crim's review against another edition
2.0
Disclaimer! I didn’t HATE this book, it just ended up not being my style.
The writing style gives little availability for complex or interesting layers to setting or character, and a lot of the execution fell flat.
I liked Cade at first, especially at the beginning of the novel.
However, he was a little too generic for me past the mid-way point. The descriptions of him at the beginning set the stage for an interesting base. The conflicts he had over situations at the school were interesting, and what little of his thoughts we were able to glean (again, brief writing style), were layered. Struggling with self preservation, defending others, and his racially insensitive peers were all thought provoking conflicts.
This doesn’t last, however. Cade can’t decide if he’s going to be the odd one out, or the everyday hero. He acts noble/heroic in a number of circumstances, only referring to his school characterization/struggles occasionally.
He saves everyone on multiple occasions, always thinks of the correct ideas, becomes the de facto leader, and despite being called “not a threat” shows physical strength as well. The character doesn’t have a natural arc from where he started to where he ended up, and the whole thing feels wonky.
The other characters, for the most part, I wasn’t a fan off. It was clear to me which ones were disposable, and which the author was intent on keeping.
Unfortunately Spex, Jim, and Gobbler were all plot devices more than characters, and when the big baddies showed up I expected them to go out. It was unfortunate because I wasn’t sad for their departure. I felt pity for Jim, but the tension between him and Spex wasn’t explored enough for me to feel like it got any sort of meaningful resolution. These boys weren’t prominent enough for me to feel engaged in their interpersonal conflict, and thusly I felt nothing when they passed.
Spex and Jim exist mainly for Cade’s character, and we don’t even see the repercussions of this to the extent that could have been explored. Gobbler existed as an irredeemable punching bag, and as muscle for Finch: who is equally as comically evil. They did get one thing right with Finch though. I didn’t like him. He at least fulfilled that as a villain. Didn’t find him particularly interesting though.
Scott is a one-liner machine, and I expected him to stick around as a mood lightener: which he did.
Yoshi was one of the more layered characters, though not by a lot. He was fine, and I at least enjoyed when he was present.
The girls, oh, the girls.
On paper it looks nice: their characterizations are inoffensive. So why do I feel strange about their placement in the book? Well, they enter awkwardly and steal time from the “main” cast, which led to my feeling of detachment from them (other than Yoshi). I’m also not a fan of romance for the sake of it, so I wasn’t a big Amber/Cade supporter.
The girl power moment also seemed out of place, almost like it was patting itself on the back for being woke in some way. A wise man once said “By bringing attention to it, you are implying that this is an exception and not in fact the status quo,”
It would have been much better if the hockey thing wasn’t mentioned to the extent it was as an excuse for why the girls were so strong. It didn’t make much sense anyways, as the boys went to a military school with physical punishments and should be in a similar condition. I’m all for girl power (and I liked Grace a ton), but the whole thing seemed overly preachy.
On the bright side! Quintis.
I quite liked him. He was a deaf representative, and had interesting characterization. The moments he was meant to be funny I found charming, and he was never made fun of on the basis of his impairment. He was extremely capable, and served as a fun character and a way to get more world building.
Speaking of, there are some big ideas in this story! But the execution was a tad muddied. The idea of missing things going into a pocket dimension for an interplanetary gauntlet? Very interesting. Especially if I didn’t have to find out about the gauntlet via an info-dump from god in the last chapter.
Foreshadowing? Spreading info throughout? No-no, not in this book. You have to read the next one now, even if you’re not invested in the cast enough to care.
And the dinosaur placement threw me off. That’s a subjective one though. The frequent info-dumps about facts rather than world building or character dialogue is more present than you may think. It seems like this book was an excuse for the author to discuss some of his interests: but it could have been done in a more streamline way.
All in all, needed more. Just more exploration of the settings, ideas, and characters to make me care.
I won’t be picking up the next book, but I hope you all gleaned something from my review.
2.3/5
The writing style gives little availability for complex or interesting layers to setting or character, and a lot of the execution fell flat.
I liked Cade at first, especially at the beginning of the novel.
However, he was a little too generic for me past the mid-way point. The descriptions of him at the beginning set the stage for an interesting base. The conflicts he had over situations at the school were interesting, and what little of his thoughts we were able to glean (again, brief writing style), were layered. Struggling with self preservation, defending others, and his racially insensitive peers were all thought provoking conflicts.
