Cinder by Marissa Meyer

CINDER THE LUNAR CHRONICLES #1 Author: Marissa Meyer Publication Date: 01/03/2012 Audience: Young Adult Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopia  

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

  Picture and Summary from Goodreads       REVIEW  

A lot of people are going to hate me for this but remember it is just my opinion, just because something didn't work for me doesn't mean it isn't good.

 

I feel like I missed something. The reviews for this book were sooo good that I knew I would just love it. Having now finished it I'm left wondering what the big deal was.  I was expecting some kind of wow factor but it really is just a cinderella story with a cyborg twist.  Maybe I'm not into the cyborg part of it and that's why I wasn't blown away?  I think it also had to do with my being detached from the characters. I hate bouncing around between different POVs, maybe I have character ADD.  The story itself was good and had obviously a unique twist to it and I really did like Cinders character, but overall the story just fell flat for me.

 

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The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

THE DARKEST MINDS The Darkest Minds #1 Author: Alexandra Bracken Publication Date: 12/18/2012 Audience: Young Adult Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian  

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that's killed most of America's children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she's on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her-East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can't risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

  Picture and Summary from Goodreads       REVIEW

 

So this book was all sorts of awesome! From page one I was sucked into the mystery behind the whole Psi organization and rehabilitation camps. The idea of kids either dying at the age of ten or mutating with abilities is crazy!

I really loved Ruby as a MC, while she has the power inside of her to take a lot of people down yet she hesitates to accept it as a part of her, afraid that it will make her into a monster. I'm pretty pleased with how Ruby grows over the timespan of the book. She becomes stronger and more sure of herself But she still has a long way to go. I seriously love the little group that Ruby, Chubs, Liam, and Zum make. They are perfect for each other and I really grew attached to them as a whole, especially as we learn more about their pasts. And can I just say that I am SO Team Liam! He is just the nicest guy and the most perfect fit for Ruby!

The whole book was one twist after another after exciting event after gut wrenching suspense. But the end! Ugh the end! It has me left dying to know what is going to happen, I seriously can't take it! I really thank the author for leaving me a tiny sliver of hope though!

The Darkest Minds is an excellent dystopian set in a realistic future world. It was a thrill ride that I didn't dare step off of until the end. I highly recommend!

 

 

 

 

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The Bane by Keary Taylor

THE BANE

EDEN #1

Author: Keary Taylor

Publication Date: 03/06/2011

Publisher: Keary Taylor Books

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia

 

Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter. It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

 

Picture and Summary from Goodreads

 

 

REVIEW

Oh my goodness this book!  I was so confused when searching for this book on Goodreads because it's actually under the name "Eden" evidently it's been revamped into a series since everyone loved it.  I don't know if that means the author wrote more or if it was originally longer and she just split it up.  Also I love the cover of this edition better, very badass!

 

The MC, Eve, is so badass and tough and all "I can take care of myself", I really love a strong female lead.  The only problem I had with her was her confusion over who she loved and really the only reason it bugged me was because I was sure she would choose the wrong one!  I also loved the idea behind the story.  That in our quest for immortality humans built something that ended up taking us over and destroying our world.  This is actually a real fear of mine or really any dystopian setting.  I need to stop reading dystopians...or start doomsday prepping.  The story is told from Eve's POV so we follow her along as she struggles to keep the small community of people who she considers family alive.  Not long after the start of the book three new people stumble upon Eden (the name of the community) one of them being West who has his own secrets, one of which will make Eve rethink her entire being. 

 

The book is full of action, never feeling dull or slow and as I've already stated the romantic tension of "whose she going to choose" really had me turning the pages.  Overall I feel this book was good both for it's action and for it's romance though I feel that it's a little on the heavier side of Romance but I'm okay with that.  I'm pretty excited to pick up the next book!

 

 

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THE AUTHOR

 

Keary Taylor grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now resides on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two young children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night. She is the author of THE EDEN TRILOGY, the FALL OF ANGELS trilogy, and WHAT I DIDN'T SAY.

 

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The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

THE IMMORTAL RULES BLOOD OF EDEN #1 Author: Julie Kagawa Publication Date: 04/24/2012 Publisher: Harlequin Teen Audience: Young Adult Genre: Dystopian, Paranormal

 

To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for… again.

