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A review by katilew42
The Chosen by J.R. Ward
3.0
Man…while it wasn’t quite the slog I was anticipating, this is still a novel I wasn’t looking forward to. Xcor and Layla are one of my least favorite pairings and I hate the way everyone else had to capitulate to their love.
5 stars for Lassiter and the breadcrumbs he began leaving behind. Also for the return of Throe and his new shadow enemies (though they need a new description since there are already Shadows).
4 stars for Trez and Tres and a second chance at happiness. Also love the realization that Lassiter was responsible, I missed that the first time!
3 stars for Xcor’s back story and some effort going into his rehabilitation. His story made me empathize a bit more but I still struggle with the “rape as a form of punishment” that he was into.
2 stars for only briefly touching on Assail’s detox? While I don’t like him, there’s still no reason to introduce and then drop him so randomly.
1 star for so many things…battle scenes with no sign of Payne or Xhex. V having yet ANOTHER crisis about Jane (we already did this when Butch had to torture him in the Pit). Seriously, V never gets another book to be truly front and center, the way Wrath, Rhage, JM, Blay and Qhuinn do. And Rhage technically gets 3, since he got the subplot in Blood Vow! Maybe he gets theB story in the next Legacy novel, but still. I also hate that the ONLY independent female in the bunch gets punished with a relationship where they’re constantly on the outs, I wish we got to see a strong woman with a man who was truly bonded to her, for real. V and Jane feel like proof that bonding is actually temporary. JM couldn’t handle Xhex, Payne was just fully disappeared from the series. Now Jane gets a guy who intends to cheat (I’m sure it’s a misdirect but still). Also annoyed that yet again, there is no mention of the trainees. And no resolution where Qhuinn has to come to terms that he was treating his daughter like garbage for no reason! He never even acknowledged doing it!
But my biggest gripe is that Layla was never forced to choose between Xcor and her kids. How lucky that it was Qhuinn’s night on her final night with Xcor…though he was clearly in the hospital so who had them?? And then she gets bonus time and takes it because Xcor is (she thinks) gone? I appreciate the forgiveness over vengeance plot but I HATE that all the women, even Beth, were so quick to forgive and fight for her to be with her kids when she did something that was so treasonous. Beth, especially, should have been at least somewhat torn over this instead of so staunchly on Layla’s side. Mate over children is a throughline I really am coming to despise in many of these novels.
5 stars for Lassiter and the breadcrumbs he began leaving behind. Also for the return of Throe and his new shadow enemies (though they need a new description since there are already Shadows).
4 stars for Trez and Tres and a second chance at happiness. Also love the realization that Lassiter was responsible, I missed that the first time!
3 stars for Xcor’s back story and some effort going into his rehabilitation. His story made me empathize a bit more but I still struggle with the “rape as a form of punishment” that he was into.
2 stars for only briefly touching on Assail’s detox? While I don’t like him, there’s still no reason to introduce and then drop him so randomly.
1 star for so many things…battle scenes with no sign of Payne or Xhex. V having yet ANOTHER crisis about Jane (we already did this when Butch had to torture him in the Pit). Seriously, V never gets another book to be truly front and center, the way Wrath, Rhage, JM, Blay and Qhuinn do. And Rhage technically gets 3, since he got the subplot in Blood Vow! Maybe he gets theB story in the next Legacy novel, but still. I also hate that the ONLY independent female in the bunch gets punished with a relationship where they’re constantly on the outs, I wish we got to see a strong woman with a man who was truly bonded to her, for real. V and Jane feel like proof that bonding is actually temporary. JM couldn’t handle Xhex, Payne was just fully disappeared from the series. Now Jane gets a guy who intends to cheat (I’m sure it’s a misdirect but still). Also annoyed that yet again, there is no mention of the trainees. And no resolution where Qhuinn has to come to terms that he was treating his daughter like garbage for no reason! He never even acknowledged doing it!
But my biggest gripe is that Layla was never forced to choose between Xcor and her kids. How lucky that it was Qhuinn’s night on her final night with Xcor…though he was clearly in the hospital so who had them?? And then she gets bonus time and takes it because Xcor is (she thinks) gone? I appreciate the forgiveness over vengeance plot but I HATE that all the women, even Beth, were so quick to forgive and fight for her to be with her kids when she did something that was so treasonous. Beth, especially, should have been at least somewhat torn over this instead of so staunchly on Layla’s side. Mate over children is a throughline I really am coming to despise in many of these novels.