I fell in love with Kiersten White’s written take on the belovedly cheesy 1990’s television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Staying true to the terrible humour and original characters continued in her sequel, Chosen. There’s more characters from the show introduced including the awkward but smart werewolf Oz as well as the badass fighter, Faith. It added both authenticity and quirk. Chosen also features a villainous badboy god with a surprising lineage connection from someone in the first novel.
I want to thank Netgalley and the Publishers at Simon and Schuster Canada for this opportunity to review an early copy Kiersten White's Chosen, the sequel to her novel, Slayer.
“His stomach rumbles in response to my thoughts. ‘No offence, Nina, love, but you are barely a snack these days. More like an after-dinner mint. One of those unwrapped bitter mints that’s been in a tin for years, and when you try to pull it out, its stuck to 3 others, and you know you don’t want it, but you’ve already committed, so you pop it in your mouth and regret every decision you’ve ever made that brought you to that point.’
‘I think I should be offended by that.”
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Once again Doug steals the show and for me that’s what kept me reading this book. He’s hilarious!
“The void beyond reality?’ Cillian navigates the forest dirt road far faster than is safe. ‘Demons. Total nutters, the lot of them.’
‘I like Doug.’ Rhys checked his bow.
I bounce impatiently in the back. ‘Everyone likes Doug. It’s biologically impossible to dislike.”
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The first thing I noticed (because it was REALLY hard to miss) was Nina’s strong emotions over Leo’s death despite how little romance there was between them in Slayer. It became annoying to read very quickly because she barely knew the guy. I didn’t feel her connection to him in Slayer and their complicated history and relationship seemed to stem from very little interaction which made the romance stiff and suffering from a case of insta-love. I needed more scenes with them to see their relationship how Nina saw it, that way I probably could have seen where her strong attachment came from when it came to her character in this book. But that just wasn’t present. The rushed and patchy romance near the end which spread to the epilogue wasn’t enough to fix this aspect of the story as a whole, unfortunately. Although I was disappointed by the romance, I was not let down by Nina herself. She continued to grow and really meld into her role as a slayer.
“I fold my arms over my chest protectively. Much as I’d love to give up this guilt, I need it. It drives me, directs me. And combats the anger. If I could live guilt-free with what I’ve done, I’d be a monster.”
Just having Nina confess something like this shows how much she has changed since book 1. She’s truly embraced her role and her responsibility bestowed upon her. She also became wiser and she started to speak as well as act like a true leader, what a Slayer should be.
“You don’t have to fight. I wouldn’t ask that of you. You always have a choice here! It’s the only thing I can offer her, the thing that all slayers are denied. A Choice.”
This quote really spoke to me and this redeemed the whole flat romance bomb that occurred. Nina is incredibly wise and this distinction and choice of action was an impressing decision on White’s part and I’m glad that’s the way Nina’s character grew. Bravo!
One more thing that really caught my eye in Chosen, was Nina’s strained relationship with her mother. They don’t have the best bond and this quote really summed everything up. Plus, I’m also a cashier at a grocery store so for me this really hit home because this is exactly how people react. A great comparison!
“Working together is already awkward enough. She’s trying to be my mom again, but she doesn’t really know how to, so it comes across like those aggressively friendly employees at grocery stores who constantly ask how you are and if you need help and if you’re finding everything okay, and all you can do is smile and answer back in the same bright voice when really you know where the cereal is, thank you very much.”
Imogen’s plotting at the end of Slayer gave me so much hope for this sequel. She seemed so determined to get revenge and I was really looking forward to her and her villainous embrace. But instead she was overshadowed by this introduction to a hell god. All that build from Slayer and the final declaration at the cliffhanger took a backseat to this new character and that was disappointing.
But one thing that Kiersten White’s novels never fall short of is the writing. I’ve read countless books and every time I read hers, the writing is always incredible. Chosen is no exception.
“Why is it so early?’ Jade enters the room, trailing sleep like car exhaust in her wake.”
This screams originality and is an incredibly well-written description!
I found the story read slow, only picking up near the end. I didn’t really like the weird Artemis story arc and for some reason I still don’t care very much for Honora.