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Nov 21, 2011

Kat rated it:

Chloe Pinter has what she would consider the "best" job and at times, the "worst" job. She is the director of Portland's Chosen Child domestic adoption program and she is the case worker that helps families find just the perfect child for them to adopt, fitting birth mothers and adoptive parents together. In a sense, she helps build families for parents who can't have children through conventional methods. The downside of this, is that often times, birth mothers wait until th More...

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Dec 11, 2011

Ashley rated it:

Chandra Hoffman’s Chosen tells the story of Chloe Pinter, director of the domestic adoption program for The Chosen Child. Chloe works to bring together birth mothers and adoptive families. Although rewarding and an escape from her own tumultuous personal life, the job is demanding and unpredictable, especially with birth parents like Jason and Penny: young, impoverished, manipulative but with the baby desperately wanted by the wealthy McAdoo’s. The Novas are former clients of Chloe and friends More...

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Nov 22, 2010

Danielle rated it:

Chosen was one of those stories that gets under your skin. Having dealt with my share of infertility problems, not only personally but within my own family, it was heartbreaking to read of the struggles of both the adoptive parents and birth mothers in this story. Both Heather and Penny, birth mothers, seek to find consolation in the hopes that they are doing the “right thing.” Although, they aren’t sure, even months after their babies have been given to new homes and parents. On the other hand, More...

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Sep 01, 2010

Cheryl rated it:

Chloe Pinter is the director of Chosen Child’s adoption program. Chloe loves her job, especially when she can put another file in her “Completed Adoptions” drawer. Chloe’s latest couple awaiting a baby is Mr. and Mrs. McAdoos. They will be adopting a baby boy from Jason and Penny. Jason and Penny are a young couple that are desperate for money.

Then there are the Novas. They have been trying desperately to get pregnant. They finally have. When a baby is stolen, everyone including Chl More...

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Aug 09, 2011

Candy rated it:

Every once in awhile you come across a book that just blows you away. After you've read the last page, you contemplate the plot, the characters, and wish that you hadn't read the book so quickly. Chosen is one of those books.
Chandra Hoffman takes the very delicate subject of adoption and tackles it head on. Through out the book the reader gets 4 POVs. Chloe Pinter is the social worker for the adoption agency, who has been struggling to find her place in the world and feels that she has More...

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Nov 27, 2011

Samantha rated it:

This is a review for CLP Blog Tours. Chosen is the story of Chloe Pinter, a young social worker at a Portland adoption agency, who gives readers an inside look at a dark (and scary) side of domestic adoption. Chloe works to bring in birth mothers to the agency, connect them with loving families who would love to love a child, and make sure the adoption process goes smoothly. But when it comes to birth parents Penny and Jason, the situation is anything but smooth. Penny and Jason are a young coup More...

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Nov 27, 2011

Samantha rated it:

This is a review for CLP Blog Tours. Chosen is the story of Chloe Pinter, a young social worker at a Portland adoption agency, who gives readers an inside look at a dark (and scary) side of domestic adoption. Chloe works to bring in birth mothers to the agency, connect them with loving families who would love to love a child, and make sure the adoption process goes smoothly. But when it comes to birth parents Penny and Jason, the situation is anything but smooth. Penny and Jason are a young coup More...

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Dec 06, 2011

Ariel rated it:

ank you to Jen at Book Club Girl for providing me with a copy of this book. Jen will be discussing this novel with the author Chandra Hoffman at 7 PM on her Blog Talk radio show.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a page turner for me. The novel anchors around Chloe Pinter who is a case worker for a private adoption agency. The novel tells the story of her clients, the down on their luck parents always looking to wrench out extra money from the agency and the adoptive parents and the More...

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Sep 27, 2010

Amy rated it:

Chloe Pinter is the director of the Chosen Child’s domestic-adoption program and feels like she has the perfect job of completing and bringing families together through adoption. She is organized and meticulous about the details of the adoptions and does her best to insure that the mothers that are offering their children for adoption are cared for.

Chloe is dealing with three very different couples during the adoption process while she is struggling to hold her own life together wit More...

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Aug 28, 2010

Laura rated it:

There was so much I liked about this book, but the combination of characters just got to be too much...

