Review: The Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

The Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

Published by John Joseph Adams on April 2020
Genres: Adult Fiction
Pages: 432
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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4 Stars

A decade ago near Chicago, five teenagers defeated the otherworldly enemy known as the Dark One, whose reign of terror brought widespread destruction and death. The seemingly un-extraordinary teens—Sloane, Matt, Ines, Albie, and Esther—had been brought together by a clandestine government agency because one of them was fated to be the “Chosen One,” prophesized to save the world. With the goal achieved, humankind celebrated the victors and began to mourn their lost loved ones.

Ten years later, though the champions remain celebrities, the world has moved forward and a whole, younger generation doesn’t seem to recall the days of endless fear. But Sloane remembers. It’s impossible for her to forget when the paparazzi haunt her every step just as the Dark One still haunts her dreams. Unlike everyone else, she hasn’t moved on; she’s adrift—no direction, no goals, no purpose. On the eve of the Ten Year Celebration of Peace, a new trauma hits the Chosen: the death of one of their own. And when they gather for the funeral at the enshrined site of their triumph, they discover to their horror that the Dark One’s reign never really ended.

The Chosen Ones is Roth’s first dip into the Adult Literature world and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this.

I read the Divergent series (with mixed feelings) but overall enjoy Roth’s imagination and her world building. So I figured I would try The Chosen Ones but didn’t have any high expectations.

Ten years after they defeated The Dark One, five chosen teenagers are no longer teenagers, and now suffering from the After. After the defeat of the darkest evil the world has ever known. After they survived and some didn’t. After after after. And what does that mean for them?

I like how dark Matt, Sloane, Ines, Albie and Esther all became after their once golden child status continued past the defeat. They each dealt with it in very realistic ways, though very differently. Sloane is hard to like, very hard to like, but easy to sympathize with. She isn’t the one suffering the most, but maybe she is the one suffering the most visibly, lashing out at her friends and her boyfriend Matt.

It was so heartbreaking to watch the deterioration of these five’s relationships, most notably Matt and Sloane’s. I really like how Roth made this relationship move forward as it felt very real and organic.

Halfway through the now adults are thrown into fighting a new evil in unfamiliar territory. I like how this worked and it was a cool twist for me. There is a lot going on here, the current timeline and the flashbacks to their pasts that include their time fighting The Dark One. But that kept it interesting and it was a real easy read. I read it on vacation and seriously did not want to put it down.

Also I love Mox. Without giving anything away, I thought he was a great addition to the story and I am very excited to see where his character goes.

I have to say I was a little disappointed in the world. I wish there had been more explanation as to how things worked and why. The needle Sloane uses is still blurry for me and I wanted to know more about the other items they had used.

I’m also going to admit that these five did NOT seem like adults. Sloane especially acted immature and more like a teenager throwing a tantrum. I wish there had been just more overall maturity of the characters. It didn’t feel YA but it didn’t feel Adult really either. It doesn’t really matter because I enjoyed the book, but I do wish there was a little less teenage angst when these characters are supposed to be in their late twenties.

Overall I think this book is a great beginning to the new series and I’m anxiously awaiting the sequel.