I dnfed this book i stopped on chapter thirteen. I had a hard time getting into this one. I didn’t care for the plot or the characters.

Yeah no this book was not for me. A adult dystopian a la hunger games and divergent. The stort was not very interesting and I wanted to dnf many Times out of barndom. There are better books in the genre.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆
2 – I Will Not be Reading More of this Series – Stars

CHOSEN ONES is the debut in a new series by Veronica Roth, in the adult genre instead of the Young Adult genre she dominates. I will admit, I fangirled hard for DIVERGENT, with the original cast of characters, whom I rooted for as if they were real to me.

This novel was one of the most difficult for me to read, and not just because of the formatting issue I encountered. Formatting issue was due to the fact that there were three types of texts in the content. News pieces, redacted documents, and what was happening in the now, all of which looked different on my app. I had to zoom in to see the news pieces and the documents, which meant I was zooming in and out every few pages. The oddest part was how the font was embedded, to the point it wouldn't change via my app. The worst part was how this also affected the backlighting, where it wouldn't darken or lighten or even go to my system backlight settings. It was on as bright as my tablet would go. All these poltergeist-like things only happened on this book, as I kept opening others to check to see if it was a glitch. So imagine almost 500 pages of migraine-inducing insanity.

Now onto the content itself. It was awful. Awful. Others may love it, but I surely didn't.

Imagine being dropped into a 10-book series at the final book, but you're not allowed to read the nine books prior (because they don't exist), then at the last bit of the finale, you're thrust into another dimension known as a spin-off...

At the start, Sloane was giving an interview, and I was hoping against hope that when I turned the page, we would be thrust back in time to experience it for real, like a teaser to whet my appetite for more. Nope, still the 10-year anniversary of the Chosen Ones taking out the Dark One. Where we were given snippets and info-dumps of the events that occurred 10 years prior.

Let me tell you, what happened back then was intriguing, only we don't get to experience it, only get a small fraction of it in a confusing swirl of too much information at once.

I understand what Veronica Roth was trying to achieve. The aftermath and how it shaped the characters. They're treated like heroes, celebrating one of the worst experiences any of them would ever survive, and they all have invisible wounds because of it. The celebrating and celebrity was like sticking a finger in a wound and opening it wider to infection.

Sloane is the narrator, and I was able to mostly connect with her, understanding and empathizing with how she disassociated with emotion, distanced herself from everyone, and was generally miserable in nature. I appreciated how accurate that was portrayed. However, the badass angle was so forced, beyond forced. Sloane would have benefited from a first-person narrative to eliminate the coldness we saw, since we couldn't dive deep enough into her head to truly understand or connect with her.

Then there was Matt, who we're told is just the best person on the earth. Good. Sloane goes on and on about how amazing he is, how she believes he was the only Chosen One, and they were just his helpers. Yet again, this was forced. Beyond forced. If a character is good, you feel it from their deeds, you don't need to be told on every page. It came off as arrogant, as if Matt was soaking up the celebrity no differently than being obsessed with Instagram. Making a day of honoring those they lost about signing autographs and being adored by the masses. Matt came off as fake, no matter how many ways the author TOLD me he was selfless and good. Fake and pretentious.

As adults, adults who had seen death and destruction and helped save the world, they would be more mature for their age, which was in the middle to upper 20s. Instead, they sounded vapid, more young adult than the true teens in the author's other series. Their actions were juvenile, immature for those who were so 'good.' I get that the aftermath changed them, which is what we were seeing, but the before would have been more intriguing with deeper emotional impact if we had actually experienced the before.

The pacing was odd, slow and crawling, in a complex story that needed something to speed it up, slowed down more by the way it was written and what was missing.

I adored the Divergent series. It was an easy read, and by easy, I mean I was able to fall into a vivid world with resonating characters, and actually bled emotion with them. Chosen Ones was a struggle, like working to find the enjoyment in it, while wishing it was written differently. It would have been an organic experience to start at the beginning, instead of making it feel as if we're all missing, missing the best parts. The novel is about what the heroes were up to 10 years later, which wasn't much of anything, instead of actually writing the dang story from the beginning, the part we wanted. The characters were shortchanged.

And then came the spinoff portion, where the first 3/4 of the novel was a summary of what wasn't written in those previous books we see snippets about, where we're thrust into another dimension, feel totally different, and I hated that even more.

This reminded me as if the Hunger Games tributes were asked about their lives 10 years later... but we never saw/experienced/read what happened that got us to that point.

