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kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
Sixth in the Anna Strong urban fantasy series about a newly-made vampire battling to retain her humanity.
Poor Anna. She just can't catch a break with boyfriends. Betrayals and snarkiness just seem to go hand-in-hand.
This particular installment is full of introspection and discoveries for Anna as she works some issues out for herself while other problems are dissected by her true friends. The final aha moment is when Anna must choose how to answer petitions laid before the Chosen One. Her answers are so wise, you just know she's channeling somebody!
A very interesting chapter in Anna's life; I do wish I had read this one before I read Crossroads as it colored too much of my own expectations.
It's the raid on the biker bar that clues Anna in to a new power she may have acquired. A power that spikes again when she meets Lance's sire, Julian Underwood, after they've buried Anna's attacker.
Anna's feelings about Underwood aren't helped when she finds Lance horribly beaten and she vows to Lance that she will help protect him. A vow that doesn't seem to have sunk into Lance. Especially since Anna doesn't tell him of the bargain she makes with Underwood and Williams to accept their aid in her role as the Chosen. An alliance that goes awry when Williams turns up as a pile of ashes with Judith Williams on her doorstep demanding aid.
Seems Williams really got off on the whole power trip. Turning his wife but not teaching her what she needs to know to fend for herself. Even worse, Judith's arrogant personality has come along for the ride throwing everything off balance. Death and destruction at Culebra's bar, David's kidnapping, home invasions all mixed in with Anna's own kidnapping. She is to be an offering to a god and goddess who have been waiting 500 years.
Then there are the vampire tribes who all have a stake in the Chosen One's pronouncements, the direction vampires will follow for the next 200 years. Naturally, not everyone wants such a young, inexperienced vampire in charge of them all but it is during this challenge that Anna realizes the truth as to why she was Chosen.
Anna Strong was turned almost a year ago and, man oh man, it has been a busy, full-of-learning kind of year. David is her partner in their bounty hunter business and he's pretty ticked at Anna. He's also a former pro football player. Tracy Banker is their new partner and no dummy. Culebra is a friend who runs Beso de la Muerte, a blood bar down in Mexico. Daniel Frey is another friend and former lover, a shapeshifting panther, who finds out the nitty-gritty about becoming the Chosen. His current girlfriend Layla does not love Anna.
Lance Turner, a.k.a., Broderick "Rick" Phillipe DeFontaine is Anna's current boyfriend. A vampire, a model, and a scion of the DeFontaine diamond family, Lance has it all. Seemingly. Too bad the boy ain't got a backbone. Adele is his housekeeper in one of his California houses; from a line of old family retainers.
Warren Williams is the former police chief of San Diego and a 200-year-old vampire who sees Anna as his chance for greater power. Judith Williams is the snotty other half whom Warren turned vamp but hasn't given her the instruction manual. Right along with Julian Underwood, Lance's sire and a sorcerer with his own set of plans. Detective Harris is with homicide and has his own set of suspicions about Anna.
The vampire tribes represent geographic areas: Joshua Turnbull of North America; Miguel in South America; Rani is in charge of Central America which includes Mexico and the West Indies; Brianna rules Australia and Oceania; Northern Africa; Central and South Africa; the Near East; Amardad of the Middle East; Central Asia; Indonesia and the Philippines; Cheng-Li of China; Japan and Korea; and Chael from Russia.
Alexi, Dhakwan, Dato, Naruaki, Melisizwe, and Bayani are other tribal heads; I can't figure out where they belong.
The cover has a rather otherworldly feel with that huge full moon and the pink-blue-green mists floating in and around a jean-clad Anna in her workaday tank and leather batwing vest. That humongous stake in her hand must relate to the fight of her life.
That's Anna. And no matter how she tries to wriggle her way out of it, she is definitely the Chosen.
My Take
Poor Anna. She just can't catch a break with boyfriends. Betrayals and snarkiness just seem to go hand-in-hand.
This particular installment is full of introspection and discoveries for Anna as she works some issues out for herself while other problems are dissected by her true friends. The final aha moment is when Anna must choose how to answer petitions laid before the Chosen One. Her answers are so wise, you just know she's channeling somebody!
A very interesting chapter in Anna's life; I do wish I had read this one before I read Crossroads as it colored too much of my own expectations.
