Allegiant

Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Rother
Series: Divergent #3
Read: May 13, 2014

Summary: 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.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent. goodreads

Review: This is the third book in the Divergent series and I have to admit, I had to read some recaps on Shmoop. It had been so long since I had read the first two that I actually went through chapter by chapter to jog my memory. It worked which was a good thing because this book leaves off exactly where Insurgent did with zero summary (which is one of my pet peeves of series. At least catch us old ladies up on what happened in the last one. We forget these things reading 100+ books a year!)

So I caught up and remembered how much I enjoyed Divergent and that Insurgent was ok. I was ready. And to be honest, I was a little disappointed. I hated the dual narratives and couldn't keep track of who was talking easily. It drove me bonkers. While I liked hearing about the background, the government, and the DNA aspect of this story, it was just that: background! It didn't really move the story along so much. But in the last 100 pages, this book was 100% redeemed for me! The 100 pages prior to that when Tris and Four were making the plan to turn the tables on everyone was stupid and hypocritical (still think that now) but some things happened that redeemed it for me. But of course in order to talk about these, I have to reveal spoilers. I try to stay away from spoilers but in this book, the only reason it got 3/5 was because of the spoilers. So--

SPOILER ALERT!!! GO HOME IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW MORE!

Now that that is out of the way, here we go. Going into this book, I somehow managed to avoid all of the spoilers. I was super stoked this book was coming out and didn't have to read everything about the release so that probably helped me avoid most of it. I knew people hated the ending but for me, it was the best part. 

One of my pet peeves about the last two books has been how stupid, careless, reckless, and dangerous Tris has been with minimal consequences. Yes, I understand these are dauntless traits but no one is that lucky and it became annoyingly redundant. Not to mention the fact that she annoyed me during this whole book so when she died, I thought "finally!" for various reasons. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED Tris in the first book. She was a strong female protagonist who experienced real love and none of that insta-love crap. She was my girl! But that faded over Insurgent and was completely absent this book. 

Her death also explained the dual narratives that I hated. It forced Four to grow on his own and stop leaning on her so much and it healed things between her brother and her. Honestly, she was never going to let Caleb do it and we all know she thought she was the only bad ass who would be immune to the scarey "death serum." The more I think about it, the more I think this was the only possible ending. No one gets a perfect happy ending in a dystopian society, props to you Roth for having the balls to kill Tris. Thank you!

Breathe

Title: Breathe
Author: Sarah Crossan
Series: Breathe #1
Read: May 3, 2014

Summary: The world has no air. If you want to survive, you pay to breathe. But what if you can't? And what if you think everything could be different? Three teens will leave everything they know behind in Sarah Crossan's gripping and original dystopian teen novel of danger, longing, and glimmering hope that will appeal to fans of Patrick Ness and Veronica Roth.

National Book Award Finalist Kathleen Duey called Breathe "An amazing story! Sit down. Inhale. Now, while you still can." Ever since the Switch, when the oxygen levels plummeted and most of humanity died, the survivors have been protected in glass domes full of manufactured air. Protected . . . or trapped? Or controlled? Alina's a revolutionary who believes we can save the environment. Quinn's a Premium who's never had to worry about having enough air. His best friend, Bea, is an Auxiliary who's never worried about anything but having enough air. When the three cross paths, they will change everything. Sarah Crossan's thrilling and provocative novel is about passion, about yearning for something better, and about breaking free for the very first time. The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books proclaims it an "action-packed dystopian series opener to watch out for." goodreads

Review: I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I think the dystopian young adult books are all the rage now and it's hard to find some that really get me caught up in their world but this one did. The first thing that caught my attention was the three main characters. Yes, there is initially the love triangle which drives me crazy but it fades out pretty quickly. But when you get down to it, the three main characters, Bea, Quinn, and Alina, are so different that they each give their own perspective of the exact same world. This helps the reader understand what it is like to be in each social circle as well as the difference between the informed and the ignorant. This was very well done.

Next, I enjoyed the ways Crossan developed the world because I could see a disaster like this actually happening. The reason there is no more oxygen is because they cut all the trees down to make space for farming to feed the booming population. Yes, this is extreme but if we don't treasure some of our natural resources, we could use them all up and not be able to replenish them. The reminder of this makes this story a little more scary. It was also well created without being too "tree-hugger" for my tastes.

The reader also gets to see each character grow and become less disillusioned with the world that they thought they knew. All three of them had this perceived notion of why the world was the way it was and while they were all very different notions, the characters learned that parts of them were right but parts were very off-base. This allowed the characters to grow and the reader to connect with them. Initially, I really didn't like the characters as people that much but as they were developed throughout the story, they really started to grow on me.

