Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: YA Fiction/ Dystopian

Beatrice "Tris" Prior lives in dystopian Chicago where the residents of the city are divided into five factions; the selfless are sorted into "Abnegation", the brave into "Dauntless", the honest into "Candor",  the intelligent into "Erudite", and the nonviolent into "Amity".  Once a year, all the city's sixteen-year-olds attend the Choosing Ceremony where they select which factor they will pledge loyalty to for the rest of their life.  The help them prepare for such a decision, each teen is administered an aptitude test that will determine which faction they are best suited for.  The results of Tris' test are highly unusual: inconclusive.  Rather than demonstrating an aptitude for one faction, she is deemed suitable for three: Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite.  Tired of feeling like an outsider in her own faction, the Abnegation native decides to take a leap of faith and selects Dauntless.  Upon arrival at their new faction's headquarters, the new initiates are shocked to discover only ten of them will make it to initiation day; the rest will become factionless and spend their life alone and begging on the streets...

I found the novel engaging and suspenseful.  There is enough character development for the reader to become invested in the outcome.  Veronica Roth's take on the dystopian genre is very interesting.  It is an intriguing examination of human nature that is accurate enough to be frighteningly believeable. As is so often the case, the book is much better than the movie. While the film adaptation was good, it changed the order of some of the scenes and omitted a few key characters completely.  There was also quite a bit of character development lost when it was translated to the screen.  Internal dialogue is difficult to portray in film.  I suggest reading the book to fully experience this story.

Recommend for fans of dystopian fiction, particularly The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins).

5/5

WARNING: Violence throughout.  Also some mild language.

Apology

I'm sorry to all the people who have visited this blog in the last two and a half years since I reviewed anything.  I got majorly sidetracked by college applications, and, to be honest, AP Literature kind of kind of damaged my love of reading (my enjoyment diminishes quickly when something is assigned rather than my own choice).  That said, I have recently fallen back in love with books, thanks in large part to the fantastic writing stylings of John Green.  So I'm going to try to get back on top of regularly updating this blog and hope you enjoy it!

Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley
Genre: Fiction/ Classic/ British Lit

First of all, has it really been that long since I posted anything?  August?  Wow!  I will hopefully change that starting now.  Anyway...

Victor Frankenstein gets more than he bargained for when his interest in science becomes an obsession with the creation of life.  One dreary November night, after many sleepless days, Frankenstein finally sparks being into his creature- an act he soon regrets.  So terrified by the colossal monster he had created, Frankenstein fleas his apartment.  When he returns later, the beast is gone, presumably never to be seen again.  That, however, is not the case.  Two years later in the woods surrounding his home town, Dr. Frankenstein again encounters the being he had given life to.  The monster has his own story to tell of the sorrow he felt at the disdain he received from a family he had only wanted to help.  The rejection he faced transformed the creature from a naïve, caring individual into a hardened, malicious brute.  Now the monster asks only one thing from the man who breathed animation into him.  He demands Frankenstein create a female creature to keep him company insisting this would satisfy him and the two beings would disappear to some far off land, never to interact with humans again.  However, if the doctor refuses the monsters demands, there will be blood...


Ok, so to be fair, I should probably mention that this book was a language arts III honors assignment given over the two week winter break, it was my only homework over break.  By the time I actually started it I had one week to read it.  That said, I can't say this was one of my favorite books.  I thought the story was pretty slow.  A lot of the book was Frankenstein being depressed about how guilty he feels for creating such a hideous, bloodthirsty monster.  I personally didn't feel too bad for him, especially once the monster explains that he doesn't want to hurt anybody.  Frankenstein sort of paints an unrealistic image of his creation in his mind and refuses to be convinced of anything different.  A large part of this book seems to be about humanity and morality.  The monster is revealed as a very human being who only seeks affection and acceptance.  However, he is deprived of both because of his frightening appearance.  It embodies an important lesson, especially in today's society, about judging people before you know what they've been through.  It also raises the issue of ethics in science.  Is it right to create an unnatural life form?  Once it has been created, is it acceptable to extinguish it simply because the creator changes his mind?


Many descriptions of the book refer to it as "one of the greatest horror stories ever written," or something to that effect.  While it is undeniably a horror story, by today's standards the plot is rather mild, particularly in light of the many movies based off this classic book.  The book was originally written in 1818, and it was probably more extreme by the standards of that time.  Most movies seem to portray the story as much more action-filled and violent.  In the book most of the deaths occur towards the end and the deaths themselves are not described in great detail (not that I'm really complaining, not being a big fan of shock-value, myself).  Instead Frankenstein mostly muses over his guilt about creating the monster that murders his innocent loved ones.  Again, the book focuses more on psychological issues, than straight action.


So overall, if you are looking for a deep, thought-provoking novel, this may be a good choice.  However, if you are looking for a book that will make you want to keep the lights on, consider a different option.  Of course, that's just my opinion, some readers might find it more thrilling than I did.  If you are a fan of gothic literature, this one's a good pick.


