Chosen Ones - Veronica Roth

Title: Chosen Ones
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: Sci-fi, arc
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 419
Date read: June, 2020

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.


I had very high expectations for this book, but while it mostly delivered, it was only that -- mostly.

The beginning was fascinating - how do kids (because they were kids at the time) cope with being "the chosen ones" when the big bag villain is suddenly overcome? How would they fit in in a post-war-ridden world? It's a concept that I haven't seen explored in books before, and one I would have loved to see expanded upon. I was also interested in seeing what all the research Sloane was doing would finally amount to.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if Veronica Roth changed her mind after the first few chapters, and instead of following up on the threads and issues created there, she instead added the presence of a parallel universe where the chosen ones could become "Chosen" all over again... thus returning to a much more familiar and traditional narrative. It was still worth reading, to be sure, but not nearly as innovative as I had originally assumed it would be.

I also felt like some threads were left hanging - or glossed over at least - but I do recognize that this is supposed to be the first in a series, so those threads may have been left on purpose to be picked up in the sequels.

The Man Who Didn't Call - Rosie Walsh

Title: The Man Who Didn't Call (a.k.a. Ghosted)
Author: Rosie Walsh
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 367
Date read: June, 2020

Imagine you meet a man, spend six glorious days together, and fall in love. And it’s mutual: you’ve never been so certain of anything.
So when he leaves for a long-booked holiday and promises to call from the airport, you have no cause to doubt him.

But he doesn’t call.

Your friends tell you to forget him, but you know they're wrong: something must have happened; there must be a reason for his silence.

What do you do when you finally discover you're right? That there is a reason -- and that reason is the one thing you didn't share with each other?
The truth.


A 3.5 star review. Rounded up on goodreads because I had a hard time putting it down once I got properly into it.

Not your usual chick-lit and with a twist that I had NOT guessed ahead of time and which made me flip back through the pages with a "Wait, what?!". Gotta love those unreliable narrators.

I mostly really, really liked it. I loved that Sarah had such a strong network when things seemed to fall apart around her. I loved that the gaping wide plotholes suddenly turned out to be foreshadowing instead. I loved that the plot turned out to have hidden depth to it.

But I closed the book with a feeling of melancholy... almost sorrow. Parts of it were desperately sad, and the happy ending didn't quite make up for what had come before. At the end of the day I liked it - but it wasn't the feel-good book I had expected.