Selected: A Young Adult Sci-Fi Adventure

Zaratan Trilogy #1

by Evelyn Lederman

Destruction.... A show of force... And a warning... Three isolated towns across the world have been destroyed in a show of force by alien invaders. It is a clear warning of what will occur if their demands are not fulfilled. The fulfillment: Human children between the ages of twelve through fifteen years. Kara Howard is an unremarkable fourteen-year-old girl who is selected by the aliens. She will be physically and socially orientated during the six months it will take to arrive at the planet Zaratan. The girl who liked the safety of being invisible, cannot help but stand out. Matt Sparks, the boy next door, is also selected. Kara has had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. He vows to safeguard her. The closer they get to their destination, the more difficult it becomes to live up to his promise.Kara is unsure if she has the strength to withstand the trials and physical changes she is forced to go through. In a new life, Kara will be torn. Will she be drawn in by an alien boy who has shown interest in her or by the powerful patriarch who sees her as the future of his race?

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Aliens

198 pages, Paperback

Published May 31, 2016

About the author

I clearly remember a conversation I had with my sister and a friend about infinite parallel universes. We were outside Sedona, Arizona.

All of a sudden 5 young women started talking in my mind. That was the start of 'The World's Apart' series. 'The Chameleon Soul Mate' was published in August 2014, followed by 'The Crystal Telepath' in December 2014.

The floodgates have opened and I have more books in the Worlds Apart series as well as other series coming. I'm loving the ride!

Reviews

[Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out more reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 Stars due to excellent plotting and world building.

Three isolated cities have been destroyed in a show of force by alien invaders. The warning is clear give us the children we ask for. Kara Harper is a 14-year-old girl selected by the aliens. She will be physically and socially orientated during the six months it will take to arrive at the planet Zaratan. Kara is unsure if she has the strength to withstand the trials and physical changes she is forced to go through.

Kara has been selected by an alien race who have come to earth, not to invade and take over or cause mass destruction (though they threaten it) but to take a small group of children aged 12-15 years old back to their planet. Each child must pass horrible physical changes as well as learn to work within a group for a common cause. At Kara's side is her childhood crush and neighbor Matt and their instructor and Kara's personal ally Jim, an assimilated teen from another planet pilfered like earth. Will Kara make it to her new world alive?

At times, especially in the beginning I really wondered if I would be able to read this book. Look at this terribly funny passage:

"A world without having to eat vegetables was nirvana. Kara had never seen a salad bar to rival what was before her. She would never feel guilty about not eating peas or broccoli if she ate a daily salad."

Did you notice? Its all vegetables girlfriend...salad & peas!! I know the author tried really hard to make Kara feel like a teenager and not a young adult teenager of 16 but a young 14 year old. I don't really subscribe to a 14 year old heroine being of Young Adult genre qualifications. Technically it is but then you get such mixed reviews about it riding a line between middle grade and YA!! Such is the problem with this book. There were ridiculous missteps like the one above paired with extraordinary quick wittedness that really would have worked better with a 16 or 17 year old.

Another valid complaint was the writing is stilted with a mixture of adult language and extreme simplicity. No 14 yo talks or thinks like this!

"With the new segmentation of her team, Kara questioned whether they would be able to help the floundering team. She was ready to raise a white flag and surrender. In the long run, would her team make things worse for the other group of children; and what consequences were associated with a team unable to promote out of Level One?"

Such is a side effect of trying to find the balance between middle grade and YA when the author themselves has not seen that cusp age for a very long time. Fortunately, though the writing remained weak, the more annoying details did smooth out the farther into the book you went helping the readability of the story overall. Another misstep at the beginning of the story that was terribly distracting and rather amateurish writing, was how Kara would pose questions at the end of events instead of having developed thoughts that left the question in the subtext. These too lessened as the story went deeper. Ideas were developed for the other characters then abandoned as Kara progressed. For example, Matt sobs for his parents one night even though he told Kara he was wanting to leave earth. She never resolved the disparity of these two ideas nor thought that they contradicted one another.

