A decade ago near Chicago, five teenagers defeated the otherworldly enemy known as the Dark One, whose reign of terror brought widespread destruction and death. The seemingly un-extraordinary teens—Sloane, Matt, Ines, Albie, and Esther—had been brought together by a clandestine government agency because one of them was fated to be the “Chosen One,” prophesized to save the world. With the goal achieved, humankind celebrated the victors and began to mourn their lost loved ones.

Ten years later, though the champions remain celebrities, the world has moved forward and a whole, younger generation doesn’t seem to recall the days of endless fear. But Sloane remembers. It’s impossible for her to forget when the paparazzi haunt her every step just as the Dark One still haunts her dreams. Unlike everyone else, she hasn’t moved on; she’s adrift—no direction, no goals, no purpose. On the eve of the Ten Year Celebration of Peace, a new trauma hits the Chosen: the death of one of their own. And when they gather for the funeral at the enshrined site of their triumph, they discover to their horror that the Dark One’s reign never really ended. – Goodreads

Sigh.  There is a spoiler ahead by the way.

This book had me in a fit of rage and it was all because of Sloane.

She is a selfish, self-centered, rude, ungrateful, entitled, does not acknowledge anyone’s pain but her own, does not care about the lives she ruins or the consequences, AND is in a “relationship” with a Black male that she does not care to understand OR even empathize with.

Sloane is the definition of a Becky and she made me literally upset. But I am not done yet. Going to her “relationship” with her Black boyfriend, Matt. She acknowledges that he, even after defeating the Dark One with her, experiences racism. She acknowledges the fact that he uses positivity and kindness to deal with the racism. However! She can’t stand him for it. She gets upset when he goes talks to teenage Black girls at an event. She starts a fight and uses the racism towards him (that came after HE came to stop her) as a reason why she reacts the way she does sometimes.

AND she isn’t even in love him. They are together 10 years. She is in love with another member of the group (like just call it what it is) but he does not have any sexual advances towards her.  Matt has both but she uses Matt for sex even while she talks about how he doesn’t really know her or understand her like the other dude does.

Sloane is trash. It is rare for me to hate a character but I hate her.

I understand PTSD. I understand not wanting to fight again. I understand trying to carve a piece of privacy when you are known for something you don’t actually want to remember. BUT NONE OF THIS IS GROUNDS FOR YOU TO BE A SHITTY PERSON.  She isn’t even a good friend. She resents her “friends” for not sitting in a dark hole with her and trying to move on with their lives the best way they can.

There is no getting past her. There is no “yeah the main character is horrible but the world building yadda yadda yadda.” There is none of that.  What makes this book “different” is the fact that it tells a story of what if the chosen ones had to do it all over again. But if you really think about it is not much different then reading a book two to a series that has another battle to go through. Because that is what this book feels like is a book two in which the main character turned out to be evil.

Overall, I tired to finish this book but when I put it down and picked it back up, I would get upset. It is a interesting read and I completely get that characters take a life of their own but Sloane made me uncomfortable and it made me think how much of this character is like the author or someone she knows.

For the sake of Goodreads, I have this listed as a 1. But for the sake of my site, this book gets no rating.