Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
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What comes after your duty as the chosen one is fulfilled and peace is bought and your innocence is stolen from you and no one has prepared you to return to the normal, real world?
Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth follows Sloane, one of 5 chosen ones. She feels she hasn’t adjusted as well as the other four and struggles with PTSD and a guilt she can’t seem to voice, a secret she isn’t ready to give words to. Where the Dark One appeared mass damage and death followed, the chosen ones found various magical items in an otherwise magicless world to take on their big bad at cost to themselves.
On the 10th anniversary of their victory over the Dark One, one of their own dies. When the remaining chosen ones gather for the funeral something happens that has Sloane asking lots of questions and wondering if everything she and her friends went through was for nothing and if she has it in her to go through it all again because the Dark One had a goal and maybe he’s gone but something is happening.
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I liked the pacing of this story, it was slow and thoughtful and careful, at least until the end where lots of things started to happen again, but at the beginning you’re post defeat of the dark one and Sloane has not been taking care of herself. She’s twitchy, has nightmares of the things she went through, and has decided she needs more answers to what happened so is digging through confidential information surrounding the things she went through, can’t be good for her mental health. She’s prickly and uncomfortable around most people except for those who went through the same nightmare she did. She’s also extremely awkward and more punch first and ask questions later.
I loved Sloane. I found her believable. I found her plight sympathetic. She fought like she was trained to do, taking on the Dark One, but it appears no one took the time to prepare her for a life post Dark One. Ten years after the fact, some of it is on her sure, but someone whose been burned as many times as she has it's also no surprise she doesn’t look for help or know how to ask for it properly.
I liked the breaks in chapters, the documents, articles, interviews, etc.. that helped offer more insight into the worlds you witnessed and helped fill in some background info.
This was an intriguing read and Sloane at the end, just wow. I can’t wait for more people to read this so I can talk about it with them.

A tale for adults who loved reading stories about "chosen ones" as teens, but who may have outgrown YA.

This was an intriguing book premise. Imagine if, after the defeat of the big bad, the superheroes' story picks up ten years later and some of the good guys have PTSD, drug addictions, and are having trouble coping with real life.

I didn't like this as much as I'd hoped, and I've been chewing over why, and I think what I've come up with is that it's TOO ambitious? I've loved similar books like The Magicians, Carry On, etc, and I think what works for this kind of book--that's clearly looking to respond in a fanfiction-like way to existing properties, to say, "Yes, these plucky teens saved the world, but at what cost? Let's really dig into their trauma!" But those books function by making their canon so similar to Narnia/Harry Potter/etc that they work as an effective shorthand. Here, whatever it was that her Chosen Ones went through...I mean, there are familiar tropes here and there but overall it's original, it can't clearly be mapped onto a Voldemort or whatever. Which is fine, except that then to start 10 years later and be reacting to piecemeal bits of information...it's not quite so satisfying or comprehensible.

that said, I liked Sloane as a prickly, traumatized heroine, and I enjoyed the story well enough. I liked the diversity of her crew of chosen ones though some of her talk about microaggressions etc felt a bit clunky? (A bit, perhaps, like Roth is someone who has been taken to task about such things in previous books but still doesn't feel totally comfortable writing about them? ah well a nice effort).

This is her first "adult" book but it doesn't feel too different than her YA ones except that the characters are aged up (and eg talking about marriage). I feel like she could have made more of her "adult" status by making this longer and digging into all of the worldbuilding a bit more.

eh!

Chosen Ones is an amazing dissection of fantasy tropes. This is a beautiful book for transitioning new adults who grew up with the "chosen one prophesy" books and now are ready to examine and explore the aftermath of what those events would mean. This is an exciting and thrilling story but with thought-provoking scenarios and questions. This is a must read for any adult who grew up reading and loving Harry Potter,

This book took a while to get going. Most of part one was explanation of the world. It was kind of like the author started at the middle of the story, went back to the beginning and finished at the end. Sloane has saved the world alongside four of her friends and ten years have passed. She suffers from ptsd but more importantly, lack of direction or purpose. She tries to hide from everything and go through the motions to make everyone else happy but life has no meaning for her. Due to an orchestrated event, her life is thrown sideways and she finds purpose again. The problem with a dream, is when it comes true. I did like the mashup at the end. The middle and the end of the book were very good. Things from the beginning of the book started to make sense and made me want to reread it just to get things I might have missed previously. In that sense, this book makes you pay attention. It’s not something you can just skim through and still understand fully. I want to thank Net Galley and Veronica Roth for the opportunity to read this arc and give an unbiased review. All in all, an entertaining read and a story that makes you think about it long after you have finished it.

