There were things I liked and things I didn't enjoy in the Divergent trilogy, but I was overall excited for Veronica Roth's new supposedly adult fantasy/sci-fi novel. That said, this book was quite a disappointment.

I liked the first part of the book where we got to meet the characters and see them struggle through their trauma 10 years after defeating the Dark One (what an original name, huh?) and I was interested in where the story would go. However the plot progression was underwhelming as there was a ton of filler, barely anything happened and the pacing was super slow. Usually I don't mind the slow pace if the book spends more time focusing on the developing the world or the characters instead, but that wasn't the case here.

Sloane was by far the most interesting character and the only one that I felt like I got to really know her way of thinking and what she stood for. The other characters, including the other Chosen ones (again, so original), were flat and severely underdeveloped. I was seriously questioning why there needed to be 5 Chosen ones if two of those characters were just dropped right after introducing them and two more were left behind after the story progressed a bit further.

Another thing I want to bring up is how the book is marketed for adult readers, which I don't think is accurate. Even though the characters are twenty-somethings, they behave more like teenagers and the book is teeming with typical YA tropes.

I get that this is supposed to be the first book in the series and it's intended to be a foundation to build on later, but in my opinion, even in a series each book must be able to stand on its own in regards to overall quality. The ending of the book was okay, but that wasn't enough to save the whole book for me and I don't plan on continuing the series.

I found the idea of this book to be really interesting and was excited for it... then I started reading it and was pretty disappointed and bored with it after several chapters in. I ended up not finishing it because it just seemed to drag on and not have any development to the story. I get that there is PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for those who may not know what that is), but nothing was happening. I may end up trying to read it again at some point, but this didn't make me think it would be a book for adults necessarily.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions in this review are mine and mine alone.

I am already a fan of the author and absolutely loved her Divergent series so I was excited to dig in. I am not sure what I was expecting but this blew away all those expectations. I love that it is very different from her previous books in so many ways yet share the trait of having a strong female protagonist. Sloan is tough and has endured a lot but is also human. She and her fellow chosen ones are suffering from some serious PTSD and who would blame them. We join the story already in progress where this group of now adults had defeated a very scary and tough adversary ten years prior. It was really insightful and interesting to see how each of them dealt with the aftermath in totally different ways. Even though the book is in a very different alternate reality their struggles are real. I thought this whole start of the book was really unique.

The story telling was very different in that they also had some sections where you were reading files or articles. This goes on throughout the book and really helps you to see behind the scenes and into the past. Then you get catapulted into a whole new adventure that I don't want to give away here. I was very surprised by this unfolding of events and kept on getting surprised by the twists in this book, plus what and ending! I honestly think this is my new favorite Veronica Roth book, and favorite book of the year so far. My only complaint is that there is a fair amount of swearing in this book that I could have done without, but it is released as an adult and not young adult. I think they could have cut that out completely then even my tweens and teens would enjoy this one.

**Thank you to HMH and Netgalley for an early copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review**

Chosen Ones flips the fantasy script and focuses on the aftermath of what happens when you're Chosen to save the world. 10 years after they vanquished the Dark One, the gang gets pulled into another dimension/universe to slay another villain. Told exclusively from Sloane's POV, Chosen Ones strikes a balance between being Chosen and being human. Characters are dealing with alcoholism, PTSD, drug addiction recovery, and racism is even touched on briefly. As readers, you don't really get to see what happens AFTER the big battle - and especially not 10 years later.

The characters in this book all have problems, like serious problems. If you're looking for redeemable characters that leap off the page with their airy lightness and happiness, keep it moving. Sloane is seriously dealing with PTSD and trying to hold it together. She is dating Matt, but when he proposes she freaks out and burns the relationship to the ground. Matt honestly isn't much better, but it helps to show that they all aren't quite *back*. I happen to like them even more that they aren't redeemable, but I do feel like some conflict could have been avoided by having simple conversations.

I truly feel like Albie and Ines got shafted in this book. They have SO LITTLE page time, so I really wonder what the purpose was. The beginning to this book (where they existed) was fairly slow going and some scenes seemed unnecessary. However, the book really picks up when they are pulled into the other dimension. This is when the book really starts to get good and I got invested in the story.

