I really like Wiesenberg’s writing style – the punchy first person point of view drew me in and kept the pages turning as we see this mysterious mega-rich family from Julia’s perspective. I especially enjoyed the fact that as in the better first person narratives, Julia is busy telling us one thing, while something quite different is unfolding in front of our eyes. She tells us that those with the greatest abilities are especially valued in their community – and then we realise that she and a group of highly talented boys have been sidelined and more or less forbidden to use their prodigious skills. Julie emphasises and indeed, tries to carry out the firm instruction not to draw attention to herself. But we also learn that her father has achieved celebrity status by dint of having accrued huge wealth, having film-star looks and refusing to give any interviews to the press. As the charismatic leader of their community, he is very much about ‘do as I say, not as I do’.

I loved the incident at the swimming pool, which beautifully illustrated the tension between what Julia tries to do and the sheer impossibility of those instructions. Rich, beautiful and very entitled, Julia is nonetheless a highly sympathetic protagonist, who I cared about especially when it became obvious she is being set up to fail. While I wasn’t particularly invested in the romance, it felt convincing and I enjoyed the game-changing scene near the end that provided the final reveal. And the very final page has one more twist that leaves an interesting plot point dangling and ready for the next book.

Overall, this is a fast, enjoyable read with plenty of tension and an appealing protagonist. Recommended for fans of school-based stories with a strong romance. While I obtained the arc of Select from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
8/10

So what drew me to this book in the first place was the science fiction element. Of course, from the blurb, I knew there was a fair bit of romance. What I wasn't expecting was that 90% of this novel would be romance and only 10% would be actual science fiction. That part was a big disappointment because I thought there would be more to her powers than what the author had in mind. I think if the author had spent more time developing the science fiction aspect of the story, there would have been more depth to the story. However .... I still really enjoyed the book. I usually don't like romance novels; they make me cringe with the clichéd phrases. But for some reason, this one worked. Now, I'm not saying that the romance between Josh and Julia was spot-on; there were some definite holes in the way things worked and developed between the two. But it also reminded me of my own high school experiences, the friendships that blossom into something more, and the sweetness of first love. It was cute and sweet and simple and I liked it. I also liked that the author showed how Julia was affected by the actions and thoughts of other characters. While this made the story more of a realistic fiction than science fiction, it was an aspect that was still well done. Now, if you were looking for a good science fiction novel, then this is not the one for you. I mean, it seriously has nothing to offer in terms of that genre. If you like sweet romance mixed with family drama, then you would probably enjoy this story. Because that's pretty much what it's all about. Because the science fiction part was misleading but I actually enjoyed the romance part of this story, I'm giving this a 3.5/5 stars.

I wanted to enjoy this book, but the read ended up being hampered by YA story tropes, superficial characters and a plot that a lot of holes.

The MC, Julia, is a hard MC to get behind. Her feelings feel forced, and there would be constant jumps in thought or emotion and it was hard to keep up. Also, I was expecting this read to be a bit more like Scott Westerfield's Uglies series (but in this case, everyone is beautiful), but it read more like The Thousandth Floor with petty drama. Julia is sent to *gasp* public school. The HORROR. It was just really hard to get into the story, and I just didn't care for it.

This book is all about finding your place in life, about the choices we make and their consequences and how much we are willing to risk for the people we love .

Julia Jaynes and her family are part of a race of super-evolved humans who have to suppress their abilities from outsiders in order to keep from being discovered.

Julia Jaynes is the daughter of leader Novak, but he is more than a father; he is leader of a group of people called the Puras who have extraordinary powers, and he and his leadership team are trying to keep everyone safe from the rest of the world. They are a highly evolved race of human beings. Julia, her family, and a small group of others live amongst ordinary normal humans. They stick together keeping their talents hidden from the humans while living in plain view.

One day while out in public, Julia accidentally exposes a little too much of her abilities. In punishment for saving her younger sister from drowning she is relegated from a select Prep School to public Austin high school with strict instructions to blend in and make sure she appears as a normal high school kid until further notice!

It’s was hard enough at their super elite private school where their father’s money means something, so public school proves a challenge.