 

Picture and Summary from Goodreads

 

REVIEW

 

I loved this book!! It was another great vampire book with your mostly scary vamps but some that have a non beating heart. 

 

Our street rat MC Allie is left with two choices after being attacked by the rabids and stumbled upon by a vampire who goes by the name Kanin;  die a quick death where he guarantees she won't come back as a rabid or allow him to turn her and live the rest of her immortal life as a monster.  I liked that the choice of becoming a vampire wasn't sugar coated like "oh you get to live forever, it's so awesome!" Kanin always called it the life of a monster, even from the get go.  But I also loved that Allie's reasoning behind wanting to become a vampire was the pure selfish desire to stay alive.  I mean really most of us would do whatever we could to not die.  We do see Allie struggle with the new life she leads and what she learns from Kanin.  About a third of the way into the book Allie sets off on her own and learns how to take care of herself.  While out in the wilderness she stumbles upon a band of humans who are working their way to a "promised land" free of vampires and the rabids.  There are surprises along the way and the suspense of if the humans will discover Allie's secret was high.

 

The world building was well done.  The character development was extensive although I feel there may still be secrets we don't know about.  There is a hint of romance between Allie and Zeke (the second in command of the human group)  I don't know how they will make it work but I look forward to reading more about them in the next book.  I also look forward to finding out more about Kanin, I think he has a lot of secrets to tell.

 

Overall it was a fast paced, action packed, exciting read.  One that I highly recommend!

 

 

 

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THE AUTHOR

 

Julie Kagawa, the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.

 

When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.

 

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dogtrainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full time.

 

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyper-active Papillon.

 

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External Forces by Deborah Rix

EXTERNAL FORCES

The Laws Of Motion, Lex 1

Author: Deborah Rix

Publication Date: 09/15/2013

Published By: Dime Store Books

Audience: Young Adult

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Romance

 

TREASON. BETRAYAL. HEARTBREAK.
A LOT CAN HAPPEN TO A GIRL BETWEEN HER FIRST KISS AND HER FIRST KILL.

It’s 100 years since the Genetic Integrity Act was passed and America closed its borders to prevent genetic contamination. Now only the enemy, dysgenic Deviants, remain beyond the heavily guarded border. The Department of Evolution carefully guides the creation of each generation and deviations from the divine plan are not permitted.

When 16-year-old Jess begins to show signs of deviance she enlists in the Special Forces, with her best friend Jay, in a desperate bid to evade detection by the Devotees. Jess is good with data, not so good with a knife. So when the handsome and secretive Sergeant Matt Anderson selects her for his Black Ops squad, Jess is determined to figure out why.

As her deviance continues to change her, Jess is forced to decide who to trust with her deadly secret. Jess needs to know what’s really out there, in the Deviant wasteland over the border, if she has any hope of making it to her 17th birthday. Because if the enemy doesn’t kill her first, the Department of Evolution probably will.

 

(Picture and Summary from Goodreads.)

 

 

**I received this as an eARC through Netgalley from Dime Store Books in exchange for an honest review.  In no way does that effect the thoughts and opinions voiced here.  I did not receive compensation in any way to write this review.**

 

REVIEW

 

Well we have another one folks!  This book was fantastic!

 

The concept behind the reason for the world falling apart is different, something I hadn't read in a dystopian thus far.  The Devotees who make up the New World's governing body have spun a tale saying God sent an asteroid to destroy the world to cleanse them of the Deviants.  Now they have to prove they are worthy which leads them to messing with the genes of the people.  While we learn a lot behind the Devotees reasons and motives I still think there is a lot more to learn.

 

Our MC is Jessica Grant. Jess is a strong MC but because of her past is full of insecurities and trust issues.  She has one friend, Jay.  Her mother hates and fears her, so other than Jay she has no-one.  The story starts off with her and Jay twisting the system so they can be called into the military rather than leave their futures to be decided by the Devotees.  Once inside the military Jess has to prove herself worthy of being there, along the way she makes new friends and finds herself falling for her black ops sergeant.  I was really happy that Jess was able to find herself a part of such a tight group of people.

