Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

7 reviews

vic_to_ria's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was a fun read, I liked a lot of the humour our main character gives and I personally related to her character and how she handles her trauma and emotional responses to opposition or media expectations.
This gave me like the Umbrella Academy vibes in the sense that we are picking up after the chosen ones have saved the world and what their lives looked like after the fact as they were just teenagers at the time of triumph.
The mystery is good and there isn’t a time in the plot where we don’t know what we are doing- there is always something to do or to learn as our main character can’t stay still for too long and I loved that.
My one issue is I felt the ending was rushed and we didn’t get a satisfying ( to me ) explanation for the main mystery

aka our main character being a main interest of the villain (the Dark One) and why he consistently sought her out and targeted her out of all the chosen ones- I didn’t feel like that was a satisfying ending as it’s mentioned in flashback only and not expanded upon

Overall this was a great superhero trope twist I enjoyed and wished we got a little bit more of just to properly flush out the villain and the mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Gore, Violence, and Death of parent

rynaissanceenby's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.25

This was a pretty good book, but not amazing. I liked the premise, and the overall story was enjoyable. There were a number of plot holes or just things that seemed out of place throughout. I also didn't feel like the prose raced across the page and left me craving the next chapter the way I would expect a book of this genre to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Torture, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Racism

CW: Zombies

ellamc's review against another edition

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

3.75

A very interesting plot, I enjoyed that they did not seem to just have worked everything out just because they were the Chosen Ones. However the ending was very rushed, I'm unsure if Roth plans to write a sequel or not but even still the

meshing of the worlds and the group reuniting with Inez and then splitting up happened way too quickly

I would have preferred a few extra chapters fleshing out the end rather than just cutting it off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gore, Medical content, and Death of parent

rae42's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Loved the writing but the plot changed in the middle and the end feels like its missing a few chapters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

nutm3g's review against another edition

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

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

Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Religious bigotry

imcharlottek's review against another edition

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

Minor: Racism

books_and_mags's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death of parent