I like stories about people who save the world. We often assume things are largely happy afterward, which makes it a pleasure (?) to find a book where the heroes don't all readjust to normal life.

Heroes carry scars with them, and each reacts to those scars differently. This is true for these chosen ones. We see a variety here; one hero embraces popularity as a business, while another uses it for the public good. Others retreat from the world. I appreciate the realism.

I really enjoyed this book, once I was able to get into it. Unfortunately, this only happened 1/3 the way through the book. I complained to my husband that it was too heavy for me at this time. The description largely covers the first 1/3 of the book; it was necessary to give that backstory and setting, but it didn't keep my attention well. I was about to set it down for a bit when I read just one more chapter. I was rewarded with the remainder of the book, when the story became infinitely more interesting.

Is this YA, or is it adult fiction? Although the characters are in their 20s, they read like young adults. That said, they're traumatized former heroes; they can be emotionally stunted. As an adult reader of YA fiction, this largely hits the right notes.

I ended up enjoying this book. I was satisfied with the way the characters' relationships resolved. The premise of young former heroes struggling in the saved world was novel to me, and I enjoyed it. What I appreciate more, though, is that this book didn't limit itself to that, and did more world-building beyond that. It's clear that there's more to the world that Roth created than was in this novel. The story wrapped up at the end, so no cliff-hanger ending, fortunately. I look forward to sequels.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome to present day earth - after a "Dark One" responsible for destroying several cities with a mere wave of his hand has been vanquished by a group of 5 "Chosen Ones". The Chosen Ones - now celebrities - have varying views on life now that there is no enemy to beat. Sloane lives an existence weary of of others outside of her Chosen friends and struggles with the day to day, suffering panic attacks from memories of the torture inflicted upon her by the Dark One when he held her captive. Unable to recognize her true self now that she is not being trained and guided by authorities on how to destroy an enemy she is seen as "cold" to a public that only wanted to love her and appreciate her victory.

When the Chosen Ones are thrust into the river after the funeral of friend, they emerge for air in another dimension riddled with magic they learn they have been brought there for a purpose. There's another "Dark One" to defeat, this one known as "The Resurrectionist" who is protected and accompanied by an army of the dead brought back to life. Sloane, who is without her medication can barely come to terms with the task at hand, but begins to train knowing that another battle is looming with the enemy that haunts her.

Written with brilliant imagination and vivid settings, this novel is worlds away from Divergent and Carve the Mark (both of which I did enjoy), and I am looking very much forward to the next instalment in the series!

I didn't have any expectations going into this book, but I LOVED it! It's smart, gritty, and subversive with a prickly female main character and thoughtful, fascinating world-building. If you like twisty anti-hero stories and don't think women need to be nice, then please check this out. Also, this would make an INCREDIBLE Netflix show! Fans of Jessica Jones might fall in love with this.

Set in Chicago, Sloane and four other teens believed to be the prophesied "chosen one" defeated the evil Dark One. Now 10 years later, Sloane has insomnia, struggles with relationships, and deals with symptoms of PTSD from what happened with the Dark One. Many of her fellow chosen ones also are struggling to cope with the visibility of public life in the wake of such trauma. But the book asks the question- what if you had to face evil again? Would you do anything differently when you are no longer a naive young person?

Sloane is a character people will probably love or hate. She's not a "likeable" female character, but I loved her. People around her want her to be something she's not and part of her journey is embracing that darkness is a part of her. We see her deal with nightmares, panic attacks, and a whole lot of guilt and anger, but she is also strong.

I can't say much more about this book without spoilers, but this takes unexpected turns that I thought were very well-executed. The world, magic, and ultimate revelations are smart and well-thought out. This felt both gritty and magical in a way that really struck a chord with me. It's something I will be thinking about for awhile. I received a copy of this for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth was hard to put down. I was initially drawn to it for a few reasons. One, Veronica Roth wrote it, and I have enjoyed her other series. Two, the plot reminded me of Divergent but for adults. It also dealt a lot more with the psychological traumas that people face after disastrous and stressful big events. 