Rating: 3/5

Delirium

Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: YA Fiction/ Dystopian

Imagine living a world where any sort of emotion is illegal.  That's how Magdalena "Lena" Haloway lives in a dystopian Portland, Maine, surrounded by an electrified fence.  Everyone fears contracting amor deliria nervosa, fears being forced to feel pain, jealousy, and confusion.  It's been sixty-four years since love was officially declared a disease, and forty-three since scientists perfected the cure.  Now everyone is cured on their eighteenth birthday- like it, or not.  Seventeen year old Lena can't wait to be cured, to be to be assigned a husband and a college, to be safe and happy forever.  That is until a couple months before her eighteenth birthday when she falls in love...


I really liked this book!  The story kept moving pretty well.  I was afraid it was gonna be another teenie-bopper romance novel ("I love you" "I love you more" "No I love you more" etc..),  but this one didn't do that the whole book.  It focuses more on government conspiracy than only on love.  However, it doesn't completely take out romantic moments, it just doesn't make them the sole purpose of the book. 


Most guys probably would not like this book, but I may be wrong.


Recommended for fans of Uglies (Scott Westerfeld), and 1984 (George Orwell).


Rating: 5/5


WARNING: Some brief strong language, so if that offends anyone, you have been warned.  This book's target audience is the older teen group.

The Bell Jar

Author: Sylvia Plath
Genre: Fiction/ Classic

Summer 1953.  Esther Greenwood is living the dream.  She has just won an essay contest and is living in a lavish New York hotel while interning for a month with an upscale fashion magazine.  But something is wrong.  Esther knows she should be having the time of her life, after all she is young, beautiful, talented and successful.  However, in the midst of the big city, she feels "very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo" (Plath).  She stresses about her future after collage, and questions her skills and self worth.
   After returning home to the suburbs, Esther's mental state further deteriorates.  She finds herself unable to sleep, or read, only seeing a mess of letters.  She only goes downhill from there.
   There are more factors that lead to the young woman's downward spiral, butI don't want to give away too much, so I'll stop here.

Incredible book!!  Esther is a very relatable person, based on Sylvia Plath's own experience with depression.  There is no specific point where Esther's sanity begins to unravel; it is a slow process caused the buildup of stressors in her life, something that could happen to anybody.  Her problems are so trivial and everyday, school, work, sex, relationships, parents, friends.  This book can be simply a story about a girl who goes insane, or it can be a deep look into the fragility of the human psyche.  It stays with you.  There's not exactly action, or suspense, but it is still a very real and haunting book.  This is not a particularly "easy" read.  I'm not saying its an incredible difficult level.  But if you make little or no effort to follow her life story, it might be easy to get lost.  There are several flashbacks, especially at the beginning of the book.  These flashbacks are essential, as they set up why her mind comes to break.  If you have an interest in psychology or human behavior, I would highly recommend The Bell Jar to you!

Rating 5/5

WARNING: Potentially disturbing, sometimes the mind can be examined too closely.  Her suicide attempts may also be troubling to some readers.  A lot of reviews talk about how it is "disturbing" but I didn't think there was anything exceptionally traumatic.  As formerly mentioned, this is a rather challenging novel, but it is fulfilling, not simply fluff.  Quite a bit of sexual content, nothing described in too much detail except when Esther loses her virginity and there are a few pages about her hemorrhaging.

The Hunger Games

Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: YA Fiction/ Dystopian

 In a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world, there lies the country of Panem.  Thirteen districts once surrounded the shining Capital.  Then District 13 tried to rebel.  The Capital put put down the rebellion, and as a demonstration of their power, they force the twelve remaining districts to send one boy and one girl to the Capital to fight to the death in The Hunger Games.
   Katniss Everdeen has always had to struggle to provide her young sister, Prim, and her mother with enough food to live.  After her father's death, her mother shut down with grief, leaving Katniss to take care of her sister.  When twelve year old, Prim, is chosen to compete in the Hunger Games Katniss volunteers to take her place, knowing it will be her own death.
   I can't say much more without giving away too much, and that's only the first two chapters!

Oh my gosh!!  This book was amazing!  Its been a long time since I've read a book that makes me stay up an hour longer than I mean to, and read during class.  I was hooked by the end of chapter one and the book just picked up speed from there.

Rating: 5/5

WARNING: Quite a bit of violence (the object is to fight to the death) but its not described too graphically.

The Pearl

Author: John Steinbeck
Genre: Fiction

I finished this for AR over the weekend.  It only took me a week to read, which made me happy because I have other books I want to read, that are not school related.  If you're in the same spot, this one's  a pretty easy read- only a little over 100 pages.

Kino is a fisherman in a poor village in the 19th century.  When his baby boy is stung by a scorpion, he and his wife, Juana seek medical help, but cannot afford it.  While pearling, however, Kino finds "the Pearl of The World."  It is huge and very valuable.  Soon everyone in town wants there hands on it.  Greed quickly takes over everyones' thoughts, and violence begins to break out.

They make the theme of good vs. evil very apparent.  Kino hears in his mind the "song of the family" while his wife cooks breakfast, and the "song of evil" when the scorpion appears.  Both of these are repeated many times throughout the book.

The story line in itself was decent.  Being so short, there was not a particularly complex plot developed.  But, the story kept moving pretty well.  It was not boring at any parts, and there were some action moments.  The characters are not incredibly relatable to this day and age.  There are some kinda depressing moments, especially near the end.  Not really sad, but a sort of feeling of despair.

Rating: 3/5