Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

13 reviews

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

miraclesnow's review against another edition

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

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

Minor: Drug abuse

christinereads1823's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.5

Thoroughly engrossing, full of twists and an interesting take on magic systems. Roth's flawed characters with sharp edges and unresolved trauma sing, exploring the complexities of being a hero after your adventure ends - and then what happens when you're asked to do it again.

I did guess the character-based plot twists (I felt they were pretty obvious) but not the worldbuilding-based ones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Suicide, and Kidnapping

unboxedjack's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

lottielat's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad 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

4.25

I loved the first part of the book, I thought Sloane’s character was wonderfully written and i loved the rest of the characters apart from Matt but maybe others disagree. However the second part just felt a little bit of a let down compared to the first. If it had stayed at the same standard and remained as interesting and exciting as it did before it absolutely would’ve been a five star. I loved the plot, it’s definitely unique. Maybe i’m biased towards the genre (fantasy and sci-fi) but I would definitely reread and recommend if that’s what you like to read. I’m not going to add any spoilers but god did parts of it make me cry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Drug use and Suicide

nee_cole's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction and Sexual content

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 

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, cancer

REPRESENTATION 

MC with PTSD, Black SC, Mexican-American lesbian SC, disabled SC

REVIEW
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 😝

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer

sbcrra's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Addiction, Torture, and Vomit

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

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

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