According to a prophecy, five people would be able to defeat a great evil, the Dark One. Nicknamed the Chosen Ones, the five teenagers succeeded in killing the Dark One. 10 years later, when they are trying to settle into their new normal, odd things start happening and one of them ends up dead. Did the Dark One survive? Will they be able to endure another fight against evil and the unknown?

I enjoyed Roth’s latest novel. I loved her previous young adult series and was really looking forward to see how she would move from young adult to an adult novel. Chosen Ones started off fantastic. I was really drawn to the main character Sloan. As the novel progressed, I did lose interest as the novel went on but overall, it was a good read. I would highly recommend this to anyone that loves supernatural books.

I got approved for this after I'd bought a copy so thank you for reading my mind who ever prove me! I really liked Chosen Ones, and think it's much better than The Secret History lite Ninth House. Chosen Ones shines in that it's a great look at what happens after the save the world, etc. quest/dilemma and it's fascinating in how it explores it. I think it's much stronger than the Carve the Mark series was and I hope that it will come out in pb sooner rather than later so it can find the audience it deserves.

Not as good as I thought it would be. I don't know but I found this book so slow and confusing. I had a struggle in finishing this book. I'm not exactly sure about the direction of the story, until am almost at the end of the book. There are moments that the story picks up, but then it starts to slow again and am loosing the initiative to finish it at once. The characters are not easy to like. I feel like am reading a book with teenage characters on it but in reality they are in their 30's already. The characters was so caught up with their past, that I stopped taking interest with them.


Overall, I think this is going to be a book that either works or doesn't work for readers. The plot shifts from now and then, and the pacing was really quite challenging. There are parts that are super slow, but it got a little better in the end. The book did leave of in an interesting place. So I am still not sure if I will be picking up the second installment of this book.

This book absolutely was a fun ride! I liked the idea of what happens after the chosen ones defeat the bad guys - now what? Well. One becomes an Instagram star, another a recovering addict, and our main character, Sloane, seems almost to be in hiding. She certainly isn’t moving forward with her life. Sloane is a super complicated character that I both liked and disliked many times throughout the book. I liked her take questioning attitude and her sassy nature.

What drove me nuts was Matt. Maybe it was just me, but he kept doing things he knew Sloane would hate and then being mad because she didn’t do what he wanted or react the right way. And their fights made me feel sick to see how she just caved to him. Because of course he’s right. Total douche and everyone loved him and thought he was perfect. Ugh!

I really enjoyed all the characters growth in this. The first half was good but maybe could have been trimmed down. The second half was awesome and action packed. Overall I really enjoyed this one!

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Divergent being one of my all-time favorite books made me want to read anything Veronica Roth writes, even if I have yet to read Carve the Mark, I have both of those and eager to pick them up even more now.
This was intriguing and it got me hooked, it was the first time I read something where the main character deals with PTSD and it was fascinating to read about it.
I'm now very much excited for the second book and even more excited to pick Roth's previous works.

I love the premise - what is the life of a hero like ten years after the act? Chosen Ones like child stars. And I while I enjoyed the ride, and it absolutely took some very big leaps I wasn't expecting, it felt like the premise was somewhat wasted. What I felt like I was going to get was PTSD/survivor syndrome, Requiem For A Dream in a fantasy setting, and instead, it ends up becoming 'special kids fight evil man'.

But I'm writing about what the book isn't, instead of what it is. Some really fun twists, the main character who is genuinely flawed and often unlikeable, and an ending that presents a really fascinating scenario. Dark for sure, could have been darker but hey, not everything has to be.

Will check out the sequel for sure. Particularly given the state of the universe at the end of book one.

10 years previously a group of five teenagers defeated the Evil One. Then three of them were sucked up into an alternate universe to once again face another evil one.
It might have been an OK story but the dialog was atrocious. The characters, now reaching their 30s, spoke and acted like teenagers. There were too many lame sarcastic statements with the main character acting like a spoilt brat for the most part.