Kara's narrative voice is rather weak in the beginning and what character it did have was distant and whiny, hence I really disliked Kara at first. Also she'd "know" things and tell us them and only after she announced the fact would things happening actually support her conclusion. This is the author telling the character things before they happen, a big no, no! This paired with the writing problems almost sunk the book for me, fortunately all these problems were contained within the first 25% of the book - i.e. in the setup!!

It was the premise and the world building as it is slowly revealed through the setup and beyond that really won me over!! I thought the premise of why the aliens were there was sound. And the science made sense, what was there:

“Earth’s troposphere is seventy-eight percent nitrogen, twenty-one percent oxygen, and one percent argon,” Jim informed her. “We do not have argon in our world, but sarian. That is what we had to condition your lungs to breathe.”

Also the gathering of the children and the testing process seemed well thought out to bring about a specific outcome for the children, i.e. the plot was strong. There was also quite brutal reality thrown in to let us know the stakes were high. At 30% I posted: "For all its faults it's easy to read, the plot is fun and you like the characters." And it's true! The team building middle is quite strong and becomes a big motivator for Kara all the way to the end. Whenever the next story point came forward I was totally engrossed in the plot and seeing what happens next! I won't go over these plot points as not to give away the story - really the joy of the book is experiencing the world as Kara figures out things and gets through situations thrown at her.

There is a love triangle. She is only 14 years old. There is talk of mating "sometime in the future" and one boy is the perfect societal candidate and the other is the perfect Romeo. I didn't hate it actually. At 14 you do tend to have a wider range of choices as you aren't really even close to being an adult and just the fact someone likes you makes your heart flutter! Each boy was given space to develop their relationship with Kara properly and they occupy their own roles in her life. Really these two relationships will be a big catalyst in the next book of the series if developed right!!

Rewriting the beginning would solve many of the books problems. The creativity is there and the execution almost worked. I look forward to the next in the series where hopefully, these problems will no longer trouble the narrative!

BOTTOM LINE: A worthy voyage into the sci-fi space genre!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. It has not influenced my opinions.

______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my special perspective at the bottom of my reviews under the typewriter...

[Ashly Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Synopsis

Kara was just kidnapped from her family and home planet and taken aboard a spaceship where she’s forced into a new life based on alien DNA and family lineage from a planet far away from her own. When she is put through tests, Kara is pushed to her limits and realizes that she is much more than ordinary, even if she can’t see it at first. Kara’s next door neighbor and long-time crush is also kidnapped. When he starts to develop feelings that reciprocate Kara’s, will she pursue a relationship, or will other forces keep them apart? And what of this new alien boy who is bemused by her? What will happen on the long journey to her new home?

Selected: A Young Adult Sci-Fi Adventure (The Zaratan Trilogy Book 1) by Evelyn Lederman

Rating: ★★
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Romance
Release Date: May 2016
Source: Netgalley
On My Shelf: No

I requested this book mostly because of the cover, but also because I liked the description. Regardless of my thoughts/rating of this story, I still think that cover is absolutely gorgeous. Simply Stunning.

But, that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

This book says it’s a young adult adventure, but I would actually place it more under middle-grade. The character is 14 – just verging on YA, so I think it would be better marketed toward younger readers. Because I felt that I fell so far outside of this demographic, I feel I didn’t enjoy this book as much.

The writing style is very simplistic and altogether incredibly passive. I did not feel much intensity in the pages and never found myself gripping my seat to find out what would happen next. Even when big events were occurring, they felt lackluster. I also felt that some of the writing was weirdly specific but the storytelling as a whole was kind of vague. (I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either.) The writing is the main reason I think this book would be better marketed as a middle-grade novel. This is great writing for kids who are past children’s books but are not yet into young adult.

