Dec 12

Dec 12 Chosen Ones

Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

Click above to buy this book from my Bookshop.org shop, which supports independent bookstores (not Amazon). You can also find it via your favorite indie bookstore here.

Note: Trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

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.

TL;DR Review

Chosen Ones was an exciting, fun, genre-bending read with a great premise. Not perfect but worth reading for sure!

For you if: You like stories about heroes who save the world.

Full Review

Chosen Ones was released several months ago. I heard a little bit of buzz about it, but not as much as I’d expected given that Veronica Roth wrote Divergent. Still, I had a copy (thank you HMH via Netgalley) and I was in the mood for an adventure — and I was curious! — so I picked it up. It’s not perfect, but I definitely enjoyed it and I’m really glad I read it!

This book is an adult fantasy/sci-fi genre-masher about a group of young adults who previously saved the world from a force of evil known as the Dark One. The story starts ten years later, when the rest of the world has moved on but our fivesome is still grappling with the effects of being “chosen ones” — including, for our protagonist, severe PTSD. I don’t want to spoil the story’s inciting incident or exactly how fantasy meets sci-fi, because I thought it was quite well done, but suffice to say that their work is far from over.

I thought the magic system in this book was really interesting, if perhaps a bit complex. I also thought it started a little slowly, but it definitely picked up as it went along. It was one of those stories where it gives you just enough to piece together a fair amount of the mystery as you read while still leaving room for twists and surprises, especially at the end. And I was totally rooting for the main character, even though she’s a total grump.

Also, I think this is supposed to be slated as a duology, but I did think this book felt nicely self-contained and could have been a standalone too.

This is a good, solid read if you’re looking for something fun!