This story was amazing!!!! I read it in one sitting! A solid plot with dynamic characters. I wanted to keep reading, needing to know what was next!!

I’m a little confused about how I feel about this book. I didn’t hate and I didn’t love it. But it could and here for me and I’d be ok with that.

UPDATE 4/27
So, I spent the day thinking about this book and why I was so conflicted it about it. First, I was getting all of kinds of HP vibes throughout the book, and that's not always a bad thing. But with "The Dark Lord" and "The Chosen One(s)" throughout the ENTIRE book, it's hard not to make connections. Also, vague prophecies and magical items needed to defeat the villain. Sloane feels like Hermione with Ron's sarcasm and Harry's bad childhood. And a little (ok, alot) of Draco's "fuck-you" attitude.

That's cool though. Again, despite the parallels, I wasn't angry or disappointed. So what was it? I thought this book was supposed to be a second coming-of-age (because hell, these kid's initial coming of age was when they were like 15), and how they handled or were handling the trauma of war and defeating a Dark Lord when they were only kids.

But given that it was only Sloane's perspective, you didn't really get that. Only Sloane.

And then it hit me. This just reminded me a couple of amazing HP fanfiction pieces (not knocking FF (all hail AO3!)), covering this same thing--kids who were basically conscripted to fight a really really bad bad guy (ugg) and HEA is not as simple as "poof...bad guy is gone." They are wounds, some visible, some not, that have to be addressed (or in Sloane's case, not). But living life after many years of fighting is not easy, but for some (Sloane, Albie), harder than others.

In the end, I think I was just kinda...bored. For lack of a better word. I didn't have a vested interest in these characters, because I didn't spend YEARS feeling their pain, their emotions, living their lives right next to them. So it wasn't until late in the book that I began to feel any compassion toward Sloane. And the other characters...oh well, I never learned enough them to really care (except that Sloane was a dick to them--ALOT).

I will say, that I am stuck, still at a solid three stars. Don't love or hate. For now, I'll leave this as a stand-alone, but if another book is with a different character, I may read it

This book encompasses all of the reasons I love to read. I felt like I was sucked into this world and welcomed in for a few days. And now that it’s over, I feel misplaced, triumphant, and a little sad. That’s a readers paradise. Or my paradise anyway.

The character development was excellent. The setting was incredible. The relationship building was amazing. The end of part one went a little slow but picked up around part 2 and flew by for the rest of the journey. It had a lot going on. I had to reread some parts to ensure I really understood what I was reading.

Overall, I definitely recommend. I loved it and couldn’t put it down.

I have to start off by saying I'm not a fan of fantasy or sci-fi novels, so this review may be a bit bias because of that. I am however a big fan of Veronica Roth and the Divergent series, so I wanted to give this a try as an adult fantasy & sci-fi novel.

It was slow to start and I kept leaving it at times, which I then found made it harder to get back into. So when I committed to reading it and plowed through, I have to say it was worth the effort and I quite enjoyed it! Yes, it could've probably been a little less wordy and not as long of a novel, however I think Roth's style is quite simply her own and I wouldn't change a thing. I'm actually now looking forward to the sequel and would tell anyone that thinks they can't get through this - give it a chance and push through. It's worth it!

Thank you so much Houghton Mifflin Harcourt & NetGalley for my complimentary eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It wasn’t *bad*, I just hated reading it, and the payoff wasn't worth it in the end. Take from that what you will. The writing was good, but the interspersed news clippings and excerpts were a waste of time.

The first part of this book was great! I loved the premise of the storyline. It was new, edgy and engaging, but then it quickly changed to something I definitely wasn’t expecting. The progression of the plot was odd and not very enjoyable. I’m not sure I would want to read the next book in the series.

I found the first half of the book to be engaging and enjoyed the twist of seeing the adult versions of the YA heroes. I usually really enjoy stories with alternate universes/realities and this was no different, but at about 3/4 of the way in, I just really lost interest. I had a hard time finishing it, although I imagine many will enjoy the story,

I guess I am going to be in the minority of reviewers here because I didn't really like this book. I had a hard time making myself finish it. I loved the premise to begin with but it fell into the pitfalls (or drains, I guess) of sci-fi, especially multidimensional works. So many inconsistencies that the author tries to explain them away with, well, it's a different dimension. In order for another dimension to work the differences have to make sense. And too many times here, they do not.

One top of that, I really don't like most of the characters. Part 1 tries to introduce them to us but the vague descriptions of what must be truly important and life changing events fell flat for me. I understand that the author may not have wanted to write that book. Writing it and then coming back to beloved characters a decade later may have been hard. Veronica Roth wrote for young adults (a genre that my favorite author argues does not really exist, and I agree), so maybe she believed she would be unable to bring in the two audiences she was going for here. Other authors do this fairly regularly. I think a bit of study into how they accomplished the feat would have helped this book along a lot.

I see that this is listed as the first in a series. I don't doubt it will be a successful one and my own compulsive habits will probably lead to me reading the next book. Maybe it will start to gel for me more as it develops. That rarely happens, but it does. I wish I had enjoyed this more. I really do. There was a lot here to work with if it had just been approached in a slightly different way. Maybe in an alternate universe it was and the other me is loving it!

I had very high hopes for this book, but I just couldn't make myself push through it. The beginning was very slow and left you felling very confused.