I felt the same way about the characters. They were acceptably developed and each one had a unique personality making it easy to tell them apart, yet I still felt that they needed so much more. I was a bit annoyed that our protagonist spends about 1/3 – 1/2 of this book unconscious or recovering from one ailment after the next. She never really had the chance to grow because she was always sick with one thing or another. Also, unrelated to development but related to character, she is way too submissive. Aliens literally just kidnapped her and she’s completely cool with it? Nahhh. I don’t believe that. I needed more from her.

This book needed more emotion all around in general.

What else I didn’t like, especially concerning the protag, was all the subtle sexist undertones. And, I really did not like that Kara constantly needed saving. I mean, I get being a weak character and specifically writing a character as weak, but Kara was consistently described as an incredibly strong leader, yet she always needed to be saved and couldn’t seem to do much for herself. It’s like Lederman wanted Kara to be a super strong female but also mainly wanted her to be a submissive future housewife. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with wanting a domestic life and having those goals, but it was incredibly contradictory in the way Kara’s character, development, and thoughts were written. It was all very strange. I think more character development would have helped.

I don’t really want to talk about it, because I was magnificently uninspired by it, so I’ll just say that the love triangle was very blegh. Matt is trash, and it’s really unsettling that Jim is so much older than Kara and has such a weird obsession with her. It’s honestly verging on creepy. But, whatever, I have about 2 whole feelings about this, and I don’t care who “wins.” Although, it felt very Romeo and Juliet, so I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Matt will eventually win this grand pissing contest the two boys are having.

Overall, this book was just very okay for me. However, I feel as if I were still 14 that I would have rated this higher at 3 or 4 stars. Target audience is everything in this case. Even so, there was something strangely addicting about this plot that might cause me to pick up the second book. The jury is still out, but we’ll see.

Review originally published on my Wordpress blog Dreaming Through Literature.

*I was provided with a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. That did not sway my thoughts; all opinions are and remain my own.*

[Ms. Nguyen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. This book. It had a promising premise-- aliens come and select kids aged 12-18 and essentially kidnap them to become citizens on their planet. There were a lot of plot holes, but the real issue was the writing. It was incredibly simplified for no apparent reason and everything was overly explained. I found it so frustrating to read. I would recommend this for elementary school readers. There's no sex, alcohol, etc. and the writing is just definitely not YA.

I was able to read this ebook through Net Galley!

[Mel (Epic Reading) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a frustrating book. The premise and social commentary opportunities should have made it amazing. And yet it wasn't.
There are sooo many errors throughout this book it's painful. Between basic typos and punctuation issues to sections that jump around for no reason to statements or descriptions that immediately contradict each other; it's just annoying to read. (I checked the published text and it has the same typos and problems as my copy).The concept and idea is good. Some of the writing near the beginning is alright but it's like Evelyn Lederman only had moments of brilliance surrounded by poor writing the majority of the time.

It feels like characters in Selected only have emotions of indifference or anger. Considering the children are ripped from their homes and taken away on an alien spaceship; everyone seems to be relatively okay with things. Yes there are moments of crying and attempted sadness but never once did I feel anything for these characters except major frustration that they weren't MORE upset.

The romance is awkwardly handled and feels like we're in an 8-12 year old book. Chaste kisses, lame comments about how pretty someone is and a lack of desire really turned me off. When I was 14 years old I know if I liked any boy(s) I was much more obsessive about it and certainly didn't think about how I was too young or have thoughts about how it was inappropriate. Apparently the heroine Kara is a 14-year old prude.

If you want to read about kids being selected for possibly horrific futures just re-read Hunger Games. Trust me there is nothing here worth any amount of time (unless you want to edit or re-write Selected).

