The Chosen (Contender #1) Blog Tour Plus Review

The Chosen (Contender #1)

by Taran Matharu
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: June 4th 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Introducing an epic new trilogy from Taran Matharu, author of the New York Times–bestselling Summoner series. 

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.

Cade was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. He has been spending the last six months of his life at a boarding school for troubled boys, but he doesn’t fit in there. He never committed a crime, he actually enjoys learning and History class, and he isn’t “troubled.” As he counts down the days until he will be able to get out of the school, he sees his dreams slipping away. He will no longer be able to go back to the advanced school he was in, he will probably be unable to go to a good college, and his parents’ lives have been ruined as they have to pay for this school and for his court case. Just when Cade thinks things couldn’t get worse, he wakes up on some foreign planet. Something called a Codex follows him around and tells him that they have some sort of battle coming up. Cade doesn’t want to play these games, but the more he explores the planet, the more deadly things become. Cade has an important choice to make, one that could lead to either life or death.

I love Taran Matharu’s books! I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the Summoner series, and I have the last two sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. When I found out that he had a new book coming out, I knew that I wanted to be one of the first to read and enjoy it. Matharu definitely didn’t disappoint!

I truly sympathized with Cade from beginning to end. He never wanted to be a hero, and he never was a criminal. All he was a kid that happened to be in the wrong room at the wrong time, and who was racially profiled on top of that. This one case had ruined his and his parents’ lives all at once, and it wasn’t his fault in any way. It was sad because it seemed so realistic, like some boy in a rich boarding school could actually have this happen to him. I completely forgot about the “traveling to another world” storyline as I read this part of the book. I honestly could have read an entire book about Cade in his boarding school, and even though it wouldn’t have been happy, it would have been interesting.

Once Cade was in the new world, things really got exciting. I won’t spoil anything as this is the majority of the book. All I will say is that I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book once he landed on the foreign planet.

The only thing that I disliked about this story was the middle. The transition from the real world to the new planet was not as smooth as I thought it could have been, and I felt like I was confused as it kept dragging on. After I got over this part of the novel, everything else went smoothly and I enjoyed myself.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new YA fantasy/dystopian novel!

I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 books

BOOK LINKS

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31557553-the-chosen

Amazon https://amzn.to/2GIudjG

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-chosen/id1439079557?mt=11

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-chosen-taran-matharu/1129098221?ean=9781250249753#/

Bookdepository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Contender-Chosen-Taran-Matharu/9781444938975?ref=grid-view&qid=1556265959093&sr=1-1

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/es/en/ebook/contender-the-chosen

Google Books: https://books.google.es/books/about/The_Chosen.html?id=bWxVuQEACAAJ&redir_esc=y

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Taran Matharu is the New York Times bestselling author of the Summoner series, which has been translated into 15 languages and has sold over a million copies. He was born in London in 1990 and found a passion for writing during early adolescence, beginning his first book at 9 years old.

Straight after graduating with a First Class degree in Business Administration, Taran was keen to explore a new avenue and get inside the publishing world, landing an internship in Digital Sales at Penguin Random House, from June to September 2013. 

Thereafter, while taking time off to travel, Taran began to write ‘Summoner’ in November 2013 at the age of 22, taking part in ‘Nanowrimo 2013’ and sharing his work on Wattpad.com. The shared sample of the story went viral, reaching over 3 million reads in less than six months. Taran went on to launch his professional writing career, and has never looked back.

His SUMMONER series is published by Hodder Children’s (Hachette) in the UK, Australia and Commonwealth, Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan) in the US and Canada, Hachette Jeunesse in France, Heyne in Germany, Planeta in Spain, Crown in Taiwan, Record in Brazil, EKSMO in Russia, Jaguar in Poland, Ecliptic in Bulgaria, Alpress in the Czech Republic, Ithaki in Turkey, Forlaget Forar in Denmark and Unieboek in the Netherlands.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website: https://authortaranmatharu.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7979840.Taran_Matharu

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TaranMatharu1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authortaranmatharu

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taranmatharuauthor/

TOUR SCHEDULE

https://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2019/05/tour-schedule-chosen-contender-1-by.html

Moodboard!