I have such mixed feeling about this book! I was confused but intrigued, frustrated but entertained, and although I did want to keep reading I found the pace to be very slow. I can't decide if I liked it or not and of course by the end made me want to know what happens next but not sure if I want to go through that again.

Chosen Ones was an interesting book, and unlike what I thought I was going into.

I thought it would mostly be about the five main characters, and how they have rebuilt their lives since defeating The Dark One and saving the world. For the first half of the novel, that's basically what it was. We follow the five main characters, though we see the world through the eyes of Sloane Andrews, one of the Chosen Ones who is having a rough go of it. Her PTSD keeps her from living a happy life and she struggles to interact with the world around her. She was definitely the most interesting character in the book, but the beginning dragged and I found myself wondering more than once whether I wanted to continue. It only picked up slightly after the death of one of their own.

Then the second half of the book happened, and it was almost like reading a completely different novel. The Chosen Ones find themselves thrust into a fight that they don't necessarily know if they want, and Sloane eventually comes to learn truths she isn't necessarily sure she's ready for but does her best with it nevertheless. It took me longer to read this book than I thought it would, and I did enjoy it. The ending definitely threw me and has me interested to read more in book two. All in all, an enjoyable book that I would recommend to fantasy/sci fi lovers and those who are interested to see what happens to so-called 'Chosen Ones' after they defeat the big bad and save the world.

"The line between a Chosen One and his opposite is hair-fine".

What a unique story! Veronica Roth's storytelling was so engrossing and it was the right balance of action tempered with character relationships and introspection.

The story follows Sloane, one of a group of "Chosen Ones" who defeated the Dark One 10 years ago. You will not be able to guess what happens next, this is not your typical heroes and villians trope! It is a strange mix of dark sci-fi and twisted motivations.

The story just swept me right along...I stayed up till after 1am to finish! Although I figured out some things, there were still plenty of twists and surprises. Totally recommended!!

I enjoyed this book. It was a different and more realistic view of magic that made complete sense. The author describes the characters in such a way that you feel immediately attached to them, want to hug them, and sometimes wants to shake them. Overall a great read.

I was thrilled to be granted an ARC of this book by the publisher. As a fan of Divergent, I was excited to read Roth's first adult novel.

This story follows five adults ten years after they become The Chosen Ones prophecied to take down The Dark One destroying their world. We follow Sloane, arguably the one with the most difficulty adjusting to life after an almost apocalypse. Interspersed with articles and classified papers about their mission we learn a lot about Sloane, her friends, and their world.

After one of the former chosen ones dies Sloane and two of her friends are taken to an alternate dimension to help them take down their Dark One, called the Resurrectionist. This was the part of the book that slowed down for me. It almost felt like the exposition had to start all over to explain this new world and the new mission. It picked back up with some action pretty quickly and soon we see that all isn't what it seems to be in this new dimension and with their Resurrectionist.

Overall, I loved Sloane and Mox especially and would like whole books about them, but the ending of this one almost felt too easy and we are left with a ton of questions. I hope the second one comes soon so they can be answered asap.

#NetGalley #VeronicaRoth #HoughtonMifflinHarcourt #Edelweiss

Where to start? I enjoyed this book. Narrated by Sloane, a member of a group referred to as the Chosen Ones, and a series of reports, newsletters, and journal entries, it was initially very hard to read. The reason for this is because there were so many different details and descriptions I could not read it in my normal quick pace. I had to read slowly, often times reading paragraphs over a time or two. Just when I was heading towards giving up, around 40% in, the book suddenly started to move much faster because my brain had absorbed all the previously mentioned information. NOW it became easy to read and I was very engaged in the story.

In a nutshell, the book was a group of 30 somethings who had been given the name the Chosen Ones in their teens, when they were brought together by a "prophecy" that said they would save the world, defeating an evil being referred to as the Dark One. The prophecy proved true, and they did indeed defeat the Dark One.

Just when the group, now thirty somethings, thinks their world is semi-normal, three members of the group will find themselves sucked into another dimension, where earth (called Genetrix), is very different. This done with the wishes of another group wanting then them to defeat their "parallel" Dark One. The people who summoned then are vastly different than who we are led to believe they are, and the Dark One has a motive behind all of his actions that you will never in a million years see coming.

