I’ve never read any of Veronica Roth’s YA work, but I scooped up her adult debut. First off, it’s about superheroes and chosen ones, and much like I love gritty takes on fairy tales, I loooooove gritty takes on superheroes and chosen ones. Second, I’d finished Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo last year. I’d been lukewarm on Bardugo’s YA, but Ninth House was phenomenal. I shrugged, and figured maybe I’d have the same experience with Roth, another best selling YA author going adult.
**this is not me having anything against YA. I’m a YA junkie. I just hadn’t particularly gotten hooked by the YA work of these particular authors**
Well there seems to be a pattern here. Because The Chosen Ones kicked all the ass. It’s about a group of chosen ones in our world, after they’ve defeated the Dark Lord. It’s been years and of course they are all sorts of messed up- PTSD, drug abuse, distrust of the governments that trained them and tossed them at the Dark Lord like cannon fodder. So what happens when it seems like the Dark Lord may not be gone after all?
Guys. This book is awesome. It’s well-written, well-plotted, full of complex yet likeable characters and well-thought out magic systems and parallel dimensions. It’s essentially character driven, but still manages to weave in a solid plot that kept me guessing. It’s a great take on the Chosen One/Superhero genre. It’s good enough I’m giving serious thought to re-diving into Roth’s YA work that I’d previously bypassed.
