Later on, Russia attempted to expand its territory in both directions and failed when it went to war with China. The United States lost its allies, while their European allies sought alliances with each other by reviving the practice of intermarrying royal households. For years, China (and later on “New Asia”) pulled the strings in all of the United States’ legislation. The Chinese army invaded and won, creating the American State of China. In the book’s past, the Third World War began because the United States was so bankrupt that it could not afford to pay China back the money that they owed. During the Selected (the term given to the women chosen to compete for the prince’s hand)’s history class, they recall the history of how Illéa came to be. Geographically, the novels take place in the United States, but it’s since been changed and is now called the country of Illéa. Justin’s Selection and Shift to the Schreave Familyīefore I explain the series of the books, I think it’s best to explain the history of the universe the Selection takes place in.

But in The Selection series, that marriage proposal comes from the future king of the country, so you can imagine how big of a deal that is in the books. The grand prize isn’t money, but a marriage proposal. If you look at the series’ review on Goodreads, you get the idea that’s basically The Bachelor (or The Bachelorette, for its later spin-off) but set in a dystopian future.įor those who aren’t into reality TV, The Bachelor is a show where a group of women compete to win the affection of one man. One of those dystopian-type young adult novels, The Selection Series, takes that dystopian trope but then does something unique with it. And then The Hunger Games paved the way for dystopian futures. Twilight started teen romance novels featuring a mortal girl choosing between two supernatural love interests. When the Harry Potter books came out, fantasy universes hiding in plain sight became a trope. As someone who has once worked part-time in a bookstore (no, I’m not Joe Goldberg from YOU), I can say that it’s easy to see a trend forming based on books that are a hit.

The one selection series