I recieved this arc of the book from Netgalley and the publisher in an exchange for an honest review.
Name: The Chosen Ones
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: YA, Adventure, Mystery, Thriller, Supernatural
Age: +8
Review:
Veronica Roth never ceases to surprise me. She returns with a YA Supernatural Thriller novel, an exciting and thrilling story which mystifies the reader's and keep them devoured in the book.
The story revolves around the five Chosen Ones; Sloane Andrews, Matthew Weekes, Albert Summer, Ines Mejia and Esther Park, the five people who were prophesied to defeat the Dark Lord. It has been years since the Dark Lord had been defeated.
The story is told from the perspective of Sloane, one of the Chosen Ones. She struggles to live normal life and tries to evade the fame they received for their feat. After all these years, she still can't move on, especially since the Dark One still haunts her in her dreams. A mystery shrouds upon Sloane and the defeat of Dark One and her relationship with him.
Mysterious events take place all around the world. Dark Lord's followers rise against the Chosen Ones. The government works to create magical weapons which could unravel the mystery of these events. Sloane refuses to take any part in this, but Albie joins in this venture.
With the death of Sloane's closest friend, Albie, she turns back to magic. Drowned in grief with their losses, the Chosen Ones find themselves in another dimension, where they realise that the dark reign of the Dark One never really ended.
The storyline has been written alternatively from the point of view of our protagonist and official documents containing information related to the story. This form of writing style has been in trend since Murakami's Kafka on Shore and has been evident in The Illuminae Files by Amie Kauffman and Jay Kristoff.
The story has been divided into different parts. The first part of the story has alot of HP's vibes; prophecy, chosen one and the dark lord.
I really liked that the story begins after the defeat of the Dark One, which kind of breaks down the traditional storyline.

As the title suggests, Chosen Ones centres around the five Chosen Ones, who defeated the Dark One 10 years ago. We meet them on the ten-year anniversary when they realise they may not have defeated the Dark One after all. I really wanted to like this book, but I, unfortunately, found it lacking in a few departments. Primarily, I would have liked more character development and back story. I also thought there was too much irrelevant information included - the articles and excerpts sprinkled throughout the book weren't consequential to the plot. Chosen Ones slightly redeemed itself in the last third when the pace quickened and the storyline got more interesting, but even then I thought the ending was rushed and the pinnacle moment was quite anti-climactic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I was really excited for another Veronica Roth book but I just didn't enjoy this book at all. It was very sci-fi and it's difficult for me to review because I am not sure what people who enjoy sci-fi look for in books. This book definitely wasn't for me but maybe read it if that's a favorite genre of yours.

This is the first book in Veronica Roth’s adult sci-fi / fantasy series. This book very much fell more towards sci-fi and slightly dystopian. This book is set after 10 years of the big defeat of the Dark One, and starts off by showing how the 5 Chosen Ones deal with the trauma of everything they went through as teenagers.

I found this concept weirdly interesting, to see the aftermaths of the battle and how the ‘saviours’ deal with it all. It was very interesting to see this perspective because it’s almost never done before. This was a very unique read that kept me hooked simply because I needed to know. I mean, what could possibly go wrong on the 10 year anniversary of defeating the Dark One? Clearly, a lot.

Each Chosen One suffers from PTSD, some more than others. Some have moved on and have built a new life but they are all tethered to one another and the events of the past.

Without giving too much away, because the element of surprise is key in this book, we follow Sloane, one of the Chosen Ones, navigating her life despite 10 years passing, she’s unable to the forget the past – the suffering and destruction of it all, and deals without how she knows best – alone. I really liked Sloane, you really get to understand her beyond what newspapers say about her. Matt, Ines, Esther and Albie, are the other Chosen Ones, and to some degree we see how life is like for them through Sloane.

Roth manages to build an urban Chicago fantasy world where magic exists but not all accept it. With a variety of newspaper articles, essays and top secret CIA files – we slowly discover what happened 10 years ago and what made these 5 the Chosen Ones.

With magic so infinite, knowledge still growing and a horror that is still so fresh, this book shows us the aftermaths of defeating something beyond evil and whether they can do it again – and the nagging doubt of ‘did we really kill him? Is he dead?’. This book is a slow burn and gradually builds up its intensity, despite the ending a tad rushed, Roth has left an opening for the next book to take us beyond the Chicago we come to know and I, for one, cannot wait to discover what’s next for our Chosen Ones.

a story told through the eyes of a group of teenage heroes as they realize they are no longer teenagers. This book is "different". My expectations and interest grew as the story unwinds, watching the team face an ultimate threat through the eyes of history while they must learn how to live in the present with all of the pressure that goes along with their fame. Then the unthinkable happens, no spoiler here, but it is shocking. As a team, these young people must now decide how their fates are tied to others and what they must do to keep their friends, families, and the rest of us safe. The story was engrossing, I did not look up from my book for hours. It will be very interesting to see where Veronica Roth takes the Chosen Ones now.

