Received via NetGalley for review.

An exciting middle-grade novel for those who like that particular genre of kids-fighting-kids/monsters (which I do, and which lots of people do!)

I wish there had been a little more room for character development - there are a lot of characters, and a lot of action to get through (I definitely thought Eric, Marcus and Spex were going to have a larger role, and three of the four girls are basically interchangeable).

But the action is fun and dangerous, and exactly what I was looking for. I'm always a sucker for the trope where people are chosen for a specific reason, and I was glad Finch called Cade out on that but just as glad he got to use his knowledge to succeed.

It's a little hard to believe that a small group (8?) of teenagers, many of them with vastly different perspectives, would manage to defeat hundreds of monsters where entire legions of Roman soldiers before them could not (though maybe the Roman soldiers were further along in the competition before they all failed? But then why would Cade and his group start off in the beginning?), which I hope will be addressed in the inevitable sequel but probably won't be.

EDIT: after I posted this review, I was informed that a new file was available that contained plot changes, and so skimmed the new version. As far as I can tell, here's what changed:
Cade is now half-Indian instead of half-black, and deals with more overt racism from Finch and the white power boys
The boys are now in an alternative school instead of a prison (a good change!)
Spex is Brazilian, which wasn't mentioned before
Cade's parent's play a slightly larger role, and Cade wrestles more with the fact that they don't believe his innocence. He also struggles more with his reluctance to take a side in any situation
Marcus is now Scott (I think? Or at least there's no more Marcus and there's now a Scott)
Spex, Jim, and Eric still die, but Spex dies later and Gobbler also dies now

Overall, no significant changes.

Cade was framed for a crime he did not commit. Ashamed and embarrassed, he's just trying to make is through his year sentence in juvenile detention. But one day he is told that the powers that be are moving him to another facility in northern New York State. Though he doesn't remember the plane ride and Cade wakes up in another dimension... he is stuck on a narrow ledge above a canyon being snapped at by a premodial beast. His quick wits and a distraction get him free of the prey and he meets up with the rest of the prisoners who were on the plane.

Evidence of artifacts and people lost in time. Dinosaurs and Roman legioneers. Samurai swords and lost pyramids. The young men enter a land that has been shaped by a puppet master. And they desperately want to know the rules of the game.

The Chosen is a book that has all the YA tropes of The Hunger Games and Maze Runner. Cade is an excellent character who is able to use what little knowledge he has of survival skills and parlay them into several tough escapes. He's not one for brawn, but his brains help him coax the stubborn crew forward towards what truth then can deduce.

It's a fast plot with so much action that at times the character development, especially the secondary characters get left behind. I honestly had a hard time picking out bad guy, from good guy and nerdy sidekick... Matharu uses a series of flashbacks at the beginning of the book to take the reader to Cade's first months of confinement. As a young man of mixed race, he finds himself caught in between several cliques behind the bars of the center. And when thrust into the life or death situation, these prejudices get exposed just as violently.

The worldbuilding is solid with great descriptions of all the 'lost' items and peoples. It's a great concept that comes off exciting for the most part. This is the first book in a series and the author gives you enough in this one to keep you going to the second.

Recommended for fans of the YA survival-puzzle books. It's a quick action-packed ride. Hang on!

3.5 out of 5 stars

The Chosen is interesting, but with mediocre writing. Kids might like it anyway because the idea is a good one and Matharu has lots of excitement and adventure in this first book of a trilogy. Reminiscent of Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series, The Chosen are pulled from times all through Earth's past and present, hoping to find the one that can stop the end of the world.
I do like that the main character is mixed, doesn't mind being smart, and is trying to figure everything out that can help all of them survive.

The Chosen turned out to be a bit crazier than I thought, a good kind of crazy though!

To be honest, I'm not sure if I dreamed I read this book because it was different to me than what the summary of the book says it's about. Don't get me wrong, there is some crazy universe these kids get taken to but what I read wasn't about a boarding school, it was about prison...... Am I the one that went to an alternate universe?

Anyway.. when Cade and some of the boys were getting transferred from the prison/boarding school??... they actually woke up somewhere else. When all of the boys finally come together I was thinking this was something like Mazerunner in a way but it went totally beyond that. I don't want to give out any spoilers but they are in some other universe? Planet? I'm not sure but it's crazy and I would have freaked clean out and died the first 5 minutes!

There is this Codex thing that follows them around and can only give them so much information. They find all kinds of stuff from different times in history, etc.

It's a fast-paced little game of what? I'm not telling you and I don't know all of the answers. But I am looking forward to what the end game is going to be with this trilogy because the thing/person/whatnot that have these boys, is freaky!

*I would like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book.*

Happy Reading!

Mel ♥

I really wanted to like this one, but I found it to be problematic. It started off strong and I loved the jumps between past and present & the character development in the prison scenes. I was excited to unravel the world with Cade. I was SO thrilled to finally read fantasy with a guy main character, especially since The Novice was so popular with readers.

But I was disappointed as the story went on. Nothing was getting figured out, there wasn’t much conflict or drama between the characters, obstacles were getting solved too easily, the new girl characters seemed random and not fleshed out, the pacing was off...to me, it just felt disjointed and sloppy in its execution.

This book reminds me of a Star Trek: Next Generation episode. The villain is an all-powerful being reminiscent of ST:NG's Q. He was part of a race of the super‐super powerful and he liked to manipulate humans. Technically, this aspect was not revealed until late in the book, but the lead up telegraphed that was coming. Still enjoyable.

Cade is a young man in a bit of trouble. He's in juvie for a crime he didn't commit, he finds himself in another world fighting for his freedom and the existence of the earth. I truly enjoyed this story. Cade has to face survival in a rather inhospitable place where his father's lessons in history help him somewhat, however he's got to run from dinosaurs as well. He's a young man who has faced the unfair nature of life, however he has the heart to want to help others. This author has a knack for writing adventurous stories about young men and they're always fantastic. I am looking forward to the further adventures of Cade in the jungle.

As soon as I saw this book I was immediately intrigued!
This book, The Chosen, is the first in a new trilogy and I think it was a fantastic start! I love Cade's character! He is well written and very likable. I really enjoyed the world building in this! I could just imagine what everything must look like. Some of the secondary characters I enjoyed were Quintus and Amber! I loved all the action is this book and I can't wait to read the next one! I recommend this one to all fantasy lovers.

I am a fan of Taran Matharu's Summoner Series and was very much looking forward to this book, the first in a new series. From his previous work I expected excellent world building and a nuanced and likable protagonist. I was not disappointed. The Chosen is a fantastic start to a new series. Cade is a fantastic character, he has depth and emotion, I was absolutely rooting for him the whole book. There are a lot of secondary characters as well, some of which are given more attention than others, but all decently brought to life. My favorites were Quintus and Amber and I look forward to hopefully learning more about them in subsequent sequels. Like Cade, I am a total history fan so there were various points of the story that a found particularly interesting. Unlike Cade though, I am not a huge fan of paleontology or dinosaurs in general so I got kind of bored with the repeated discussion, description and scientific names of them. I also thought it was kind of hilarious that all size measurements seemed to be given in terms of football fields. Overall this book is an action packed ride. It got a little darker than I expected for a YA novel, but I guess that is more of the norm these days. There is a lot of action and problem solving and it's interesting and fun. Loved the surprise reveal at the end and really just cannot wait to read more. After the last page I just kept on hoping that it wasn't really the end!

Taran Matharu did it again! I swear, he just comes up with the most interesting world's and premises and I wonder how he does it. I wish I could just look into his mind to see how his creative process works! I cannot wait for the sequel :)