Okay, this was fun! I LOVED the concept and enjoyed it just as much in execution. Not only was the premise interesting, but I think that deep dive into the character's psyche and understanding how they overcome the typical heroes' journey was fascinating. The pacing was off in a few times which is why we ended up at a 4 rather than a 5 but I really enjoyed this!

I think although this is categorized as an adult novel, it still reads as a YA. For that alone I was disappointed tremendously. The synopsis seemed so promised that when I tried reading it the story didn't live up to its potential.

First off, the idea behind this book is amazing—we're seeing young adults who were the "chosen ones" as children, and the ways that impacted who they became. Amazing concept! Unfortunately, although this is billed as an adult novel, the writing still skews quite YA, and the plotting is quite predictable. I did enjoy the read, just felt that the premise was so amazing the writing didn't quite live up to it. Would read more from this author.

Overall, though, CHOSEN ONES was a really great take on the "chosen ones" stereotype and the world-building is pretty creative and original and I had a great time reading it.

Such a great book! I enjoyed reading this one so much! I highly recommend this book. Side note: the cover!!!!

My first Roth book. Fast paced and highly enthralling. I absolutely loved the plot and the characters!!!!

DNF at 20%. I loved the premise of what life is like for The Chosen Ones years after the big bad has been vanquished. The audio production was well done with a full cast and sound effects. However I just am not getting pulled into the story and it’s been a long time to feel like it’s still just ramping up and I’m forgetting who’s who. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy. I bought the audiobook for myself.

I had this on my shelf for ages before I finally picked it up. I'm not sure why that was exactly, but guilt finally compelled me to take another look at it. I'm glad I was able to stick through the first third of the story, as Roth certainly takes her time explaining the world and the characters for readers before turning everything upside down.

The first third was difficult in some senses. Transcripts and news publications are interspersed throughout current storyline to give backstory to the characters that are living out their post-"Chosen One" days following the defeat of their villain (a Lord Voldemort type character). They are older, riding on the coattails of their fame, trying to find ways to live normal lives after all the PTSD from being trained as children to defeat an evil villain, murdering countless people along the way. Some of them fare better than others, but they all have struggles they continue to face. This drags on. And on. And on. Until I almost gave up, particularly with how snarky and broken Sloane is.

But then, Roth pivots. She takes everything we know about this new world (that's kind of a like a more sad version of Harry Potter) and turns it upside down. Now we are even further removed from our own reality, with even more out there concepts and characters, that provide excellent opportunities for the original cast to go through copious amounts of character development and action scenes. Much better.

I found many of the characters to be annoying, and their flaws which seemed to be the main focus of the book irritating. I have to say, overall I'm not sure I would recommend this for the characters, but I may still pick up the next in the series if Roth does end up writing it to see where she might go next.

I’ve enjoyed a lot of Veronica’s roths work but this one didn’t quite work for me. I found the main character and the first half of the book difficult to get through, so can’t give high stars

I somehow failed to notice that this was the author of Divergent, or I likely would not have asked for an ARC. I ended up putting the book off for a while but finally got around to it and found it decidedly average. The twist around half way/40% and when the plot really took off seemed overdone. I liked the idea of dealing with the mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder of being a chosen one, but it wasn’t handled with any depth. The characters were shallow and while representing diverse backgrounds, they all kind of read the same and one of the chosen ones was left at home for no reason, so I am not even sure why she existed in the book. All in all, I just found the writing taking shortcuts to tell us what happened instead of building the characters and emotions needed to fulfill such an idea. Also, healing could have been done without needing a guy to cause it to happen. Anyway, I would not have likely chosen this book as I had already DNF’d Divergent so your milage may vary.

DNF @ 73 %
This book was not one of the choosen ones for me. Get it? I just did not enjoy it... the premise was interesting and had me intruiged, but the characters where meh at mest. I found Esther and Ines a bit interesting, and felt for Albie and Matt. But Sloane took up most of the book, or so it felt like. It just did not hit the mark for me.