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review. Don't believe me? Check out the other books I've had eARCs for that I gave great reviews to. I always give my opinion whether good or bad. ;)

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It is about a young girl who is taken along with many other children by aliens. These children are trained to live on the alien planet and to breathe the air which is a bit different in a small way to Earth's. She is taken along with her childhood friend and crush Matt. She is only 14 so is not really ready for a serious boyfriend but she does meet a new boy who had been taken and who has assimilated into the alien culture, who treats her well and becomes her new protector. I gave it four stars just for being a bit different, well written although simply. It does not have a second book but it could easily become a series, although it is complete as a book itself.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not finish this book. I felt like the storyline had great potential. It was an interesting twist, going to live with aliens rather than them coming and invading earth. I found that the story paced through a little too quickly, making it hard to connect with the characters. I felt like the romance had no chemistry, nothing popping off the page.

I received a copy of this from net galley in exchange for my opinion.

[Elissa Olivas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly written! Loved reading about Cara's transformation in becoming a part of the alien world as well as her 2 love interests. I can't wait till the next books in the trilogy.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three towns are destroyed to show how advances the aliens are. The aliens have issued a demand that children between ages twelve through fifteen years must be deliver to them. The children are tested first on alien machines. Those who pass go with the aliens and those who don't get to stay on earth. Kara Harper and Matt Sparks have known each other since childhood as they lives next to each other. Kara and Matt become team leaders on the team they are assigned to. The teams must go through physical tests that are not only physical but also mental. The team must learn to work as a team. Their " rewards" are getting different levels of Zaratan air to breathe. As they travel, Kara and Matt will experience challenges that are experiences they can't believe.

This science fiction novel is so smoothly written that I was immersed in the experiences that happened from the beginning to the end. At times, it is action-packed and I held my breath wondering if Kara and Matt will survive learning to be part of Zaratan's society. I never found the story to be slow. There is a little romance in the novel which is appropriate in that it is nothing more than a kiss or two. Though the book is geared for young adults, I think anyone of any age would enjoy this novel. I can't wait to read the next one!

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

[Scherry at The Novel Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several months ago I received a complimentary copy of Selected from the author, Evelyn Lederman, in a gift basket while attending Authors After Dark, a book convention in Savannah. Life got busy and I didn't have a chance to read it, but every time I looked at it I was fascinated by the gorgeous cover. Well I finally picked it up and once I started reading I simply could not put it down!

I'm not that into Young Adult novels or Sci-Fi novels, but I was TOTALLY CAPTIVATED by this book, the characters and the world created by Evelyn Lederman.

With entire cities being destroyed by alien forces, the earth's only salvation was to send their children between the ages of twelve to fifteen to be interviewed by these aliens with a select number being chosen and taken to the aliens' home planet of Zaratan. Kara and her neighbor Matt, a boy she has had a crush on since they were young children, are among those taken.

The trials these children had to endure were enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. Compassion and budding romance was intertwined throughout the book. I loved it and cannot wait to read the next book in this series. And now that I have discovered the writing talent of Evelyn Lederman, I cannot wait to read more of her books in other genre's.

This review was also posted on The Novel Lady blog.

* Disclosure: A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the author. Although a review was not required, I was compelled to provide one. All comments, thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book too much. It had some good parts and I'm sure for middle school and teenage readers it would be a good read. The characters were well described and detailed, but there were several errors in the text that made it somewhat difficult to read. I would recommend for the above stated age groups, but I personally didn't care too much for it. I received a copy for a honest review.

[Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received the book in exchange of an honnest review
great story but this is not Young Adult, the story might be better rated because of this.
Characters:I don't love Matt because he is too credulous but il it is romeo and juliet like she will end with him.
great story like i said: she should remove young adult in the title

[Renia Carsillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, likable main character, if a little thin. This book is very short for a YA novel and it's missing some of the details that make a world-building Sci Fi story so interesting. That said, I am handing it off to my 13-year-old son to read.

[Cara North · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this!

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

The characters were great, but unfortunately the plot and writing style were overly simplified even allowing for the plot having been written for teens.

