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hazellie's review
2.0
Attempted to read; July 2016
I read more than 50% of the book on ebook, but while it wasn't bad, it wasn't interesting or compelling enough to keep my attention. I'm kinda indifferent about finishing it, so I decided not to. I might come back to it one day, but I doubt it.
I read more than 50% of the book on ebook, but while it wasn't bad, it wasn't interesting or compelling enough to keep my attention. I'm kinda indifferent about finishing it, so I decided not to. I might come back to it one day, but I doubt it.
juhina's review
4.0
The Chosen Ones is another great dystopian that centers more around the romance of the book. However the dystopian elements are not overshadowed and we get a great deep plot with twist and turns that keep you reading to find out what happens next. The dystopian world is one where humans are becoming extinct because stronger, smarter, and better 'engineered' beings that are created to win the war that the humans couldnt win. In this world humans can't marry and the fate of a woman who gets oregnant is death on the birthbed.
Our protagonist does not believe in love and only has hatred for who does, one of them is her older sister who married a man and got pregnant and died. She felt betrayed that she would choose a man over her family. Since her older sister isnt alive to take the punishment, Tess ends up working as a maid at the Templeton as a punishment. this is where she meets James and her world turns upside down.
I loved the relationship between her and James. She is a human, while he was raised to be an emotionless killing machine. He is confused about all the feelings he shouldnt have and his want to something more than war, and she is confused about her new feelings of love. My heart was beating fast whenever they were together, one for the fear of them being found out, and second for the anticipation that they will finally admit their feelings to each other.
The dystopian elements werent just a setting like so many new 'dystopian' books nowadays, but there is actual conspiracies and hidden revolutionary movements and both the main characters are the catalyst for change. Chosen Ones was intense, heartbreaking, and thrilling; I can't believe that I have to wait over a year (I read this back in February) to get the second book, but the ending? yea, total awesome cliffhanger!
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Our protagonist does not believe in love and only has hatred for who does, one of them is her older sister who married a man and got pregnant and died. She felt betrayed that she would choose a man over her family. Since her older sister isnt alive to take the punishment, Tess ends up working as a maid at the Templeton as a punishment. this is where she meets James and her world turns upside down.
I loved the relationship between her and James. She is a human, while he was raised to be an emotionless killing machine. He is confused about all the feelings he shouldnt have and his want to something more than war, and she is confused about her new feelings of love. My heart was beating fast whenever they were together, one for the fear of them being found out, and second for the anticipation that they will finally admit their feelings to each other.
The dystopian elements werent just a setting like so many new 'dystopian' books nowadays, but there is actual conspiracies and hidden revolutionary movements and both the main characters are the catalyst for change. Chosen Ones was intense, heartbreaking, and thrilling; I can't believe that I have to wait over a year (I read this back in February) to get the second book, but the ending? yea, total awesome cliffhanger!
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anjanavasan's review
4.0
Tess lives in a dystopian world where most women are barren and having a child means death. Since they're not useful for anything else, women basically played the role of slaves for the 'Chosen Ones' - genetically engineered/man-made boys who are the perfect soldiers. They're better than humans in every way and have no imperfections.
According to the counsel, the Chosen Ones were made for the purpose of protecting the naturals from war and any harm, but Tess knows that they can be cruel too. In fact, that's the only thing she knew for sure about them..until she met James, the one boy who sees her for who she is and makes her question everything she ever believed in.
I have been dying to read Chosen Ones ever since I saw another blogger's review and I was so happy when I received the ARC! I started reading it without any preconceived notion about the story and I have to say, it definitely exceeded my expectations. Chosen Ones is unique and stays completely cear of the usual, repetitive dystopian story lines and I found it refreshing.
The world created in Chosen Ones is interesting and the characters are really memorable. Tess may seem plain on the outside but her qualities make her incredibly strong and I can't help but admire her for that. She is someone who has shunned emotions all her life because they make her weak, so to see her character develop and grow over the course of the book was awesome.
I loved that Tiffany Truitt picked James, who's technically a part of the bad guys, as the male lead. The boy gave me butterflies like, all the time. Or maybe it was just Truitt's writing, I'm not sure. James is so, so sweet! As a Chosen One, he was built to be the perfect warrior and yet he questioned his existence. It was gut-wrenching, every time he voiced his insecurities to Tess.
Oh, and I have to add - the Frankenstein references were the perfect touch. They helped me understand James better and empathize with him.
It's a little hard for me to believe that Chosen Ones is Tiffany Truitt's debut novel because the writing is both amazing and beautiful, all at once. Most debut authors lack the well-formed plot and writing style that Chosen Ones has but Truitt is clearly an exception. If you like dystopian YA novels, believe me, you want to read this.
