She was her maidservant and the head of her household, but somehow Delia Grace was even more self-centered than Hollis was. But Hollis’s best friend, Delia Grace, was a monster. We loved America because she fought tooth and nail for her friends. Something Cass did well in The Selection was female friendships. If we had just been given scenes of this man doing nice things or being a real person then we would get why she falls in love with him. And that’s what makes this book so infuriating.

We learn things about this man, that he works with his hands, he gave up his lordship, etc., but there is no real reason why she falls in love with him other than she does. And like… nothing else? Which is so incredibly vain. But she falls in love with the man because of his blue eyes. This isn’t really a spoiler, it’s in the synopsis. Not only that, but while she is betrothed to the king she falls for someone else. She says things like, “But every last piece of me wanted to wear that necklace set with rose-tinted jewels and diamonds.” She is vain when we are supposed to think she is humble. Sure, she feels like it will up her station, but all she talks about is how lucky she is to be marrying a king. Their relationship is one sided: Hollis is obsessed with him just because she wants to be a royal and wear fancy jewelry. We don’t get to see Hollis fall in love with the king or him fall in love with her. Half of the book is Hollis, the main character, telling you how life is in Coroa rather than us just seeing it through how she is treated by others. So let’s start with Hollis, the main character that you are supposed to love but drove me crazy. The plot was boring, the characters were stiff and unrelatable, and there was instant romance, my absolute LEAST FAVORITE THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. This entire story felt told rather than lived in. It was a discombobulated bunch of dumb events that made little sense to me.

I think if that was Cass’s jumping off point, there was so much more she could have done in the story to make it rich.īut this book wasn’t rich. But that story is beautiful to me, about two inter-generational women supporting and caring for each other. If you’re unfamiliar, beware that this is a tiny spoiler. In hind sight, to me this book is a retelling of the book of Ruth in the Bible. So, I’m going to start this review with the one aspect of it I enjoyed. Your feelings from start to finish of this book

King jameson the betrothed