It is 300 years in the future; World War IV has ended, and the
United States is no more. It has been
replaced by new countries, complete with a numbered caste system based on
occupations. Everyone is limited on
their life choices based on their ancestors’ ability to help the
government. Thus, the rich and royalty
are deemed as “1”, while the homeless, wandering, and poorest people are
labeled as “8”.
Living in Illѐa, America Singer and her family are
all classified as “5” because they are performers and artists. While they do well during the holiday
seasons, they barely scrape by other times during the year. America’s boyfriend, Aspen Leger, is a “6”
because he and his family are servants, trained for indoor work. America and Aspen have secret midnight
meetings in the tree house in her backyard because it is forbidden for people
of different classes to have relationships with each other. Despite this, they hope to marry sometime in
the future.
Prince Maxon Schreave has come of age, and it is time for him
to choose a wife. It is a tradition in
Illѐa for male royalty to choose brides from its citizenry. A lottery is held, whereby thirty-five girls
are chosen to compete for the honor of being the prince’s bride. Since America is determined to marry Aspen,
she has no desire to enter into the lottery.
However, her mother and Aspen have other ideas. Aspen urges her and America’s mother bribes
her to enter the lottery, and, despite all odds, she is one of the thirty-five
girls chosen to compete for the crown!
From this moment on, America is considered the property of
Illѐa. She must leave home
and move into the royal palace in order to compete. There are many restrictions placed upon her,
and her every waking moment, as well as the other girls’, is televised all across
Illѐa. Her status is
immediately upgraded to that of a “3”, and for every week she stays in the
competition, her family is handsomely compensated. Her life becomes one of luxury—beautiful
clothes and jewelry, delicious food, three maids to take care of her, and a
lovely palace to live in! But there is
also danger, for rebel attacks often occur at the palace.
Although her first impression of Prince Maxon is that of a
haughty, selfish individual, America soon changes her mind. She is actually falling for the Prince, until
Aspen shows up at the palace. He has
been drafted into the military and has been named to the Royal Guard. He is still in love with her and vows to win
her back. It is now up to America to
decide what course she wants her life to take—does she choose the life of
luxury with the prince or does she choose her first true love?
What a wild ride this book is—this dystopian fairy tale! I love the descriptions of the gowns the
girls wear, the palace food, the rooms in the palace—I feel I am actually a
part of this magical story! The contrast
between America’s life at home with her life in the palace is like night and
day. She becomes an instant celebrity
and heroine to everyone in her province when she is selected! Once she moves into the palace, she feels bad
that her maids are waiting on her and taking care of her needs! America is such a likable, compassionate
character, despite being outspoken and blunt!
Many of the girls want to completely change how they look and act, but
she has the self-esteem to stay true to herself!
Aspen aggravates me.
He is portrayed as such a nice guy in the beginning of the book. However, he leaves America high and dry when,
knowing he is hungry, she gives him food she has prepared. Then he begs her to take him back when he
shows up at the palace! What a jerk! I really want to like him, but I just can’t! On the other hand, I did not originally like Maxon, but I could not resist his charm! He is so well-mannered, polite, and
thoughtful--a real prince, through and through!
Some of the other girls in the competition are likable, while
others are so catty and cutthroat. This
is so similar to teenage girls in today’s world—what a contrast in
personalities! And what about that love
triangle!???!!!! Who will Maxon choose,
and who will America choose? We will
have to wait until the next book in the series to find out more!
I have read that the television rights to the book have been
bought by the CW Network, and they are working on the pilot. I’m anxious to see how true they stay to the
book!
I recommend this delightful book to middle school, high
school, and public libraries!
No comments:
Post a Comment