Chosen Ones (Roth) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for THE CHOSEN ONES … then take off on your own:

1. Start with Sloan: she's not particularly likable. How did that affect your experience reading the novel given that she is the its central character? Does likeability matter? Can you admire someone you don't like? What other traits might be equally, perhaps more, important?

2. Talk about the psychological and emotional burdens of coping with past trauma—and triumph. How have those previous events, as well as current fame, shaped Sloan's life as an adult?

3. What about the others: Matthew Weekes, Esther Park, and Albert Summers. How have each of them fared over the past 10 years? What are the tolls they've paid—Albert, especially?

4. Why does seem Matt unwilling to deny that there's been any lasting impact on the group?

5.The author seems to be asking: how can anyone push through past pain and learn to make contributions to the betterment of the world?  What would you say to the Chosen Ones now living as adults? What has your own experience been coping with trauma?

6. What were the drains?

7. In what ways does Sloan challenge the so-called norms of feminine behavior? To be a success, either in fantasies or in real life, do women have to push the boundaries of "acceptable" female behavior… or not? Come to think of it, what is acceptable female behavior?

8. What is the role of prophecy in The Chosen Ones? How does it work to create a sense of dread? To what extent do prophecies mean that we have little control over our lives? (In this novel, however, the prophecy was not the one that was expected, was it?)

9. Who are the Dark One's fanatical followers and why are they so devoted?

10. What does Sloane discover while reading through the information she obtains under the Freedom of Information Act?

11. What does it say, perhaps symbolically, that adults turned to the young, tasking them with ridding the world of the Dark One?

12. This is Veronica Roth's first adult novel. If you're a devoted fan and have read her YA works, how does this book compare—are there differences… similarities? Is it as magical? Is it plot driven? Character driven? Why is it marketed as an "adult" rather than a YA novel?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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