Julia realises she can read the mind of a boy named John and before they both realise it, they are developing feelings for each other, becoming friends and then lovers. Now she must decide if John is worth the risk of permanent banishment.

There are some interesting twists and sub-plots, especially at the end and the many twists help bring that realization that your actions can really change the way you and others perceive the world around you.

This is definitely a book for Twilight and Fallen fans.

Julia and Liv Jaynes live in a huge mansion with Novak and Victoria, their parents. But Novak is more than a father; he is leadder of a group of people called the Puras who have extraordinary powers, and he and his leadership team are trying to keep everyone safe from the rest of the world. Julia and LIv participate in typical teen activities, like flirting and falling in love. Julia allows her extra powers to be seen by others when Liv gets into a life-threatening situation at the pool, and as a result, Novak decides that Julia has to attend a regular high school. In her adventures there, Julia finds and falls in love with a regular human, John, but she has to keep her relationship secret since she is a member of the Selelct and John isn't. Another major character is Angus, a kind of ne'er-do-well daredevil who lives on the edge of being left behind when the group moves again. Angus' antics get the unwanted attention of Novak. The threat is always there; if you mess up enough, Novak will make the decision to leave you behind when the group relocates and you will be left on your own in a society that doesn't accept or understand you. This book was a great teen read, with a mixture of suspense, romance and science-fiction that will appeal to all readers.

When this cover first appeared on my dashboard on Netgalley, I didn’t hesitate to click on it. I just love the simplicity of it and I really wanted to know why the butterfly was trapped in a bubble. The summary continued my interest in the book, but I will admit that by the time I got around to reading the book, I had quite forgotten what it was about. If I had reread the summary before starting the book, I would not have spent most of the first half of the book wondering why they had these powers. Various scenarios went through my mind, aliens in hiding, descendants of gods, genetic mutations caused by human experimentation, you know the typical stuff. So when the reason was finally revealed I was kind of like oh, is that all? It seemed to me like something was missing from this part of the story. Why did they feel the need to hide who they were? What is up with that? I also felt that Julia’s father acted more like a cult leader, and not in the good sense. He was way to controlling of everyone’s life in the group, and no one wanted to stand up to him. Thinking of her father as a cult leader made it easier to understand and accept some of her decisions through out the book.

I liked Julia, even with her abilities, she presented as a young girl who had a lot of doubts about who she was and what her role in her family was. Her character goes through a lot in a short period of time, and her attitude and understanding toward her family, her society and especially her father changes dramatically throughout the book. She was drawn to John almost from the start, but it was not instant love, their relationship did take a natural course, from initial attraction through getting to know each other to love by the end of the book. It was a sweet romance, even though it was a bit creepy that she could read his mind. John was also a likable character, although he had some flaws that might be hard to deal with.

The plot was interesting, but a little rough and slow moving at times. As I said before, the reason for their powers and their need for secrecy about them didn’t feel fully explained. I really wanted to know more about their past and what powers they had when they were fully developed. We only know about the powers through what Julia and some of the Lost Boys were able to do, not any one else in the group. Julia’s relationships with her family were not fully explained as were the reasons why the teens had been split into two groups in the first place. I’m also not sure sending Julia to a regular high school made sense, given their need to keep their abilities secret.

I did enjoy the story and the characters even with the few flaws in the plot. The ending was strong enough that it can be a stand alone, but I hope there is a sequel as I would like to know what happens to Julia, John and the other characters in this book.

It's hard not to compare this book to Keira Cass Selection series, but Marit Weisenberg does such a nice job introducing us to another dystopian future in this part science fiction/part romance YA novel that it was hard to,put down, and left me eager to read the next book in the series.

As a courtesy to the fledgling author, this review was NOT disseminated on the blog's social media accounts. The review stands, however, on the blog and on Goodreads.


