A review by greatlibraryofalexandra
Chosen by Kiersten White
2.0
Hmmm. For some reason I feel bad giving this a 2/5 rating despite the fact that...it just isn't very good. It was so lackluster it had be questioning if I was much too generous with the first in this series.
White isn't a bad writer, but the conclusion of this dyad of books just leaves me feeling pretty certain she should stick to her own original fiction. "Chosen" was by far wittier, funnier, and more rife with wry, feel-good throwbacks to Classic! Buffy (Oz! Who doesn't like seeing Oz?) but ultimately, its plot was an absolute mess, its characterization failed by miles, and I was flat-out relieved that it was much shorter than "Slayer."
Every single chapter that was written in 3rd person about Artemis was just a horrendous messy to get through. Artemis is a flat character with no "oomph" behind her motivations or decisions; rather than being complex, she comes off as childish, boring, grating, and just plain lacking in any sort of conviction - her whole shtick is that she wants power to protect hr sister, who doesn't need to be protected, but really she's also sad because now she's useless - it's trite and awful, and pairing her up with Honora, who was so poorly characterized that she continually comes off as nothing more than a mean girl protoype with sapphic spice, results in nothing more than a cringe-worthy attempt at capturing the power of the Willow (+Dark Willow)/Tara dynamic. It's more of an insult than anything else.
So, too, is the final "apocalypse" of this story. It's little more than a droning amalgam of the season finales of Season 5, 6, and 2 of Buffy. There could have been so much more creativity involved in this, but it just wasn't there. Cheeky references or witty one-line throw backs to the original source material are nice, but ripping off the core of entire story lines (the way Xander saved Willow, a sister sacrifice, etc.) goes a step too far in paying homage.
Overall, this second book actually brings down the value of the first book, which was quirkier and more mellow in just being what it was -- lovable fanfiction.
White isn't a bad writer, but the conclusion of this dyad of books just leaves me feeling pretty certain she should stick to her own original fiction. "Chosen" was by far wittier, funnier, and more rife with wry, feel-good throwbacks to Classic! Buffy (Oz! Who doesn't like seeing Oz?) but ultimately, its plot was an absolute mess, its characterization failed by miles, and I was flat-out relieved that it was much shorter than "Slayer."
Every single chapter that was written in 3rd person about Artemis was just a horrendous messy to get through. Artemis is a flat character with no "oomph" behind her motivations or decisions; rather than being complex, she comes off as childish, boring, grating, and just plain lacking in any sort of conviction - her whole shtick is that she wants power to protect hr sister, who doesn't need to be protected, but really she's also sad because now she's useless - it's trite and awful, and pairing her up with Honora, who was so poorly characterized that she continually comes off as nothing more than a mean girl protoype with sapphic spice, results in nothing more than a cringe-worthy attempt at capturing the power of the Willow (+Dark Willow)/Tara dynamic. It's more of an insult than anything else.
So, too, is the final "apocalypse" of this story. It's little more than a droning amalgam of the season finales of Season 5, 6, and 2 of Buffy. There could have been so much more creativity involved in this, but it just wasn't there. Cheeky references or witty one-line throw backs to the original source material are nice, but ripping off the core of entire story lines (the way Xander saved Willow, a sister sacrifice, etc.) goes a step too far in paying homage.
Overall, this second book actually brings down the value of the first book, which was quirkier and more mellow in just being what it was -- lovable fanfiction.