This doesn’t last, however. Cade can’t decide if he’s going to be the odd one out, or the everyday hero. He acts noble/heroic in a number of circumstances, only referring to his school characterization/struggles occasionally.
He saves everyone on multiple occasions, always thinks of the correct ideas, becomes the de facto leader, and despite being called “not a threat” shows physical strength as well. The character doesn’t have a natural arc from where he started to where he ended up, and the whole thing feels wonky.
The other characters, for the most part, I wasn’t a fan off. It was clear to me which ones were disposable, and which the author was intent on keeping.
Unfortunately Spex, Jim, and Gobbler were all plot devices more than characters, and when the big baddies showed up I expected them to go out. It was unfortunate because I wasn’t sad for their departure. I felt pity for Jim, but the tension between him and Spex wasn’t explored enough for me to feel like it got any sort of meaningful resolution. These boys weren’t prominent enough for me to feel engaged in their interpersonal conflict, and thusly I felt nothing when they passed.
Spex and Jim exist mainly for Cade’s character, and we don’t even see the repercussions of this to the extent that could have been explored. Gobbler existed as an irredeemable punching bag, and as muscle for Finch: who is equally as comically evil. They did get one thing right with Finch though. I didn’t like him. He at least fulfilled that as a villain. Didn’t find him particularly interesting though.
Scott is a one-liner machine, and I expected him to stick around as a mood lightener: which he did.
Yoshi was one of the more layered characters, though not by a lot. He was fine, and I at least enjoyed when he was present.
The girls, oh, the girls.
On paper it looks nice: their characterizations are inoffensive. So why do I feel strange about their placement in the book? Well, they enter awkwardly and steal time from the “main” cast, which led to my feeling of detachment from them (other than Yoshi). I’m also not a fan of romance for the sake of it, so I wasn’t a big Amber/Cade supporter.
The girl power moment also seemed out of place, almost like it was patting itself on the back for being woke in some way. A wise man once said “By bringing attention to it, you are implying that this is an exception and not in fact the status quo,”
It would have been much better if the hockey thing wasn’t mentioned to the extent it was as an excuse for why the girls were so strong. It didn’t make much sense anyways, as the boys went to a military school with physical punishments and should be in a similar condition. I’m all for girl power (and I liked Grace a ton), but the whole thing seemed overly preachy.
On the bright side! Quintis.
I quite liked him. He was a deaf representative, and had interesting characterization. The moments he was meant to be funny I found charming, and he was never made fun of on the basis of his impairment. He was extremely capable, and served as a fun character and a way to get more world building.
Speaking of, there are some big ideas in this story! But the execution was a tad muddied. The idea of missing things going into a pocket dimension for an interplanetary gauntlet? Very interesting. Especially if I didn’t have to find out about the gauntlet via an info-dump from god in the last chapter.
Foreshadowing? Spreading info throughout? No-no, not in this book. You have to read the next one now, even if you’re not invested in the cast enough to care.
And the dinosaur placement threw me off. That’s a subjective one though. The frequent info-dumps about facts rather than world building or character dialogue is more present than you may think. It seems like this book was an excuse for the author to discuss some of his interests: but it could have been done in a more streamline way.
All in all, needed more. Just more exploration of the settings, ideas, and characters to make me care.
I won’t be picking up the next book, but I hope you all gleaned something from my review.
2.3/5
evan_rosier22's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
5.0
thatbookishwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ninaaa_books's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. Felt like a Jumanji spinoff but with bad writing
marvelpotter's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.75
willsnow's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Good! Idea is weird but executed well
glorythepen's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
3.75
mixedpineapples10's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-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
zaheerah's review against another edition
3.0
*I received a copy via the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.*
Throughout history, people have vanished with little to no explanation. And now Cade and his schoolmates are one of them. Six months into his new school, contemplating his new, drastic path, he is suddenly transported to another realm. A realm where prehistoric animals and ancient societies have seemingly made a home in this strange world. Cade and his friends have no time to relax when a mysterious being announces them as contenders in a game without rules but to survive.