THE ENDING. Without spoilers, the ending is a wild ride. I definitely did not see parts of it coming, especially not the big reveal. Along the way I picked up on some clues, but I was still fooled. The ending is fairly clear, there really isn't a cliffhanger even though I believe there is a sequel. However, I found the writing in the ending to be very confusing and hard to follow. This could potentially be cleared up in edits, as this is an ARC.

Overall, I would give this a 3.5/5 (rounded up to 4 for Goodreads). I will read the next book, however there were some significant enough issues for me that I couldn't give it a whole 4 stars.

First of all, this book had TONS of potential. I thought that the first part was really interesting and I thought I would have really enjoyed reading it. But then part two happened and I was kind of thrown for a loop. Because I deliberately did not read any spoilers about this one. The third part kind of brought it back together. I wish sincerely that this had been better. Because there were parts that I really liked and I thought it had SO MUCH potential. But the meandering middle meant that I did not feel the urge to pick this one up. Pretty much at all.

I loved this book and don't necessarily understand the low reviews??? It was a more mature book from Veronica Roth, but not necessarily adult, more NA. Sloane was a difficult character to relate to but I liked her. She's been through so much. I can't wait to read the sequel!

I mean, the author of Divergent write a book for adults? Why would I not try and get my hands on it? The book falls into that new, kind of hard to pinpoint genre of new adult: our main characters saved the world as teens and now 10 years has gone by. All the sudden, they have to do it again, this time as adults with different kinds of problems and feelings and thoughts. I was drawn to this book immediately, finding the flaws in the main character incredibly engaging. I liked the crossover between sci fi and fantasy, and really enjoyed this lesser explored age range in sci fi.

Chosen Ones has quite an intriguing plot and as always, Veronica Roth's writing was captivating and beautiful. I really liked the protagonist Sloane and found myself invested in her story. The characters were all well written and distinct enough that I wanted to know more about them all. I sped through the entire book in under a day and enjoyed every second.

The book works pretty great as a standalone. However upon a little surfing, I've learned that is intended to be a part of the series. While I do think this is unnecessary, I still will be checking out the sequels - purely out of curiosity.

Chosen Ones is the first adult novel by bestselling author Veronica Roth. It shows the psychological trauma that remains ten years after a group of teens defeats the Dark One. It’s a twisty, action-filled story that puts a different spin on the familiar trope.

I loved the premise of Chosen Ones as soon as I heard it (enough to add it to my list of Most Anticipated YA Books of 2020, even though it’s not a YA book). We typically get very little insight into what happens to the successful band of teen heroes after the defeat the Big Bad Whatever. What information we do get is typically a “happily ever after” (think: Harry Potter and friends on platform 9 3/4 sending their kids off to Hogwarts). Interestingly, an exception to this might be the end of Roth’s Divergent series (no spoilers).

Each member of this group of five is handling their experience differently. The main character, Sloane, suffers from PTSD. Their leader, Sloane’s companion Matt, is obsessed with keeping up his image as a hero. Another struggles with addiction. It seems very realistic that there would be lingering trauma and it would present differently in each individual.

In coming together to battle a new enemy in Chosen Ones, we see Sloane start to question the leaders who are begging for help. It’s not something we usually see from teenage protagonists in YA novels, and it makes sense that as a adult, especially one fighting through PTSD, Sloane would be more suspicious.

Chosen Ones was an instant bestseller in the US and London, and deservedly so. It’s a page-turner with tons of action and twists and a unique perspective.

The world building was interesting, and the parallel dimension was fascinating, I am curious how the sequel will pan out. But overall, I am bit indifferent as the characters and the plot were interesting. I was not gripped by the Chosen Ones.

Veronica Roth is one of my favorite authors as she has a clever way to hide details in her stories, making it all come together in the end. I noticed early on that this had mixed reviews and I am unsure why. Yes, it is a slower read, but that is also how you build a great story.

This story takes place ten years after the fated five have destroyed the Dark One. One of them is fated to be the Chosen One. I guess you'll have to read it to find out yourself!

I am waiting impatiently for the sequel!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to review this ARC.