There was zero possibility to fall into the story, connect with the characters, when we had to puzzle piece PTSD flashbacks and inner monologuing info-dumps, as if they were a refresher for a series we previously read, only to be truly dumped into a nightmarish LSD trip.

Done. I'm done. I do not and cannot recommend this novel.

3.5 stars.

Though it’s certainly been done before, I like the semi-usual fantasy trope of “what happens to the Chosen Ones *after* they save the world,” and this book provides an interesting version of that.

From a sheer entertainment perspective, this is a pretty solid offering from Veronica Roth. It’s well paced and compelling, and the plot revolves around an unusual and fun twist rooted in the idea of string theory and the multiverse.

The plot does have some frustrating holes in it, which is a shame because most of them probably could have been cleaned up with tighter editing. There are a few chronology issues, unexplained plot wrenches, and some nonsensical maneuvering of characters that were disappointing. But the bones of the story are good and it’s a fun and smooth read.

I like Sloane a lot, though the secondary characters were a decidedly mixed bag. Has there ever been a more insufferable lead chosen one than Matt? Ugh. I would have gladly sold him to the Dark One for like six bucks. Esther isn’t much better and I wish we’d gotten more of Albie and Inez instead, who certainly seemed both more likable and more interesting in the brief time we’re allowed to spend with them.

The aforementioned multiverse-related twist and a particularly clever spin on the line between villain and hero make this a worthy read, but be warned that there’s some sloppiness in the details and a few frustrating elements that make the experience slightly irksome in spite of the solidly conceived story.

Wow I would not have known that this was written by the same author who wrote Divergent. The writing style has matured SO MUCH in the last 10 years. The world building alone was stunning, but then you think about the twists and turns that went into the plot.

I'll admit, this novel starts slowly. We are dropped into knowing that the main character, the PoV character, has already been a chosen one who is just about to celebrate the 10 year anniversary since they killed the Dark One. Yup, there are jokes made of the unoriginal name that they gave to their nemesis. It's very tongue in cheek. That's pretty much Sloane all over.

This book really picks up once we have a full view of who the five chosen ones are, and only then do three of them get pulled into another world that has diverged from the one that we know. The slow build up is really worth it, because it gives a lot of what is going to be paid off later on.

The book this one most reminded me of, because of that slow burn and then slow reveal of twists and turns that change everything you thought you knew, was The Space Between the Worlds.

I just loved it. It's already a book I wish I could read again for the first time.

The premise of this story was one that I was very interested in and because I loved the Divergent series by this author I was really excited to pick up another of their works.
Unfortunately, this one didn't really live up to my expectation in the execution of the premise. I thought that the main characters were interesting but they didn't make me feel for them the same way some of Roth's other characters have. I thought that the writing was still great writing I love Roth's writing style and I do see myself picking up more works by them.
I think that this is just one that the execution of the story just didn't work for me and that really hindered my enjoyment.

The basic premise of this book was interesting -- what has happened to "chosen ones" ten years after their universe-saving mission is complete? All of the characters carry trauma from the experience, and their celebrity has made it difficult for them to have "normal" private lives, but our primary protagonist Sloane is particularly affected. How will Sloane and her friends respond when a new threat emerges? On paper this had all the elements of a fantastic new fantasy series, with more adult-oriented themes. In practice, while I enjoyed the worldbuilding, I struggled to engage with the characters and the plot. I enjoyed the book but wouldn't consider it a "must read."

Thank you for sharing title with me! I ended up picking up my own print copy. Love Veronica Roth and her books!

I grew up reading the the Divergent series by Veronica Roth but ever since then I have not been able to get into her newer books. I have found the same problem with Chosen Ones. I couldn't even get through half of this book because I was bored. That might just be a personal thing but I didn't really care for the overall story or the characters. Sorry to say this didn't work for me.

I am normally all over a dystopian novel, so seeing that Veronica Roth was taking on an adult novel had me extremely giddy. Although I didn't hate it, I didn't love it either. The story starts quickly as you immediately are engulfed in the lives of the world saving heroes. They fought the worst and are now paying the price personally in what's left of their lives.

Because we are thrown in so quickly, I did feel as if I was missing something. Was there a previous book? Nope....must be me. Of all the characters, Sloane appealed the most but even with this connection, I felt lost once they began their travel into a parallel universe to once again fight through magic. It definitely sets up for a sequel but I don't believe I will be reading it.

Thank you Netgalley, Veronica Roth and Houghton Mifflin for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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