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Book Review: Allegiant

March 6, 2014 by Kelly

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent #3

Published by Katherine Tegen Books on October 22nd, 2013

Pages: 526

Shelve It: Goodreads

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.

To say that I was disappointed by Allegiant, the conclusion to the Divergent trilogy, would be a huge understatement. While this series was never one that blew me away, I did find it enjoyable, if problematic. With Allegiant, the plot holes are out in full force and the introduction of the dual PoV resulted in the loss of distinction between the characters and their voices. With the actual deconstruction of one main character, and a contrived ending that asked for an emotional reaction from its readers instead of allowing them to come to that conclusion organically, Allegiant is the unfortunate ending to an otherwise enjoyable series.

Having escaped the confines of the city, Tris and co find themselves at the Bureau, the place which was designed to oversee the Chicago experiment. After various, lengthy explanations about something called the Purity War, where those who had been genetically modified to have the genes that caused dishonesty, selfishness, cowardice, stupidity and aggression removed became more violent instead of less, the government of the United States decided to launch large-scale behavioural experiments where the genetically pure genes would be introduced to the genetically damaged, resulting in the repair of those genes through sexual reproduction over the course of several generations. What I couldn’t figure out was why the scientists responsible for gene manipulation were unable to use the genetic engineering prowess they already had to modify the genes of the genetically damaged offspring, instead of waiting for sexual reproduction to filter out those genes over a period of several generations. Since they introduced the genetically damaged genes, could they not also remove them? Or find a way to repair them? This wasn’t touched on, and quite frankly, it came across as a glaring oversight. [Read more…]

Book Review: Insurgent

March 5, 2014 by Kelly

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent #2

Published by Katherine Tegen Books on May 1st, 2012

Pages: 525

Shelve It: Goodreads

One choice can transform you — or it can destroy you. But 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.

Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

The first hurdle I had to overcome with Insurgent, and it was probably the biggest hurdle as it continued throughout the entire book, was that Insurgent picks up directly where Divergent left off. That means there is absolutely no recap, no reminder of who these characters are and why I should care about them or their current situation. I had read Roth’s handy post But I read Divergent a YEAR Ago! prior to reading Insurgent, but while it mostly cleared up some of the confusion over who a character was, it didn’t help me re-connect with any of the characters – which was something I remember having trouble with in Divergent anyways. I understand why Roth chose to withhold a recap, and a part of me even agrees with her, but it did make for some struggles throughout my reading experience when I was jolted out of the story as I found myself asking “who is this person again?”

My lack of connection/inability to remember certain characters was also one of the reasons I had a harder time believing any of Tris’ angst over Will’s death. She kept referring to him as one of her best friend’s from initiation, and I couldn’t help but scratch my head and ask “Really? Were they that close in Divergent?” because I just couldn’t remember their relationship being so important to Tris. Add in her grief over her parents’ death, and Tris is a complete emotional wreck. So I started wondering if Roth was making Tris overemotional about both Will and her parents’ deaths because she felt she had to overcompensate for her lack of emotional response – to pretty much anything – in Divergent. (For anyone who is unaware, Roth wrote about the mistakes author’s often make, and specifically mentions that Tris’ sexual assault in Divergent played no part in her character development – which was a mistake.) So it was with these feelings that I continued reading Insurgent. [Read more…]

Book Review: Divergent

March 2, 2014 by Kelly

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent #1

Published by Katherine Tegen Books on April 25th, 2011

Pages: 487

Shelve It: Goodreads

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating 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 a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Divergent, though at times a heart-pounding, adrenaline pumping thrill ride, was slightly overwhelmed by poor world-building, lacklustre characters and the inability to persuade me that this future was possible.

Imagine a world where society is divided into five factions, each which represents a particular virtue – Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), Erudite (the intelligent) and Abnegation (the selfless). A little simplistic, but with a slight suspension of disbelief, still plausible. Tris originates from Abnegation, a faction she never truly felt connected to. Having reached the wise age of sixteen (please note the sarcasm), Tris must now decide which faction she would like to commit the rest of her life to. This was the first issue I had with Divergent. How can a sixteen-year-old be expected to understand the implications of a life-changing decision? I still struggle with the question of what I want to be when I grow up, and I know had I been forced to choose at sixteen, I would be regretting that decision now. I did admire that Tris was brave enough to follow her heart and choose Dauntless – knowing that she would be removed from both her parents and the home that she grew up in – but the fact that she deviated from the expected path after watching her brother do the same made her bold statement seem less courageous. [Read more…]

Book Review: Ignite Me

February 16, 2014 by Kelly

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Series: Shatter Me #3

Published by HarperCollins on February 4th, 2014

Pages: 416

Shelve It: Goodreads

The heart-stopping conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, which Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, called “a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love.”

Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she’ll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.

Ignite Me was everything I have ever wanted to say to Juliette. It was everything I had hoped for Juliette to become. And it was everything I wish this entire series had been. While parts were quite info-dumpy and there was very little in actual character development, I still found I really enjoyed Ignite Me for finally giving me the heroine I had been seeking since Shatter Me.

Ignite Me wastes absolutely no time informing Juliette of how cowardly and ridiculous she has been. As Warner shares his secrets, secrets that I think some readers will have a hard time coming to terms with, Juliette begins to see not only Warner, but more importantly, herself in a new light.

For so many years I thought my life was difficult; I thought I understood what it meant to suffer. But this. This is something I can’t even begin to comprehend. I never stopped to consider that someone else might have it worse than I do.

It makes me feel ashamed for ever having felt sorry for myself.

I absolutely loved watching Warner give Juliette the verbal lashing that she has needed for the past two books.

“You didn’t react against my threats. You wouldn’t respond to the things that mattered. You acted like an insolent child,” he says. “You didn’t like your clothes. You wouldn’t eat your fancy food.”

…

“Here I was, prepared to defend my life against an uncontrollable monster who could kill,” he says, “kill a man with her bare hands – ” He bites back another laugh. “And you threw tantrums over clean clothes and hot meals. Oh,” he says, shaking his head at the ceiling, “you were ridiculous.

[Read more…]

Book Review: Unravel Me

February 12, 2014 by Kelly

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Series: Shatter Me #2

Published by HarperCollins on February 5th, 2013

Pages: 480

Shelve It: Goodreads

tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
it’s almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She’s finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam’s life.

After my excitement for this series had been rekindled by Destroy Me, I was really looking forward to Unravel Me. I was sure my dislike of Shatter Me was a situational thing; I must have disliked it because of the headspace I was in when I read it! And then I realized it wasn’t Unravel Me per se that I disliked, but it’s heroine; it’s pathetically whiney, dependent and frail heroine who showed no little growth since Shatter Me.

Before I get into all of the reasons why Juliette has ruined this series for me, I would like to comment on the one thing things I did enjoy in Unravel Me. With its stream of consciousness narration, Unravel Me manages to succeed at being incredibly fast-paced, even though almost nothing is happening during its 400+ pages. I will admit to skimming over most of Juliette’s angsty monologues about feeling inadequate, which means I probably skimmed over most of Unravel Me, but thanks to almost nonexistent punctuation in between Juliettes’ thoughts, Unravel Me reads surprisingly quickly for its lengthier size. Mafi’s prose, while definitely of the purple nature, is also quite pretty even though it rarely makes sense. [Read more…]