I have read all of Roth's books so far and was excited to read her debut for an adult audience instead of her previous YA books. Unfortunately, I was disappointed, I found the book to be really slow and the MC Sloane had in my opinion, a teenage way of thinking that I found hard to endure for most of the book. Part One takes place 10 yrs after the final victory over the Dark One and the hero's of the story have found different ways to cope with the aftermath of being the Chosen One's, some more positive than others. Part two showed some promise with a whole new dimension twist but it was again really really slow and I found myself skimming sections until some action happened. I stuck it out and when Part three came I was leery but hoped for the best however, even with some great twists it still just ending up a bit flat.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book , here is my unbiased review.
I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this book. it felt believable , but unique. Sloane is such an interestng, broken person. Her flaws are her strengths.
The relationships between the Chosen Ones is so realistic, not all flowers and gummybears, but real emotions, annoyances, and problems.
Ziva was one of my favourite characters, and I sure hope this gets optioned as a movie soon, because I want to see how beautiful they can make Genetrix.

Riveting! Flawed characters are always the most fun to read. Perfect for fans of The Magicians series.

“Some things split your life in half.”

It’s been a really long ten days. I’ve finally finished reading this book and I’m so conflicted. As one of my most anticipated reads of the year, there were so many elements I was ready to love. How to do daily life after surviving the battle to end all battles against the big bad. The physical and emotional repercussions years after the event. The various ways different people cope with the memories of trauma. Then there was the unexpected inclusion of some things I absolutely adore reading about but can’t speak about here, because spoilers.

So, why didn’t I devour this book and how did my intended ‘I’m going to shout about it from the rooftops’ become ‘I don’t even know what to say’?

“I’m tired of being celebrated for the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

For a good portion of this book I felt like the story was merely an introduction to the sequel, where stuff will happen. Sure, plenty of stuff happens here too, but there was so much time spent on world-building and catching everyone up on the events of the past ten to fifteen years that I was itching for more. I became frustrated by the descriptions of the buildings the characters were walking past or through; I wanted more action and by the time I got it I was pretty tired.

“Sometimes Sloane wondered if the world had been worth saving.”

I wanted to get to know our Chosen Ones. I did get to know Sloane, although if the book had been written in first person it probably would have helped me get inside her head more. From the blurb I learned that one Chosen One would not survive this book, and wouldn’t you know it? They’re the one I was most interested in getting to know.

Overall, the remaining Chosen Ones felt mostly two dimensional. I managed some low level frustration for the golden child. The social media star made me want to unfollow their entire character. Then there was the Chosen One that I honestly can’t tell you anything about; I’d need to reread the passages I highlighted to remind me.

The first part of the book really got my hopes up. I love reading about people so damaged by life that they’re trying their best to simply survive, and I’m always enthralled when people who have experienced trauma find ways to overcome it enough to thrive (not that all of our Chosen Ones are thriving). When the second part unexpectedly wandered into territory that I usually actively seek out, my response was more ‘um, they’re doing what now?’ than ‘woohoo!’

But was my experience of this book one big ‘are we there yet?’ No, and that’s part of the conflict I’m left with. I loved Mox. I loved Ziva. I even loved Sloane, despite how many porcupine spines dug into my skin as I tried to get closer to her. I loved the exploration of trauma impacts. I loved the self awareness of this book (yes, the Dark One is a terrible name). I loved the entire concept.

I’ve read so many five star reviews of this book and I envy them because that’s the book I hoped I’d be reading. I expect I will turn up for the sequel, although I will be careful to manage my expectations.

Content warnings include death by suicide, drug addiction, mental health, squishy murders where your insides become your outsides and torture.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and John Joseph Adams, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for granting my wish to read this book. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.

I was excited to read this book so I’m sorry to say I recommend you stay far away from this one. It had such a fun concept and I loved the idea of the grumpy anti-hero in Sloane but this book is painfully slow and boring. I really have a hard time giving up on books and leaving them unfinished but after forcing myself to stick with it and keep picking it up I can’t do it anymore. I’m about 20% into and it’s just awful. Like how did this get published and what happened to the editor awful. Don’t believe the gushing blurbs by famous writers because there is no way they actually read this. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I knew right away that I loved Sloane. It was inevitable. I love the hungry, battered, vicious anti-heroine every time, and Sloane absolutely delivered. CHOSEN ONES brings to the forefront something I've always kind of wondered: what happens AFTER the heroes defeat the big bad? And it does this by unraveling all the tropes from the Chosen One (duh) to faceless baddie. There's a deep analysis of desire, of trauma, of healing, of moving on, of purpose and what it means.

