The Chosen: Night World, Book 5

I bought this used and you would never know. In perfect condition, arrived in a timely manner, and a fantastic price.

I remember reading these when I was in high school and waiting in anticipation for the final book. (I am almost 40 - can we please get the last book before I die?) I figured I'd buy these to re-read them (and possibly re-read them several more times while waiting for the final book).

I am on book 7 of the Night World series ....💘

This series is by far the favorite of this genre, The downside is the long wait for the last book.

As the fifth book in the Night World series, 'The Chosen' improves on all four of the previous books, drawing on deeper themes and ideas than the rest, and setting the scene for this continuing trend in the next book 'Soulmate'.Rashel Jordan is only five years old when she witnesses her mother being killed and her younger brother Timmy being drunken from by a vampire. Because she's seen the killer and is telling others about what happened he comes after her when she stays at her Aunt Corinne's house, burning it to the ground. Rashel is alone in the world.At seventeen years old, she is the bane of vampire-kind. Calling herself 'the Cat' she hunts and kills their kind in all of the major cities, and there is a large bounty on her head. At the time this story takes place Rashel goes to the Lancers, a human organisation for killing vampires and joins in with a small group who're watching a warehouse that has been lately occupied by vampires. Their goal is to catch a vampire and discover its reasons for being there - through torture if need be. Among the group is a young girl named Nyala whose sister was killed by a vampire. Yet when the vampire is caught and the others go to scout around, Rashel finds that to her horror she and the vampire - Quinn (last seen in Daughters of Darkness) are soulmates. Letting him go, Rashel finds that she is suddenly wanted by both sides of the fight - the vampires still have a bounty on her head, and the Lancers think she has defected to the other side.And it doesn't end there. While on the run from both of them Rashel literally runs into a young girl Daphne Childs, who is one of the missing young girls of late. With her in tow Rashel has access to exactly what the vampires are up to. For unknown reasons - though Rashel suspects its the slave trade - girls are being abucted from a club known as the Black Iris by none other than Quinn himself. Rashel's mission is clear - get into the club, become one of these 'chosen' and thus get herself to one of the secret and hidden vampire enclaves. And she'll have to do it by herself...As you can see, the premise is a fascinating one, and there is no shortage of interesting characters and ideas. Not all vampires are bad, not all humans are good so it would seem, and there are enough twists and turns, suspence and excitement to keep most people interested. It draws on things mentioned from the other books - the enclave is probably much like the ones Rowan, Kestrel and Jade escaped from in Daughters of Darkness, and the password that Rashel uses with the Lancers 'the night has a thousand eyes/and the day only one' is re-used in the prophesy in book seven. L. J. Smith extends more on her idea and the nature of the Night World than previously seen, and several characters pop up that will have appearences in other books - namely Hunter and Lily Redfern.The 'mission' plot strand gives the book some focus (too often L. J. Smith's work rambles, changes, backtracks or doesn't know where its going) and the pace is fast and never dwindles.However, there are a few flaws, the nature of which keeps this book from being a 'five-star' novel. The character of Nyala was a complicated and intriguing one - a girl who was slightly mentally unstable. I don't want to give too much away, but for those who have read the books, I felt that she should have perished in the fire. Okay, that's not very nice of me, but a good author should know when to destroy a character for greater impact in the book's progression. But no, L.J. Smith simply *had* to save her, didn't she. She just *had* to have yet another happy, cliche-ridden ending that is so prevailent in so many of her books. To have Nyala has a tragic figure would have been both poignant and heartbreaking - *that's* what we should have come away from the book feeling.Secondly, Daphne Child's part in the book is pretty implausible. Let me get this straight - she manages to escape from the jaws of certain death and is saves by pure chance by Rashel. And when she is faced with what she got away with, she wants to...do it again? Huh? Yes, yes, she's very brave about going back to the Night Club and letting herself get kidnapped, but come on! - it was just plain stupid. No one in real life would ever do this to themselves. It was the same when Rashel was at the docks and she turned around to find all the girls still there - face it, they would have run like deer.It also ended very abruptly - we don't know what is to become of Timmy, of the girls, of the enclave...it ends with simply the boat sailing back to the shore. I for one had many unanswered questions, and since each book tells of a totally different couple, they weren't to be found in the next book.Finally, the use of the name 'Timmy', brought back Lassie flashbacks: 'Oh no, Timmy's down the well!' Unfortunatly this meant whenever Timmy turned up I was plauged by visions of him floudering in water.All in all however, a good read. One of L.J.'s more suspenseful, darker works. Highly recommended in the context of the Night World series.But 'Timmy'?...

I just loved that message^^^ You'll get it from reading this book.So Rashel Jordan becomes this vengeful vampire hunter after having lost her Mother to one of them at the young age of 5. John Quinn deemed himself a "monster" when he was turned into one during the colonial times, yet he chose to embrace that darkness completely from then on. And so you then put them together, and what do you get?? A real nice tale about discovery of self, justice, honor, and love.It was a great, short read. I wished it was longer because I would have loved reading more on Rashel and Quinn; an epilogue would have been so nice. But of course they are part of a series where each book focuses on different characters.When they surprisingly come together and learn they both have honor and are strong, and ESPECIALLY when they touch; you certainly learn that there are more to people and races than their labels or their reputations. I enjoyed seeing them process these revelations; seeing them come close to killing each other and what occurs instead. This story is about change, too. Change for the better when you are confronted with an opposite to you, or so you think.This quote summed it up perfectly for me; "Under the white light that revealed their inner selves, it was clear that small differences like being vampire or human didn't matter. They were both just people...People who were stumbling through life trying to deal with the hurt." I absolutely enjoyed this coupling and with added twists here and there by the lovely LJS, this story was quite entertaining with a pacing that was swift and steady.Enjoy it for yourselves :)

Loved it!!

LOved it!

Have loved this series of books since I was a pre - teen. Now at 31 I can re - read them and still enjoy the escape. Favourite book changes every time I pick one up.

Really enjoyed reading this book. Love the Night World books collection.

Can't wait to read 6! Love this series and l j smith. X x x x x x x x

This book shows you an unexpected soul mate relationship. The story itself is amazing and I can't wait for the night world 6 soul mate.

A good book for a very easy read, but are tween novels