I was delighted when Charlesbridge Teen granted my wish for this book late in the Spring. It's not often that publishers grant wishes. Thus I'm sad that I have not enjoyed their gift. The premise of the book- a race of superhumans (except not human) living among us, teen angst, etc. sounded interesting. I downloaded the book, wasn't grabbed by it, set it aside. I picked it up again this past week because I owe the publisher an review since it publishes in less than two weeks. I decided to try harder. But reader, there was no joy. The most I can say is that I liken it to the Twilight books, with the twist that here, the protagonist, Julia Jaynes, is like our old, wise and all-knowing (think psychic powers) vampire-but-not, and poor sweet John Ford is the smitten one who just can't stay away from hauntingly beautiful Julia and her tricky odd family, who want no part of him.

This book was inordinately frustrating, especially over the first 60 or so pages. We have a race of people who don't want to attract attention, who are all gorgeous, billionaire rich, living in an enclave, traveling in packs, doing superhumans things, who once again, did I mention, don't want to attract attention to themselves? Did I mention that they all look alike? Only maybe two dozen or so. No big deal. Inbreeding usually doesn't work this way, but... hey, it worked for the Targaryens. Until it didn't. As you begin to progress further, you don't really gain much of a feel about the sci-fi aspect of the story because it's basically a teen romance in the guise of a YA sci-fi story, (hence the Twilight analogy although John, thankfully, isn't spineless).

Overall, I found it disappointing, plus it ends in a cliffhangerish kind of way, where we are left wondering exactly where Julia and John will go from here if, in fact, we are really sure we care where they do.

This was one of those books that I wished for on a whim on NetGalley, simply due to the cover and I honestly wasn't sure whether I would get a chance to review it or not, so when I got the email saying that I had been approved, I instantly went and downloaded it and started it. It was so good!

I felt that the book was the perfect combination between Sci-Fi and Y/A. You could remove the Sci-Fi parts from the book and it would still be a pretty interesting read based on real life situations that many young adults/teens can relate to.

This book is about a lot of choices that we have to make; coming to terms with the idea that we just cannot have it all and that we may have to let go of some people on the way, accepting who we really are, who we want to be with and how far we are going to go to survive.

I can't wait for more Marit Wiesenberg novels. If you are a fan of YA, I would highly recommend this book to you!

I received a copy of this book in return for my independence honest review.
It made a refreshing change to have a new dystopian for YA readers.
I thought the plot lines were interesting and although slow to start,please keep with it as worth it as the story progresses.
Personally I didn't really form a connection with the main female protagonist. Due to this I enjoyed this book but didn't love it as I have with other YA novels in this genre.
Still an enjoyable read, hence the 3* Ideal for target audience who I feel will get much more out of it than I did

I really had a hard time getting into this book. I was so confused in the beginning. The beginning made no sense at all. Once I got past chapter 6 it all started coming together and I could not stop reading. I finished this book in basically 2 days. Now that I have finished this book I would recommend it. It was a really good young adult book. A little confusing at first but otherwise it had a good story line and was well written.

This story was a surprise. As a YA book I thought it would be juvenile but it was very well written with lovable characters with a twist.
I cannot wait for book 2!

This book was so entertaining and differnt from other YA books in the way of plot. I really liked the romance part of the novel and the superhuman abilities of the characters. Although there were some confusing parts due to typos and due to it being an ARC, I quite enjoyed the ride and look forward to reading the sequel!

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.


This book gets 3 stars from me because the main premise, this weird pure magical power, Julia's people have seemed plainly not believable. I just felt the whole time something didn't add up quite right (even after finding out the backstory to this). On top of it, the writing felt clumsy. Marit Weisenberg has talent and I am sure she will grow as an author. Her ideas are interesting and novel, but her execution is just a bit immature.

Select is a story of growing up in one world and suddenly facing a new one. It is about a girl falling in love with a boy from the wrong side of town. It is about a tight-knit community that fears change. It is about a leader who seems to have his group's best interest in mind but yet acts mysteriously and selfishly. Lots of things remain unspoken. Secrets are paid off so they never see the light of day. No one really knows what's going on.

I read this book fairly fast because I was truly interested in John and Julia's story, in how Novak dominates his family and their future, and in this sibling rivalry between Julia and Liv. I liked the characters good enough and think I could've loved them if the writing would've been more complex and evolved. All in all, this is a decent read. I can see this series going places and I hope that Weisenberg matures as a writer (which I really think will happen).

