From the Bookshelf of Nora Roberts Groupies…

Year One (Chronicles of The One, #1)

Nora Roberts

Start date: February 1, 2025

Finish date: February 28, 2025

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* Northern Lights - September 2025 Book of the Month
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What Members Thought

Feb 14, 2018 Anna rated it it was amazing

I love Nora, and start each of her novels expecting to like it. This one, though ... this one was SO DIFFERENT from anything else I’ve seen Nora do. And I LOVED it.

I loved the combination of dystopian future and magic, and that there was romance (it IS Nora, after all), but that the romance wasn’t the center of the story. This was a well-told, totally gripping, story about good and evil, the importance of community, and what makes us human.

I can’t wait for the next in this series!

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Jan 05, 2018 Zinha69 rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 29, 2018 Sheery rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, 5-star-read, part-of-a-series, read-in-2018, 2018-nora-jdr, magic

I was skeptical to read this book and put it off for months. Now I feel kind of silly for doing so. Nora Roberts is an auto-buy author for me. I'm not someone who reads end-of-the-world type books because, quite frankly, the idea of them is scary to me. I should have trusted that Nora Roberts' masterful storytelling would shine regardless of the fact that she tackled a new genre with this book.

Year One begins with an illness called The Doom. It's vicious, vile and everyone who catches it dies q I was skeptical to read this book and put it off for months. Now I feel kind of silly for doing so. Nora Roberts is an auto-buy author for me. I'm not someone who reads end-of-the-world type books because, quite frankly, the idea of them is scary to me. I should have trusted that Nora Roberts' masterful storytelling would shine regardless of the fact that she tackled a new genre with this book.

Year One begins with an illness called The Doom. It's vicious, vile and everyone who catches it dies quickly. As The Doom obliterates huge numbers of human beings around the globe Lana Bingham, Max Fallon, Arlys Reid, Little Fred, Jonah Vorhies, Rachel Hopman, Katie MacLeod Parsoni and Chuck realize they must leave their beloved New York City (and boroughs). If they don't they are going to be rounded up by what's left of the military and experimented upon because they are immune to The Doom. In addition to relocating in order to avoid being lab rats they are running from the evil that has become rampant in the dark times they face. The evil comes in human and mystical forms. However, there is plenty of good and light, as well, both in human and mystical form.

In all fairness I have to warn that there is a LOT of dark in this book. There is a fair amount of violence, murder and death, brutal acts, rape and bigotry. There is a lot of good and heroism, too. Babies are saved, people accept things they previously believed to be unreal. People become leaders and sacrifices are made in order to learn to live in a new world that no one recognizes. There are also a lot of secondary characters in the book. Some, like Eddie, are very funny and provide an element of needed comic relief.

I felt the style in which Nora Roberts wrote this book was different from her romance or romantic suspense novels but it made sense to me considering she went down a new writing path. I cried more than once while reading this book but I cheered the characters on, too. I had HOPE for them and that meant a lot to me as a reader. Roberts' trademark story telling and ability to create believable relationships was in full force. I am looking forward to reading the next book (and hopefully getting resolution to some of the story lines) in this series come December. ...more

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Dec 05, 2017 Megan Robinette rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017-books, 2018-books, 2023-books

An excellent start to the series. I'm deeply interested in the characters (both major and minor). In fact, I'm really concerned for several of them, as their fate isn't clear at the end of this book. While the subject matter is a little out of NR's wheelhouse, I feel like this has a lot of her basic elements: strong women, a little fantasy, emphasis on home and hearth, and lots of descriptive language about the settings. Can't wait for #2! ...more

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May 06, 2019 Samantha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I admit it, I love dystopian stories and this one sucked me right in. I don't have many complaints but I have to wonder about the fates of some of the characters I came to love! I hope to find out in the next installment that they are still a part of the story. ...more

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Oct 29, 2017 Michelle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-and-magic, random-fiction

First, thanks to St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy. I'm still not sure how it turned up in my mailbox, but I'm certainly not complaining.

Second, I loved this book. Read it in a day and am looking forward to reading it again.

Third, I'm not going to lie, I was a bit worried when I learned this book was going to be different from Nora Robert's usual style. I mean, I avoid post-apocalyptic books like the plague (pun intended), and never read Hunger Games or Divergent or any of those books. Bu ...more

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Nov 28, 2017 Shannon rated it it was amazing

I am an apocalypse novel fan -- and a Nora Roberts fan - so this checked off two boxes before I even started reading. As a flu plague begins killing 80% of the world's population, Lana & Max find that their minor witch powers are suddenly much stronger. Together they go to meet Max's brother - who has also survived the initial flu with five college friends. Together they become survivors and then (nope, not going to mention the spoiler) and the remaining survivors strike out for better weather a ...more

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Nov 29, 2017 Kathy rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, personal-library, paranormal

I was lucky enough to win an ARC from St. Martin's Press. I am a big Nora Roberts fan, so I was a bit apprehensive but still excited to read a letter from her prefacing this book. This book would not be a typical Nora Roberts book was the gist of the letter. Still, I dove in, and tried to remain open. Without spoiling anything, I enjoyed the book. No, it is not a typical Nora Roberts book with a central romance that drives the story, but I did find elements of some of my favorite NR trilogies an ...more

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Dec 18, 2017 DeAnna rated it liked it

Shelves: romance_novels, audiobook, author_glomm

A solid second tier Roberts novel. The post-apocalyptic world-building was a little too simplistic, but I'm interested enough to continue reading the series. The nice thing about the audiobook (read by the excellent Julia Whelan) is that I don't have to SEE Roberts using the oh-so-twee "magick" for "magic." ...more

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May 07, 2019 Dorothy Emry rated it really liked it

Shelves: supernatural, fantasy

Nice to see Nora Roberts breaking out of her usual kinds of stories and into the post apocalyptic world. I'm definitely eager to see where she'll take these characters. ...more

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