I need to apologize to The Selection. I called it out as being too familiar to the TV reality show The Bachelor and not original enough and...well, it still is but this book here could probably give it a run for its money in how much we're relying on the dynamic of reality television to sell an idea. Let's just get this started.
Victoria Sandelwood was raised in the 24th ward with a spineless stepmother and an abusive stepfather who beats her. She's also stalked by a mysterious boy who says they have a history together but she doesn't remember it at all. One day a message arrives for her with revealing new information, that she's the surrogate daughter of the Queen and she is to travel to the 1st ward to become the new Princess Amelia and marry a prince...along with six other girls who look exactly like her. Victoria must compete with the other clones to win the affections of Prince Byron and also the crown of Westeria, but the competition is more than it seems and secrets are around every corner, threatening Victoria and the other girls with more than just a return trip home.
Okay, so when a book honestly tries to relate itself with Twilight, I'm going to have issues with it. (Seriously, there's a scene in here where she freaking reads Breaking Dawn and wishes her relationship could be like Bella and Edward's...I'm not kidding!) This book just lacked so much in originality. Color-coding the girls so we could tell them apart, having the catty mean one who is super possessive with the prince, the love triangle where the two guys involved have to be stupid for liking this devoid-of-personality-girl (OMGosh, it IS just like Twilight!). Even some little details of the book just so generic. Her favorite book is Pride and Prejudice...because of course it is. Her stepfather beats her with a switch, leaving marks, and being super creepy and possessive...despite the fact she knows he could one day be royalty and have his sorry behind executed because she freaking felt like it...naturally. There was nothing that said "original" or "new" about it and it just made me sad...and irritated.
Now, it's not like this book was devoid of hope from the very beginning, it wasn't. There was potential here, but I think the issue lies in the execution. It plays it's cards way too soon (I'll come back to this little tidbit) and the pacing was just...strange. Victoria has a terrible encounter with her stepfather...and in the next second we're admiring out pretty dresses and reading Pride and Freaking Prejudice for the billionth time. We find out the queen isn't what she seems and then we've discovered a horrible secret...then it's date night with our super handsome prince man! It just doesn't seem realistic. If I learned half the things that Victoria does, going on dates and having slumber parties with my new "sisters" would be the last thing on my mind!
Yeah, we need to talk about The Bachelor references in this book. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of the show (if I watch it then it's background noise while I do something else and still end up hating the final choice anyway). That being said, I've seen enough of it to know that what you find in this book is borderline copyright infringement. I'm serious, all the cheesy lines from the show are here. "I'm certain my future wife is in this room." "Can I steal him from you for a second?" "I'm looking for my one true love." Even the tacky date cards with the stupid puns are in here!
Now, the major stuff I want to talk about is going into some serious spoiler territory, so I'm putting up the alert and, if you wanna skip it, go down to the Final Verdict.
*SPOILER ALERT* So, there's a twist in the book that I kind of figured out right away. Each of these girls is a clone of the original princess, yes? So what happens to the ones who are not going to be picked to be the new princess? Well, they die of course. Now, one of the girls figures it out at about halfway into the book and rats out the Queen in front of everyone. Now, here's my problem...this is a horrible way to announce this kind of plot twist. If all the broads on the tv show were told they'd either win this guy's heart or die they would NOT be sitting around swimming and sowing and reading and whatever generic crap hobby they give each girl. They'd run for the freaking hills! They'd try to off themselves before the Queen can do it first. They'd...do something! These girls don't try anything. They just sit around and turn down escape attempts...nothing! It's implied that one of the girls tries something, but she freaking survives. What is the point of that!? You've set up all these dark implications and you're not using them! Plus, we sit around for four weeks with all of these pointless girls just sitting around and doing nothing. Hey! Here's an idea. If you want to be The Bachelor so much...why not have Rose Ceremonies!? It's the only thing they don't have. Have a girl eliminated every week only to find out that, instead of being sent home, she's actually eliminated! How much more impactful would that have been!? What a better way to discover this plot twist! Have your stupid date cards and your fantasy dates and find out the dark truth in such a horrible way! Missed opportunities all around in this thing and it just annoyed the crap out of me.*END OF SPOILERS*
Final Verdict
As much as I complained about this book, the truth is it's just not for me. I don't like reality dating shows, I'm sick of "girl-starts-revolution" plot lines, and I'm just tired of it all. If you're the type of person who does like those things, you might end up liking this book just fine...just check it out at your local library.
Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller
Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242
Next Time: Man, Faerie folk can be real jerks....
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