The Story
It's the raid on the biker bar that clues Anna in to a new power she may have acquired. A power that spikes again when she meets Lance's sire, Julian Underwood, after they've buried Anna's attacker.
Anna's feelings about Underwood aren't helped when she finds Lance horribly beaten and she vows to Lance that she will help protect him. A vow that doesn't seem to have sunk into Lance. Especially since Anna doesn't tell him of the bargain she makes with Underwood and Williams to accept their aid in her role as the Chosen. An alliance that goes awry when Williams turns up as a pile of ashes with Judith Williams on her doorstep demanding aid.
Seems Williams really got off on the whole power trip. Turning his wife but not teaching her what she needs to know to fend for herself. Even worse, Judith's arrogant personality has come along for the ride throwing everything off balance. Death and destruction at Culebra's bar, David's kidnapping, home invasions all mixed in with Anna's own kidnapping. She is to be an offering to a god and goddess who have been waiting 500 years.
Then there are the vampire tribes who all have a stake in the Chosen One's pronouncements, the direction vampires will follow for the next 200 years. Naturally, not everyone wants such a young, inexperienced vampire in charge of them all but it is during this challenge that Anna realizes the truth as to why she was Chosen.
The Characters
Anna Strong was turned almost a year ago and, man oh man, it has been a busy, full-of-learning kind of year. David is her partner in their bounty hunter business and he's pretty ticked at Anna. He's also a former pro football player. Tracy Banker is their new partner and no dummy. Culebra is a friend who runs Beso de la Muerte, a blood bar down in Mexico. Daniel Frey is another friend and former lover, a shapeshifting panther, who finds out the nitty-gritty about becoming the Chosen. His current girlfriend Layla does not love Anna.
Lance Turner, a.k.a., Broderick "Rick" Phillipe DeFontaine is Anna's current boyfriend. A vampire, a model, and a scion of the DeFontaine diamond family, Lance has it all. Seemingly. Too bad the boy ain't got a backbone. Adele is his housekeeper in one of his California houses; from a line of old family retainers.
Warren Williams is the former police chief of San Diego and a 200-year-old vampire who sees Anna as his chance for greater power. Judith Williams is the snotty other half whom Warren turned vamp but hasn't given her the instruction manual. Right along with Julian Underwood, Lance's sire and a sorcerer with his own set of plans. Detective Harris is with homicide and has his own set of suspicions about Anna.
The vampire tribes represent geographic areas: Joshua Turnbull of North America; Miguel in South America; Rani is in charge of Central America which includes Mexico and the West Indies; Brianna rules Australia and Oceania; Northern Africa; Central and South Africa; the Near East; Amardad of the Middle East; Central Asia; Indonesia and the Philippines; Cheng-Li of China; Japan and Korea; and Chael from Russia.
Alexi, Dhakwan, Dato, Naruaki, Melisizwe, and Bayani are other tribal heads; I can't figure out where they belong.
The Cover
The cover has a rather otherworldly feel with that huge full moon and the pink-blue-green mists floating in and around a jean-clad Anna in her workaday tank and leather batwing vest. That humongous stake in her hand must relate to the fight of her life.
That's Anna. And no matter how she tries to wriggle her way out of it, she is definitely the Chosen.
heathersbike's review against another edition
I assume I finished this, but I fell out of working with Shelfari, and honestly I don't remember any of it. Oops.
andimontgomery's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy this series and #6 did not disappoint. This was a strong and fast read for me. While some things happened in this book that saddened me, I know those things were needed to move the story along. I really like Anna and how she has embraced her vampirism. I'll definitely buy the next one!
chllybrd's review against another edition
4.0
Ahh I love Anna Strong. Im so glad we finally got to the start of her actually BEING the Chosen and learning more about it. Of course the books said she was before but its nice to have some details on it. I must say she really needs to tell David the truth I want to see how that turns out instead of having all the issues between them. Cant wait to see what is Next for Anna.
lalabristow's review against another edition
5.0
*Contain spoilers if you haven’t read the previous books in this series.
This is one of my favorite series ever! It was one of the first series I read when my UF and PNR obsession started and I definitely anxiously wait for each new book, every year. Jeanne was awesome in giving me an ARC and I simply devoured it, from beginning to end.