First off, I loved that Roth chose to set this story in Chicago. She does such a great job of immersing the reader into “her city.” There were plot twists throughout the entire book. Some were impossible to see coming. The story deals a lot with the emotional and psychological trauma that happens after disasters. A lot of times the hero or heroine saves the world, and the reader is left thinking the world was peachy after the book ends and everyone lives their lives as if nothing ever happened. This novel dives into what happens and continues to happen years after these events end. On top of that, more oddities start to occur, and the Chosen Ones are called in again to try and help. Some of the characters are really flushed out and developed well. I would have liked to have seen more background with some of them. They are all flawed and realistic. I thought the magic system was fascinating and complex. I kept trying to figure out how it all fit together, which was difficult. 

The book is told in different formats such as the general narration, but also newspaper articles, top secret files, and other similar documents. I appreciated the short chapters as well.

The reason this was a 4.5 star read for me is that at times I found the parallel worlds and magic system to be confusing. I got the overall story, but I feel I would have gotten slightly more out of the story if I fully comprehended the magic system. While I liked that Sloan was a morally gray character, I found a hard time connecting with her and some of the other main characters. I enjoyed reading about them, but the relation just was not there. 

There is so much more I want to share about this book, but they are all spoilers. Just know this book was intriguing from start to finish. The magic system was complex and interesting. The characters were likable in the fact they were all so flawed. I found Chosen Ones to be a mix of Divergent and Harry Potter. I can’t say more than that, as I want to avoid spoilers. 

I ordered Chosen Ones and was halfway through reading it when I got an electronic copy from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own. I was in no way influenced by getting a review copy.

Usually novels end with the villain being vanquished. Not so with Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth. Known for the YA phenomenon Divergent in the early 2010s, this is her adult SFF debut, and it is a memorable one. Having been the ones prophesied to defeat the Dark One in their youth, the tenth anniversary of the event brings Sloane, Esther, Matt, Ines and Albie back together. No longer chosen teenagers, they are dealing with the repercussions of trauma, PTSD and a world that had been terrorized by a Dark One.

After things go awry and Albie dies, Sloane, Esther and Matt find themselves in a parallel universe where the Dark One has not yet been defeated, and a number of chosen ones have died trying. Although the people who seem to have brought them over seem to be very cagey with information, and much of what they have been told does not add up.

More so than any other book I have read, Chosen Ones interrogates the trope of the prophesied chosen one, of what makes a hero and what turns one into a villain. The book addresses issues of perception and perspective, and puts the focus on the humanity of the heroes. While the story is ostensibly about the group of chosen ones and their fight against the Dark One, large chunks of the story focus on Sloane. She was likely the hardest hit by the original fight against their adversary, and is struggling with her mental health throughout the book. Much of her development arc is her coming to terms with who she is and figuring out her place in the world, which, although most of us are not chosen ones per se, resonates with a generation of millennials struggling to find themselves.

Chosen Ones is a true step up from Roth’s earlier work, and a book deserving of the adult SFF genre. It is compellingly written – despite the pandemic I read the decently sized volume in only a few sittings, and the pacing is kept up throughout. The book doesn’t drag, and reveals are scattered throughout the plot without being overly obvious to the reader. The story is full of morally grey characters, whose ambiguous nature makes the reader guess about their true nature for much of the novel. There are various kinds of magic, from powerful artefacts to almost scientific learned magic to a sort of necromancy, all of which are thought out and well established.

All in all, I very much recommend you give Chosen Ones a read! It is enjoyable, thought-provoking, and it deals with an issue that bugs me about many happy endings: what happens after the seemingly all-is-well of so many stories? How do the characters deal with the repercussions, and how do their lives develop? Chosen Ones is a light Grimdark answer to that question. Do not discount her due to her commercial YA past, but treat her as an adult SFF debut author and give this book the shot it deserves. Many thanks to Netgalley for the review copy of Chosen Ones.

Chosen Ones is a sci-fi fantasy written by Veronica Roth. The first novel by Roth that targets an adult audience. A Chicago based urban fantasy with a twist. The history behind why the characters became The Chosen Ones slowly unwraps and how they obtained magical abilities that were used to defeat their enemy. The book features an excellent balance of character exploration, world-building, and a twisty plot that maintains a high level of engagement throughout the story. Chosen Ones is an intriguing sci-fi fantasy that is sure to stay with you long after reading.

I was excited to read Chosen Ones as like many others I loved the Divergent series. This one was just okay for me. I didn't hate it but I also didn't love it. It's not a bad story line it was just super slow and the good parts didn't really make up for all the times I just didn't think I would even finish it. In my mind I actually kept seeing this as a really good movie. I think on the big screen this would probably be fantastic but as a book it was lacking for me.

