Unchosen – Katharyn Blair – Katherine Tegen Books – Published 26 January 2021

 

♥♥♥♥♥

 

Synopsis

For Charlotte Holloway, the world ended twice.

The first was when her childhood crush, Dean, fell in love—with her older sister.

The second was when the Crimson, a curse spread through eye contact, turned the majority of humanity into flesh-eating monsters.

Neither end of the world changed Charlotte. She’s still in the shadows of her siblings. Her popular older sister, Harlow, now commands forces of survivors. And her talented younger sister, Vanessa, is the Chosen One—who, legend has it, can end the curse.

When their settlement is raided by those seeking the Chosen One, Charlotte makes a reckless decision to save Vanessa: she takes her place as prisoner.

The word spreads across the seven seas—the Chosen One has been found.

But when Dean’s life is threatened and a resistance looms on the horizon, the lie keeping Charlotte alive begins to unravel. She’ll have to break free, forge new bonds, and choose her own destiny if she has any hope of saving her sisters, her love, and maybe even the world.

Because sometimes the end is just a new beginning.

My thoughts

A deadly plague that turns people into vampire-like zombies? Pirates? Intense romance? A main character who isn’t the chosen one? There is so much to love about this book and I loved it!! I think my favourite part was the mix of modern setting and technology but the book has this old-school, ancient magic and legends feel. No – actually my favourite part was the romance. A long-held crush that is unattainable, slowly and passionately morphs into a romance that is intense, unexpected and so hot!! No, no, my actual favourite part was the sea captains and traders that are like pirates, smuggling the Cursedclean. Clearly I loved a lot about this book. There are just so many great things about how the book is put together.

Charlotte knows how to live in the shadows. Overshadowed by both her older and younger sister. When the Crimson spread, destroying families and life as people once knew it, Charlotte lost her parents. Now her older sister runs a survivor settlement and her younger sister holds the answers to saving the world. But when their camp is attacked – and it is Charlotte’s fault – she will stop at nothing to protect her family.


Charlotte makes a great narrator. She is strong and brave, but she is well aware of her role in life and how that means she is the least valuable of her sisters. She is also heartbroken over her long-time crush and first love becoming her sister’s boyfriend. She values her friendship with Dean but seeing him everyday with her sister is really hard.

The world building in Unchosen is awesome. It is such a great mix of our own world and something magical and terrifying. The sea smuggler scenes add that extra bit of pirate-vibe awesomeness. And then there is Seth. You know, I’m not going to say anything more except for … Seth. Sigh.

Action, romance, magic, legends – readers who enjoy dystopian fiction, fantasy or paranormal fiction will enjoy this fantastic book that has some serious girl power. And diverse characters. And sumptuous side romances. And did I mention pirates? Or Seth? I know my readers are going to LOVE this book as much as I did.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Young adult fiction

Genre: Fantasy

Reading age guide: Ages 14 and up

Readers Advisory: Coarse language, f*** (19), sh** (60), bit** (4), as***** (13), di** (1), sl** (1), pi** (8). Vague sexual references and refences to sexual relationships. Violence, death, injury, fantasy violence.

Themes: Magic, sisters, romance, curses.

Published: 26 January 2021 by Katherine Tegen Books.

Format: Hardcover, ebook. 416 pages.

ISBN: 9780062657640

Find it on Goodreads