#Review - The Chosen by Taran Matharu #YALIT #Fantasy

Series: Contender (#1)
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Release Date: June 4, 2019
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Action & Adventure

An epic survival adventure and new YA trilogy from bestselling author Taran Matharu.
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.
 

 

The Chosen is the first installment in author Taran Matharu's Contender Trilogy. When Cade Carter, a biracial student in a prestigious boarding school, is framed for stealing a set of laptops by his well-off roommate, he is sent to a juvenile detention center for troubled youths. The story, however, begins with Cade already in this alternate world faced with a creature he’s never seen before not having any clue what is in store for him, or where he is. Through a series of flashbacks, readers will follow Cade and fellow detainees between their current unknown time/date/place of survival and the prior six months that led them to them there.

Forced to find allies anywhere he can, including bullies from his own school, Cade finds himself a player in a game he doesn't understand, for stakes that are unimaginably high. One could legitimately compare this story to Maze Runner meets Jurassic Park since the entire setting is filled with strange monsters, dinosaurs, and those from different eras including Roman soldiers who were brought here to fight in a contest to save their home worlds. 

Things really get interesting when Cade discovers lost cities, as well as a Roman named Quintus who ends up being a good ally to have when the going really gets hard, and it's a matter of life or death whether you can survive the so called qualifying round in order to become a real contender. The ending of the book was so intense that it kept me on the edge of my seat. Cade and his allies have to face these terrifying creatures and make a stand against all odds in order to survive. 

It is fair to say that I requested this book from the publisher thanks to liking the authors previous series called Summoner. Matharu weaves interesting realistic facts into fiction seamlessly to keep you entertained throughout. There is a bit of social awareness in this story as the main character has to deal with racism from the bullies at his new school. It isn't until he is taken to a new alternative world that he comes out of his shadow and proves to himself and his bullies that he has brains as well as the historical knowledge that leads to him and others surviving brutal challenges and a hostile environment.

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