Title: Chosen Ones (The Lost Souls #1)
Author: Tiffany Truitt
Release Date: June 12/2012
Adquired: Ebook provided by author
Goodreads: ADD
Life is bleak but uncomplicated for sixteen-year-old Tess, living in a not-too-distant future where the government, faced with humanity's extinction, created the Chosen Ones, artificial beings who are extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.
When Tess begins work at Templeton, a Chosen Ones training facility, she meets James, and the attraction is immediate in its intensity, overwhelming in its danger. But there is more to Templeton than Tess ever knew. Can she stand against her oppressors, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?
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THIS BOOK WRECKED MY HEART. I was torn between wanting to pet it lovingly, and throwing it against my bedroom wall. The angst, the pain, the forbidden pleasures, the longing for simple joys..Chosen Ones expressed each of those to a heart, my heart, that wouldn't stop breaking for the world and characters within it. The ideas were somewhat far-fetched, but by no means impossible. It's one of those books you really need to experience for yourself.
Tess is serving her punishment. A punishment for a sister that Tess saw as weak, and selfish, even in her dying moments. She reports for duty at Templeton, a training and creation facility of the Chosen Ones-artificial males created to compensate for what "naturals" are lacking in large amounts: the strength, courage, and ruthless attitude needed to fight a war that no one feels the need to fight in anymore. The Chosen Ones are physically flawless, and possess talents that surpass belief. They have been created for one single purpose: to destroy. Tess is indifferent to it all, at least on the surface-she takes to her work cleaning up after the Chosen Ones with a stoicity that she's spent years building. But there are limits, and Tess is realizing exactly what hers are. To make matters completely worse, she finds herself frustratingly curious about a particular Chosen One, James, who seems to have broken every belief she had about what these artificial beings were about.
I want to tell you that this is a romance story at it's core, but it's not, and I couldn't thank the author more for that. I'll admit, I took one look at the cover, read the synopsis, and completely set myself up to read something corny and underdeveloped. I love being wrong when it comes to books. Chosen Ones was darker, and more complex, than I had expected. From the very first scene, after my heart broke, I realized that this book probably had a lot more ways in which to destroy it further. It felt like one ragged, and raw, pain after the other. To be honest, I felt, and reacted, the way I typically do when I read Holocaust accounts/storylines. Chosen Ones is in no way related, but the way in which Tiffany Truitt crafted her moments of torment, I completely forgot I was reading a YA book. She truly has a gift for words.
Tess was exactly the character I wanted her to be, and progressed in a way that made sense. She grew up as someone strong, and impenetrable, but her position at Templeton allowed us to travel the diverse range of her character, and the fact that her heart only held so much pain, until it all spilled out into a world that destroyed everything she ever cared about. It was beautiful, in an anguished way, to be able to see her make discoveries about things that her government, her leaders, made her believe to be truth. To see her come into her own, and bring her inner feelings to the surface.
James, on the other hand, was a little harder to digest. I loved the idea of his character, and my heart was definitely beating faster when he and Tess were in the same room, but I just felt like there wasn't enough development for him. I almost wanted a complete side story entitled: "How James Spent His Days: From Creation to Meeting Tess." I wanted to be inside of his brain, and I wanted Tess to be able to bring even more out of him every time they spoke. I wanted to know the exact moment he realized he was different from his peers-the other boys that held their violent life purpose with pride. Aside from that, I pretty much lived for dialogue between the two. I completely fell for what they built slowly, together.
Chosen Ones was a story of struggle. It had me questioning the fate of my own world, and the many ways that could lead us to an extreme that mirrors the world in this book. It spoke loudly about issues, and situations, that are alive, and abundant, all over the world: the oppression of women, the lust for power and control, the desire to be physically perfect..
I was in awe of the writing and thought process behind this book, and though it may be hard for some readers to get through, the gruesome subject matter is worth the insight you gain from it.
Recommended for: Fans of dystopians, romance and controversial subject matters.
