many good writing choices, but it is important to recognise that even the worst story usually offers readers at least one worthwhile or interesting thing to read. Consequently, I have tried to focus on the concrete things that make the books work or not.
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Trying to review The Selection novels has been difficult because it’s so easy to let a post devolve into pure snark when you are dealing with these stories. Will America win Maxon’s heart or will she be going home heartbroken? America Singer was pressured into joining the selection, a televised competition between young women vying to be the next princess of Illea, and now she and Prince Maxon must sort out their feelings for one another as a rebellion intensifies in violence around them.