joshuas_space's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Cancer
elle_dee's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Addiction, Racism, Self harm, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Torture
leonormsousa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
TRIGGER WARNINGS
Spoiler
violence, death, mental illness (PTSD), panic attacks, emotional abuse, kidnapping, torture, murder, gore, blood, injury/injury detail, suicide, addiction, drug abuse, alcoholism, chronic pain, grief, cancerREPRESENTATION
Spoiler
MC with PTSD, Black SC, Mexican-American lesbian SC, disabled SCREVIEW
Although I did enjoy the Divergent series, I have some mixed feelings towards it (especially the last book) and so I probably would have never picked up Chosen Ones was it not for Beatriz talking about it. It wasn’t even a favourite of hers but somehow, the way she talked about the book really got me invested in it. Since I’m a mood reader, being really invested means it took me about a year to buy it and then another year to finally get around to reading it 🙈. Anyway, this was just a big introduction so I can thank Beatriz for what was actually a great recommendation but also appreciate bookstagram for making me read books I probably never would.
Moving on to the book itself, I enjoyed it quite a lot: solid 4 stars for me. But even though I did enjoy it for what it was, I can’t help but think about how GOOOOOOD this book would be if, using the same starting point, it was more a sort of literary fiction. Does this make no sense? No?! Yeah, that sounds about right… But let me explain.
My absolute favourite part about this book was the characters. It’s not that the plot was not interesting but for me personally, it felt like an ok plot. But the characters… THE. CHA. RAC. TERS. I loved them and their dynamics. This book starts off as an exploration of trauma, unwanted fame and relationships, with a dash of misogyny and racism and I was living for it. Honestly, that was all I needed. And it’s not that I didn’t get it throughout the entire book; I did; it’s just that I kept wondering about what if there wasn’t another adventure or wtv for our main characters; what if we got the whole book to talk about trauma?! (Am I a masochist? Oh yes, oh yes!)
So, summarizing what I just wrote: I liked this book but it makes me slightly angry that it had so much potential to be much more than what it was but because it stuck to its fantasy genre, it didn’t. Obviously, this is not an anger directed at anyone (especially not the author, she did do a great job!), it’s more a frustration directed at the world itself.
Now that I’ve got that off my system and since this is getting quite big already, here are some short sentences with short opinions:
- very cool magic system/sci-fi world, would have been great if there was more space/time to exploit it.
- plot was slightly predictable
- liked the zombies
- would have liked to see Ines embark on the journey with the other Chosen Ones and not get left behind
- loved the approach on relationships, especially Matt-Sloane
- the Chicago depiction was pretty cool but for someone who’s not familiar with it, it got a bit confusing sometimes
- great perspective on “the chosen one” concept
- I might have a small crush on Sloane <3
And that’s it for today, folks! In general, I had a good time reading this and if there was a second book, I would definitely be reading it! Now I’m gonna go cry a bit because I can’t find fanart for these amazing characters 😥 And when I’m finished crying, I’m gonna start looking for books about trauma because apparently, that’s something I enjoy spending my time with 😝
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Grief, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Murder, Gore, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Torture
Minor: Cancer
jashanac's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book is quite different from anything else I've read - there were definitely times where the magic itself and the whole thing didn't really make sense/click in my brain... but I just kind of went with it and accepted it. Ha!
I just really enjoyed the exploration of what it means to be a "chosen one", once the Big Bad is defeated and what the effects of that could be. And then the exploration of good versus evil in general - I liked what Veronica Roth did with that. It felt like a fresh take on it for me.
I am VERY curious about how things are going to pan out with the WILD ending... !
Spoiler
different dimensionsI just really enjoyed the exploration of what it means to be a "chosen one", once the Big Bad is defeated and what the effects of that could be. And then the exploration of good versus evil in general - I liked what Veronica Roth did with that. It felt like a fresh take on it for me.
I am VERY curious about how things are going to pan out with the WILD ending... !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Cancer, Suicide, and Torture
ciarastud's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I honestly enjoyed this book. I am a sucker for books with an unknown past. Usually, I read in the form of romance and the main character runs into a past lover, but this was fresh and interesting topic of YA chosen heroes after they’ve saved the world. It’s a different type of dark take on the topic. Because children/teenagers are a vulnerable population and these older people with power are telling them they are the only ones that can save the world. And no book I’ve read before has talked about the toll it would take. I think that’s why I liked the book so much because it deglamorizes the trope. I think the book was fast-paced as you were always kind of learning something new. The only thing I didn’t like was the end. Like all the stuff you learned didn’t really cumulate to much. And it was quick. And I was kinda just like okay. But the journey was interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, and Gore
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Cancer, Vomit, and Racism
Moderate to graphic: child neglect, emotional manipulation of childreniviarelle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This is not a story for everyone, but if it clicks, it may click real hard.
I don't often find myself reading books I consider medium-paced, that nevertheless don't let my attention stray. I'd go a few days between reading, but I couldn't read less than 10% at a sitting and I had to tear myself away. My biggest complaint is that the clippings from top secret documents and news articles threw me out of the story as often as they supplemented my feeling of knowledge about this story's background. Mostly, I just wanted to get back to the story I was increasingly invested in. That being said, the mysteries and twists are seeded wonderfully throughout the text, and the climax and resolution speak to me in a way very, very few stories do.
Which brings me to Sloane. Sloane is definitely way up there in my top 5 "relating way too hard to a character" characters. She's all rough edges, sharp tongue, and stubbornness, and I love her like I would another self because in some ways I used to be her and still am to a great degree. She grows and learns over the course of the book, but she never stops being the jagged, marshmallow-free queen she begins the story as. She will definitely NOT be relatable to everyone, but oh boy am I glad to know her now.
I don't often find myself reading books I consider medium-paced, that nevertheless don't let my attention stray. I'd go a few days between reading, but I couldn't read less than 10% at a sitting and I had to tear myself away. My biggest complaint is that the clippings from top secret documents and news articles threw me out of the story as often as they supplemented my feeling of knowledge about this story's background. Mostly, I just wanted to get back to the story I was increasingly invested in. That being said, the mysteries and twists are seeded wonderfully throughout the text, and the climax and resolution speak to me in a way very, very few stories do.
Which brings me to Sloane. Sloane is definitely way up there in my top 5 "relating way too hard to a character" characters. She's all rough edges, sharp tongue, and stubbornness, and I love her like I would another self because in some ways I used to be her and still am to a great degree. She grows and learns over the course of the book, but she never stops being the jagged, marshmallow-free queen she begins the story as. She will definitely NOT be relatable to everyone, but oh boy am I glad to know her now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, and Medical content
cakrolik's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Torture, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Drug abuse
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