Review : Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt

Summary (from Goodreads)

What if you were mankind’s last chance at survival?

Sixteen-year-old Tess lives in a compound in what was once the Western United States, now decimated after a devastating fourth World War. But long before that, life as we knew it had been irrevocably changed, as women mysteriously lost the ability to bring forth life. Faced with the extinction of the human race, the government began the Council of Creators, meant to search out alternative methods of creating life. The resulting artificial human beings, or Chosen Ones, were extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.

Life is bleak, but uncomplicated for Tess as she follows the rigid rules of her dystopian society, until the day she begins work at Templeton, the training facility for newly created Chosen Ones. There, she meets James, a Chosen One whose odd love of music and reading rivals only her own. The attraction between the two is immediate in its intensity—and overwhelming in its danger.

But there is more to the goings-on at Templeton than Tess ever knew, and as the veil is lifted from her eyes, she uncovers a dark underground movement bent not on taking down the Chosen Ones, but the Council itself. Will Tess be able to stand up to those who would oppress her, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?

Personal Thoughts

For some reason, when I looked at that cover, I didn't expect the book to be a dystopian. I thought it would be more of a paranormal romance book. Am I the only one who thought that ? I went into Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt honestly expecting nothing much. I haven't had a good experience with a dystopian novel in some time now. Although it was a bit of a struggle to get into, I ended up really enjoying Chosen Ones and I'm glad I picked it up.

The book introduces us to Tess, a 16 year old girl, who lives in a compound which before the war used to be Western United States. Human life is on the verge of extinction because women have lost the ability to give birth. Even if they do get pregnant, they end up dying along with their child during labor. Consequently, scientists have devised a way to create artificial human beings, known as the Chosen Ones. These Chosen Ones have incredible abilities and are pretty much perfect. After the death of her older sister, Emma, Tess is sent to work in Templeton, a training facility for Chosen Ones. For Tess, this is a nightmare since she cannot stand these artificial beings. Soon after, she meets James, a Chosen One unlike any other she has ever come across. Tess and James begin to fall for each other. Around the same time, she starts to discover secrets about Templeton.

Tess wasn't a character that I immediately identified with. It took some time to get used to her since she started off as a narrow-minded girl. She was the kind of girl who wouldn't sway from her opinions. In fact, Tess was very much bitter and angry at everyone in her life since she felt betrayed. On the exterior, she appeared to be indifferent to everything going on around her,never showing any kind of emotion, but behind this facade, she was actually very lonely and felt abandoned. Because of that, she had a very pessimistic attitude in the beginning. She also vehemently despised the Chosen Ones, but when she met James, a Chosen One who completely went against the whole heartless killers stereotype surrounding the Chosen Ones, her whole perception of life changed. At that point, Tess became more likable and it became easier to connect with her. She felt a lot more comfortable and happy around him and eventually, she really grew throughout the story. She became a lot less grievous and a lot more cheerful and I definitely liked the change that he brought about in her. James was a beautifully complex character. He defied all that he was taught to be. He might not have been a natural human, but he had a soul and he didn't approve of what the other Chosen Ones did. Because of that, he was in a constant emotional turmoil, not knowing what to think. Things became even more complicated for him when his feelings for Tess grew. I had such a tough time figuring him out, but in the end I realized that I did like how different his character was from usual YA love interests.

The focal point of Chosen Ones is definitely the romance and while I don't enjoy my books being overly focused on the romantic aspect, I did appreciate it in this book since it clearly showed the dilemma in which it put the main characters in. Their predicament was essential in showing the development and growth of the characters. While I do think that the romance was a little bit of an instant-love, I didn't have any problems with it. Tess and James were complementary in that both shared similar likes and had similar personalities. Seeing them open up to each other, albeit slowly, was an enjoyable experience. Now, even though Tiffany Truitt targeted mostly the romance, she didn't completely abandon the plot-line. I thought that the book had a solid world-building. The world in which Tess lived was gory, cold and dark. The heartlessness of some of the people were very much palpable throughout the story. The author did a fantastic job at explaining how and why the Chosen Ones were created. I do think I would have enjoyed a little more description on the world itself, nevertheless, I'm not complaining since I have a feeling more will be explained thoroughly in the next installment. Also, I thought that the pacing at the beginning was a little too slow, but things did pick up around half-way into the story. Tiffany Truitt's writing was easy to follow and understand. I also really enjoyed the unpredictability in certain parts of the story. 

In Chosen Ones, Tiffany Truitt, has molded a unique, but bleak dystopian society, with enigmatic characters and a bittersweet romance. The book wasn't exactly perfect, but it did have the potential to be an outstanding book and I thought it held a certain charm. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I very much look forward to reading the next book in the Lost Souls series.

Rating

Cover : 5/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5

Writing : 3/5

**The actual overall rating is 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding it up to 4 stars**