Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

9 reviews

miraclesnow's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• 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

Hi this one really hit different, more thoughts later.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Torture, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Sexism, and Racism

Minor: Drug abuse

kadtide's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

bookwookie's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Torture, Gore, and Racism

Minor: Suicide

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

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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

nutm3g's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

Chosen Ones was an enjoyable read, and it felt as if Veronica Roth as grown as a writer since her Divergent series days. I personally MUCH preferred this book to that series as a whole. Chosen Ones plays around with the idea of what exactly is a "chosen one" and the idea that it truly is not set in stone as a single person (or group of persons), but rather on who simply succeeds when the time comes. Basically, it subverts the chosen one trope while also bringing up the idea of what happens next. This book explored how these kids were affected and the trauma they carried into their adult lives as a result of risking their lives as children for the sake of the world. Chosen Ones also touched on the idea that a savior truly has to be morally grey in order to survive. I also enjoyed how the 3 Parts of the novel were split in very distinct ways to the setting, which is all I can say without spoiling anything. I am not sure if Veronica will decide to actually turn this into a series, and it truthfully works perfectly as a standalone novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Drug use, Dysphoria, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Eating disorder, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Religious bigotry

foreverinastory's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

imcharlottek's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Roth does something so interesting in this book that it’s hard to explain. You really do find yourself relating to, getting annoyed with and feeling sympathy for these characters, which sets them apart in my mind. 

I also enjoyed the structure of the book, with its interspersed government papers and news/book excerpts.

My only issue is sometimes the writing felt a little odd - “Creepmaster 2000” doesn’t quite feel like something your average late 20-something would say. 

Overall, this read genuinely gripped me. I struggled to put it down and finished it in 2.5 days (which is very unusual for me). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Mental illness

Minor: Racism

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.

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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 children

deedireads's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Chosen Ones was an exciting, fun, genre-bending read with a great premise. Not perfect but worth reading for sure!

For you if: You like stories about heroes who save the world.

FULL REVIEW:

Chosen Ones was released several months ago. I heard a little bit of buzz about it, but not as much as I’d expected given that Veronica Roth wrote Divergent. Still, I had a copy (thank you HMH via Netgalley) and I was in the mood for an adventure — and I was curious! — so I picked it up. It’s not perfect, but I definitely enjoyed it and I’m really glad I read it!

This book is an adult fantasy/sci-fi genre-masher about a group of young adults who previously saved the world from a force of evil known as the Dark One. The story starts ten years later, when the rest of the world has moved on but our fivesome is still grappling with the effects of being “chosen ones” — including, for our protagonist, severe PTSD. I don’t want to spoil the story’s inciting incident or exactly how fantasy meets sci-fi, because I thought it was quite well done, but suffice to say that their work is far from over.

I thought the magic system in this book was really interesting, if perhaps a bit complex. I also thought it started a little slowly, but it definitely picked up as it went along. It was one of those stories where it gives you just enough to piece together a fair amount of the mystery as you read while still leaving room for twists and surprises, especially at the end. And I was totally rooting for the main character, even though she’s a total grump.

Also, I think this is supposed to be slated as a duology, but I did think this book felt nicely self-contained and could have been a standalone too.

This is a good, solid read if you’re looking for something fun!



TRIGGER WARNINGS
Suicide; Kidnapping; PTSD (severe); Racist microaggressions

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Minor: Racism