There was some interesting insight and reflection on the world of domestic infant adoption, and I really liked that we had the perspectives of birth parents, adoptive parents and a social worker.

The problem I had with this book was that the characters were all a little larger than life. I believe that there are people in real life like each and every person in this book More...

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Dec 09, 2011

Kathleen rated it:

Would you be able to be a case worker for an adoption agency, knowing that one set of clients (birth parents) will be giving up their baby and mourning this loss, while another set of clients (adoptive parents) are pinning their hopes and dreams of having a baby to complete their family on your shoulders? What if you found yourself in the birth parents' shoes, unable to keep your baby because of circumstances in your life, would you be able to give your baby up? And finally, what if you were the More...

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Mar 30, 2011

Helen rated it:

Chloe Pinter loves helping families realize their dream of having children through her job at a private adoption agency. And she’s good at it. But as one family’s dreams come closer to fruition, another family’s dreams are shattered, and Chloe is left to pick up the pieces.

In Chosen, Hoffman examines the motives of a private adoption agency and its staff, adoptive families, and birth mothers unable to care for their children. In some cases the situations are heart-wrenching, in othe More...

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Oct 09, 2010

Debra rated it:

I just received notification that I won this book from Goodreads. I am so excited to get the book! It looks very good!

Update: I enjoyed this "most of the time". First, I like books that have a different plot or premis to them and this didn't disappoint. Not the same old read. Secondly, I liked the way that Hoffman "grew" her characters from page one through the end of the book. We met them, may have liked, disliked or felt sorrow for them... but as they developed More...

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Oct 08, 2010

Sue rated it:

I really, really disliked this book. I did not like a single character in this entire book. I couldn't wait to finish it so I could get as far away from these characters as possible. It painted a picture of the domestic adoption process that is so repulsive, I can't imagine anyone wanting to go that route. Poor desperate birth parents who initially choose to put their baby up for adoption because they know it's the best choice turn into greedy vultures who want to extort money from the equally More...

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Mar 13, 2011

Barb rated it:

This adoption story is told through the perspective of a couple trying to adopt, a caseworker trying to match couples with Birth Mothers, and Birth mothers/partners. I had never considered the market for babies as a business; and never considered that people got pregnant for the money. Some of these characters were so very hard to like and relate to...I had trouble understanding the caseworker's motivation to put herself in harms way - she was reckless and naive to me. I liked the issues this More...

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Dec 14, 2011

Susan rated it:

First of all, let me just say that I am so excited to be a part of the blog tour for Chosen. I am a cover-lover and doesn't the cover of this book just make your heart melt - a little one grasping onto mommy's finger? Gotta love it! The rest of the stops for this book's tour are listed on the tour page over at Chick Lit Plus.

Chosen is basically a story about 3 couples (really 4 couples if you count Chloe and her boyfriend) whose lives are intertwined because of babies. Chloe is an ad More...

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Nov 11, 2010

Natalie rated it:

Awesome read! Riveting from start to finish. Chloe is the director of The Chosen Child. The Chosen Child is a non profit adoption agency and Chloe's job is to find mom's who need to give their child up for adoption and to match her with parents looking to adopt. Its a stressful job for Chloe and it gets in the way of her relationship with her boyfriend Dan. Dan decides to move to Hawaii to start up a business and wants Chloe to come with him but she is torn between the love of doing her job and More...

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Oct 07, 2010

Laurel-Rain rated it:

In Portland, Oregon, the (fictional) Chosen Child adoption agency operates with a specific mission in mind: families can be created. To the social workers who work there, including Chloe Pinter who directs the domestic adoption program, the mission is one that almost supersedes everything else in their lives. Their hours are unpredictable, interrupting many moments of personal interaction. Chloe's relationship with her fiancé Dan is precarious at times because of the demands of the job.

More...

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Nov 03, 2010

Randi rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Nov 07, 2010

Denise rated it:

It is always exciting to read a terrific first novel like CHOSEN. Even though it was not the type of subject matter that would generally appeal to me (adoption), I really could not put it down. I am not great at writing book reviews and won't even attempt one now. I just want to recommend this book to anyone looking for great characters, plot and writing! I saw where this author/book was compared to Jodi Picoult as if she (Picoult) is the goddess of good fiction. Quite frankly, I like CHOSE More...

