Divergent By Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Category: MUST READ


Good Reads Book Description:


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.


One of My Favority Quotes:


"I might be in love with you." He smiles a little. "I'm waiting until I'm sure to tell you, though."
"That's sensible of you," I say, smiling too. "We should find some paper so you can make a list or a chart of something."
I feel his laughter against my side, his nose sliding along my jaw, his lips pressing behind my ear.
"Maybe I'm already sure," he says, "and I just don't want to frighten you."
I laugh a little. "Then you should know better."
"Fine", he says, "Then I love you."



On to the Review:

This book owned my life for 24 hours.  I started reading Friday night at 9:38 pm and finished the book Saturday at 11:38 pm. I didn’t even realize that I was on the last page until I couldn’t turn the page anymore. 

 I get tired of using the words great, fantastic, and amazing, but this book was all of those words and more.  I haven’t pinpointed the exact reason that I love this book, but it has a great mix of suspense, action, and romance.  I was hooked from the first page.  I honestly enjoyed the entire book. I never once felt like a part of the book was dragging or wasn’t interesting

I really enjoyed the author’s writing style. Normally, it takes me just a bit to get used to the style when starting a new book. This was not the case with Divergent.  I fell right in step with Veronica Roth from the first page. She did a wonderful job at creating an image in your mind without overloading you with excessive details.   I knew that if something was described or even mentioned in Divergent, that I needed to remember it because it was coming back up soon.

Something I found interesting was the character descriptions between Four and Tris.  I feel like I got a pretty clear picture in my mind of Four. (See below). However, I never could picture Tris. No matter what, I couldn't conjure up an image of her in my mind. This wasn't due to my lack of imagination or any fault of Veronica Roth's. My theory is that is that way it was supossed to be.  Tris comes from an abnegation background (selfless) so she has been trained to never focus on herself. Since the book is from her point of view, we never get the details that you normally would from a character.  For instance, the character in another book might describe their hair, face, and clothes before leaving for work or when they look in the mirror. We never got that with Tris other than her stating she had plain blonde hair. Just a random thought I had...I actually thought it was quite clever of the author in keeping true to Tris' character.

This is who I had in mind for Four (Tobias). Thoughts?

This was a unique YA love story.  There was not an overwhelming passionate love affair between Tris and Four.  The love story develops along with the plot. We never lost focus of the main story line. The love story stayed true to their characters as well. Four is a quiet, reserved, but fiery instructor. Four didn’t become all clingy and girly when he realized he was attracted to her. He never once babied her because she was small, weak, or female. He pushes her to be stronger, mentally and physically.

"You think my first instinct is to protect you. Because you're small, or a girl, or a Stiff. But you're wrong."
He leans his face close to mine and wraps his fingers around my chin. His hand smells like metal. When was the last time he held a gun, or a knife? My skin tingles at the point of contact, like he's transmitting electricity through his skin.
"My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press." he says, his fingers squeezing at the word break. My body tenses at the edge in his voice, so I am coiled as tight as a spring, and I forget to breathe.
HIs dark eyes lifting to mine, he adds, "But I resist it."
"Why..." I swallow hard. "Why is that your first instinct?"
"Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up. I've seen it. It's fascinating." He releases me but doesn't pull away, his hand grazing my jaw, my neck. "Sometimes I just want to see it again. Want to see you awake."

I was hesitant when beginning the book because of the hype surrounding this book.  I didn’t want to be let down. I just recently read The Hunger Games which many people compared this book to. The comparison begins and ends with the dystopian setting.  That is all.  I LOVED The Hunger Games. It was so creative and at times just insane (the books caused stress in my life while reading, lol)  However, Veronica Roth does a great job at creating a series set in dystopian Chicago where every citizen at 16 chooses a faction (what I compare to a district). The purpose is to devote your life to a positive quality: honesty, intelligence, selflessness, bravery, and peacefulness. Well, things don’t always work out the way they are planned. Ultimately, some people are just downright evil. Shit hits the fan from here…

I could say so much more about this book, but I won't. Just go read it! I definitely recommend this book after reading Twilight, The Hunger Games, or any book for that matter.  This is an amazing debut novel from Veronia Roth.  I can’t wait for the next book in the series to be released.

Exciting Note - I just heard that Summit Entertainment obtained the rights to Divergent and they have hired a screenwriter to adapt this novel to a movie! Woo Hoo! Can't wait!!!

Another Exciting Note - Just like 30 seconds I saw the 2nd installment in this series is entitled Insurgent!