 

I feel I should mention up front that while there is action and suspense, a big part of the book also revolved around the budding relationship between Jess and Matt.  I was completely fine with this since I happen to like a little action with my romance stories.  Not to mention the chemistry between Matt and Jess is soo intense.  Matt is pretty smooth and there were numerous times he had me feeling like a giddy school girl. *sigh*

 

Rix did a good job of balancing everything going on.  While there is obvious chemistry between Jess and Matt it isn't the only thing going on.  Rix also develops strong relationships between Jess and her black ops team.  I especially love Sheree, she balances out Jess' self consciousness by being overly confident. 

 

Even after finishing the book I feel like there is so much more going on.  I can't wait to see where this series goes and if I am anywhere near the truth.

 

 

 

 

 

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THE AUTHOR

 

Deborah Rix has had a successful career in entertainment publicity, live music promotion, corporate communications and event management. She lives with her family in Toronto, Canada, where she is the proprietor of The Lucky Penny, a corner store and take-out joint in the Trinity-Bellwoods neighbourhood.
External Forces is her first novel.

(Picture and Bio from Goodreads Profile)

 

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World After by Susan Ee

WORLD AFTER

Author: Susan Ee

Publication Date: 11/19/2013

Published by: Skyscape

Audience: Young Adult, 16+

Genre: Paranormal, Dystopian, Romance

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

(Picture and Summary from Goodreads)

REVIEW

What to say? What to say? First I want to express my desire to have an angel by the name of Raffe show up on my doorstep! Second I want to reiterate my love for this book series!

World After starts up right where Angelfall ends.  The truth is Penryn and Raffe spend most of the book apart which for me was very disappointing but only because I like it when he's around.  We really get to see Penryn prove her worth, she and her family are put through quite a bit but Penryn remains strong proving she can take care of herself.  We get more of a glimpse into the relationships between Penryn, her mom, and Paige.  It becomes clear that they are her only weakness.

There is a lot of action, how can there not be when the characters are constantly running for their lives?  But unfortunately it did have a middle book feel to it.  At the end it seemed like nothing had been solved, which you kind of expect when starting a middle book.  If things are solved then that would make it a final book and I'm not ready for this ride to end. I can't get enough of Penryn and Raffe, I hope to have more in the next book.  I really hope Susan Ee can figure out a way for them to be together in the end.  That would rock my socks off!

 

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~ My Review Of Angelfall ~

 

 

 

THE AUTHOR

 

 

 

Susan Ee has eaten mezze in the old city of Jerusalem, surfed the warm waters of Costa Rica, and played her short film at a major festival. She used to be a lawyer but loves being a writer because it allows her imagination to bust out and go feral.

Her debut novel was the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days series). Angelfall has been translated into 19 languages and the film rights have been optioned by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Good Universe.

 

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Angelfall by Susan Ee

ANGELFALL

Author: Susan Ee

Publication Date: 05/21/2011

Published By: Feral Dreams

Audience: Young Adult, 16+

Genre: Paranormal, Science Fiction, Dystopia

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

**Recommended for ages 16 and up.**
 

(Picture and Summary from Goodreads)

 

REVIEW

Hands down Angelfall is one of my favorite books of all time!  The world Susan Ee creates is gritty and scary.  She has come up with monster creations that are the things of nightmares.

Angels have taken over the world.  Cities are destroyed and families are broken.  It's a fight for survival both against the angels and the gangs that roam the abandoned city streets.  Penryn is the MC, she is a strong female lead who is loyal to her family.  When the book starts off she is attempting to move her small family, consisting of a wheelchair bound little sister and a schizophrenic mother, to a safer location than their apartment located in Silicon Valley, California.  They don't make it far when they are forced to hide from a group of battling angels.  Unfortunately they are noticed.  While Penryn tries to distract the angels her mother runs off leaving her sister, Paige, defensless.  Before Penryn can stop it from happening an angel swoopes in and snatches Paige before flying away.  Penryn is left alone on the streets with a lone injured angel who we find out goes by Raffe.  She forges a plan to get Raffe to take her to the Aerie so she can rescue her sister.

Throughout the book we get to see how tough Penryn really is and just how much the burden of taking care of her family lies on her shoulders.  Although Raffe is with her I have no doubt that she could handle it on her own, though there are some situations where it was good that he was there.  Plus he makes for yummy eye candy.  Their relationahip starts out as being solely based on them needing something from the other but over time you can tell they like having the other around.  What lies ahead for them on this journey is full of the unknown and what Penryn finds in the Aerie is nothing like what she expected.