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Jan 26, 2012

Joyce rated it:

I was disappointed in this book. It did deal with many issues concerning infertility, depression, adoption from both female and male perspective in a very honest and realistic style. However, there was way too much vulgarity in the novel, both related to sexual acts but also used in describing many other facets of people. The frequent vulgarity detracted from the real issues of the novel and definitely wasn't essential to the issues dealt with in the book. It's too bad the author, Chandra Ho More...

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Jan 13, 2011

Amber rated it:

Wow... this was different than any book I've ever read.
Definitely a rated "R" with a lot of crude language & descriptions, however, once you start the book, you have to finish it.
I think that the story being told by a variety of characters really added a lot to the story. I enjoyed reading about the author, too, and feel like while it was fiction, it was very true to life and Hoffman definitely knows of what she writes.
Not for the faint of heart, but if you're looking More...

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Jun 20, 2011

Diana rated it:

I always find books about adoption interesting. My husband and I have adopted three children and over the years we have met several others who have their own story. It is amazing that although we have all wanted the same thing, the route to get there was very different and unique. I thought this author did a great job of sharing information and feelings about adoption from various different viewpoints and socioeconomic backgrounds. The author also threw in some interesting twists that made t More...

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Nov 09, 2010

Melanie rated it:

Chloe Pinter works for an adoption agency. She runs the domestic program, taking care of expectant mothers and the couples hoping to adopt them.

While I liked the way she told the story in the different voices I did not like the way she portrayed the characters. I felt the expectant mothers were typified as drug-wasted teens, while the adopting couples were neurotic, wealthly, and selfish. While I am sure this is true some of the time, I guess I know too many people on both sides More...

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Jan 07, 2012

Jenn (Booksessed) added it

This book was very different than the books that I normally read. It's contemporary and the novel is written from several points of view.

Every character was pretty much out for their own wants, even if they didn't realize it. I thought that was a pretty unique way to write this book. I didn't really connect with one character over another, but it was fascinating to see them all evolve.

I couldn't handle many of the scenes featuring the McAdoos. They were completely oblivio More...

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May 01, 2011

Rusane rated it:

A pretty graphic look at the business side of adoption. While I have never thought too much about it, was pretty disgusted with the idea that people, who are involved in an adoption arrangement (whether as a birth mother or an adopting parent) are at the mercy of (or perhaps even willingly/actively contribute to) a system of profitability - that there are people in this world that think it is okay to excessively profit from these situations and have so jaded the process that adoption is losing More...

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Dec 03, 2011

Laura rated it:

Chosen is one of those books who's topic is extrememly powerful and real, and many people can relate to the reality of it. Adoption and trying to concieve is a topic that many couples deal with on a regular basis, and while personally I don't have any experience with this topic as of yet, I still can understand the emotional connection that people feel with children and babies.

The main character Chloe Pinter is a case worker for an adoption program that she feels truely passionate a More...

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Nov 14, 2011

Jael rated it:

I was a little torn with Chosen by Chandra Hoffman. I was all set to say this was an awesome book, but then I got to the last 20 pages. The way the author chose to end it threw me for a little loop. The topic was certainly interesting -- infertility, adoption and what makes a family.

Chloe Pinter is a hardworking caseworker. She has the tough task of managing birth parents and adoptive families. It's something I don't think I could ever do. How do you convince someone to give up their More...

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Sep 23, 2010

Jenna rated it:

I liked it. I was tentative about liking it as I began, wondering how the book would portray various characters. While the book claims to have no heroes or villains, I disagree. However, I really liked the take that we're all human. This book might prey on the fears of adoptive parents, except for the fact that the adoptive parents in this book are also not perfect. In fact, very few people in this book are faultless. That's what I liked.

I'll have more after a Q&A session.

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Jul 31, 2011

Debbie rated it:

First novel written by this author and she did a pretty good job. Some of the transitions in the book were a little confusing and I had to go back and reread some of the parts to figure out what was going on...but all in all a good book.

Chosen is about a young caseworker who becomes entangled in the lives of the adoptive and birth parents lives...and not without some serious results. The book takes place here in Portland so a lot of the mentioned areas are quite familiar.

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