Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

12 reviews

ellamc's review

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: Kidnapping, Body horror, Mental illness, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Violence, Addiction, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Abandonment, Drug use, Drug abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Minor: Medical content, Gore, and Death of parent

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

kadtide's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Violence, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Suicide, and Torture

Minor: Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism

elle_dee's review

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Addiction, Racism, Self harm, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Torture

nutm3g's review

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: Kidnapping, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Drug use, Dysphoria, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Eating disorder, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Religious bigotry

kidprezident's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Body horror, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction and Torture

jashanac's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is quite different from anything else I've read - there were definitely times where the magic itself and the whole

different dimensions

thing didn't really make sense/click in my brain... but I just kind of went with it and accepted it. Ha! 

I just really enjoyed the exploration of what it means to be a "chosen one", once the Big Bad is defeated and what the effects of that could be. And then the exploration of good versus evil in general - I liked what Veronica Roth did with that. It felt like a fresh take on it for me. 

I am VERY curious about how things are going to pan out with the WILD ending... ! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Cancer, Suicide, and Torture

imcharlottek's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Roth does something so interesting in this book that it’s hard to explain. You really do find yourself relating to, getting annoyed with and feeling sympathy for these characters, which sets them apart in my mind. 

I also enjoyed the structure of the book, with its interspersed government papers and news/book excerpts.

My only issue is sometimes the writing felt a little odd - “Creepmaster 2000” doesn’t quite feel like something your average late 20-something would say. 

Overall, this read genuinely gripped me. I struggled to put it down and finished it in 2.5 days (which is very unusual for me). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Mental illness

Minor: Racism

books_and_mags's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death of parent

the_wendybirb's review

adventurous dark tense 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? Yes

3.5

What I liked- The premise of "What does a Chosen One do after saving the world?", the magic system, Alternate Universe Chicago/Earth, short chapters, imperfect hero, processing trauma, articles and excerpts between chapters to flesh out the world, the details from 10 years ago that we get glimpses of (but fill in the gaps ourselves)

What I didn't like- The Twist (and how easily the hero accepts it.), The Prophecy and how muddled it got, The Motel Scene (unnecessary mention of sexy times at a dumb point in the plot), the Big Bad's memory reveal that doesn't mesh with what we know of the universe (I really hope we get more explanation in future books), supporting characters that are more props than people, a white/cis/(assumed) straight hero whose diverse friend group doesn't get a chance to shine (I'd like someone non-white/straight to be a kick-ass hero. [Also for the gay character to casually give someone a smooch.])

I'll seek out future books in the series, but I'm not expecting them to knock my socks off. I hope I'm proven wrong, because I love the worlds I've been introduced to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Kidnapping and Suicide

Minor: Drug use and Body horror

Rants I just need to get out:

Why was the gay lady left behind?! Why was the Big Bad suddenly reveled as practically immortal in the final pages?! Can we get more info on why he needed to manipulate so many folks into hating him? Cause he sucked from the beginning. And how are our heroes going to reunite in another country in a month? The world is in chaos. I expect either dangerous apocalyptic gangs or increased border security to quell the chaos.