Catching Fire

Catching Fire  (Book 2 of 3)

By: Suzanne Collins


Book Summary: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the annual competition described in Hunger Games, but the aftermath leaves these victors with no sense of triumph. Instead, they have become the poster boys for a rebellion that they never planned to lead. That new, unwanted status puts them in the bull's-eye for merciless revenge by The Capitol.

Thoughts, questions and ramblings:  Katniss and Peeta's relationship ends sourly in book one. And in Catching Fire, we pick right back off where we left off. Haymitch is still drunk, Peeta's still in love, and Katniss still has no clue who she can or can't trust. When I began reading the second installment to Suzanne Collins trilogy, I was not sure how they could possibly drag out the "Hunger Games" into two more books, especially when they were completed by book 1. Nonetheless, my worries of this being a book that was full of character development rather than plot were stricken immediately when I read about Peeta and Katniss returning to the arena. 


I must confide, the second trip to the Games lacked the shock factor given in book one (for obvious reasons - who could have imagined Tracker Jackets or Mutant Wolves?) but the action certainly managed to maintained the hype. For me, although there was not as many new and shocking creatures or situations, in book two, it certainly had me guessing "who's for who" throughout.  My main criticism of this book ended up being that although I was rooting for Peeta, I felt his character needed more masculinity. In book one you find that he is a natural when it comes to camouflage, and happens to be a strength of his, but you don't really get to see him flex his camo-creative muscles at all in book 2. This could have been his niche. Instead the author dwells on his decorating cakes (um...just not manly enough for me). That's neither here nor there, Peeta still has me rooting for him.


Unlike, some other reviews I have read, I didn't by any means think that Catching Fire was any sort of a let down to the original Hunger Games book. I thought it did a wonderful job of continuing a story that you know wasn't finished in book 1. Although, obviously it doesn't tie things up in this one (hence book 3) it certainly gives us the necessary additional insight to the many layers of the Capitol's vengeance, as well as development of relationships. I flew right through this one and immediately picked up Mockingjay. If you're looking for an easy read that will keep you on your toes, this fits the bill perfectly.

Now to movie stuff...

Like other Hunger Games fans out there, I have a distinctive impression that I feel the movie should have or live up to. Modern, with ultimate bad-ass vibe (hopefully not setting standards too high, since there's very rare occasions when the movies hold true to book form). Therefore, being a soundtrack LOVER, there are a few songs that I feel would fit this mold perfectly. Unfortunately, I have yet to be able to find them on my beloved playlist.com to share properly. Therefore, I have added a few from youtube, and hope you get the picture.

Both of these songs are by the band Birds of Tokyo, they have 'soundtrack-y' feel to them, and also the second (Armour for Liars) has an anti-governmental vibe which I feel would fit the movie perfectly. This version is not the version I own, and doesn't give quite the same hard-core feel, but it does include the lyrics which I feel are appropriate.

Enjoy.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Book Description: In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival.

First off, wow! This author has a very interesting imagination. I was captivated by the creativity of her dystopian society and surprised at how easily it was for me to accept the characters lifestyles. Upon recommendation of this book, Izzy told me to "just get to the hunger games". I thought for sure that was going to mean that the author over describes things or gets too wrapped up in having us get to know all aspects of Katniss' life before the action starts, but for me this wasn't the case. I was instantly interested in the day-to-day lives of the characters and seemed to want to know even MORE about just what the Gale and Katniss relationship had going on.... when the chaos begins.

When Katniss goes to the Hunger Games, I was of course not surprised (it would have been odd for the main character to not go when the whole book was named after it). But, nevertheless, I was startled at the images the author constructs of CHILDREN preparing to go to a place where they fight till the death. Collins really walks the tight rope of ADULT action and with just enough gruesome detail to not be gory, however, holds on to her YA audience by refraining from any sexual encounters.

One of my main criticisms of this book was that once we are made aware that there's going to be a romance between Katniss and Peeta, there's NO action...no thoughts...no almost...nothing. Just kisses. In my own opinion (and this is JUST ME & WHAT I would have LIKED), I thought that perhaps a little more description of their romantic experiences together would have really broken things up a bit. However, it CERTAINLY makes you want more! I was very anxious to read the remainder of the trilogy and know that like most everyone else that has read this book, you will want to too.

Now....on to the MOVIE!

With ALL this talk of The HUNGER GAMES Movie coming out, you didn't think I would fail to mention ANYTHING about it! All this talk of production has me on "Hunger Games Patrol" following blogs and reading up on who's who in the upcoming movie. Because, whether your a book fan or not...it's going to be an interesting film and has potential to be great! AND...furthermore, if you needed ANY more reasons...one word - Gale (aka: Liam Hemsworth)!

(Entire cast mentioned thus far on eonline)