I just don't think I like Veronica Roth's writing style. I loved Divergent when it came out, and I liked Insurgent. For awhile I would have said Roth was one of my favorite authors. Since then I've read (or tried to read) everything Veronica Roth has written, and I haven't really liked any of it. I always say I won't try the next thing she writes, but I have to hand it to her, her story concepts are incredible. They all sound so interesting and creative and different. And they usually are. Unfortunately, the finished products always tend to be very slow and unengaging. That was the issue I had with Chosen Ones.

I went into this really hoping to love it. I was excited about the way it sort of turned the chosen one trope on it's head and was going to explore what happens THEN. Once everything is over and the dust has settled, where do the heroes go? Chosen Ones does an okay job of starting to explore this, although all the characters seemed rather cliche and flat. I didn't feel like anyone was fleshed out very well. They were each defined by just a couple characteristics. There just wasn't much to them. Also, for a group who were supposedly best friends and who had survived trauma together and then remained living closely for 10 years, they didn't seem particularly close or like they knew each other very well. I wanted a fun squad dynamic, but these guys felt like strangers. I also never connected with Sloane, possibly because of the 3rd person narration, but also because she was just kind of a brat? I had moments where I could understand her perspective. But overall she came off as sort of petty and just being a jerk to be a jerk because that was her thing.

It would have been fun to follow a close group of ex-hero friends navigating regular life again, almost like an alternate universe contemporary novel. But instead of that we get thrown back into hero mode in a sort of bizarre way, and I just wasn't interested. There were no stakes, because I didn't really care about any of the characters, and I didn't feel like I had a great understanding of the world building or magic system. I didn't think the 'official document' info dump inserts really worked in this. I got tired of reading them after the first couple chapters. Roth usually throws twists in at the end that I didn't see coming. But, I realized, they're never something I find compelling. I'm usually left with a feeling of, "....Okay. That's the end you went with, huh? Not sure what to do with that."

Ultimately I was just bored. I won't be reading the next book in this series, and I probably won't be seeking out any future Veronica Roth books, although I've said that before.

*I received a free ARC from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Firstly, I want to say thank you to Hodderscape for sending me a copy of Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth I am very grateful for the opportunity.

Trigger Warnings: Depression, PTSD, Trauma and Suicide.

This was an enjoyable read. I do like Veronica Roth and enjoyed her Divergent series as a teenager. When I heard that she was bringing out a new adult series I knew that I needed to get my hands on it. Do I think it was an adult book? Probably not. I feel like Chosen Ones read and felt like a YA book, not that this is a bad thing, but I did struggle to understand what made it an adult book.

One thing I did really like was the complexity of Sloans character. The raw feelings that she experiences from her PTSD. If this is a trigger for you, I don't think that Chosen Ones is for you. The subject of PTSD and the feelings that comes along with this are really explored in some depth and can be difficult to read at times. I liked seeing how she develops as a character throughout the story. At times I didn't like her, but deep down I had a soft spot for her and she was definitely by far my favourite character. Oh Albie. My heart breaks. I don't need to say anymore. I don't want to talk about it. I'm still broken.

Chosen Ones is written in mixed media, amongst the chapters of these book are news articles, interviews, diary entries and book extracts. Those of which give you a bit more of a background to the story that you are reading which adds to the readers understanding of the world and the characters. This is something that I really enjoyed about this book. It really broke up the chapters, made it an easier read and also gave me more of an understanding.

I didn't get through this book anywhere near as quick as I would normally. I can read books in a day or two pretty easily. Chosen Ones took me over 4 days. The problem was, I put it down quite often and found it easy to do so. I didn't really have much of a drive to pick it up and I cant quite put my finger on why. Maybe it was my mood? Maybe it was the book? I dont know. I did enjoy the times that I picked this book up it intrigued me.

I think people should pick this up and give it a go. The ending seemed pretty obvious to me. But I did enjoy it enough and I am intrigued enough to pick up the next book in the series.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

That was an odd read. Five Chosen Ones have defeated the Dark One a decade prior and our protagonist, Sloane, is still trying to adjustas well as the other Chosen Ones. Her boyfriend (and maybe fiancé) and former leader Matt, for example, uses his fame for philanthropic issues, Esther uses her fame to make money via Instagram. Sloane has PTSD, avoids the public, and tries to distance herself from her traumatic past as much as possible. But the past is about to intrude in the lives of the Chosen Ones once more. But not in the way they expected.

