When America entered the Selection she never thought it would come down to this. Thirty five girls entered, now only six are left, with America among them. Now the competition for Maxon is fiercer than ever, and America is still on the fence between Aspen and Maxon. And if she doesn’t act soon, she could lose them both.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. With the Selection down to six girls, there was more focus on developing the characters and I found myself liking (and disliking!) characters more and more. Additionally, the author did a good job building the tension between characters and setting up for the next book. In fact there’s a lot in the Elite that influences events in the One. However, even with all of this, the book only deserves three stars. This book felt dragged out and plainly uneventful. The back-and-forth between characters was irritating and the outcome of this back-and-forth was far too predictable. Don’t get me wrong though, many of the events, like I said earlier, were necessary but it just shouldn’t have been enough for an entire book. If the Elite was merged with the Selection or the One, it would’ve been far more enjoyable to read.
A memorable moment was when Celeste shows America that she’s dead-last in the popularity polls and Celeste is first. It made me question whether or not America would stay in the competition.
Reviewed by Rylan, Grade 8, Tuckahoe Area Library
HCPL TeenScene's Read + Review 