Susan Ee does a great job of building relationships between her characters.  The world she has created is truly terrifying, especially inside the Angel's camp.  Angelfall is action packed and dripping with suspense topped with a touch of romance.  I highly recommend it and cant wait to start World After!

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THE AUTHOR

 

Susan Ee has eaten mezze in the old city of Jerusalem, surfed the warm waters of Costa Rica, and played her short film at a major festival. She used to be a lawyer but loves being a writer because it allows her imagination to bust out and go feral.

Her debut novel was the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days series). Angelfall has been translated into 19 languages and the film rights have been optioned by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Good Universe.

 

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Allegiant by Veronica Roth

One choice will define you.
What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

 (Picture and Summary from Goodreads)

 

 

Short Non Spoiler Review: 

 

Fast paced, action filled (towards the end), answer fulfilling book.  You will be nervous, you will be mad, you will be devastated.  Prepare yourself. Still read it.

 

Long Spoilerful (I realize this isn't a word) Review:

 

What to the what just happened.  My heart is broken.  I am devastated.  I feel empty.  Why Veronica WHYYY?!?! *Tears and ugly sobbing*

 

Ok so that was what was going through my mind upon finishing Allegiant.  Having been able to think it over for a little while I get why Veronica killed Tris.  Well I get what makes sense to me, whether it's what Veronica was going for I don't know.  It's a dystopian book, things are dark.  It's not a fairytale and although we wish for happily ever after we don't always get it.  Veronica kept it real by killing off Tris, she showed us that sometimes in order to get to the good you have to go through the bad.  I'm not happy Tris died and I can think of all sorts of ways things could have gone so she wouldn't have had to, but its not my story.  Moving on.

 

Up until the end I was very pleased with how the book was going.  It really answered a lot of questions.  In fact the book was mostly informational compared to the action packed Divergent and Insurgent books. It was also different from the first two books because the story was being told from both Tris and Tobias' POVs.  (That should have served as a warning really)  I didn't think I would like it, mostly because I don't go for books told from a male POV, but in my opinion it was nicely done.  Others seem to think the POVs were too similar too each other, basically that Tobias seemed a little feminine, maybe that's why I was ok with it.

 

I was angry with Tris and Tobias pretty much the whole book, ok I was angry mostly at Tobias, for letting their relationship fall apart.  I hated Tobias for not trusting Tris and for making dumb decisions.  Of course he eventually smartens up and the make up (and more possibly).  I think that helps to make me more sad about Tris' death.  They had just gotten back to good and were looking forward to planning their lives together then BAM it gets taken away from them.

 

Overall I don't regret reading this series.  Divergent was my first dystopian book and really is what turned me on to the genre.  That being said, Allegiant really makes me think twice about reading another dystopian.  It really opened my eyes to the fact that authors really hold the power to break your heart and that there is no rule stating they have to make a book end happy.  Looking back I wish I would have waited a little longer to read Allegiant, just so it would have prolonged the sadness. I definitely won't be able to reread it for a little while, I need time to heal. *sniff*

 

I brand this end to the Divergent Series as Sad but Fitting.

I fell in love with him.  But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me.  I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other.  I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.

-Excerpt from Allegiant by Veronica Roth

*Tears in my eyes*

 

 

 

 

 

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THE AUTHOR

(Picture and Bio from author's Goodreads Profile)

 

Veronica Roth is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011) and INSURGENT (May 2012). The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, ALLEGIANT, will come out on October 22, 2013. In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)

 

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Insurgent by Veronica Roth

 

 

 

One choice can transform you, or destroy you.

Every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves, and herself, while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second in my Divergent-read-a-thon is naturally: Insurgent.  I really hadn't read Insurgent that long ago, okay maybe a year ago, but it was the one I finished most recently so I expected to remember a lot of what I was rereading.  Surprisingly I did not.  I think it was a defense mechanism, I forgot about the details in order to save myself from agonizing over the drop off ending.