** Received an ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed**

God, this book is amazing. Just when you think Roth can't write a better story, she comes out with another amazing novel. Chosen Ones examines the fallout of five teenagers who saved the work from a villain called The Dark One. Years later, the Sloane and the other four chosen ones must taken the mental and emotional strains of being declared special.

I have to say, I did not see where this book was going, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Nothing was predictable. This book was very much a mental health book, and it was very comforting to read about other twenty-somethings that are dealing with the pains of adulthood. I'm dying to read more books from Veronica Roth!

After reading The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness, I felt like I wanted the other side of the story, while that book deals with the people who are just trying to survive in a world with super heroes I wanted what happened after they save the world and after they are supposed to live happily ever after. That is exactly what this book was, it seems fitting for it to be adult as teenages saving the world seems ti be more appropaite towards YA, while dealing with the afteraffects feels more adult.

All of these characters felt real, their struggle against The Dark One felt real, it also still seemed like a struggle after the fact where Sloane and Albie were dealing with a lot of PTSD even ten years after, both still being held within their own darkness was not lost on me.

The story took a different turn than what I was expecting when it went into parallel worlds and world with all the magic. I wasn't expecting that twist of events, but everything else from that point on was not a shock to me. After all for Sloane to be able to move with her life it makes sense she needs to comes face to face with her darkness again.

I loved the depictions of her internal struggle and her grappling with a guilt she has faced for ten years, Sloane's life felt real to me. I do wish we had multiple POVs though so I could see if everyone else was struggling because from the reader's perspective it did not seem like it.

What happens 15 years after The Chosen Ones rid the world of the Dark One and his destructive magic? In this grown up Harry Potter spin on the chosen one prophecy story, Roth gives us an angsty and oddly realistic look at a group of friends who have saved the world together. There is magic and universe jumping, yet the book is grounded in the very real PTSD that the main character experiences after the trauma of her war against the evil magician.

Roth is great at the psychological part of the dystopian genre. If you like The Magicians or the 5th Harry Potter when everything got all teen angst, then you will be into this!

I loved the Divergent series, so I was excited to read a new book by Roth. However, I really struggled with this one. It was slow and boring in so many parts. I felt like I was trudging along for the majority of the book. Things picked up near the end, but it was too little, too late for me.

While the characters are older, there is still a YA feel to this book. It surprised me, as I thought this was an adult fantasy, but it didn't feel that way. I was a bit interested with the ending, but I'm not sure it's enough to make me run out and grab the next book.

Sloan was an okay MC, but nothing spectacular. And that's how I felt about the rest of the cast, as well. I loved the Divergent series, and i guess it had me setting the bar high on this book. Sadly, it fell flat.

I might be the odd one out on my feeling for this story, but I just don't enjoy Veronica Roth's novels. I didn't like DIVERGENT either when it released and I read it. It might be the complexity of the world building, or the angsty heroine she seems to love, but I just never go all in on her plot line and never fall in love with her characters.
Any way, the story was creative, but a bit complex. I do love a good sci-fi/magical novel every now and then, but this one didn't do it for me. I'd love to know what you think if you've read it.

So, so, so long! I know this is not a YA book and adult fantasy tends to be longer, but this one was excruciatingly long. I was so interested in the beginning, but it just faded out until I lost interest, and by the end I was indifferent to whatever happened.

The world-building is very well-developed, but it’s so complex that I had a hard time keeping up – which is totally on me, I know. I just think the characters and the whole premise were so interesting that the more complicated the story got, the more it lost me because these factors I appreciated were watered down by everything else. It was all very overwhelming.

On the other hand, Veronica Roth’s writing is amazing, as usual. I also really liked how dynamic the narrative was, with government files being included between chapters. It added an extra flavor to the story and world-building.

What I liked the most, though, was the rhetoric behind the narrative. The author was unapologetic about what she was hinting at and what aspect of society she was criticizing – and, especially, who.

It really is a bummer that I didn’t have a better time with this book and that I didn’t feel compelled to give it a better rating. Still, I’m grateful for the publisher granting me a copy through NetGalley.

I have read this book in May, 2020.