I’ll admit there was some confusion on my end because the cover and the original synopsis I had read lead me to believe this series was an extension of Matharu’s Summoner series which I mildly enjoyed. Once the talks of modern school and dinosaurs started popping up, I had a feeling we were not in the Hominum Empire anymore. I laugh at my mistake and then started the book over again. My first thoughts when I finished this book was mild confusion. Even with my initial mistake, I felt like I had been reading a different book than what I set out with initially. I wasn’t particularly blown away, it was good fun to read, but nothing was that special for me, personally.
What made The Chosen unique was its take on using mystery disappearances. Cade soon learns that many people and creatures he sees before have been reported to have disappeared, never to be seen again. A lot of them have ended up here in this strange world. I was having some fun with this book initially. I initially felt some Lord of the Flies vibes. Matharu does an excellent job of setting the scene, bring together a group of boys as they try to figure out what’s happening to them. They discover buildings and materials from people before them and begin their journey to survival. It is from this moment onwards is where I think the story just loses itself.
Cade is separated from his peers, and this is where the bulk of the story will continue. He meets more people, discovers bolder enemies and figures how most of his plan on his own. The writing is good, consistent and straight to the point. But I just felt like the story just didn’t know where it was going. Or maybe because it’s a trilogy, it felt stretched out far too much to make any real sense. The boys discover they are running on a countdown very early on in the book, and despite the reminder of the clock, it felt really underwhelming. Cade fights new enemies, creatures and humans alike, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Any semblances of an explanation are revealed only in the final chapter, and at the point, I was more confused than thoroughly informed.
Overall, The Chosen had the potential to be a lot more eventful and exciting if the journey towards the ending wasn’t so underwhelming. Apart from Cade and another character introduced later on, the rest of the cast blur into each other. We are given signifiers and a somewhat decent backstory for them, but when they’re placed within this world, it becomes the Cade Show, where everyone loses relevance. The mystery does unfold quite interestingly, and I just some faith the sequel can do the series justice, but the introduction is not as exhilarating as it should have been.
Throughout history, people have vanished with little to no explanation. And now Cade and his schoolmates are one of them. Six months into his new school, contemplating his new, drastic path, he is suddenly transported to another realm. A realm where prehistoric animals and ancient societies have seemingly made a home in this strange world. Cade and his friends have no time to relax when a mysterious being announces them as contenders in a game without rules but to survive.
I’ll admit there was some confusion on my end because the cover and the original synopsis I had read lead me to believe this series was an extension of Matharu’s Summoner series which I mildly enjoyed. Once the talks of modern school and dinosaurs started popping up, I had a feeling we were not in the Hominum Empire anymore. I laugh at my mistake and then started the book over again. My first thoughts when I finished this book was mild confusion. Even with my initial mistake, I felt like I had been reading a different book than what I set out with initially. I wasn’t particularly blown away, it was good fun to read, but nothing was that special for me, personally.
What made The Chosen unique was its take on using mystery disappearances. Cade soon learns that many people and creatures he sees before have been reported to have disappeared, never to be seen again. A lot of them have ended up here in this strange world. I was having some fun with this book initially. I initially felt some Lord of the Flies vibes. Matharu does an excellent job of setting the scene, bring together a group of boys as they try to figure out what’s happening to them. They discover buildings and materials from people before them and begin their journey to survival. It is from this moment onwards is where I think the story just loses itself.
Cade is separated from his peers, and this is where the bulk of the story will continue. He meets more people, discovers bolder enemies and figures how most of his plan on his own. The writing is good, consistent and straight to the point. But I just felt like the story just didn’t know where it was going. Or maybe because it’s a trilogy, it felt stretched out far too much to make any real sense. The boys discover they are running on a countdown very early on in the book, and despite the reminder of the clock, it felt really underwhelming. Cade fights new enemies, creatures and humans alike, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Any semblances of an explanation are revealed only in the final chapter, and at the point, I was more confused than thoroughly informed.
Overall, The Chosen had the potential to be a lot more eventful and exciting if the journey towards the ending wasn’t so underwhelming. Apart from Cade and another character introduced later on, the rest of the cast blur into each other. We are given signifiers and a somewhat decent backstory for them, but when they’re placed within this world, it becomes the Cade Show, where everyone loses relevance. The mystery does unfold quite interestingly, and I just some faith the sequel can do the series justice, but the introduction is not as exhilarating as it should have been.