I loved Roth’s Divergent series for young adults, but this adult book left me unimpressed. It’s clear she loves Chicago and its architecture, but it takes so long for this story to get moving. I also bet there are a lot of complaints about curse words—well, people wake up, if you’re worried about what will hurt your young adults’ ears, they already know these words are probably using them. I don’t see how this book earned the publicity it did. Was it just because of her previously written high energy, attention grabbing books?

Chosen Ones is my first Veronica Roth novel (GASP!). I enjoyed the creativity of it and the character development. It caught my imagination and gave me crazy dreams for about 3 days, so there is something to be said about that!
My trouble with it was that 1 - I found myself wanting to skip the interjections of articles and documents from the government, but forced through them because I was sure they probably help important clues. Also, I felt like the book was slow until about 60% through. I kept putting it down to read other books instead. I am happy I used through to the end and I liked the way the clues came together and tied things up, but not too neatly (I hate when it's a complete "happily ever after" ending on these types of books.
Thanks for the eARC. We are placing it on our next high school library book order list.

I wanted this to be so much better. I liked that Sloane was damaged and that she was trying to keep her sh*t together after a horrible battle. Then part 2 started and she was back into a battle. It honestly felt like two separate books that happen to have the same main character.

Really didn't care for this one all that much. just was sort of blah and too much like a YA novel, despite this being marketed for adults.

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
Veronica Roth proves she's more than just the author of the Divergent series. She has done so much more with this enthralling, entertaining book!

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

I loved this book and had a great challenge putting it down. I thought the author did a fabulous job keeping me always wanting to find out what happens on the next page. And I certainly did not expect some of the plot twists in the book which was a very welcome surprise.

What I liked about Chosen Ones was that it explored not only what it means to be chosen and what happens after a chosen one has fulfilled their destiny, but it also explored the platonic and romantic relationships between characters.

Roth's first adult title is perfect for new adults and older teens looking to bridge the gap from teen fiction to adult fiction.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a DRC of this title to review. All opinions are my own.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars out of 5. It was close to a 5 star book for me, really close, but I would have needed some more of the romance. That's just a persona preference though. ;)

OK-I will admit that I also felt personally betrayed at the end of the Divergent series. We all did. BUT, even with that in mind, I was excited to see what Roth would do with this novel, her first adult novel. And, she did not disappoint. I loved the various text styles (narratives, articles, excerpts, government documents) that allowed the reader to understand the world that Roth created. She did something similar to Rowell's Carry On , which is to give a very realistic and contemporary vibe to something incredible fantastical: magic. The story Roth created features five Chosen Ones here on Earth, all who were found and prophesied to take down the Dark One, an evil force who was able to use magic even though it was not a common place practice. They succeeded, the Dark One died, and ten years passed. This is where our story begins. Sloane, who perhaps carries more baggage over the challenges they faced with the Dark One, is not happy with her life but doesn't know what she wants. And when it comes up that the Dark One might not actually be gone, and her time as a Chosen One might not be over, at least she thinks this is something she knows how to do. She knows how to prepare for battle, even if she doesn't know how to be a normal human living a normal life.

Fast-paced and detailed, this was a fun read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. While the book did have a conclusion (meaning no dire cliffhanger ending) I am hopeful that Roth will continue the series.

Initially hearing about this book, I was very intrigued by the idea of this taking place long after the world has faced it’s challenge. So many books start before some terrible disaster and get you through it, where as this one is all about the years later and how the “saviors” are now dealing with life AFTER. They’re now all 30 somethings dealing with the aftermath and all that comes with — fame, guilt, etc.

There wasn’t a whole lot that made this novel feel more “adult” than YA in my opinion, other than their ages. That being said, I wasn’t upset about it. I think main drawback was the third person narrative. I think it would have done well to be more from Sloane’s actual point of view. I think I would have felt more for her character if we got to see more of the internal battles she faced from her own perspective.

Overall, I loved the idea — something I have yet to read in a YA novel for sure. Definitely excited to see where the story goes in book two!

I'm not gonna lie, after reading some of the Goodreads reviews, I was not sure whether I wanted to give this book a chance. I'm so glad I did, though.

After somewhat of a slow beginning, the story and its characters consumed me in a way Divergent did. I was thrown into a whirlwind of emotions ... do I like him? Do I hate him? Do I love him? Who is telling the truth? Who is lying?

Veronica Roth cleverly knitted some profound statements into the story, my favourite being:
"Just because something is difficult," Edda said, "doesn't mean it's worth doing." So so good!

There were also some passages that made me laugh out loud: "Please, for the love of God, don't be one of those villains who waxes poetic about existentialist nonsense, because if you are, I really will have to cut you," she said.

The emotions all main characters are feeling were described so well I could almost feel the pain, the loss, the panic....

Part III of the book shows Roth's almost supernatural plot-writing skills. Though the book doesn't end with a huge cliffhanger, it does leave the reader wondering about what happens next.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy! What happens to the heroes after the villain is defeated? Veronica Roth's Chosen Ones centers on five individuals who had been chosen to fight and eventually defeat the Dark One. No one had prepared them for what would happen afterward. Picking up their stories ten years after the Dark Ones defeat, the death of one of them sets off a series of events that no one could have foretold. Roth first adult novel has characters with interesting backstories and has created a unique system of magic that I want to know more about. If you're a fan of Roth's past work then Chosen Ones should definitely be added to you to read list.