I recieved an ARC ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 2.5 stars
“The Chosen” caught my attention like so many novels on NetGalley (and in libraries and in bookstores, and just in general) do: by cover design. The dark, mysterious colors combined with the solitary figure all in black who looked, at least to me, tough and assassin-like. The synopsis of the book told me a lot, and I’ll get more into that later, but I was definitely interested in exploring more of this “fight-to-the-death” type of novel. Besides, I’ve heard of Taran Matharu’s other series, the Summoners, and have seen them around for years, so I thought I’d give him a try.
First, the good things / stuff I liked:
- It’s impossible to read this story without thinking of “The Hunger Games.” And then, of course comparing the two. Cade is placed onto another planet [an “arena”] to fight for the entertainment of mysterious entities [“Gamemakers”]. Unlike Katniss, Cade and the others have no idea how they wound up in the desert with dinosaurs and other creepy creatures. No one else fights to the death either, so there’s not much antagonism between characters, save for the rivalries brought over from school. “The Hunger Games” is one of my all-time favorite series, not just because of Katniss Everdeen herself or the events that unfold in the book, but because of the phenomenal social commentary that’s both subtly inferred and blatantly obvious. So any novel that has similarities to “The Hunger Games” automatically is a good one. Well, at least at first glance.
- Let me get this out of the way because it’s apparently weird to lots of people: I’m terrified of dinosaurs. I hate them. I think I was scarred by the Jurassic Park movies that my dad watched and sort of had me watch too when I was young. Even though, yes, they’re extinct and therefore have no possible way of ever harming me, I still detest the giant, man-eating reptiles. They’re fucking scary, okay?! [And no, I’ve never seen the new Jurassic World movies and don’t plan to.] This aspect of the story caught my attention because I do love horror novels, and to me, the dinosaur storyline screams horrifiying. So although the idea of dinosaurs in real life is terrifying to me, I liked the idea in fiction. Sure enough, certain parts of the story had me groaning with disgust. Raptors and T-rexes? No, thanks, compadre.
- Finally, at the halfway point, there were girls introduced into the story. I’m glad this wasn’t a “brofest” with only male characters because bleh. Boring. Not to mention the girls didn’t take shit – especially Amber, who was really the only fleshed-out female, but I digress.
Now, bad things / stuff I disliked:
- Cade. Not the character, but the actual name itself. “Cade,” to me, screams White Muscle-y Male Jock. This was a huge problem for me considering Cade was apparently Indian American. And short. And extremely thin. I don’t often run across this problem, but it’s important to me that names fit the characters. Certain names do not reflect their character, and this was one of those cases. “Cade” put me in mind of one of those “misunderstood jock” types, and that was pretty much the opposite of who Cade actually was. So right away there was a disconnect for me.
- The synopsis gave away too damn much. I mean, throughout the whole book I was waiting for surprises. Plot twists. You know, unexpected things. But nothing of the sort happened because the synopsis literally tells you everything that’s going to happen. In fact, I’ll copy and paste the synopsis here for convenience:
“Throughout history, people have vanished with no explanation. A group of teenagers are about to discover why.
Cade is settling into a new boarding school, contemplating his future, when he finds himself transported to another realm. He soon discovers their new world is populated with lost remnants from the past: prehistoric creatures, ancient relics, and stranger still — people. Overwhelmed by his new surroundings, Cade has little time to adjust, for soon he and his fellow classmates are forced to become contenders in a brutal game, controlled by mysterious overlords.
But who are these beings and why did they choose these teens? Cade must prepare for battle . . . because hiding is not an option.”
“When he finds himself transported to another realm” is a huge spoiler. Because when you first start the book, you’re not sure where Cade is, and neither is he or any other character. It takes them a while to figure out that they’re not, in fact, on Earth. But the synopsis takes the surprise away before you’ve even started reading.
The bit about Cade’s encounters with “prehistoric creatures” is also extremely spoiler-y. If the synopsis hadn’t mentioned it, I think the sudden appearance of actual dinosaurs in the book would’ve been a huge shock. But again, that surprise is rendered meaningless.
And then the big kicker: “…forced to become contenders in a brutal game, controlled by mysterious overlords.” Um, so the series title itself [“The Contender”] gives away the fact that Cade is, in THG’s lingo, “a piece in their games.” Who is “they”? Well, Cade and his companions spend most of the book figuring this out, and yet the readers know from the beginning: “mysterious overlords.” It was not at all clear, at any point in the story, that 1) the characters were in a game and 2) they were being controlled by higher-powered entities. It was hinted at times, and the characters definitely had their suspicions, but instead of letting this reveal happen slowly over the course of the novel, with these facts being confirmed at the end as part of the climax, we instead already know the basics about this world, if not the specifics.
- Therefore, for the majority of the book, I was EXTREMELY bored. Hence the low rating. Everything was predictable because all the important facts had already been revealed in the synopsis!!! Just like all those movie trailers that basically show everything that happens, all the plot twists and characters involved, in two minutes, “The Chosen” had no surprises in store thanks to the brief two-paragraph sneak peek. The rest of the story unfolded as follows: “Cade fights dinosaurs. Cade runs from dinosaurs. Cade discovers more Roman stuff. Cade and company make plans. Cade and company travel from point A to point B.” And so on. B-o-r-i-n-g.
- The last 10% of the book was actually extremely engrossing. If only the rest of the book had been like the end!!! I would’ve given “The Chosen” 3.5 or even 4 stars. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case at all. In the last 10% there was action! There were unpredictable twists! Characters died with great sacrifice! The monsters were legitimately terrifying! Things got out of control and characters had to act on a whim! Things were EXCITING!
- Lastly, I was endlessly annoyed by Cade’s inability to stand up for himself. He was forever a pushover when it came to Finch. At the end of the novel, he fought aggressively, confidently, against the vipers, and he took on the role of leader for the others. But he still wouldn’t defend himself or even push back against Finch whenever that little twat made snide comments or just existed as his insufferable self. Finch should’ve been no problem after the terrors Cade faced on this planet, and yet he still cast his eyes down and basically rolled over like a beaten dog. Sigh.
- I also don’t seem to connect very well with male protagonists. So I didn’t feel connected to Cade or any secondary character. Even the female characters – they weren’t fleshed out, and I didn’t feel sympathetic to them. I felt totally disengaged, but this is more of a subjective preference than anything the story did wrong.
In summary, if the novel hadn’t been devoid of surprise and plot twists, if it hadn’t been boring because of the lack of excitement and engaging storylines, if there had been more interesting characters, I would’ve enjoyed it. The whole “young teens fighting in an arena-like space for survival” is one I’m interested in, but obviously only if it plays out right. “The Chosen” gets two stars for the concept and writing, which was simple but well-done. Also, the author’s obvious and comprehensive knowledge of Roman, warfare, and general ancient history.
Rating: 2.5 stars
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