This story was very well written and enjoyable. I'm glad I suffered through the beginning, otherwise I would have never found out what a gem of a book it is! I would most certainly recommend this book to others! I am very grateful to the publisher for allowing me this opportunity.

Veronica Roth has written another brilliant dystopian young adult novel. This story has wonderful world building and an unique storyline. It tackles the issue of PTSD in our hero figures as they try to put their lives back together after saving the world.
This story takes places ten years after The Chosen Ones save Earth from the Dark Man. It shows how they struggle with returning to a normal life when everyone treats them like a celebrity. Then when strange things start to occur again, they struggle with whether they should step up again and do something or whether they should just pretend it's not happening.
It has action and adventure mixed with sci-fi and romance. It questions what really makes you who you are. It questions the media's and government's involvement in how one is portrayed as a hero or a villian. Veronica Roth creates two words that seamlessly interconnect.
I really enjoyed this and hope there is a sequel.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

There have been a surprising number of traditionally YA-authors releasing their debut adult novels within the past several months. I was intrigued when I learned that Veronica Roth, one of my favorite authors from when I was in middle and high school, was going to be publishing an adult fantasy, but I was also somewhat apprehensive. The premise alone didn’t sound like anything special, and I wasn’t sure how adaptable her writing style would be for an adult audience. I was also mildly worried that there would be constant Divergent undertones and features that were more reminiscent of YA literature, but I decided to give this one a chance anyway.

One of my biggest complaints was the marketing of this book. Every article, author interview, and even the book summary repeatedly stress that this is Veronica Roth’s first foray into writing for an adult audience. But, after reading the book in its entirety, I completely disagree with its adult classification. The five protagonists are described to be in their thirties, but their decisions, behaviors, and speech suggest otherwise. Had there been no explicit references to age, I would have pegged all of these characters as teenagers who were no older than 16. Writing a book that centers on characters in their mid-thirties who can’t even act half their age DOESN’T earn it the classification as an adult novel. Throwing in the occasional curse word doesn’t either. If I pick up a book with “adult” practically stamped across the front cover, the expectation is that it will read like an adult book. Consequently, this misnomer was a large source of my frustration and disappointment while reading, making it a less than desirable experience. This comes across as primarily a marketing decision such that Roth and her writing could stay “relevant” with her original fanbase from the Divergent series.

The plot itself was lacking originality and riddled with tropes – the chosen one, the reluctant hero, a nondescript and mysterious “dark” one, and a final battle between good and evil. To make matters worse, the pacing was glacial, and I struggled to finish this one due to a disinterest in the plot and lack of connection to the characters. There were very few action-heavy scenes, and they were interspersed among a barrage of standing around, the occasional training session, and whining about how life wasn’t fair. Additionally, there was far too much telling rather than showing. Roth relied heavily on info-dumps to convey information, and these further interrupted the action and slowed down the pacing. This was likely a product of the book’s premise, in which the protagonists had defeated the Dark One a decade earlier and would casually reference information that they had learned or things that they had done years before. There was no sense of fear or danger in these recollections, which amounted to my general disinterest when reading about them.

To make matters worse, everything seemed a bit too convenient for the protagonists. For example, one of the characters is captured and imprisoned, yet manages to break out of their cell and escape within the span of an hour or two. No one catches them in the act or notices they’re missing within a reasonable span of time, despite the captors being described as incredibly powerful, intelligent, and almost all-knowing. Another example that readily comes to mind is the gullibility of all other characters in the book. Whenever it suits one of the protagonists’ needs, anything that they say will be unquestioningly accepted as fact by those around them, despite a very blatant lack of proof or evidence. One unverified source of information was sufficient to convince all of these individuals to completely overturn a conviction that they had previously held and firmly defended, which added yet another unrealistic layer to this book.

The third person narration certainly didn’t help the pacing, and the book certainly would’ve benefitted from first person narration. I felt little to no connection to each of the characters and had no preference about whether they made it out of the book alive. This disconnect from the characters contributed to my disinterest in the book overall, and it was difficult to feel invested in any of the storylines that were unfolding. First person narration certainly would have improved this and provided insights into each character’s opinions and rationales, potentially even evoking a little sympathy from readers.

