What do you do for the rest of your life after you save the world? I recently had the chance to read Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, which explores this question. It is her first adult book. While it was good, I don’t think it had quite the same magic as Divergent (which, after reading page 50, I finished, along with Insurgent and Allegiant, in two days).
Alternate Universes
Chosen Ones takes place in an alternate Earth. I thought this was a pretty cool concept, and think that so many interesting stories could be told this way. It is a little confusing at first, as it covers a time period that I lived through and–I don’t remember a monster called The Dark One invading the earth and almost destroying it. When you get to part 2 of this book, it makes even more sense.
Characters
Sloane, the main character, is suffering from PTSD. She was one of the Chosen Ones that saved the world 10 years ago, and she has never truly recovered and moved on with life. Her boyfriend, Matthew, another Chosen One, happily meets with people and is your typical extrovert. Esther, another Chosen One, has turned into an Insta! superstar. Perhaps the only person that seems to get her is Albie.
I don’t personally connect with Sloane as much as, say, I connected with Tris. I think some people will though.
Story
About a third of the way through the book, something happens where they have to save the world again. I can’t say too much without being spoilery. Sloane isn’t really happy with this–didn’t she already serve her time? Things are not exactly as they seem though. As the story progresses, we find out the truth, Sloane begins to make peace with her life, and of course… there’s a resolution, which I also can’t give away without being spoilery.
Conclusion
Chosen Ones is a fairly unique book. There are a lot of things I really liked about this book. I didn’t like this quite as much as I liked the Divergent and Carve the Mark series–there wasn’t a FourTris or Akos and Cyra that really drew me in, and that might be part of it. Although both Cyra and Sloane were characters that had been through trauma and were trying to deal with it, Cyra had Akos, and while Sloane wasn’t exactly alone, the book spends most of its internal focus on Sloane battling her demons, and there wasn’t as much of a connection to the people around her.
If you like Veronica Roth’s other books, read her other books and wish there was less emphasis on the romantic relationships but otherwise liked the books, or maybe would like a sci-fi book with very little romance in it, you might like Chosen Ones. I did like it. although I’m unlikely to be obsessive over it like I was with Divergent.