Sloane isn't your typical hero, and I think that's what really drew me to her. She's described as cold and sharp, going out of her way to avoid people. But she's also deeply traumatized. And she has to reconcile that the familiar and safe isn't necessarily what she wants. She is literally vengeance and bottomless anger/guilt. What do you do with a character like that on a quest? You separate her from the group.

From whip-smart dialogue to poignant analysis of the human condition to a deep appreciation for Chicago's history and architecture to an entirely new brand of magic and heroism, Chosen Ones has absolutely earned its place on my five-star shelf. My only critiques are small ones: there's a character whose movements are always described as loping/lopes/loped even less than a page apart and Sloane is low-key obsessed with how tall she is. Those were certainly not enough to detract from my overall experience.

This book is something completely different from the Divergent series, but that was always the intention of the author, It is a move from the YA into adult fiction. A great move in my humble opinion. It can still be read by the older youth but is a lot more mature in theme.

The book is a slow burn. It is slowly paced to start off but this is great world and character building. This is great at establishing. At about the 60% point, the book comes alive and starts to really click. Everything starts to fall into place and the ride of a lifetime begins. The action is fast-paced and really compelling. It is the firm foundation to what is going to be a really strong franchise.

Despite being part of a series the ending is good. Things are resolved and it is a true ending. Not a cliff hanger. It leaves so much potential for further books. I truly love this book, in fact, more than the Divergent Series. A real five star read.

I was very excited to see Roth try her hand at a more New Adult/adult book, and I definitely preferred this to her YA work. There's a lot of dark superhero books on the market, and I think the twists she created in the story were interesting. The world building was EXCELLENT. However, I felt the character development for the non-MCs fell short and their diversity gently shoehorned, but I think there's opportunity to build on that in the subsequent books. And Sloane as an MC just felt too YA-esque, but again, I think there's opportunity for her growth in the subsequent books.

Ten years ago, a group of teenagers saved the world from The Dark One, a shadowy figure wielding terrible magical powers. The discovery that magic was real had started to shake the world, but it still looks a lot like ours. More shaken were the lives of these five teens, drawn together by a shady government department willing to believe a prophecy. They might have succeeded in their task, but at what personal cost?

Our main character is Sloane, perhaps the most overly damaged by her experiences. She’s prickly and unfriendly and I can see why some might not warm to her as a lead. However, I liked her antisocial attitude, it felt refreshingly likely. The hints at darkness in her past are perhaps a little drawn out, but don’t disappoint in the reveal, and do make her subsequent actions make a lot more sense.

The first part of the book deals with everyday lives for these half-unwilling celebrities (one at least is a full-on ‘influencer’ on the back of her fame!), continuing to deal with the aftermath. It wasn’t the most action-packed section, but I’ve always been a fan of world building. However, part two – still heavy on the world-building – takes a swerve I didn’t see coming. This is not quite the story part one seems to be taking you down!

The action levels do pick up as the book progresses, and the larger divergences from ‘our’ reality are done very well – out there, but logical progressions from a point where magic seemed to be released into the world. The big denouement didn’t feel particularly well set up, it sort of arrived from next to nowhere with a detached flashback, but it didn’t ‘ruin’ the rest of the story, so fine.

Chapters are interspersed with memos and newspaper articles, and I know at least one person who hated these – I quite liked the ‘verity’. Well, apart from the opening one: it’s done in the style of a hugely sexist reporter, and had I picked this up for a browse in a shop I probably would have put it straight back down – I get that it was a character speaking, but the tone was just icky and beyond.

Overall, I think it’s a shame so many people are taking a dislike to this for not being Divergent. I enjoyed that series, but I far prefer the non-YA tone here (although there are bits where it leaks in ;)) and the darker story. It’s not perfect, but I hope Ms Roth continues to write for adults – in fact, I believe there are supposed to be sequels to this, which intrigues me. The story is pretty complete, but yes, I can see there is a new world to explore…