Monday, October 21, 2013

Allegiant, the final book in the Divergent Trilogy

Allegiant (Divergent, #3)Allegiant by Veronica Roth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As I write this review, I’m still in shock. Not because Allegiant was horrible, but quite the opposite—it was good, it was realistic, it was unexpected, and oh my goodness, it was emotional. I’m still reeling from the ending. Just my saying that might have some of you guessing at what the ending could be, but you’ll probably still be surprised (well, unless you already read a spoiler somewhere, of course). I was entirely shocked—I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a YA novel that ended quite like Allegiant did. Does it sound arrogant to say I’m proud of Veronica Roth for writing it the way she did? I hope not, because I truly mean it as a compliment. So many authors either avoid reality or plunge too far into it, turning it so tasteless that it’s like trying to swallow bitter ash. But Allegiant walks a fine line of bringing those moments that make us giddy and happy, and then reminding us of the seriousness of being a real person in real life.

Dang, I loved this book.

I wasn’t sure at first. Insurgent was good, but not as amazing as Divergent, and of course Allegiant started off in yet another different way, so I had no idea how it would go. Whereas Divergent was almost insta-love, Allegiant was more like falling in love with a best friend who just sort of crept up on you…unexpectedly in some ways, but yet, not so unexpected.

I suppose I should actually mention the plot, beyond all these vague hints. I don’t want to give too much away, and I think the summary covers the plot just fine, so what I’ll do is I’ll talk about the questions that are addressed in this book. If you want to know absolutely nothing about the plot and what is answered, stop reading here!

So…for the rest of you. Yes, Tris and Tobias finally learn what’s outside of their city. They learn where they are, what’s been going on in the outside world, and how their faction system originally got set up. We also see what happens to the city they’re from, so it’s not like the city’s totally been left behind. Tris and Tobias have to again make decisions about their values and morals, and they are wonderfully true to character. And I don’t mean they keep making the same decisions no matter what, I mean that they change, grow, and make decisions based on both old values and new realizations. Just like any person does. We also get a little bit of an epilogue, which is nice. I’m glad the book didn’t just end—I hate when stories do that.

If someone’s looking for critiques, the best I can give you is that Tobias has changed from who he was in Divergent, and some fans may not like that, who knows. Also, some of the science/ scientific ideals seem a little unbelievable to me, but I suppose you have to sort of take that in stride when you’re reading a dystopian.

But all that aside, it was the writing style, message, and characters that mattered more to me, and I loved all those. So a definite five stars for Allegiant, and I can’t wait to see what Veronica Roth comes up with next!


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Monday, October 14, 2013

Closed Hearts, Mindjack Trilogy

Closed Hearts (Mindjack Trilogy, #2)Closed Hearts by Susan Kaye Quinn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Closed Hearts was a good follow-up to the first, but it some ways it was sort of frustrating, because it felt like it used a lot of the same plot devices. She again feels like she can't love Raf--this time to protect him, but of course, she does it anyways. Again, she doesn't want to be involved in world-changing events, but she gets dragged into them (I suppose at least he stays true to character?). She gets lugged off to another secret government facility and AGAIN is shocked by the scope of it. Except this time, she gives in more easily to what happens to her. Maybe because she expects it at this point? I'm not entirely sure, but it's sort of frustrating. It made me want to shake her!

Essentially, I sort of wish that Kira would take less time to make the decisions we all know she eventually has to make. She seems to be in a state of denial, masquerading as a normal mindreader, pretending her family isn't in danger, and fooling herself into thinking she can take a job as a mindguard without practicing mindguarding/jacking (oh, and her employer is some kind of benevolent, protective grandfather type?).

It was decently action-packed, added to the world-building, and kept me entertained though, so three stars!

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Thursday, October 3, 2013

All The Truth That's In Me, an examination of moral shades of gray

All the Truth That's In MeAll the Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story caught me by surprise, sneaking up on me when I thought I wasn't really going to like it. Lyrical or artistic writing is often hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it drives me crazy (not in a good way). But With All The Truth That's In Me, I found the writing style exactly fitting to Judith and her mental state. It made sense, the way she thought, moved, reacted.

Her obsession with Lucas was a little disturbing at first, but it fit with her history. He's one of the few good points in her life, the ivory tower she can admire from afar, never thinking she has a chance to be near it. He frustrated me some--how long it took for him to notice Judith, but at the same time, it made him more human. And I think that's what I liked best about this story; all these characters were very, very human, and very imperfect. No one always made the right decision or thought entirely logically, but their mistakes weren't idiotic either. They were emotion-based.

If you enjoy books that explore the human character, and show how people aren't easily definable as good or evil, you'll probably enjoy this book. A teen reading this should probably be more mature, able to understand all the moral shades of gray.

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Freak of Nature

Freak of Nature (IFICS, #1)Freak of Nature by Julia Crane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to give this book a better rating, I really did. It had so much potential, but...it fell flat. I like books with a lot of depth, with characters who have shades of gray, whether or not they see the world that way. I like when situations in a book make decisions difficult. And none of that really happened here, or not to any extent that I was every truly worried for Kaitlyn. Everything was too easy for her. One of the people who spends the most time with her just happens to be a gorgeous boy her age, who also happens to find her attractive. When she meets up with a guy from before her accident, there's potential for drama, but then Kaitlyn simply bypasses it. And then at the end she gets to go off and dictate exactly what she wants to do. I'm still not sure how a money-conscious businessman/scientist would be convinced that her greatest use is to go hunt down rapists and human traffickers, but oh well...maybe she has secret super powers of persuasion. The idea was interesting enough that I did finish the book, and the writing was fine grammatically, I just couldn't really get into it. And I'm not usually picky when it comes to romances, but like I said, this one was just too...easy.

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