Julia, her friends, and her family are special - they are more of everything: smarter, prettier, and more athletic. They are also completely insular until an event at Barton Beach brings them into the spotlight. Julia is punished by being sent to a public high school and being instructed to suppress her power, or else. While at the school, Julia meets John and her world begins unraveling at a rapid rate. Over the course of the story, Julia is forced to grow up and face hard truths about her family.
All of this should have made this a spellbinding novel, but I never connected with it. Perhaps it would have been more captivating if I was a teenager.

I chose to read and review this book because the premise was fascinating. Super humans hiding among normal people and trying to stay hidden. These ‘select’ people have issues among themselves and the main characters family life is anything but happy. There are two main groups of teens in the story, one is a group of outcasts and troublemakers and the others are the “chosen” ones, being trained to use their special abilities. All of this sounds fascinating right? It should have been. Alas, the book doesn’t quite live up to its potential. I wanted more of the super powers and more adventure. Instead the main character is forced to leave her private school and attend public school as punishment and falls in love. Not a bad progression in the story but that became the focus of the story and I was really hoping for something else. Now that being said, the writing was good and the premise was a good one. I am really hoping that book 2 might pick up so I will likely give this author another chance.

I thought this was a wonderful read and I thoroughly enjoyed diving in to this new world. In places it was a little confused and slightly lagging in pace, however, the characters pulled me through and I can't wait to read more!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a super fast and easy read as the plot was interesting and fast paced enough that it had me hooked from the first chapter. This book is classed as fantasy but it also felt like it should also be a science fiction novel too. The stories protagonist, Julia, belongs to a special race of evolved humans and there is enough lore and science to the story for it to be believable.

Without spoiling too much, the summary does a good job at capturing the plot. The part I enjoyed most about this book was the relationship dynamics between Julia's family and her old friends and new friends. There was a particular strong emphasis placed on what it is like for Julia to be the black sheep of the family that I enjoyed and related to and it was refreshing to see how she found strength in herself and not just through her love interest John.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the Twilight series and paranormal romance.

Thank You Netgalley for the ARC copy and this is an honest review!
Select is a pleasant surprise! After reading the entire book in a night, I found myself wishing for book 2. The main character, Julia Jaynes, is a seventeen year old finding out that her family is not exactly who she thinks they are. Plus, she is different in many ways from those outside her family. After an incident that almost expose her families secrets her father puts her into a regular high school to teach her a lesson. Julia reconnects with a young man named John Ford, who is just a "regular" boy. What Julia finds out is that love, family, and secrets can tear you apart or make you stronger than ever before.

Thank you to NetGalley, Charlesbridge, Charlesbridge Teen, and Marit Weisenberg for this Granted Wish advanced preview copy of Select for an honest review --




I was blown away to recieve this granted wish ARC, because the art and the synopsis grabbed me from the first time I saw it available/coming soon for publication. I couldn't help feeling the tug of love, also, being a Texas, that it mentions Austin right from the get go.

While the beginning of Select is a little slow, I feel it takes its time to slowly pull you into understanding the world. How Julia's world is constructed and why it's terrible to fall from such a high height. The way the cultish, but perfect life of hers begins to slowly peel back as Julia's view point widens to the world she was dropped in, we begin to feel the eerie dangers present that were oblivious overlooked or missed in the earlier portions of Julia's life.

I like that the love story in this novel wasn't instantly everything for both of the characters. That, they like we coming into the novel, are a slow and gradual gravity toward each other. Julia because she's displaced, to this place that is supposed to cow her rebellion, and John because of the novelty of Julia, who she is, where she comes from, what she can do.

I love all the twists and turns of the secrets of the book, and I'm incredibly hesitant about how to describe them, as no one should be spoiled on getting them just the way we all did as early readers. The depths of the machine behind everything is broad and you'll find yourself gasping, horrified, disliking characters you might have liked earlier, cheering for things that come to pass the way they have to by the end.

This book was a fast, hard, love, that demanded you read it in every free second you had, and I will be picking up a copy as soon as it is available!