Tess is serving her punishment. A punishment for a sister that Tess saw as weak, and selfish, even in her dying moments. She reports for duty at Templeton, a training and creation facility of the Chosen Ones-artificial males created to compensate for what "naturals" are lacking in large amounts: the strength, courage, and ruthless attitude needed to fight a war that no one feels the need to fight in anymore. The Chosen Ones are physically flawless, and possess talents that surpass belief. They have been created for one single purpose: to destroy. Tess is indifferent to it all, at least on the surface-she takes to her work cleaning up after the Chosen Ones with a stoicity that she's spent years building. But there are limits, and Tess is realizing exactly what hers are. To make matters completely worse, she finds herself frustratingly curious about a particular Chosen One, James, who seems to have broken every belief she had about what these artificial beings were about.
I want to tell you that this is a romance story at it's core, but it's not, and I couldn't thank the author more for that. I'll admit, I took one look at the cover, read the synopsis, and completely set myself up to read something corny and underdeveloped. I love being wrong when it comes to books. Chosen Ones was darker, and more complex, than I had expected. From the very first scene, after my heart broke, I realized that this book probably had a lot more ways in which to destroy it further. It felt like one ragged, and raw, pain after the other. To be honest, I felt, and reacted, the way I typically do when I read Holocaust accounts/storylines. Chosen Ones is in no way related, but the way in which Tiffany Truitt crafted her moments of torment, I completely forgot I was reading a YA book. She truly has a gift for words.
Tess was exactly the character I wanted her to be, and progressed in a way that made sense. She grew up as someone strong, and impenetrable, but her position at Templeton allowed us to travel the diverse range of her character, and the fact that her heart only held so much pain, until it all spilled out into a world that destroyed everything she ever cared about. It was beautiful, in an anguished way, to be able to see her make discoveries about things that her government, her leaders, made her believe to be truth. To see her come into her own, and bring her inner feelings to the surface.
James, on the other hand, was a little harder to digest. I loved the idea of his character, and my heart was definitely beating faster when he and Tess were in the same room, but I just felt like there wasn't enough development for him. I almost wanted a complete side story entitled: "How James Spent His Days: From Creation to Meeting Tess." I wanted to be inside of his brain, and I wanted Tess to be able to bring even more out of him every time they spoke. I wanted to know the exact moment he realized he was different from his peers-the other boys that held their violent life purpose with pride. Aside from that, I pretty much lived for dialogue between the two. I completely fell for what they built slowly, together.
Chosen Ones was a story of struggle. It had me questioning the fate of my own world, and the many ways that could lead us to an extreme that mirrors the world in this book. It spoke loudly about issues, and situations, that are alive, and abundant, all over the world: the oppression of women, the lust for power and control, the desire to be physically perfect..
I was in awe of the writing and thought process behind this book, and though it may be hard for some readers to get through, the gruesome subject matter is worth the insight you gain from it.
Recommended for: Fans of dystopians, romance and controversial subject matters.
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Tiffany Truitt was born in Peoria, Illinois. A self-proclaimed Navy brat, Tiffany spent most of her childhood living in Virginia, but don’t call her a Southerner. She also spent a few years living in Cuba. Since her time on the island of one McDonalds and Banana Rats (don’t ask), she has been obsessed with traveling. Tiffany recently added China to her list of travels (hello inspiration for a new book).
Besides traveling, Tiffany has always been an avid reader. The earliest books she remembers reading belong to The Little House on the Prairie Series. First book she read in one day? Little Woman (5th grade). First author she fell in love with? Jane Austen in middle school. Tiffany spent most of her high school and college career as a literary snob. She refused to read anything considered “low brow” or outside the “classics.”
Tiffany began teaching middle school in 2006. Her students introduced her to the wide, wonderful world of Young Adult literature. Today, Tiffany embraces popular Young Adult literature and uses it in her classroom. She currently teaches the following novels: The Outsiders, Speak, Night, Dystopian Literature Circles: The Hunger Games, The Giver, The Uglies, and Matched.
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