I know this is the first book in the series and I look forward to continuing it. The difference between this book and the Chosen Ones (my review) is that Sarah Crossan was able to achieve all of these things in her first book which could be a stand alone if it needed to be. It didn't just provide initial information and then end while trying to hook you into the next one. While I don't think this book is the next big thing and it's one of my favorites, it caught my attention and kept me entertained thoroughly. I will definitely be following this series!

The Burgess Boys

 Title: The Burgess Boys
Author: Elizabeth Strout
Read: April 30, 2014

Summary: Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister, Susan—the Burgess sibling who stayed behind—urgently calls them home. Her lonely teenage son, Zach, has gotten himself into a world of trouble, and Susan desperately needs their help. And so the Burgess brothers return to the landscape of their childhood, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped and shadowed their relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever.

With a rare combination of brilliant storytelling, exquisite prose, and remarkable insight into character, Elizabeth Strout has brought to life two deeply human protagonists whose struggles and triumphs will resonate with readers long after they turn the final page. Tender, tough-minded, loving, and deeply illuminating about the ties that bind us to family and home, The Burgess Boys is Elizabeth Strout’s newest and perhaps most astonishing work of literary art. goodreads

Review: This book was a huge disappointment and I did not expect it to be what it was. First and foremost, I hated the Burgess family. Bob could have been redeeming and maybe in the end, Zach, but as a whole, they are not very good people. Jim Burgess is the absolute worst! He he mean to everyone around him and very self-involved. Susan is worthless. She's a horrible mom and completely oblivious to the person she has raised; poor Zach. You can understand why he did what he did. More on that later. Even Jim's wife is less than likable. No bueno.

Then we get to the story. I thought the story would focus more on the "freak accident" and how it affected the family but I was way wrong. Yes, it was mentioned a few times but it doesn't really affect any of the grown up kids other than the fact that they all blame themselves. Maybe Strout could have led us to believe that this was the reason they were all so screwed up, but if that was her goal, she failed miserably.

The story is actually about the Somali population in the small Maine town the Burgesses grew up in and how the community doesn't accept them. It turns out, Zach decided to throw a pig's head into a mosque. This event brings the Burgess brothers home because they are supposed to clean up the mess he has made. I found myself not caring what happened to any of the characters. I didn't care if Zach got in trouble or how his uncles helped him. I just didn't care about the characters and was unimpressed with the story line.

And finally, WTF was the deal with the prologue?!?! What was the point of it? It's some sort of metafiction but completely useless. We could always focus on the last line of the prologue which is "Nobody ever knows anyone." This could be a theme throughout the entire book but it wasn't well done if that was the point.

The reason this book got 2/5 instead of 1/5 is because the writing was well done and the book made sense. I finished it and it wasn't painful to read (just not very interesting.) I didn't like the story or the characters, and had a hard time getting through it, but as a writer, Stout is not bad. Which is probably a insult because she is a Pulitzer Prize winner, but this book just crashed and burned for me.

Blog Question

and creepy.

So I've been doing this bloggy thing for about 6 months and I think I'm starting to get spam... I get lots of anonymous comments on one post from a long time ago that don't make a lot of sense. Some of them do, but not many. And it's always the same post. What is going on? The comments go in the spam folder but I get emailed about them all the time. How do I make it stop? I know captcha could do it but that's a pain in the ass for anyone who actually wants to comment. Do I just deal with the emails or can I make it go away???

Help a newbie blogger out!

May 2014 Reading List

It's that time again! Happy May Day to everyone! I hope you go dance around a pole. With ribbons, duh.

via

You know the deal, first we recap, then we set goals. So, for the month of April I did awesome! I read all of my books and then ten more! Um, just kidding. It felt good to lie about for a second though. I once again, failed at my goals. Here it is:

Read:
Beyond Belief
Burn for Burn
Chosen Ones
The Burgess Boys

Currently Reading:
Dragonfly in Amber

Sidenote: I started reading Lolita this month to participate in the Insatiable Booksluts read-a-long but I fell way behind... This may be part of the reason I didn't hit my goals. I'll finish this book this month but I'm not adding it to my goals.

Didn't Read:
Blackmoore
Breathe

I got about halfway through... Whatever. Onward and upward or something like that. I'm hoping May goes better because I didn't have any really enjoyable reads this month. Don't get me wrong, I love Dragonfly but I've read it before and it's not my favorite in the series. Let's see what we have on deck this month:

Reading List for May

Real Book: 

 Allegiant (Divergent #3)

I'm going to finish the trilogy! 

Ebooks:  

Leftovers from last month: 

Blackmoore

Breathe (Breathe #1)

Newbies:

 The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
I've heard awesome things about this one!

 Columbine 

I grew up in Colorado and have a lot of memories of when Columbine happened. Just looking at the cover gives me chills so this may be a really hard read.

 Coming Clean
I'm very interested in hearing about how a child lives through a house full of hoarders

 The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1)

I'm obviously a huge J.K. fan and I'm sad for her that she was found out prior to this being published but I look forward to a new writing style from her. Hoping for something different from Harry and A Casual Vacancy. 