This book was unexpectedly great. I read the Divergent series and wasn't a huge fan, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Chosen Ones was completely different than Roth's previous works and kept surprising me within the story as well. The main characters in this book aren't teenagers, for a change, but they are marked by the events of their teenage years, when they were the "Chosen Ones" destined to save the world. The "teenagers save the world" story is a beloved fantasy trope, but this story takes on what happens *after* -- the psychological toll on people who weren't allowed to have "normal" childhoods but instead were marked by fear, fighting, and an expectation of not surviving to adulthood. Of course that would give anyone PTSD, right? Turns out being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be after the world has been saved. Roth deftly explores a theme of choice, from the "Chosen One" designation given our heroes to the question they keep returning to -- what role does destiny play in shaping one's life? How does someone say no to being Chosen, and what happens if they do?

Saying much more about the plot would be spoiling lots of lovely twists and turns. Let's just say the world-building is pretty fantastic and the included government reports, news articles, and social media posts make it very real. Focusing on the characters instead, it's immediately clear that they aren't your typical heroes. Of the five Chosen, three are women, one is Mexican and openly lesbian, and the leader of the group is a black man. Roth even addresses the racism & sexism inherent in how the heroes are portrayed in the press in the decade since they saved the world from the unimaginatively named Dark One. The main character, Sloane, is in appearance a stereotypical pretty, wholesome, all-American girl, but in reality is bitter, cranky, foul-mouthed, and SO over being a public figure. It makes Sloane believable and somehow likable because of her faults, not in spite of them.

Best of all, although this promises to be the first in a series, there's no irritating cliffhanger. There's more to say about these characters and the world Roth created, but the threads of this story are wrapped up within the book. That in itself is refreshing and makes it something I'll recommend to readers who are just tired of waiting years to get to a denouement.

I don't generally like Veronica Roth's books but I gave this one a try because I thought the concept of what happens to the heros after was interesting. The book was readable but I wont read any sequels and don't think it should be the beginning of a series.

I have really enjoyed Veronica Roth's previous books so when this became available to review as a Netgalley Arc, I jumped at the chance to read it.

I really enjoyed reading this book and felt that the characters were all very well written, and I especially liked the main character Sloane. I liked the fact that she was struggling with her demons and that she was still finding it hard to get over what happened to her, even with 10 years and a supposedly wonderful relationship to help it all.

I think it showed a more realistic portrayal of the fact that sometimes times doesn't help, unfortunately. However, I still felt that despite this being the author's first 'adult fantasy' novel, this would definitely be categorised as YA in my mind. I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all, just that I feel the genre application is incorrect in this case.

I am also interested in the idea that this is 'book 1' as I feel that the ending was actually spot on for this book and, because of this, can't see where the series will go from here? Saying that I will be reading the next book when it comes out to get the answer to my question.

This was really entertaining and a different take for books in this genre. Imagining how the Chosen Ones would be living their lives years later, and dealing with the psychological aftermath of the events was fascinating. There was enough unpredictability to keep me reading until the end.

This was a tough one to review. Chosen Ones is my first Veronica Roth novel. I enjoy YA, but don't necessary love the YA/fantasy genre. I was excited to try a book aimed at adults. The summary was really compelling, and then I started to read it. You are placed in the middle of something (which is so hard for me to get really into if there's not good ease into the story). It's told in two parts, and was long for me. I tried hard to get through it, and I did. It felt like a strange ending in that it was just over. It's concluded, but it felt too abrupt. I didn't hate it, and I would try other books by her, but this wasn't my favorite.

I tried several times to understand the structure of this book or care about the characters and failed. Not having finished this book I don’t feel I should review it.

I have pretty consistently liked Veronica Roth, though I know her last duology was considered problematic and had a pretty divided reception. I was VERY into this book, her first adult novel, especially during Part 1. This book is about Sloane, a woman who has gained notoriety in an alternate version of our current world by being one of five “chosen ones,” teenagers who were prophesied to kill an evil magician known as “The Dark One.” Sloane is dating Matthew, one of the other chosen ones, and while he seems to have moved on from their trauma, Sloane is still all kinds of messed up about it. Her character felt very real to me, and I was all in during part 1, in which Sloane’s present alternates with news stories and government reports about the chosen ones. In Part 2, they go to another dimension, and it almost lost me. For someone who has read as many comic books as I have, I still just cannot wrap my head around the concept of the multiverse. However, I stuck with it and I’m glad I did, because the other version of earth that they go to is really interesting - it’s basically just like Sloane’s world except that most people have magic. I liked how magic was handled in this book, but mostly I liked being with Sloane for her journey. She is not always very sympathetic or likable, but I still found her really compelling. I guess this is part of a series (Goodreads has it listed as “The Chosen Ones #1), but it didn’t feel like it was just setting up for something else, and I thought it was fairly satisfying as a stand-alone novel.