I liked parts of this novel a lot, but I had problems relating to the characters. Not because of Sloane's psychological issues (that was well done btw), but because the backstory was so massive that the entire novel felt sort of meta. The Chosen Ones were stock characters fighting a Dark One who was also an evil stock character. Even if this was partly deconstructed during the course of the novel, it still felt more like an meta-thought experiment than a real novel. It was too much and too fast. I also disliked the insane amount of newspaper articles, reports / statements or excerpts from fictive books. It made the world building even harder to digest. Nevertheless it was interesting, I liked how things changed and how the story did manage to surprise me in parts at least. I'm generous so...

Four Stars

The Chosen Ones had a lot of potential. I loved the idea of a post-saving-the-world-tale in which the heroes have to deal with the aftermath of their victory. It's something we don't often see, and I thought it would be interesting to explore that. First off the positives... Sloane is an excellent character. She has a lot of depth and comes across really well -- a character I could get behind and care about. As I said, I also appreciated the premise and the concept fuelling the story. However, something about this book left me struggling. Although pegged as adult, this read like YA at times, in terms of some of the characters' behaviour. Nothing wrong with YA, of course, but that wasn't how this work was marketed. I also found the pacing extremely slow in places. The opening of the book caught my interest and left me eager to see how things would play out. But it devolved into a series of boring training-sessions through the middle section, which saw me skim-reading until, finally, there was a twist in the story and things picked up again. Apparently there will be a sequel; however, the story ended in a fairly conclusive manner, so I am not sure what a second book will have to offer. I guess we'll find out. Overall, I am giving this book three and a half stars. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't love it as much as I'd hoped I would. I'm glad I read it, it was enjoyable enough, but I wouldn't rave about it.

I enjoyed this story but felt something was missing. It did not quite live up to Divergent and I did not really love the characters except for Mox. I hope there is more as I just do not feel satisfied with the ending.

I loved the concept of this book so much. I have grown up on chosen one stories and now that I am in the second half of my twenties I find myself thinking of the "after" for these characters. I like how each of the chosen one's dealt with their history, trauma and fame differently. I loved the first half of the book more, though I am not sure exactly where I started feeling a little more disconnected. I generally like the ending and anticipate reading ghe sequel.

Sloane and her fellow Chosen Ones saved the world from the Dark One. Now they are heroes, famous, followed by reporters, in demand for events, etc. They each have their own problems to deal with and memories to keep at bay. One of the Chosen Ones dies and while attending the funeral, something happens and three of the others are transported to an alternate dimension that is filled with magic and - another villain.

I like the Sloane character - she's strong and determined, even though she has self-doubt. She didn't like being famous and always tried to avoid being in the spotlight. She has a lot of spunk and some of the snide remarks were good.

I enjoyed the Divergent series and wanted to see what Roth's adult debut was like after her YA successes. I would still probably classify this as a "YA" fantasy novel, but I enjoyed this too.

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through Netgalley for a galley of this novel. Much appreciated!

“Nobody ever prepared me for what came after. They just assumed I would never find out.”

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth is set 10 years in the future after the big bad is conquered and the first part, Part One, focuses primarily on what happens to the Chosen Ones after. The lasting effects of being part of a group that saved the lives of millions from evil; handpicked by the government, trained and ultimately defeating the Dark One has left its mark on those that were ‘Chosen’. In Part One, we meet the Chosen Ones, Sloane, Albie, Esther, Matt, and Ines, all who suffer from various forms of PTSD, paparazzi stalking, drug & alcohol issues and a general lack of purpose. They all cope with the trauma that battling the Dark One induced in different ways. When the unthinkable happens, it brings us to Part two where they find they are still the Chosen Ones and must again defeat a big bad.

The story, told in three parts and intersected with various newspaper articles, top secret memos and logs is a bit of a slow start as we get to know the characters while Ms. Roth sets the stage and builds a fascinating world of parallel universes, really bad dudes and their evil minions. It really picks up momentum in part two and became a page turner as the new Dark One made an appearance and the action kicked in full speed ahead. As a big fan of all Veronica Roth’s work, I expected nothing less from her and although this is on a different level completely from her other books, I recognized her writing in the ‘kick in the gut’ plot twists and it was a bit like coming home! I thoroughly enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to what’s next in the series!

A big thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Veronica Roth for the print copy of Chosen Ones and NetGalley for the DRC!