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luckygreendress's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
ria_carina's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Disliking a few of Veronica Roth's other books I gave her another chance with this one and even if I'm not completely satiesfied, it was good. The main character was interesting and not bland like I found other ones out penned by her, the romance was not unexpected but overall sweet and the story itself was unpredictable and therefore captivating.
But I expected something entirely else when reading the blurb ... because the plot twists where just a bit heavy and nearly genre-changing in my opinion. Sadly, I think many of the things weren't explained profoundly and after reading half of the book the rest until the end felt rushed while the first half was dull at times. In comparison to other recently read books I think a solid 3 will do. It's not bad but it's just no favourite either.
But I expected something entirely else when reading the blurb ... because the plot twists where just a bit heavy and nearly genre-changing in my opinion. Sadly, I think many of the things weren't explained profoundly and after reading half of the book the rest until the end felt rushed while the first half was dull at times. In comparison to other recently read books I think a solid 3 will do. It's not bad but it's just no favourite either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Suicide, Abandonment, Self harm, and Torture
Minor: Cancer
dembury's review against another edition
3.0
Some parts of this novel were really good- Roth’s writing has improved, Sloane as a main character is interesting, and the first fourth of the novel sets up a super cool story. But after the that first fourth, the novel takes a big twist and I had a difficult time getting into it after that. Although it was unique, I can’t really say I loved the book as a whole; it turned out very middle of the road for me. There is romance that develops that I actually enjoyed, but even that was a little ho-hum near the end.
fernanda28's review against another edition
5.0
This was so interesting. I love the concept of seeing how the heroes fare after the final confrontation with the villain, and the discussion of morality of what's right and wrong. That means this book was right up my alley.
I remember I wasn't a big fan of divergent when I was a teenager, the beginning was great but it lost me in the politics thing, but Chosen Ones was really different.
I like Sloane a lot, a difficult thing to do in a book of this type, because heros are so often unbearable and I can't be bothered to care about them. I'm not sure how much I was supposed to know going into the book, because I picked it up knowing nothing, just the title and who the author was, but I was surprised by what happened midway into the story. It's fast paced, it took me just a few hours to finish it, and it's a really compelling story so you don't want to put the book down.
4.5
I remember I wasn't a big fan of divergent when I was a teenager, the beginning was great but it lost me in the politics thing, but Chosen Ones was really different.
I like Sloane a lot, a difficult thing to do in a book of this type, because heros are so often unbearable and I can't be bothered to care about them. I'm not sure how much I was supposed to know going into the book, because I picked it up knowing nothing, just the title and who the author was, but I was surprised by what happened midway into the story. It's fast paced, it took me just a few hours to finish it, and it's a really compelling story so you don't want to put the book down.
4.5
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not the kinda girl who likes superheroes. Often I find the power balance uninteresting and on top of that a lot of superheroes are saints, which is also uninteresting by default. However, this story, that plays years and years later, sounded interesting from the moment I heard about it. It does help that I did enjoy the Divergent series by Veronica Roth (yes, including book 3) and when Fairyloot announced a special edition I just gave it a go.
And the main reason the book didn't end up rotting away on the shelves, is the original formatting of the book. The normal storyline, that follows Sloane who suffers from PTSD and still wakes up having nightmares in the middle of the night, is interrupted by confidential files, newspaper articles, e-mails and interviews. This way we slowly get an image of what has happened and what is currently happening and how it all connects.
During the first part of the book Roth focusses mainly on the five heroes and how they're all dealing with their stardom in their own way. Sloane isn't, at first glance, the nicest one of the group. She's closed herself up, hides from the outside world and has grown slightly bitter. But the other heroes, once you look past the surface, aren't really doing much better. They don't feel heroes. They feel survivors and they will carry the weight of what they had done on their shoulders for the rest of their lives.
The second part of the book dives more into the actual plot of the story. I don't wanna give too much away, since discovering everything and getting all the pieces of the puzzle one by one is for sure one of the big joys in this book, but it's a really exciting plot. And somewhen in that plot we slowly start to see that the lines between being a chosen one and a dark one can be quite thin and that hardly anyone is only good or only bad, a narrative that I really loved, especially in a book about heroes and chosen ones.
I have to admit that I find the ending was satisfying and that the book works as a standalone. But if there's gonna be a sequel, I'm really interested to see where that storyline is heading!
And the main reason the book didn't end up rotting away on the shelves, is the original formatting of the book. The normal storyline, that follows Sloane who suffers from PTSD and still wakes up having nightmares in the middle of the night, is interrupted by confidential files, newspaper articles, e-mails and interviews. This way we slowly get an image of what has happened and what is currently happening and how it all connects.
During the first part of the book Roth focusses mainly on the five heroes and how they're all dealing with their stardom in their own way. Sloane isn't, at first glance, the nicest one of the group. She's closed herself up, hides from the outside world and has grown slightly bitter. But the other heroes, once you look past the surface, aren't really doing much better. They don't feel heroes. They feel survivors and they will carry the weight of what they had done on their shoulders for the rest of their lives.
The second part of the book dives more into the actual plot of the story. I don't wanna give too much away, since discovering everything and getting all the pieces of the puzzle one by one is for sure one of the big joys in this book, but it's a really exciting plot. And somewhen in that plot we slowly start to see that the lines between being a chosen one and a dark one can be quite thin and that hardly anyone is only good or only bad, a narrative that I really loved, especially in a book about heroes and chosen ones.
I have to admit that I find the ending was satisfying and that the book works as a standalone. But if there's gonna be a sequel, I'm really interested to see where that storyline is heading!
annabel__b's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
anpu325's review against another edition
3.0
A creative take on YA world-saving heroes grown into adults after the world has been saved. It also made me really miss Chicago and did a good job of invoking it. Sloane was a compelling protagonist and the villain-hero dynamics were interesting and plot-twisty. But, the payoff was lacking. The climax of the book made absolutely zero sense. I had no idea what the antagonist's motivations were or how they were defeated by the end of the book. The motivation of the characters and the timeline got tangled in the end which left the book without a satisfying resolution. I did read it in one go though and the world building was interesting!
brinreadstowrite's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
cmdrchristie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
lucyplulu's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0