I've got some great books lined up for May if I do say so myself. It's going to be hard to finish the ones I'm on (and the leftovers) before diving into my new ones. Cheers to some good reading? What's on your list for May?

Chosen Ones

Title: Chosen Ones
Author: Tiffany Truitt
Series: The Lost Souls #1
Read: April 20, 2014

Summary: Life is bleak but uncomplicated for sixteen-year-old Tess, living in a not-too-distant future where the government, faced with humanity's extinction, created the Chosen Ones, artificial beings who are extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.

When Tess begins work at Templeton, a Chosen Ones training facility, she meets James, and the attraction is immediate in its intensity, overwhelming in its danger. But there is more to Templeton than Tess ever knew. Can she stand against her oppressors, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life? goodreads

Review: To be honest, this book left me feeling a little confused and wanting more. I really liked the sci-fi, post-apocalyptic/dystopian premise. Tess lives in a world where females are no longer able to reproduce which is fortunate because the government is now manufacturing "chosen ones" who are only males and perfect beings. Don't get me started on the sexism. I think the premise is a solid idea but I'm left wanting more. I wanted to understand some more of the history and how things got as bad as they did. This is only the first book in the series so they may go into more in other books but I did't feel like the world was created as well as I wanted to.

While reading this book, I kept asking myself why Divergent made it and a book like this didn't? Similar genres and narrators but Divergent was so much better and obviously more popular. I feel like the problem was that I didn't particularly connect with Tess like I did with Tris. I liked the rebellious traits she had but at times, she just felt a little dumb.

Of course, at some point Tess meets a boy who is, gasp, a chosen one and there is some insta-love (which I hate) but I kind of liked James anyway. I think my main issue with this book is it just felt a little chaotic and rushed. The plot had so much potential and I liked parts of it but, in the end, I just wanted more. I think there are some very positive aspects of this book but it wasn't enough for me. I won't be finishing this series because I wasn't that hooked but I think if I did, I would enjoy learning what happened to the characters and some more background about how society got to where it is.

Have you read this? What did you think?

Burn for Burn

Title: Burn for Burn
Author: Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Series: Burn for Burn #1
Read: April 13, 2014

Summary: Postcard-perfect Jar Island is the kind of place where nobody locks their doors at night, where parents can sleep easy, knowing their daughters are tucked away safe and sound in their beds.

But bad things can happen, even to good girls . . . and sometimes, the only way to make things right is to do something wrong.

Lillia used to trust boys, but not anymore. Not after what happened this summer. And she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her little sister from the same fate.

Kat is over the rumors, the insults, the cruel jokes made at her expense. It all goes back to one person--her ex-best friend. Someone needs to teach her a lesson, and, with Lillia and Mary behind her, Kat feels up to the task.

Four years ago, Mary left Jar Island because of a boy. But she’s not the same girl anymore. Now that she’s got friends who have her back, he's going to be in big trouble.

Three very different girls who come together to make things right. Will they go too far? goodreads

Review: This story is told through three different perspectives of three very different girls. Lillia is the popular one who is starting to see that her friends may not be who she thought they were. Kat is the rebel who has recently been hurt by a popular boy and has a grudge against Lillia's best friend (because they all three used to be besties but then Kat was kicked to the curb.) And Mary is the new kid who is returning to the island after leaving due to a traumatic incident. All three girls are thrown together for one goal and one goal only: revenge.

I liked the premise of this story. It's very high school. Girls start to mature and realize that maybe things aren't what they really thought. They start to realize that maybe they were too bitchy to the girl who wasn't exactly like them. And sometimes, if we are really lucky, they start to make amends. Some of that happened in this book. But mostly, these girls realized that the people who deserve it, aren't getting what's coming to them and they want to do something to correct that.

The revenge starts out simple but gets a little more extreme as the story goes on. The story leads up to homecoming night where they make their final big moves and things go very, very wrong. Then the story ends. We don't know what happens to each person or the consequences. Things get out of hand and then the story ends. Now, I appreciate a good cliff-hanger as much as the next girl but this was ridiculous. I also understand that this is part of a series and meant to entice me to read the next one but it doesn't. I'm just frustrated. There should have been some sort of ending.

The one other issue I had with this book were the weird Carrie moments that Mary was having. They only happened a couple of times and were finally addressed (albeit briefly) in the big homecoming mess but I thought it was too random and didn't see this book going that way. Of course, I don't know anything about this aspect of Mary or her life because it was only briefly mentioned and then the story ended but I found it very odd. And a little bit of a rip off from my beloved Stephen. Needless to say, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I will not be continuing the series even though I do want to know what happens to these girls. I liked the characters and the story was told well and moved along quickly. I'm just not interested enough to keep going. If anyone has read this and would like to let me know what happens, I'd be open to spoilers!