Review: Chosen Ones

Title: Chosen Ones

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: 7th April 2020 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 420 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: fiction, fantasy

My Rating: 3 cups

Synopsis:

Fifteen years ago, five ordinary teenagers were singled out by a prophecy to take down an impossibly powerful entity wreaking havoc across North America. He was known as the Dark One, and his weapon of choice - catastrophic events known as Drains - leveled cities and claimed thousands of lives. The Chosen Ones, as the teens were known, gave everything they had to defeat him.

After the Dark One fell, the world went back to normal . . . for everyone but them. After all, what do you do when you're the most famous people on Earth, your only education was in magical destruction, and your purpose in life is now fulfilled?

Of all the five, Sloane has had the hardest time adjusting. Everyone else blames the PTSD - and her huge attitude problem - but really, she's hiding secrets from everyone . . . secrets that keep her tied to the past and alienate her from the only four people in the world who understand her.

On the tenth anniversary of the Dark One's defeat, something unthinkable happens: one of the Chosen Ones dies. When the others gather for the funeral, they discover the Dark One's ultimate goal was much bigger than they, the government, or even prophecy could have foretold - bigger than the world itself.

And this time, fighting back might take more than Sloane has to give.

My Thoughts

Chosen Ones is the first in an adult fantasy duology by Veronica Roth. I mostly enjoyed the Divergent series and was therefore curious to see what an adult book in this genre would look like. The book is divided into three parts with the inclusion of transcripts, newspapers and articles that appear at the end of many chapters. Some of these were interesting, however,  most of them just made the book seem much longer.

I expected far more than I got from this story and was really disappointed overall in the book. On the positive side the last part of the story was good and helped bump up my rating - there was action and surprises and some components were really inventive and creative. Roth is certainly most capable of strong world-building as seen in Divergent and also present in this book.  However, most characters were pretty ordinary and cardboard cutouts, except Sloane - she carried this book in my opinion - as long as you view her as a teenager and not the adult she is purported to be. Her angst is real and the approach to PTSD viable. Sloane was engaging through her multi layers and highly developed. 

‘Matt was looking at her in a way she didn’t like. Like she was a car that had broken down on the side of the road and he was looking under the hood to see what the problem was. Like there was something wrong inside her that he could make right. And maybe that was the entire problem with them - he didn’t see her; he saw who she could be with a few adjustments, and all she wanted was to stay busted and be left alone.’   

Sadly there were a few too many drawbacks for me. Firstly, it’s so long and slooow. I found the potential of the Chosen One trope a letdown with the exception of Sloane. I somehow expected and wanted more from this book - it was too caught up in ‘ten years ago ...’ and not enough action NOW (until the last few chapters). Then there is the whole young/adult argument ... this was clearly and undoubtedly a young adult story evident through the dialogue between characters - so much so it became annoying. This is not bad in itself, however, not what I expected from an adult fantasy debut. With so much focus on Sloane, the book would have more aptly been titled ‘Chosen One’ ... there was an uneven distribution of focus amongst the group. 

The last 30% of the book is what saved it for me - still has its faults, but an improvement from the former. I am disappointed wishing this were more adult and contained a faster pace, more engaging plot.         

 “Depends what you think I am, exactly. “Chosen, obviously. You both stink of it,” Sibyl replied, and Sloane felt like someone had dropped a stone directly into the center of her. “Chosen?” Sloane looked at Mox ... “Now, now,” Sibyl said. “Even the dark things of this world are Chosen. It’s not a badge of honor. If anything, it’s like a blinking arrow that says ‘Kill me!’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.