Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Book Review - "The Selection" by Kiera Cass (Part I)




The Selection by Kiera Cass is exactly like the Hunger Games if The Hunger Games met Twilight and created something even more messed up than the Twilight chick’s cannibalistic, pedophilia-victim baby. In The Hunger Games Katniss is a smart, capable woman who does not want to participate in her messed up country’s national (and, weirdly, televised) legally-sanctioned murder sports. As a result of this she ends up torn between two guys, but always puts herself (and her family and friends) before her romantic interests.


In The Selection, America (yes, that is the protagonist’s name) is a gorgeous girl talented at household chores who does not want to participate in her messed up country’s national (and weirdly, televised) legally-sanctioned version of female slavery (“romantic”!) sports. As a result of this she ends up torn between two guys, and always puts them first.


(Since that was more snarky than informative, here’s what’s actually going on in The Selection: the Prince makes a bunch of women compete for his hand like some messed up, high-stakes version of The Bachelor, and the benefits to the contestants’ families are too good for the girls not to compete. Like North Korea where you do what the dictator tells you if you want your family to live. And this is all televised for the enjoyment of the country/world).


The book actually passes the Bechdel test in the first chapter! At least it does if you’re somewhat braindead and you read the test in the strictest sense of the rules without understanding what it’s actually about. In the beginning, America’s mother tells her how pretty she is. Of course she has a chance at bagging a prince! While it is oblique, the undercurrent of the conversation still is America (and her younger sister May’s) desirability to men, so I’m going to go ahead and say it doesn’t count. This opening chapter is a good indication of what this book actually is - a trite, demeaning book that is nevertheless masquerading as “empowering” to young women. America doesn’t want to be a princess! She’s bucking the trend! That makes her soooo different and strong! Um, no, it actually means she is an idiot. Her life goal is still to serve a man hand and foot, she just wants to do it for a poor, starving guy instead of a prince. I should also mention that this takes place in the future, not the Middle Ages. America has a trade (musicianship)--she is not talentless or reliant on men to be her breadwinners.


This desire to be completely subservient is foreshadowed (if you can call dumping a 40 lb. weight on the reader’s metaphorical foot foreshadowing) in the beginning of the book during her first described interaction with her boyfriend, Aspen. Here, America tells us that her greatest ambition is to sew Aspen’s clothes for him! The two compliments this guy gives her are “wow, you’re so gorgeous” (her protests that she isn’t don’t work on him!) and that she will, “make a man very fat and happy one day” i.e. she’s a good cook. Does she reply by saying, “No, you jerk, I’m going to be the best and most celebrated singer ever, not your personal cook-slave”? No! She simpers at him and contradicts…. “No, I’m going to make YOU fat and happy one day!”. I’ll make a small concession for this since the guy is supposed to be so poor he is literally starving, but still.


Then America, who does not want to compete for the Prince’s hand, laughs with Aspen about how she doesn’t want to end up some schmuck in this horrifying competition, and what does he say? “Darling, I’ll support you in this?” Of course not. He wants her to do it. He wants to sell his girlfriend into sex slavery; held as a romantic interest for a Prince to whom she has no feelings for, for the sole benefit of himself. Oh, and her family, I guess. How does he convince her to do this? By manipulating her into it. He kisses her and teases her until she can’t concentrate. She tells the reader that she does not want to do it, but cannot deny him anything. At this point I am starting to worry that the author does not understand what an abusive relationship is and I am honestly a little worried that she thinks this is okay to condone - however tacitly - to young, female readers. And because America does “everything she can to make Aspen’s life easier” of course she agrees to do something which she has been saying for the entire story so far that she does not want to do. So, with one plea and a kiss, the only conviction the protagonist has ever had is swept away for the good of her boyfriend.

(Look out for Part II of this Review soon!)

1 comment:

  1. "The Selection by Kiera Cass is exactly like the Hunger Games if The Hunger Games met Twilight and created something even more messed up than the Twilight chick’s cannibalistic, pedophilia-victim baby."

    *snort*

    ReplyDelete