Paperback: 260 pages
Price: $9.99
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Source: Publisher/author for honest review
Genre: Dystopia
Series: The Lost Souls
1. Chosen Ones
Summary:
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?
My Rating:
I liked this book because it's got references to Frankenstein in it, a book which I'm studying for school, so I actually get all the different quotes from Frankenstein! I'm also studying Blade Runner (it's a horrible movie, I hate it!) and this book has elements that remind me of the Replicants in BR. So I was really able to get the depth this book has, which was quite awesome.
Tess is working in this training facility for the chosen ones and she meets James - she's drawn to him because of the scar on his chin and they're not supposed to have scars since they're physically perfect. I found her attraction to him because of this scar really interesting since it seems so different to the normal qualities many heroines in YA novels are attracted to.
This dystopian society is really stupid. They all think women are the bane of existence and force them to cover their bodies and spout how females are evil - basically back to the whole 'Eve ate the apple so all females are evil and have black souls' crap that we see in the pages of history. Pretty crap. But it does fit with the whole theme of the novel, which is how society has kind of fallen apart after a big war and created these super beings - so why do they need females anymore?
I read this a few weeks ago so I'm not sure I really remember Tess's personality, but I did like her. She's a bit cynical and she's really innocent, too, because she grew up in such a different environment and so she doesn't really know how to act around boys - or the chosen ones. The chosen ones are actually really arrogant guys and practically abuse the girls working at the training facility. They think they're superior (which they are...) and so they treat the girls horribly and no one will give a crap. So I wanted to shoot most of the COs.
So the plot isn't very fast moving, but I like that since I don't have to struggle to keep up. It does speed up at the end though, but the ending kind of let me down. I don't think I'll read the sequel to this.
My verdict: I enjoyed this book since it ties really closely with my English studies so I understood its depth better. I liked the heroine and whilst I don't think I'll continue on with this series, it was a good read that took me into a world that seemed completely realistic.
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