The only redeeming component of the plot and pacing was the concluding twist, which added a shocking element to an otherwise bland narrative. I hadn’t foreseen it coming, although in retrospect, the groundwork leading up to this revelation was laid out very thoroughly. It was evident that this aspect of the book required significant planning to execute well, and I commend Roth for the time and effort that she dedicated to crafting this twist.

The fantasy components of the book were few and far between. There was a vaguely defined magic system that received minimal definition and expansion after it was first introduced. Based on the few details that readers received, there seemed to be no limit on the usage of magic. This is one of my biggest pet peeves within the genre – if there’s no need to conserve or use one’s magic strategically, the final “battle” should be initiated and concluded within the first 5 pages of the book. If there are no finite constraints on magic usage, a single powerful individual should be able to defeat their enemies in the blink of an eye, and it shouldn’t require a 400+ page book to recount this.

Furthermore, the romance was painful and unfounded to the point of being laughable. The complete lack of communication between the characters involved was reminiscent of far too many YA romances, and the characters’ childish and overly idealistic mindsets left me cringing. The only thing that could have made this worse would have been the introduction of a love triangle – I’m not holding my breath on this one, as I’m sure there will be plenty of time for one to be incorporated in later books in the series.

Overall, this book fell very flat for me. I was looking forward to reading a compelling adult fantasy from one of my favorite authors as I was growing up, but I was thoroughly. unimpressed by the characterization, world building, plot, and fantastical elements. There was nothing that compelled me to keep reading this one, and it was a struggle to complete in its entirety. I think it goes without saying that I won’t be continuing on with this series, and I’ll be hesitant to pick up any of Roth’s future books.

Hooked from the beginning! I like how it started in the aftermath of the events. This was a completely different turn from her young adult novels. A great first book, what is going to happen next... seriously! I was very honored to be about to read this book before release!

I really enjoyed this book, the characters and plot were interesting and well written. The pacing was spot on.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley, I was given a chance to read an excerpt from this book. Now, I'm the kind of person who struggles to read only an excerpt from a book. Keeping that in mind, I will say that the glance I got to see from this book sounds as though it will be a great story. I will place it on my future to-buy list and can give a better review after reading it all.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot, although many portions of it found me tense and anxious over the fates of the characters due to the action and plot. Sloane Andrews is one of the Chosen Ones, who defeated the Dark Lord ten years ago. While the world is at peace now and is moving on, partially due to her heroic actions, in her personal life she experiences the aftereffects of her traumatic experiences fighting alongside her four teammates. Without giving away too many details, this book surprised me in the direction it went after the first of three sections was completed. Roth's world building was enhanced by the various supplemental documents included at the beginning of each chapter, Poems, essays, sections of historical narratives or scientific documents helped to fill in the details of the story beyond what the characters were living out. I am unsure if I fully understand the explanation of how the Dark Lord, the Chosen Ones, and the prophecy are all interconnected through the book, but it was very entertaining.

Thanks to NetGalley I received a copy of Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth. I went into the novel not knowing anything about the plot or even if it was YA or Adult fiction.

It has been quite a while since I picked up a Veronica Roth novel (I really enjoyed the Divergent Series
when I was in High School) and I ended up enjoying her first adult novel.

The concept of following the chosen ones (the group destined to destroy the Dark One) years after the big fight is over pulled me into the story. I liked how the novel showed how the chosen ones, mainly Sloane are dealing with the trauma they went through and adulthood. It was an original concept that made the novel stand out.

I actually found myself wanting more points of view from the side characters instead of just the one from Sloane. I wanted some more character development with the other chosen ones and Sloane's love interest.

The other aspect I struggled with was the pacing of the first half of the novel. The second half of the novel, once we were introduced to the main conflict helped the pacing and I flew through the rest of it.

I recommend checking out this new series from Roth, it was a good read.

15 years ago, five ordinary teenagers were chosen by a prophecy to fight evil. Now that everything's back to normal, Sloane's having a hard time adjusting, and she's hiding a terrible secret. On the tenth anniversary of the defeat of the Dark One while they're all together, something happens.