Chosen starts off not long after the events of Retribution and we find Anna in a quite peaceful moment in her life. Working with David, dating Lance and living a mostly human life has been good to her, well, let’s not forget the blood drinking. Of course, this simple period in time is nothing more than the calm before the storm and what a storm it is!
A vampire attacks Anna in her own garage early on in the novel and from then on it’s non-stop action from beginning to the very end. The previous book, Retribution, left so many questions unanswered and even though I really enjoyed it, I was expecting more from it. This time though, we get a LOT of answers and the story moves forward quite nicely with some unexpected developments and a lot of twists that will definitely change everything from now on.
I LOVED this book! It was an amazing addition to a one of my favorite series and it left me wanting so much more! Anna finally reaches the 1st anniversary of her Becoming (Vampire) and with it we finally find out what it means to be the Chosen one. If Anna Strong thought her life has been hard since she became Vampire, in Chosen her life gets turned inside out, upside down more than a few times.
I really enjoyed seeing Anna grow in this novel. She goes through so much! Pain, disappointment, betrayals and even finding out things about herself that she never knew; and even though I wanted to smack some sense into her sometimes, I feel like she has become as an amazing person and how much she has evolved from book one is definitely jaw-dropping.
The Anna Strong series is a must read to any Urban Fantasy fan and Chosen is a wonderful addition to this awesome series! If you haven’t read this series yet, you really should get a move on and get ready for the release of Chosen, you won’t regret it!
Also posted on my book blog: Welcome to Larissa's Bookish Life
This is one of my favorite series ever! It was one of the first series I read when my UF and PNR obsession started and I definitely anxiously wait for each new book, every year. Jeanne was awesome in giving me an ARC and I simply devoured it, from beginning to end.
Chosen starts off not long after the events of Retribution and we find Anna in a quite peaceful moment in her life. Working with David, dating Lance and living a mostly human life has been good to her, well, let’s not forget the blood drinking. Of course, this simple period in time is nothing more than the calm before the storm and what a storm it is!
A vampire attacks Anna in her own garage early on in the novel and from then on it’s non-stop action from beginning to the very end. The previous book, Retribution, left so many questions unanswered and even though I really enjoyed it, I was expecting more from it. This time though, we get a LOT of answers and the story moves forward quite nicely with some unexpected developments and a lot of twists that will definitely change everything from now on.
I LOVED this book! It was an amazing addition to a one of my favorite series and it left me wanting so much more! Anna finally reaches the 1st anniversary of her Becoming (Vampire) and with it we finally find out what it means to be the Chosen one. If Anna Strong thought her life has been hard since she became Vampire, in Chosen her life gets turned inside out, upside down more than a few times.
I really enjoyed seeing Anna grow in this novel. She goes through so much! Pain, disappointment, betrayals and even finding out things about herself that she never knew; and even though I wanted to smack some sense into her sometimes, I feel like she has become as an amazing person and how much she has evolved from book one is definitely jaw-dropping.
The Anna Strong series is a must read to any Urban Fantasy fan and Chosen is a wonderful addition to this awesome series! If you haven’t read this series yet, you really should get a move on and get ready for the release of Chosen, you won’t regret it!
Also posted on my book blog: Welcome to Larissa's Bookish Life
suzrae73's review against another edition
4.0
Another great installment with Anna!! I really really enjoyed this book alot! I still wish Anna would be more open to embrassing her new life and being the Chosen, altho now she doesn't really have a choice! Looking forward to her next adventure for sure.
Spoiler
I am sad about Lance and am still hoping that someday she comes around to confiding in David about her true nature....thenia's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the first books of this series better than the ones following. Anna has a long way to go and she only just starting showing any interest in the new world she's been thrust into, although unwillingly. She even realized that she could have made her life a lot easier if she'd only listened to people that wanted to teach her a few things (they all had their agentas, sure, but still, she would have learned and done whatever it is she wanted with the knowledge). I do not propose that she does what people tell her (force, threaten, manipulate) to do. On the contrary. I think that her making her own decisions is admirable, but I find the way she blocks the whole world and ignores good advice kind of annoying.
There's hope that she's starting to see the light in this book and I hope she manages to "grow up" a little in the ones following.
There's hope that she's starting to see the light in this book and I hope she manages to "grow up" a little in the ones following.
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