happilyhalliwell's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Violence
miraclesnow's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a novel I would consider more New adult than actually adult, the themes were intense but didn’t go in depth as much as I’m used to in adult material. The romance was a nice subplot and I was very invested in Sloane’s struggle.
The ending wrapped up so quickly I wouldn’t be able to call it perfect. However, the themes Roth was interested in were very much used well for the plot she achieved. And I really love the character work in this, almost everyone felt fleshed out. I just wish I could have had more time with it, that there was more of it! Which is an awesome sign for a book- I recommend it.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, and Mental illness
Moderate: Torture, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Sexism, and Racism
Minor: Drug abuse
christinereads1823's review
- 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
4.5
I did guess the character-based plot twists (I felt they were pretty obvious) but not the worldbuilding-based ones.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide, Kidnapping, Addiction, and Drug use
jayyb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide
unboxedjack's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Grief, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Gore, Torture, Body horror, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
kadtide's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Violence, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Suicide, and Torture
Minor: Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism
elle_dee's review
- 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
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
willyzita's review
- 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
Graphic: Kidnapping, Genocide, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide
leonormsousa's review against another edition
- 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
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, cancerSpoiler
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 😝
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
brl5189's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Child abuse