That's the story. It's told by Sloane, who's having a hard time moving on. The events of 15 years ago killed her father and brother. Sloane was then taken to fight evil. Of all the protagonists, Sloane and Albie suffered the most at the hands of the Dark One. After a tragic event Sloane, Esther and Matt will find themselves in an alternate world and they will have to find and fight the Dark One of that world.

I really liked that story, I can't really say Sloane is endearing, but I still managed to bond with her. Sloane is misunderstood, mainly because she didn't tell her friends everything and she had to make a choice that will make her feel guilty probably for the rest of her life. She makes decisions that sometimes go against Matt's advice, but she follows her instincts.

Matt was the leader of the group at the time and he's kept his leadership side, I think he's pretty arrogant towards Sloane, he thinks he knows what's best for her and what she should do. He doesn't understand why she's never recovered from the events of the past.

Mox is a charismatic character, he hides a lot of things but deep down he's a very nice man who only wants to protect himself.

Veronica Roth takes us into an adult story with more depth than Divergent. I liked the difference in character of the different characters. They are all very important to the story and their union is a strength.

Quick word: A successful first book that promises an excellent sequel.

I really enjoyed this one. It's marketed as Veronica Roth's first adult novel, but I would really call it a YA novel with a lot of F-words. The character's are "older" but act and speak like teenagers do in pretty much all apocalyptic YA novels I've read. That said though, it was a fun premise, with some interesting characters, and I enjoyed the uniqueness of the story!

Chosen Ones is the first novel in a NA series by author Veronica Roth. Released 7th April 2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it's 432 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

Although ostensibly an adult novel, with some adult themes including PTSD, depression, lots of anger management issues, etc, it felt like a YA novel. The main characters (who defeated the Dark One) are 20-somethings, 10 years on after saving the world, still trying to process the trauma, grief, and rage, and find their places in the world. The language was rough and some of the themes are difficult, but the whole still felt like a YA novel to me (and there's nothing wrong with YA fiction at all) but with a fair bit of rough language and more unhappiness added into the mix.

The plotting was very slow for me. It was a bit of a slog to finish, though the writing is quite adept and the author is clearly talented. Main character Sloane was prickly, cold, unpleasantly unstable, and scary. It didn't make the reading more pleasant to know that every bit of her prickle and spite was 100% intentional on the author's part.

I know that this novel (and series) will be hugely successful. I found it slow and too drama filled and depressingly like real life.

Two stars for the dark and drama filled plot, four for the admittedly high quality writing.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Excellent.
The description of this book as being Veronica Roth's first adult work of fiction was what drew me in. As a fan of the Divergent series, how could I resist?
It seems some other reviewers are disappointed, because they can't get Divergent out of their minds. As soon as I began the book, I was immersed in it, completely on its own merits. Filled with magic and chaos, strong characters, and amusing bits of irony, I enjoyed every bit of the book. Well done.

I just want to start this review by saying i think Veronica Roth is a very clever writer. This book was well done and i could really see things coming together towards the end. I had a few problems with it, i found the middle parts especially around the 50-70% mark to be a bit of a slog to get through, not much was happening especially around 50% and i had to really motivate myself to power through.

I liked the concept a lot, you dont see that much that we are following the characters after the big event and i really enjoyed how it had an impact on each character, PTSD, depression, self esteem issues and addiction. It was interesting to read about for sure.

As for our main protagonist Sloane, i found her annoying as heck if im honest. I liked Esther as a character and what little we saw of Albie and Ines. Matt was a bit wet for me. Couldnt really see how they had been together for 10 years, that was confusing.

All in all, it was good, Not mind blowing but good for sure.

Veronica Roth has written a superb read with Chosen Ones. Well worth the time and a true page turner!

The premise of this book is interesting. The story moved along well and I really liked many of the characters. I did feel like the development of the relationship between Sloane and Mox was a little rushed. It is such a key part of the story but it felt forced instead of organic. I did enjoy this book though and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good fantasy novel, especially those who enjoyed Roth’s previous novels. Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for granting access to this book in exchange for an honest review. I will post this review tomorrow to my Bookstagram and companion Facebook page, @thatreadingrealtor.