I was torn about my rating for this one. I think that maybe it deserves 3.5 stars. I loved the premise for this one. Someone else compared it to a book about what happens after superheroes do what they are supposed to do and save the world and I think that about sums it up. Sloane, Matt, Esther, Ines and Albie were the Chosen Ones and they were able to fight the Dark One and win. Now they have to do with the aftereffects and some are having a harder time than others. I loved Sloane, the main character. She is a bad ass who portrays this image of being someone who doesn't care, but she does care . . . a lot. She is also suffering from PTSD from what she went through and it doesn't help that Matt (also her boyfriend) is acting as though she should be over it by now. I also loved the character of Albie and I liked his relationship with Sloane. Matt and Esther though just seemed . . . meh.

I think the problem I had with this story was that it was so incredibly slow. And maybe that's due to the world building. but there was just not a lot happening for a large part of the book. When they were taken to another dimension, I thought the story might pick up again and it did for a while. But then there was just a lot of training and a lot of standing around, not doing anything. But close to the end, it picked up again and I absolutely loved the cliffhanger at the end. So even though there were many slow parts, I thought this was a worthwhile start to the series and I am looking forward to the next installment.

I read about one-third of this before setting it aside for lack of interest. The concept was intriguing, but the story just didn't hold my attention.

It took me sometimes to get into the book but once I was attuned to the style of writing I couldn't put it down.
It's not a fast paced, action packed story but it's a good story nonetheless.
I appreciated the cast of characters, the excellent world building, and the storytelling.
I recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

What a wild ride. There are so many good things to say about this book, and so little with which I had issue. The story is told from Sloane’s point of view, but we also get information pertinent to the background via government documents, journal entries, interviews, and other miscellaneous items that allow a bit more of an omniscient feel to the narrative. It picks up in present time (March 2020), ten years after the Chosen Ones defeated the Dark One on Earth. We knew from the synopsis that the Dark One wasn't truly gone, but the sudden plunge into a parallel universe was one way of resurrecting him that I truly was not expecting. Suddenly, Matt, Sloane, and Esther find themselves on Genetrix, a parallel universe that appears to have split from earth in 1969, and they have to adapt to a new world, and learn a new magic system in order to take on the Resurrectionist, this world’s Dark One.
Sloane speaks my native tongue (sarcasm) fluently, so I automatically connected with her. She is a perfectly relatable antiheroine, and I love her for it. She even turned out to be the Dark One from the prophecy on Genetrix. With as much as she despised the Dark One from her earth, she became a Dark One save both worlds, but also the one Chosen One that was needed to destroy Nero. Matt’s character seemed to be a little one dimensional. He’s the golden boy, the commander, THE Chosen One, but that’s really all we know about him. Esther was a little more developed. I loved how she and Sloane would banter back and forth, but I thought it was very inconsistent with her character when she refused to acknowledge Sloane after she and Matt broke up. It was even more irksome when the issue was never resolved, nor discussed afterward. The way she acted was totally glossed over. I was also annoyed with how naive Matt and Esther were in their desire to get home. Yes, we get it, you want to go home. But that doesn’t mean you automatically trust the people who kidnapped you and blackmailed you into helping them. I don’t see how they could’ve survived the Dark One with mentalities like that. Mox is the antihero to Sloane’s antiheroine, and is a total cinnamon roll. Anti-cinnamon roll? He must be protected at all costs. And Albie… *cries* It really bothers me that we never really find out what Albie was doing with ARIS the night before he dies. I feel like that was something that should have been explored a little more.
Despite the Chosen Ones utilizing magical items on Earth to defeat their Dark One, the magic system in Genetrix was entirely new to them. Personally, I thought the magical theory on Genetrix to be one of the most uniquely imaginative magic systems I’ve ever seen. The idea of intent and paired with an accurate sound frequency, whether from singing, whistling, or other noisemaking means, was an ingenious way to intertwine magic with the mundane. I love that though the pitch differences between men and women indicates that they’re usually able to do different kinds of workings, the inclusion of whistles, tooth implants, and other instruments pretty much level the playing field by allowing anyone to attain a desired working frequency. I liked the concept that the Drains on both worlds were being caused by a "foreign body" (see what I did there?) in the form of a being that was not supposed to be in that particular universe. For example, a Drain was caused each time Nero pulled a new Chosen One from a parallel universe onto his own universe, and each time the Dark One (Nero) was on Earth, a Drain erupted. I also thought it was fascinating that children don’t really have to be taught about intent when they’re learning magic because they simply WANT something bad enough to just DO it. This realizations really helps us understand how Sloane and any other adult attempting to learn this new magic system might have issues with intent, since adults have spent years learning to temper our wants and desires in order to logically assess a situation and make a rational decision. While the issue at the beginning of the story on the Earth side revolved around the ambiguity of magic and the general lack understanding, the issue on Genetrix, at least from Sloane's point of view, is that people have forgotten how to do ordinary mundane things without the aid of magic. She exploits this oversight several times throughout her time in Genetrix, with astounding results - it seems to her that magic has truly become a crutch in this world. I also think that a world where magic is linked to sound would be immensely chaotic, particularly for someone with sound sensitivity or anxiety issues. The constant whistles and abrupt noises while people do little workings would be ridiculously overwhelming to someone who isn’t used to them, and I think that this causes a bit of a disconnect with how easily Sloane and the other Chosen Ones integrated into Genetrix. Sloane was suffering from some pretty serious PTSD and anxiety, and I think she would have had a much more difficult assimilating.
On that note, I really appreciated the inclusion of the struggles with mental health that the Chosen Ones suffered after their encounters with the Dark One. Mental health issues following any trauma endured by chosen ones in stories seem to be regularly swept under the rug once the happy ending is attained, and it was a welcome change of pace to see these very real issues included.
Roth’s writing is so descriptive I was immediately submerged in the world every time I picked the book up again. I wasn’t just reading about it, I was there. The description of the Needle jabbing itself under Sloane’s fingernails and squirming its way through her body was so thoroughly disturbing that I actually had to put my kindle down for a minute. My skin was crawling. I could smell the Army of Flickering, feel the glass under feet, and feel the Drains pulling at me. I felt sympathy for Nero, which was entirely due to the way Roth decided to reveal his story. Her writing made me feel like I was in my own world and in and entirely different world at the same time, which is an amazing feat of creative writing. Even the smaller differences between worlds were fun to learn about, although I don't fully understand why Genetrix uses coin money instead of bills if the worlds only seemed to split in 1969 (or somewhere around the war, as Sloane theorizes). A nuance, but obviously it stuck out in my mind.
I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book. It will live on my shelf of favorites for evermore. That is, until I decide to pick it up and dive in again.