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth was a different kind of story but I really loved it. Part one was a little confusing and I felt like I was missing pieces of a puzzle. But as I got to Part 2 the story really took off and I was hooked. If your a fan of alternate worlds/sci fi this is the book for you. Just stick with it because you won't be sorry.

I was excited to see that Vernoica Roth had decided to write a novel for adult audiences, and that people who had read her work as teens or young adults will have something new to enjoy from an author they remember. I will say that even though I'd never read her as a teen, I was still intrigued by the premise of the book which held my interest more or less all the way through. While a rather dramatic change in scenery did dilute some of the original appeal the book held for me and made me less interested and engaged in general, I liked the characters and the world that Roth built and hope to see more from her for adult audiences (though how she could continue stories in this world might be difficult, considering how well this book acts as a self-contained standalone novel).

I really enjoyed this. I'm glad to see Veronica Roth back with something more compelling. I was, however, surprised to see that this clocks in at just over 300 pages. Because it felt like a million. I truly feel like I skimmed entire pages of conversations and picked this up whenever I had a chance, and still it took me a week to wrap this up.

Also, not sure where she is going with this as a series? This book basically concludes an entire storyline by the end. There's potential for the characters in a sequel, but honestly, this would be a solid standalone.

Anyway, definitely pick it up if you're a fan of her stuff. It's good, and explores things that I haven't seen tackled yet by YA authors. And even though this is supposedly adult, content-wise this is pretty tame. Especially compared to some of the stuff her contemporaries are putting out.

Closer to 3.5 stars. I am going to start off this review by saying that I think Veronica Roth is a good writer. I think her stuff is very easy to read and usually pretty compelling (this might sound like a diss but it is not). But I also want to say that while I read, almost obsessively, all the Divergent books when they came out I can't really remember a single thing about them. I think she is a decent writer in the moment, but as time passes I'm not sure I could say how she really stands out.

That is how I feel about this book. I found it really compelling, especially the first portion, but I'm not sure how long it will stick with me. Anyway, let's dive in.

Sloane is one of five "Chosen Ones," who defeated a "Dark One" while they were in their teens and now as a group are just trying to figure out their lives and how to move on, if they even CAN move on. The first half of this book kind of plays with different cliques of big adventure/fantasy books and twists them in interesting ways, and at first the book seemed to be building up to something a bit different, about recovery possibly, but then it split into something else. This book is almost a book in two parts. There is the first half, then something happens and there is the second half, which is pretty traditional stuff fantasy/adventure stuff.

Again, this story is compelling in that there seems to be a central mystery that keeps being hinted at, and Sloane's journey is engaging. There does seem to be a lot of loose ends, and not a lot of strong emotional responses to certain things that happen. Veronica Roth is who I go to for action/adventure, but not necessarily the parts that happen in between. A lot of things that were supposed to be tied in with strong emotions, like Sloane's thoughts of her ex-mentor, her deceased brother, some other more spoiler-y things, just came off as added-in and didn't really have any emotional payoff. But also the book may be arguing that that is just the way the character is, and that is fine, but for me as a reader I like something a bit more, a little more depth. It felt like a chunk of the build ups and teases (this book is told with different news articles/book passages/government documents sprinkled throughout) just led nowhere. It almost could have been two books, the divide is so distinct.

Speaking of that, apparently this is going to be a series? I'm meh on that. If the book had been split where I thought it should have been split, and more depth been given to the characters, I would be for it but as it stands now, I don't know about that.
Also this book is apparently cataloged as adult, but I would place it more towards NA, even older YA. Besides some swearing and a few descriptions of gore (that are fairly tame and infrequent besides), there really isn't anything about this that screams "this had to be an adult book." But anyway.
There it is.

Wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting myself into, but I loved every minute of it! I initially got Harry Potter vibes from all the chosen prophecy stuff, but the magic and world building went a different turn into a more science fiction parallel universe trip. Characters were unique and developed, and flawed as you would expect people to be - especially those who have been raised to fight evil instead of having a normal childhood. Not sure if this is a series or standalone, but I still have so many questions about what happens next to the world so hopefully yes!

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy of this book!
I did not ever get around to reading Carve the Mark because I was a little disappointed in Allegiant, but I'm glad I requested this adult-aimed fantasy. Probably a 4.5 for me actually, as the ending was a little . . . hm. Confusing? Abrupt? for me, but most of this was great. What happens to the heroes after the battle is won? Our main character struggles. A lot. In some ways she isn't overly likable, but I really ended up rooting for her and liking her despite her sharp angles. Very well done.

In a world where reboots and remakes have become the norm, Veronica Roth’s Chosen Ones is a fresh, unique story. Roth’s choice to start the novel in the middle of a story is different, but it kept me reading. This was a hard one to put down! The only reason I am giving it four stars instead of five is because the ending was a little weird. Not bad, just weird. I’m still not sure how I feel about it. However, I will definitely read the next book in the series!