[Carol Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next instalment. Kara is a 14 year old girl who is kidnapped from Earth by aliens, along with thousands other children. The aliens have superior technology so Earth can't resist them. The children learn that they are to repopulate the planet Zaratan, which has been decimated by a plague. Prior to that there were wars amongst the 4 ruling families (a 5th family remained neutral). Prisoners of war were put on other planets centuries ago. Now their descendants were being collected to assist the planet. They were told that they were to help rebuild and that prejudices between the families had led to the conflict and needed to be eradicated. However, once they reached a certain level, they were divided up by their family heritage (based on their genetics) and inculcated with the prejudices of each family.
Kara and her neighbour Matt (whom she has a crush on) were both selected. Children were placed in teams of 10 and had to work together to overcome challenges. As they did do, they progressed to the next level. Part of the promotion included being exposed to the air of Zaratan, which is toxic to humans. By Level 6, they were breathing Zaratanian air. Kara and Matt's team was particularly successful. The team worked extremely well together. Kara thought that that was part of the purpose of the training - to develop teamwork. Thus she was really frustrated when they were separated by family and taught to hate opposing families. It turned out that Matt was part of a rival family.
Jim is another alien - one who had been taken from his home planet and assimilated. He takes an interest in Kara (and is in fact one of her potential mates; selected by the Zaratanians on the basis of compatible genetics within families) ... Another plot twist is that there is a faction, the Joffray, who want to stop the Zaratanians from continuing to steal children.
Will Kara and Matt continue to have a relationship? Will Jim and Kara? Will Kara and Matt try to change the attitudes of the Zaratanians towards each other? If so, will they be successful?
I enjoyed the action in the book and the question of whether the end justifies the means .... should they steal the children to save their planet? Would the children have come willingly?
There are a few minor questions I still have about the plotline, but that didn’t detract from the book. I would have given a 5 star rating except for the numerous spelling/grammatical errors which I found very irritating.
Note: I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.

[Lene Blackthorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A YA adventure that might be interesting more for a younger audience.
Kara is a fourteen-year-old that was abducted from home by aliens, intending to use her along with other children for populating a foreign planet. She was chosen because of her heritage – alien DNA. Kara realizes her extraordinary nature only after passing exhausting and limit-pushing tests, and her love life just on the verge of puberty seems to be developing nicely… but not without complications, of course.
I must admit I was not as impressed as I expected to be. The plot developed quite fine, but did not pull me in fully and although the ongoing was steady, I never found myself waiting impatiently for a window in my time schedule to continue reading. I just read on in the evening relaxing after work. The characters also developed steadily, each of them showing different virtues and flaws that made them distinct, unique and easily identifiable, but occasionally not reacting realistically. I was sometimes also bothered by the all too detailed descriptions but detached storytelling, which made me also detached and lacking deeper emotional experience.
I received a copy from eBook Discovery and provide my honest review voluntarily.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Selected
Author: Evelyn Lederman
Publisher: Evelyn Lederman
ISBN: 978-0-9966298-6-7
Buy Link: http://www.evelynlederman.com/selecte...
Reviewer: Teresa Fallen Angel
Blurb:
“I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review”
The Zarathan Trilogy 1
Three isolated towns across the world have been destroyed in a show of force by alien invaders. It is a clear warning of what will occur if their demands are not fulfilled. The fulfillment: Human children between the ages of twelve through fifteen years.
Kara Harper is an unremarkable fourteen-year-old girl who is selected by the aliens. She will be physically and socially orientated during the six months it will take to arrive at the planet Zaratan. The girl who liked the safety of being invisible, cannot help but stand out.
Matt Sparks, the boy next door, is also selected. Kara has had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. He vows to safeguard her. The closer they get to their destination, the more difficult it becomes to live up to his promise.
Kara is unsure if she has the strength to withstand the trials and physical changes she is forced to go through. In a new life, Kara will be torn. Will she be drawn in by an alien boy who has shown interest in her or by the powerful patriarch who sees her as the future of his race?