I was absolutely thrilled when I heard about this book and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. The premise is intriguing as it follows a group of five young heroes after they have vanquished an evil presence known as “the dark one.” The plot is slow to build, which makes the first portion of the book difficult to trudge through; however, the story really picks up when the major plot point is introduced. The highlight of the book for me is the main character, Sloane. She is emotionally blunted due to trauma and having her childhood ripped away from her but I connected easily with her and enjoyed witnessing her growth throughout the novel. Overall, it’s a wonderful book but it’s important to note that it reads like a young adult novel even though it is not marketed as such. I think readers will be more likely to enjoy it if they go in with that expectation.

Thank you so much to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for granting my wish on NetGalley and approving me for this title!

So I had forgotten that I wish listed this book on netgalley, and had honestly forgotten that I even wanted to read it. I am so glad that I got to read this book, I really, really liked it like 4.5 stars at least.. I just finished it though so havent really digested everything. it could very well move up to 5 starts.
This is a super unique plot that I have never read anything like before. We have 5 people that 10 years ago as teenager defeated a villian called the Dark One. He was using magic to destroy the world.. They thought he was defeated but after one of the chosen ones die, somehow 3 of them get taken to a paralle universe. Matt, Sloane, and Ester were taken to help this universe called Genetrix defeat their own version of the dark one called "the ressurrectionist" They begin to study how to use the magic that is everywhere on this world.
However Sloane isn't convinced that the man that brought them over, Nero, is telling the truth.. When she and ester go snooping she discovers that she was right and decided to confront the ressurrectionist before trying to kill him...and
SPOILER ALERT

She finds out that he was actually the Chosen One for this world and Nero is actually the Dark One from Earth!! Like I knew everything wasn't going to be that cut and dried, but I didn't expect that.. So no Sloane has to find a way to stop Nero, and make sure that Matt and Ester are also safe.
I am really looking forward to the next book, and I think I will be buying my own copy of this.. I can't wait to see how the Chosen Ones all together figure out what to do next after the ending events in this book.!!

Wow!! Adult fantasy is where Veronica Roth needs to live!! I’m so impressed. This book has everything you’ll ever need, I highly recommend it just make sure you have time because you won’t want to put it down