Dystopian fantasy genre novels are coming out at a rapid rate and you can find them a dime a dozen but there are a pretty small number of novels that make it count and for you Keira Cass’ “The Selection” must’ve been one of those novels which is why you’re here.
You must’ve like the Selection a good deal for you to look up books like the Selection. And in this article, I have put together the best novels like the Selection that won’t disappoint you at all.
Here are the Best Books like Selection:
1. The Red Queen
Author: Victoria Aveyard.
A big powdered white head, that’s the image that came in your head, didn’t it? We all know the Red Queen from Alice in the Wonderland but Victoria Aveyards’ Red Queen is something entirely different.
The entire while I was reading this I kept thinking how much Mare Barrow resembled Katniss Everdeen and Tris from the Hunger Games and the Divergent, later on, Queen Elara and Maven reminded me too much of 2 particular Lannisters.
This dystopian novel is set in a world where the population is split into 2 groups based on the color of their blood. There are people with silver blood who have incredible superpowers while the red-blooded people are your average joe.
Since the Silvers have powers they treat the Reds too poorly. And our lead character Mare Barrow happens to be a Red; poverty struck Red who wants to earn a job with the Silvers or they’ll put her in the army. To help her friend escape Mare with the help of her younger sister Gisa plans to steal from a Silver household but it goes horribly wrong and leaves Gisa unable to work.
Mare starts stealing randomly and by sheer luck, she gets a job in the palace after stealing from prince Cal. Here she and the others discover her superpowers and the Silvers fabricate a false story and wed Mare to Maven.
From here on Mare has to deal with heartbreaks, secrets, conspiracies, betrayals, and being used as a mare. She also learns how to bite back and intends to overthrow the silver royalty. If you’re looking for books like the selection let’s this be your first pick.
2. Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver.
Before falling in love with the most amazing Woman I often thought that was a disease. Well! I still think that it is a disease but I’d like it if I’m never cured of it. But how does that relate to this book huh?
In Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Love, or better known as “Amor Deliria Nervosa” in the book is considered as a disease, and a surgical cure has been mandatory for people above the age of 18. If it was true, and available in today’s world, there’d be a long waiting list for this surgery; although I believe that it’d make us less human…
Delirium is set in the post-apocalyptic Portland of 2091, and the totalitarian government teaches that love is a disease and must be cured. Our protagonist Lana Haloway is hypochondriac about love and looks forward to her procedure. Hoping to clear the blot left on her family by her mother, and her uncle she acts as obedient as she can be and looks forward to the safe and predictable life ahead of her.
But everything is thrown into disarray by Alex who happens to be a wildling (a person who has undergone surgery to cure love) pretending to be cured just so he can partake in the resistance (Sounds like something every book lover would do). He offers Lana a chance to escape and after knowing about her past he also tells her that her mother is alive and makes her question the reality.
There are 3 books in the series revolving around Lana, Hana, and Annabel. Lauren Oliver has written this book beautifully and worth trying if you’re into the Selection.
3. Number’s Game
Author: Rebecca Rode.
This book reminds me too much of Aimee Carter’s Pawn, Julia Karr’s XVI, and Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen for 3 reasons. The 1st reason would be the numbers–XVI, Pawn, and Number’s game are all set in a world dominated by numbers.
The 2nd reason would be the story, both Pawn and Number’s game start in the same way. And the final reason is the color that comes in the Numbers game; each number and as one might guess–Red belongs to the lowest number.
As mentioned earlier this book is set in a post-apocalyptic world that is ruled by the numbers and our protagonist Ametrine (Treena) Dowell receives her evaluation and her result shocks (as you might imagine), everyone as she’s been preparing for it since her childhood.
She tries to meet the Rater and have him re-evaluate but gets in trouble with the Empress and receives an offer. Treena has to catch a spy within the army in 2 weeks’ time. This assignment will let her undergo a re-evaluation of her number under the Empress’s orders.
During the assignment, she gets in touch with Vance, a fellow red and a Soldier with a dark past. Can she and Vance manage to catch the spy or is Treena going to be betrayed? Do note that the book can get too boring oftentimes due to the writing style.
4. Crown’s Game
Author: Evelyn Skye.
The crown’s game is a magical fantasy with Russian history as a side dish. It’s a story about two teens, Vika and Nikolai, the only two enchanters in Russia. Vika’s powers are nature-based so she can summon the snow and can turn the ash into gold.
While Nikolai’s powers are kind of mechanical as he can see through the wall and can form bridges. And the tsar happens to be looking for an enchanter.
But the laws of the magic state that Russia can have only one enchanter, and that’s why the crown’s game started. Vika and Nikolai must endure a magical battle in order to be named as an Imperial Enchanter, who uses his or her magic in the service of Russia. The defeated one will be sentenced to death.
When the players can’t help being drawn towards each other, And Nikolai’s best friend Pasha, who is supposed to be the crown prince, starts falling for Vika too and things get more complicated from here on. I tried the book as a break from the usual dystopian novels and I wasn’t disappointed, if you’re looking for books like the Selection then this one is a worthy book.
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses
Author: Sarah J. Maas.
I’m genuinely excited to write about this book, well anything by Sarah Maas gets me excited. She’s so beautiful and her books are just as beautiful (Hsst! I have a crush after all this time.) There’s a good chance that you have heard or been recommended Sarah Maas’ Throne of Glass series or Assassin series; if you haven’t heard of them, then you need to try them.
This novel is too different from the others on this list as this might fall in the Adult category and is the latest version of Beauty and the Beast. Our lead character Feyre Archeron lives in a forest and hunts for a living.