Summary:
Imagine being forced basically at gun point to leave everything you know and kidnapped to a world that no one on Earth has even been and you would have some inkling of how Kara, Matt, a friend, and the other children felt. It was unbelievable how the aliens, Zaratan people, had no problems destroying three cities before forcing all the young children between the ages of 12 and fifteen to be tested and if one child didn't go the entire city would be destroyed. If that wasn't bad enough, they forced the children they took to undergo trials to prove their worth. Even after that, Kara Kyle and the rest of their group bonded and worked together to excel above all of the other children. This book showed the resiliency of humanity to overcome seemingly impossible odds. Even after the Zaratan's revealed the reasons of their actions, Kara was the first one to wonder why they didn't look at other alternatives. When problems occurred with another factions from their world that threatened all their people on the ship, it became clear that there were factions form within and without who did not support or approve of their actions. I for one will be impatiently waiting to see how Kara, Kyle and the others adapt and how their actions/ beliefs may effect their new world.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shots are fired from space, wiping out three small isolated towns around the globe. Next, the aliens are making contact, saying that all 12-15 year old children must gather at their local schools the following day. If any children refuse, their town will also be wiped out. From these children, some will be selected to join the aliens and travel back to their planet.

When 14-year-old Kara hears this news she is understandably terrified. But with no other choice, she goes to her school and meets with the aliens where she and her classmates are put through a series of tests. Only Kara, her long-time crush Matt, and another boy called Brent are selected. Poor Kara has only 24 hours to say goodbye to her family before she is whisked off to another planet.

However, it turns out the Zaratans aren't just abducting the children at random. and they're not as nasty as they seem. Kara soon strikes up a strong friendship with a handsome young man called Jim and finds out many things about the Zaratans. During their six month journey to her new home planet, Kara and her fellow Earthlings are put through a series of trials, and face many dangers and disruptions along the way.

I found this book through the website instafreebie and thought the plot sounded really interesting so I decided to download it, and I'm so glad I did. This young adult sci-fi adventure was absolutely fantastic!

I really liked the writing style and it was so easy to read. The pacing was great. It had a good amount of action, mixed with some slower sections that really helped me to connect with the characters.

Kara is a brilliant character. I loved how she developed throughout the book and became a much more confident person. I really liked her relationships with Jim and Nancy in particular. I wasn't so keen on Matt, even though he's supposed to be one of the good guys. It sounds like he didn't really pay much attention to Kara on Earth, then her suddenly gets all jealous and protective when Jim comes along. I just didn't really warm to him as a character.

I enjoyed learning all about the Zaratanian culture, and the stuff about the warring families was particularly interesting. The lore is given is short sharp bursts, so the reader isn't overwhelmed with too much information in one go, which was great.

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely be interested in reading more in this series :)

[Amanda Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the overall premise of the book. Aliens come to earth and wipe out two cities to make a point about their power. They demand children aged 12-15 be tested, and some are chosen to be taken. Kara is aged 14 and one of the chosen, along with two boys from her town. Once taken on to the alien's ship she is subjected to tests with her team with the goal being to move through each of the six levels and have one of the four families adopt them. I don't want to give too much away, but I really enjoyed her relationships with her friends and her level head. This was not an angsty book, and she frequently points out that she is only fourteen. As much as I enjoyed the overall story, I do wish there had been more descriptions about certain things. She is in a new environment, so I want to feel like I'm there. Also, there were some plot holes, such as: Three were chosen from her town. There are thousands of towns and cities in the world, so taking so many from one town when the aliens went to every town and city seems excessive. Also, at one point Kara mentions that she has never been farther than Disney in California, but later in the book Kara mentions a trip she took to London with her mother. There was a bit of a love triangle, but Kara didn't seem too concerned, as she mentioned multiple times that she is too young to think about commitment. (This made me laugh. I thought it was refreshing. However I am staunchly team Jim) Overall though, I enjoyed the story, and found myself having difficulty putting it down. I look forward to reading more in this series.