I am a big fan of Veronica Roth and was excited to get the opportunity to read her newest book. Unfortunately the Chosen Ones was not a book I enjoyed and did not finish.

This was a "Did Not Finish" for me. As much as I've loved Roth's previous books, I just couldn't sit down and read this one. I didn't enjoy the story, even if she's an amazing writer. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Not my favorite of Roth's books. Perhaps I picked it up at the wrong time. I have purchased a copy for the library.

I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. I found it really difficult to pull myself into the story, which made it hard to follow along because I didn’t find myself caring for the characters or what would happen next. I will not be publicly posting a review on my blog or Goodreads, as I had a difficult time finishing this novel and don’t think it would be fair to the author or publisher to share.

I was really excited to read this book, but it personally didn't intrigue me in quite the same way as the Divergent series did - though I tried not to compare too much. The characters were okay, but didn't quite connect with me. I would definitely read Roth's next book, as I've enjoyed her stories before, but this was an average read for me.

This was pretty disappointing. Even after seeing the low star reviews, I was still holding out hope that I'd enjoy Chosen Ones. And while the concept is interesting, the book was just boring. I didn't care about the characters or basically anything that was happening.

The only reason why I finished is because the audiobook was amazing. It has a full cast with Dakota Fanning narrating our main character. They all did a great job.

Won't be continuing this series.

Chosen Ones – Veronica Roth

5/5 stars: I really loved this book. It's smart, gritty, and subversive with a prickly female main character and incredibly fascinating world-building. If you’re a fan of twisty anti-hero stories and don't think women need to be nice, then this is the book for you.

When you’re not a fan of an author’s most famous work, it keeps your expectations low. I didn’t like Divergent but was intrigued by this synopsis so decided to give it a shot. It paid off – here’s my review on Chosen Ones and why I enjoyed it so much.

Any book that starts after the ‘chosen ones’ have won and are trying to get on with their lives grabs my attention. I loved the premise. Flawed broken heroes forced into a fight they never wanted in the first place – refreshingly different and a twist on the chosen one genre.

Our heroes have had their coming-of-age-origin-fight-unbeatable-evil story already. They’re reaching their 30s and figuring out what’s next. Their reactions – PTSD, nightmares, reckless behaviour – gave them character traits we don’t usually see in this genre. They’re not perfect, they’re not optimistic; they just want to go home.

Sloane is our main protagonist. Done with this life and all its thrown at her, she wants to find her inner peace. The first through the portal to a parallel world, Sloane is full of cynicism, misplaced aggression and emotions she neither wants nor knows how to handle.

I love Sloane. She’s not a hero; she’s a normal person who destiny screwed over. I love her fiery determination and her raw power that she’s never managed to control or even understand. Sloane is no golden chosen one, but you’d want her on your side when things go south.

The other ‘chosen ones’ are more hero material, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t scarred. These are flawed characters, and the way they call each other out on those flaws is fun. I didn’t think of Sloane’s reactions as childish until another character brings it up. They’re right, but it’s handled in a way you see the character’s grow and react to criticism rather than the woe-is-me approach.

The plot took a little while to build momentum and for the tension to rise. There was a lot of set-up given that the characters had already had their big battle. Inserts from other narrators – official documents, diary entries etc – gave you insight into the characters and provided their backstory. It was interesting, but did break the pacing at times.

The magic was fun and I liked how it was handled. Given the characters’ inexperience with it, explanations didn’t feel expositional.

When the pacing picked up and both antagonists and new protagonists (not always that clear cut) were introduced, I couldn’t put it down. The only thing that let it down was I was at a bit of a loss of exactly what happened at the end. There was closure, I’m just not certain how they got there.

I thoroughly enjoyed Chosen Ones. It takes the classic coming-of-age-chosen-one story and does something different. The characters were loveable, the plot had some great twists and the blend of magic, portals and reality kept you guessing at exactly what was possible. An engaging and entertaining read – a definite recommendation.

I tried really hard to enjoy this as I did like the Divergent series and found the subjects discussed by the Chosen Ones so interesting but I couldn't get myself to be immersed in this story the way I wished.