 

REVIEW

 

Insurgent in my opinion is AMAZING.  Suspenseful and action packed it resembles nothing of a middle book, meaning it isn't just filler.  It has it's own twists and turns and doesn't rely on referencing the first book aside from some obvious need to.  Of course I'm not saying it doesn't require reading the first book, you definitely need to read Divergent in order to know what's going on.

 

The book starts off right where Divergent ends; with the world, as Tris and Tobias know it, in chaos.  Factions are split and no one knows who to trust, anyone could be a spy.  Throughout the book there are multiple people who go from friend to foe and vice versa with some people, who we never would have expected, turning up.  There are also more deaths (naturally) and strained relationships. The book leads up to an intense ending that reveals something BIG, I mean HUGE.  It really answers my question of why is the story set ONLY in Chicago?.

 

Tobias and Tris' relationship is on the rocks throughout the book, which made me really sad.  I feel like they are stronger when they work together but they spent too much time keeping secrets from each other to be any good as a team.  It really isn't until the end that things sort themselves out again but by then it's the end.

 

I'm really excited to start Allegiant here in a few but it's been out for a little while now and the feedback I've been reading has been not so good.  Not really because of the writing but more what happens.  I have my own idea of how I want to end and I love this series so much that I am really scared about how Veronica may have ended the story.  I don't think I've ever been so excited but so NERVOUS to read a book before.  Because to be truthful, The Hunger Games trilogy was almost ruined for me when a certain someone died, when that happened I was all "WHAT WAS THE POINT OF EVERYTHING?!" So yeah, I'm a little (a lot) nervous. 

 

 

Fernando hops out of the truck bed and offers me his arm.

 

"Come on, Insurgent," he says with a wink.

 

"What?" I say.  I take his arm and slide down the side of the truck.

 

He opens the bag he was sitting with.  It is full of blue clothes.  He sorts through them, tossing garments to Christina and me.  I get a bright blue T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

 

"Insurgent," he says.  "Noun.  A person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as a belligerent."

 

-Excerpt from Insurgent by Veronica Roth

 

 

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THE AUTHOR

(Picture and Bio from Veronica's Goodreads Profile)

 

Veronica Roth is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011) and INSURGENT (May 2012). The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, ALLEGIANT, will come out on October 22, 2013. In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)

 

 

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Divergent by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

(Picture and Summary from Goodreads)

Allegiant was recently released and since it had been a while since I last read Divergent and Insurgent I figured I would have a little Divergent-read-a-thon.  First up: Divergent.

REVIEW

 

On these mornings when my brother makes breakfast, and my gather's hand skims my hair as he reads the newspaper, and my mother hums as she clears the table - it is on these mornings that I feel guiltiest for wanting to leave them.

Divergent is set in a dystopian Chicago, where people are divided into factions based on their morals and principles. Beatrice is part of Abnegation which believe in selflessness.  They constantly put others first and do everything they can to keep attention off themselves.  When the book begins Beatrice and her classmates are getting ready to go through a test that will tell them what faction they should be in.  After finding out their results they take an evening to think about what they want to choose; to stay in their own faction with their family or choose a different faction and leave their family behind.

"Faction before blood"

 When Beatrice is told her results it changes everything and leaves her with an important decision to make.  Beatrice's choice shocks both herself and her family.  As soon as the choosing ceremony ends she is swept up into an intense initiation process.  She gets tested and pushed beyond her limits, faces fears she never knew she had, renames herself Tris, makes new friends, and gains enemies.  She also begins to have a confusing thing with her instructor Four (that's his name, sorta), at first it seems like he is being tough on her, then maybe he's helping, but it could be more than that.

Tris fits in really well with the faction she calls home and though she has to make some difficult choices, she really seems to grow as a person.  Soon after finishing the initiation process a situation comes up that brings some horrible truths into the light.  The book ends in chaos and has readers wondering what will happen next.

I really love this book.  Veronica Roth does a really good job of developing her characters and the world they live in.  The story is full of suspense and secrets, friendship and budding affection.  If you have made it this long without reading Divergent, don't waste another minute!  Read it now!

 

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

 

 

Veronica Roth is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011) and INSURGENT (May 2012). The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, ALLEGIANT, will come out on October 22, 2013. In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)

(Author Bio and Picture from Veronica's Goodreads Profile)

 

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