[Hannah D · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world has been invaded by aliens, and they demand one thing, children in their young teen years. The world must comply or be destroyed. Kara is one of the selected children to be taken, along with her is her neighbour and long time crush, Matt. Together, they are thrown into a new world of aliens and hard testing that could very well be deadly. As they fight to survive, they bond with the other children around them and with each other, and Kara is singled out by their captor aliens for unknown reasons.
Not bad, not bad at all. The story telling in Selected was engaging and action packed enough to captivate the readers. Kara and Matt were pretty developed characters and they were refreshing in how honourable and kind they were. They personified a lot of the best traits in humans, and were quite easy to like. My only problems with this novel is that a) humans are naturally rebellious, and there was little to no rebellion of any sort in this novel and b) there was not a true resolution to this novel that could leave the readers with any sort of lesson or moral. Overall, I enjoyed Selected and give it the rating of THREE AND A HALF STARS OUT OF FIVE!!!

Want more of me? Go to: http://thenotsopubliclibrary.blogspot...

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

As mentioned in the summary, this book is about an alien invasion.
Quickly learning, they've come to Earth on a mission to collect children between the ages of twelve - fifteen.
Not everyone gets selected.
The children must be tested for specific requirements before they can journey to the planet of Zaratan.

We meet the main character, Kara Harper, before the selection process and follow her journey to Zaratan. Naturally, said journey isn't drama free.
There are further trials and challenges aboard the spaceship.


I enjoyed this story and found it a quick read.

While the book is labeled as “young adult”, I thought it might be better suited for a younger audience.

Most of the characters were likable.
Although, I didn't find myself connecting to a certain one.
(probably because I'm outside the target age)

There were a few issues I would like to have seen resolved.
Perhaps in future books?

Personally, I would have liked to read more world and character building.

One thing I found to be odd, there wasn't any mention of the families and how they moved on with the lose of their child.

Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable read.

Would I recommend? - Yes to middle grade and up.
There's a few kissing scenes, otherwise clean.
No foul language.

I received this electronic book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity!

[Layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.

I would have given this book three stars however, I gave it four because I couldn't stop turning the page until I got to the end. So I thought it deserved four stars for that alone. There are not that many books out there that make me want to keep reading a book until I get to the end.

Selected reminded me of another book (Compete, The Atlantis Grail series) I read, which was similar in plot and the heroin acted in similar fashion.
I kept reading thinking it might be different and it was in some places but there were things that I didn't like in the other book which were present in this book. One being the love triangle between Kara (the heroin), Matt (her friend from earth) and Jim (the alien). The other thing which I really found hard to believe is where nearly everybody seem to like/love her after she was selected! She was not special before she was selected and she even said so herself yet after people (human and alien) seem to notice her. I did not notice anything special she did/said to make her stand out, unlike Matt who showed leadership power and he seemed to protect her were ever they went. I think this would have been a great book with a little more work done to it.

This is suitable for all ages. I would defiantly recommend this book to those who love SciFi!
I am looking forward to book 2.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story about children being selected to replenish another world’s population. The story grabbed my attention at the very beginning and did not lag or get boring as the story continued. The plot was easy to follow and the characters were all very true to life. I was very disappointed in the science portrayed about the zero gravity scene and the sounds made by the explosions in a vacuum.

[Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on a topic I have been really into lately. I normally don’t read or review YA novels, but Selected was so well done, I felt I had to at least give it a rating. The plot is interesting and I enjoyed each character whether they were despite their role in the story. They were just well written and I felt personally invested in their growth.

[Janeandjerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that you could live in and grow with each character. I'm giving this one a very high 5 star rating. I hope that there is more to discover on the planet after this book and if not there should be would be interesting to see how life is and how the adoptions went....

[InD'tale Magazine · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Selected” enters space and leaps to warp speed at an astronomical pace, taking the reader along for a fabulous ride!

Read full review in the 2016 December issue of InD'tale Magazine.

[Tink Magoo is bad at reviews]

I'm disappointed to say that this one is a DNF for me but I just could not get along with the writing.