One day she kills a wolf while trying to catch a deer when suddenly a creature shows up and demands retribution for killing a Faerie and is taken to the faerie land by her captor. She lives with her captor and begins to discover the truth about the faerie world and tries to save it from being destroyed. There are 4 books in this series and the first one just goes over Feyre settling in the faerie world.
6. The Book of Ivy
Author: Amy Engel.
I don’t like to talk politics but this year the Book of Ivy nearly set in motion (Nuclear War). Why do you ask? Because the story is set in the United States of America after the brutal nuclear war. But the survivors banded together and started fighting all over for the power and obviously, one side lost and became the sheep (wars will never disappear eh?).
Our protagonist Ivy Westfall hails from the losing side. The winner side set conditions that the losing side must wed their daughters to their sons on a yearly basis and this time it’s going to be Ivy’s turn. All’s well right? Nope, it isn’t; Ivy has a mission, she has to kill her soon-to-be-Husband and restore the Westfall family to power (Why tho?).
After she Bishop her Husband she realizes that he’s completely different from what her sister and father had told her about. Bishop turns out a complete adorable kitty that Ivy just can’t help but like and this also makes her question her intentions and the reality.
This book is awesome but not much of kick-ass action; unlike the other books. And Bishop is definitely every girls’ dream come true. If you want something like the Selection but lighter then go for this novel.
7. Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins.
Even if you haven’t read the book, you must’ve watched or at least heard about the movie. This intense novel is about a cruel game, Hunger games where only one can survive from the 12 districts, and the participants will be chosen from each district, one boy and one girl.
If you’ve watched the movie, then you already know about Panem and that after the death of her father, Katniss became a hunter and sole bread earner in her family.
But her life takes a turn for worse during the volunteering, where her little sister is selected and where Katniss panics and asks to be selected instead of her sister and funnily enough the guy who is selected along with her is Peeta Mellark, who once saved her life when she was nearly dying of hunger.
If you think that you know everything as you’ve watched the movie, you’re dead wrong. The movie failed to show how hard Katniss’s life was before volunteering and how hard it became later on.
It didn’t show how angry she was after blowing up the supplies and finding just dry fruits with the guy who died…or having how heartbroken she was when District 11s’ Rue died… The Hunger Games is one of the books that you can’t simply keep down until you finish it and a must-read if you’re looking for books like the Selection.
8. The Jewel
Author: Amy Ewing.
The story is set in the Lone city, which is divided into five sectors. The Marsh is the poorest; The farm where all good is produced; The smoke is where all the factories are; The bank where all the shops are; and the Jewels where all the royalty lives. A long time ago, a doctor discovered magical abilities in girls from poor families. They call those magical abilities Augury.
The Jewel is about Violet, a teenage girl who came from the Marsh. This book starts with this saying “Today is my last day as Violet Lasting” Because after the Auction Violet will be known by number 197. She is forced into surrogacy, and after years of training to be submissive. She is sold to the Duchess of the lake in the auction. When she is thrown into a world full of fancy balls, mansions, makeup, and dresses.
As Violet learns more about the Jewels and the Royals, she learns about the dark side of their glittering world. Where it’s hard to trust anyone, she must maintain her survival instincts. But when she gets closer to the guy she shouldn’t, her world took a turn which she never expected. You’ll find similarities with the selection, only this one is darker and has more twists and turns.
9. Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth.
After the Hunger games, I dare say that this is the best dystopian novel you can get out there. You might’ve already watched the movies so might be thinking that the book will be more or less the same but they most definitely aren’t like every other Novel turned movie (Although there are certain exceptions).
As you already know, Veronica Roth’s Divergent is the first in the series and it was also Veronica Roth’s debut novel. Like the majority of the novels here, this one too is set in a post-apocalyptic world (Chicago) and the humanity here is split into 5 factions– Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), and Erudite (the intelligent).
These factions reminded me too much of Hogwarts Houses; for eg–both Abnegation and Amity would be Hufflepuff House, Erudite is obviously Ravenclaw’s house, while Candor and Dauntless are Gryffindor (40 points for Gryffindor).
The story revolves around Beatrice Prior who is from an Abnegation family and who has been tested as a Movie Like Divergent but her test administrator Tori tells her to keep it a secret. At the age of 16 she tests for which faction she’s best suited for and picks Dauntless to everyone’s shock (including mine).
From here on her trails start, in dauntless you have to earn your place or become factionless so Tris and the others have to work hard. During this time she gets close to Four, her instructor, and later starts a romantic relationship with him that involves almost killing him or dying. The books are quite impressive but I can’t say the same for the movie.
10. The Siren
Author: Kiera Cass.
The Siren is an interesting and heart-wreaking tale about Kahlen. When the ship on which Kahlen and her family were on was enchanted by the siren song, Kahlen’s life was spared but in return, she was asked to serve the ocean as a siren for 100 years and then she would be free.
A Siren’s job is to use her beautiful voices to lure boats and people to their death. And now Kahlen is deadly and her voice is enchanting poison for people.
For 80 years she has been obedient to her deal. Loving the ocean like a mother, sharing the bond of sisters with other sirens, and at the same time grieving for all the lives she took. Kahlen’s sister often helped her forget their painful past.
Then She meets Akinli, a sweet, goofy college boy that she instantly likes. She goes as far as feigning Muteness while interacting with humans. Due to Akinli, she is torn between her duties and the boy she has started loving. You might groan at their instalove but this is not another cliche soulmate story but it’s so much more. It’s about different types of love, sisterhood love, friendship, parental love.
Authors’ Word.
I’m thoroughly grateful for going through this article and reaching this point. In case you have any suggestions to do, do leave a comment.