Review: Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

Pages: 260

Received: Received from publisher in exchange for honest review

Release Date: June 12, 2012
Buy from Amazon.ca / Buy from Chapters.ca

Goodreads Synopsis:

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 Review:

I was really happy to be a part of the cover reveal for this book when it came out, so when I got the chance to review I had to jump at it. The cover looks absolutely gorgeous and I loved the synopsis of this one. I wasn't absolutely sure what to expect, the cover makes the book seem a little creepy, and to be honest the opening chapter definitely depicts a creepy book.

As I read this book I have to say it reminded me a tiny bit of DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver. Though this one love wasn't so much outlawed as the people, or 'naturals' were scared to enter into relationships because of the idea that women could no longer bring forth life. It was really interesting where Tiffany took this story.

What made this book really interesting to me was how Tiffany relied a lot on the story of Frankenstein. It was fun to see how she connected it to a lot of the characters in different ways. I found that in a way this story was like Frankenstein, having doctors create their own life forms. This book was definitely as creepy as Frankenstein was back in it's time. Tiffany adds in a few other books as well and incorporates the plot into her own. I really enjoyed as Tess goes through some of the books, she relates what is happening to the characters to her own life and of those around her. Being a booklover, I love seeing characters do that with books themselves as well (because let's be honest I do that all the time).

The characters were really well written. I loved Tess the most of all. She is a strong character, that really knows how to keep her emotions in check for the most part. Tess was always strong for her family, and always knew how to hide her real feelings. The character that I really loved was Tess's father, Tiffany does a great job of having the readers connect with him through his letters to Tess. I thought it was an interesting add on to the story.

Tiffany sets up this series well, and I enjoyed how she explained what happened to put the world in the situation that they currently find themselves in. I also really enjoyed that there was some intense moments throughout this book. I found that when I was hoping for something to heat up in the book, it's like Tiffany knows the reader is wanting that and then it's there. She also does a great job at describing the fight scenes that happen, making them seem very real, describing every little movement.

I definitely say check out this book. I'm excited to see what happens next after that ending. Definitely left me on the edge of my seat wanting more.