Chosen Champion by Elise Kova Review

Before we start, I would like to thank author Elise Kova for providing a review copy of the box set!

So, we left off Vortex Visions with Vi agreeing to leave her homeland and head to Meru to meet Taavin, and Chosen Champion starts off soon after that, as she’s waiting for the royal parade to take her home only so she can slip away partway through the journey and find her way to the Crescent Continent.

Let me tell you, book two keeps up Kova’s exciting pacing, jumping right in with Vi practicing her Lightspinning magic with Taavin. Then it’s right to visiting a prisoner, then political intrigue, and long before the end of chapter one you’re already invested.

This book also feels very relevant as I write this, as the world is being ravaged by an epidemic known as the White Plague. Vi is isolated, kept in the fortress for her own good, then when she sees the city it almost looks deserted as everyone keeps to their homes for fear of catching the plague. This book was, of course, written long before our current pandemic at the time of this review’s writing, but there is always something interesting when you see what is a lifetime event for you mirrored in a fantasy book. While the White Plague wasn’t very present in Vortex Visions, we see the full horror of it here as it even encroaches on Vi’s life. It’s horrifying, and her resolve continues to harden to go to Meru and find the cure.

As Vi goes through her remaining plans in the North as fast as she can, a feeling of farewell hovers over every word. As much as she wants to go home, you know she isn’t even going there. She’s leaving the only place she’s known for years and one of her best friends only to see her family so, so briefly before she once again throws herself into danger. It’s a heartbreaking start, but it doesn’t even begin to prepare you for how you’re going to swear and curse over your heart being torn out later.

As for Vi herself, she remains a realistic character. She’s likable, but still very flawed, from using her position as the princess to threaten others to generally just being stubborn, and she isn’t above being called out by Jayme, her bodyguard, for it. She develops a lot in this relatively short installment to the series, and in ways I can’t even begin to touch without possibly spoiling everything. 

Even when Vi reunites with her mother and twin, tension continues to edge every scene as Vi is forced to keep up the royal mask when she greets them and danger continues to follow even before she reaches the point where she’ll make her break for Meru. Everything just keeps building the tension more and more as even you as the reader are forced to second guess your assumptions about everything. Short, romantic breaks with Taavin are even fraught with anxiety, and every scene is limned with even more emotion than the last book. The plot drives to a head that makes you read so fast you risk blurring the words in your head, and it leaves you exhausted, emotionally worn out, and ready for more.

You can find Chosen Champion on Amazon in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover format. Or, if you want to get all at once, you can find the omnibus in the same formats.