Chosen Ones is wonderfully written, unpredictable and heartbreaking. I loved every minute of it!
According to the counsel, the Chosen Ones were made for the purpose of protecting the naturals from war and any harm, but Tess knows that they can be cruel too. In fact, that's the only thing she knew for sure about them..until she met James, the one boy who sees her for who she is and makes her question everything she ever believed in.
I have been dying to read Chosen Ones ever since I saw another blogger's review and I was so happy when I received the ARC! I started reading it without any preconceived notion about the story and I have to say, it definitely exceeded my expectations. Chosen Ones is unique and stays completely cear of the usual, repetitive dystopian story lines and I found it refreshing.
The world created in Chosen Ones is interesting and the characters are really memorable. Tess may seem plain on the outside but her qualities make her incredibly strong and I can't help but admire her for that. She is someone who has shunned emotions all her life because they make her weak, so to see her character develop and grow over the course of the book was awesome.
I loved that Tiffany Truitt picked James, who's technically a part of the bad guys, as the male lead. The boy gave me butterflies like, all the time. Or maybe it was just Truitt's writing, I'm not sure. James is so, so sweet! As a Chosen One, he was built to be the perfect warrior and yet he questioned his existence. It was gut-wrenching, every time he voiced his insecurities to Tess.
Oh, and I have to add - the Frankenstein references were the perfect touch. They helped me understand James better and empathize with him.
It's a little hard for me to believe that Chosen Ones is Tiffany Truitt's debut novel because the writing is both amazing and beautiful, all at once. Most debut authors lack the well-formed plot and writing style that Chosen Ones has but Truitt is clearly an exception. If you like dystopian YA novels, believe me, you want to read this.
Chosen Ones is wonderfully written, unpredictable and heartbreaking. I loved every minute of it!
prationality's review against another edition
4.0
Oh Dystopia. We have had a rough ride in the last couple of years. Whereas before I had read maybe a half dozen books where the Earth (or at least humanity) was near extinct for one reason or another, in the last year alone I've read 14 books with that premise. That's a lot. Like a real lot. It makes it a little hard to find new ways to invent the wheel sometimes.
Chosen Ones does at times remind me of the other books. I'd kill for a YA Dystopia that didn't involve a romance in some fashion honestly, but Tess and James was far more palatable then I would have thought. Its understandable that Tess falls for him almost immediately--different is always alluring and James is very different from any other 'Chosen One' that Tess has meant. James for his part is cognizant in a way that Tess doesn't seem to understand at first, what it means for them to be 'together'.
The history of how humanity reached the level its reached by the story's start was less interesting to me then the real world reactions Tess' father and James extoll. In an economy that is doing better than others, but still seems unable to sustain itself, I can understand her father's sentiment that people grow resentful when their hardwork (in this case protecting the country) seems to mean nothing. If you go off to war to protect your home from being destroyed, but its taken away because you're not being paid enough to keep up the mortgage why did you go off to war? You could have instead found a better paying job and let someone else protect your house.
By in large I enjoyed this book. Some of it dragged with uneven pacing...plus Tess is rather unlikeable until she starts to 'blossom', but Truitt makes up for it by engaging the reader in a game of 'It Could Happen To You'. I certainly hope that the next book, Naturals, builds on the premise (and maybe lets the romance take a backseat).
Chosen Ones does at times remind me of the other books. I'd kill for a YA Dystopia that didn't involve a romance in some fashion honestly, but Tess and James was far more palatable then I would have thought. Its understandable that Tess falls for him almost immediately--different is always alluring and James is very different from any other 'Chosen One' that Tess has meant. James for his part is cognizant in a way that Tess doesn't seem to understand at first, what it means for them to be 'together'.
The history of how humanity reached the level its reached by the story's start was less interesting to me then the real world reactions Tess' father and James extoll. In an economy that is doing better than others, but still seems unable to sustain itself, I can understand her father's sentiment that people grow resentful when their hardwork (in this case protecting the country) seems to mean nothing. If you go off to war to protect your home from being destroyed, but its taken away because you're not being paid enough to keep up the mortgage why did you go off to war? You could have instead found a better paying job and let someone else protect your house.
By in large I enjoyed this book. Some of it dragged with uneven pacing...plus Tess is rather unlikeable until she starts to 'blossom', but Truitt makes up for it by engaging the reader in a game of 'It Could Happen To You'. I certainly hope that the next book, Naturals, builds on the premise (and maybe lets the romance take a backseat).
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