Chosen Ones – Veronica Roth (2020)

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, published in 2020, marks Roth’s first adult novel and tells the story of five young heroes who, a decade after defeating a dark magical threat, grapple with the cost of their victory and confront an even greater menace. Known for her bestselling Divergent series, Roth here delivers a sharp blend of fantasy, trauma, and dark humor set against the backdrop of Chicago.

Plot Summary

In the quiet aftermath of chaos, the world tried to remember peace. Sloane Andrews, one of the five Chosen Ones who had once vanquished the Dark One, found herself suffocating under the weight of survival. Ten years had passed since they’d stopped his reign of terror, since magic had ripped cities apart, since Sloane was taken from her childhood and thrust into a destiny that never truly released her. The scars on her body were nothing compared to the ones inside, ones that medicine dulled but never healed.

Matthew Weekes, golden boy, still smiled for the cameras and shook every hand, his charm a shield and his duty a burden. Albie Summers, once the quietest of the five, now battled his own demons, hiding tremors and sorrows behind half-smiles. Esther Park had fled to California to care for her dying mother, yet remained tethered to the group with bursts of digital affection. Ines Mejia, sharp-tongued and restless, stayed in the city, her apartment a fortress of anxiety and memory. Together, they were the survivors everyone remembered, but none of them felt like heroes anymore.

Chicago, the city that had seen their greatest victory, was preparing to honor them. A monument gleamed by the river, its bronze surface reflecting the sun and the ache of remembrance. As the anniversary approached, the group assembled once again, their laughter tinged with unease. Sloane moved through the motions, haunted by dreams where the past bled into the present. She was a woman held together by scars and sarcasm, her connection to Matthew strained by years of unspoken fears.

The ceremonies passed with champagne smiles and aching feet. At the gala, Sloane found herself cornered by the memories she tried to drown in medication. While Matthew prepared to propose, Sloane stumbled upon the ring hidden in his drawer, the sight of it tightening something inside her chest. Love, it seemed, was just another battlefield. Her phone call to her estranged mother offered no comfort – just a blunt reminder that Matthew was the best she’d ever find, as though love were a calculation, not a feeling.

But the world was not done with them. The Dark One, whose death they had celebrated, had been a symptom, not the disease. Magic was a force that refused to be buried. Strange disturbances rippled across dimensions, and the Chosen Ones were pulled into a parallel world, one both eerily familiar and devastatingly different. Here, the Dark One still lived, his power unchecked. The deaths they had prevented in their world had ravaged this one, leaving broken cities and shattered hearts.

Sloane found herself facing versions of herself, shadows of choices unmade, and the suffocating question of what it meant to be a savior. The government they had once trusted revealed itself in layers of manipulation, and the clean lines between ally and enemy blurred until trust became a luxury none could afford. As the group navigated this brutal mirror world, old wounds tore open. Albie’s fragile sobriety cracked under pressure. Esther’s steady light flickered. Ines wrestled with a loyalty tested by fear. And Matthew – Matthew carried his burdens so tightly, his hands trembled when no one looked.

Sloane, meanwhile, battled not just the new threat but the old voice inside that whispered she was made for destruction, not salvation. Her nightmares bled into waking moments, the echo of the Dark One’s voice lingering in her mind like a poison she couldn’t purge. Yet as the Chosen Ones stumbled toward answers, it was Sloane who understood the cost of survival. She had faced darkness before – she knew its taste, its weight.

In the end, victory did not come from magic or prophecy, but from choice. Sloane’s choice to face the thing she feared most, to confront not just the Dark One but the part of herself shaped by violence. Matthew’s choice to stand beside her, not in front of her. Albie’s choice to reach for help, Esther’s choice to risk herself again, Ines’s choice to hold the line when everything inside told her to run.

They unmade the Dark One not by repeating the past, but by breaking the cycle. In this world, they did not simply kill a monster and walk away. They rebuilt what was broken, acknowledged the dead they could not save, and found the faintest thread of peace, not in grand gestures but in small mercies – a touch on the shoulder, a quiet word, a shared laugh in the dark.

Sloane stood at the edge of two worlds, the weight of her life pressing in on all sides. She looked at Matthew, the boy she had loved in the midst of battle and the man she now saw with clear eyes. She looked at the friends who had survived alongside her, their faces carved by grief and love alike. And in that moment, she knew that being chosen had never been about destiny. It was about enduring. About standing when it was easier to fall. About choosing, again and again, to love, to hope, to heal.

The city stood behind her, restless and loud, waiting for its heroes to fade into myth. But Sloane was still there, her scars no longer a prison but a map. The others gathered close, laughter brushing against sorrow like a breeze stirring ash. And as the night stretched on, they remained together – not because they were chosen, but because they chose each other.

Main Characters

• Sloane Andrews: Sloane is fierce, guarded, and often abrasive, shaped by trauma and burdened with survivor’s guilt from her past battles against the Dark One. Her distrust of authority and struggle with PTSD drive much of the emotional core, and she serves as both the reluctant hero and emotional anchor of the group.

• Matthew Weekes: Matthew, often seen as the golden boy and natural leader, is charismatic, responsible, and morally driven. His relationship with Sloane is complicated by both romance and rivalry, as he shoulders the public’s expectations and quietly grapples with his own scars.

• Esther Park: Esther is thoughtful and nurturing, often serving as the emotional glue among the Chosen Ones. Her struggle to care for her ailing mother adds layers of vulnerability, while her calm resilience grounds the group during moments of chaos.

• Albert “Albie” Summers: Albie is gentle and introspective, a quiet presence among louder personalities. Haunted by grief and addiction, he provides Sloane with rare moments of genuine connection and understanding, underscoring the story’s themes of loss and recovery.

• Ines Mejia: Ines is sharp-witted and independent, a lesbian woman navigating both friendship and survival. Though more private, her strength lies in her pragmatism, and she often provides an unflinching perspective that cuts through sentimentality.

Theme

• Trauma and Recovery: The novel dives deep into the psychological aftermath of heroism. Roth doesn’t shy away from showing the scars left by saving the world – grief, addiction, PTSD – and how healing is messy, nonlinear, and deeply personal.

• Fame and Public Scrutiny: The Chosen Ones live under constant public gaze, their past glorified and their present judged. Roth explores how fame distorts identity, isolates people, and complicates genuine human connection.

• Power and Responsibility: A central motif is the burden of power – what it costs to wield it and what it means to live with its consequences. Roth challenges the idea of destiny, suggesting that true heroism often comes from uncomfortable moral choices, not prophecy.

• Alternate Realities and Identity: As the narrative expands into parallel worlds, it questions the essence of self. Are the Chosen Ones truly unique, or merely one set of many? Roth uses this device to probe identity, fate, and the meaning of sacrifice.

Writing Style and Tone

Veronica Roth’s writing in Chosen Ones is sharp, layered, and unapologetically adult, weaving dark humor with raw emotional insight. Her prose balances snappy, realistic dialogue with moments of lyrical reflection, immersing readers in a world where magic and bureaucracy collide. The narrative voice, often filtered through Sloane’s dry, sarcastic lens, crackles with wit even in the bleakest moments.

Roth’s tone masterfully alternates between sardonic and sincere. She captures the numbing aftermath of trauma without slipping into melodrama, often undercutting heavy scenes with biting humor or poignant understatement. This tonal agility allows her to explore themes of loss, survival, and heroism with nuance, making Chosen Ones both a compelling adventure and a profound meditation on what happens after “happily ever after.”