Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent (Divergent #1)

Author: Veronica Roth

Pages: Hardcover 489 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books

Date Published: May 3^rd 2011

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction

My Rating: 

 

Goodreads

Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

My Review

Not my favorite book but does deserve five stars because it really was great. Many compared this to The Hunger Game and I can see why. They are very different books but it gives you that same feeling of the characters having no other choice but to live by what society has planned for you. You can say, “well it sounds like any other dystopian story” but it’s a little more than that. Oh and also that “I can’t stop reading it” feeling. By the way, if you have not read The Hunger Games yet you have not lived. Back to Divergent, it had great characters and good twists. The romance was not overworked like most YA books. There was plenty of action. It was also perfectly paced which is something you have to appreciate because it is one thing not every author can accomplish so effortlessly.

Another book I could not put down. Excited for the second book to come out!

I recommend this book to everyone. I believe there is a little something for everyone in this story.

The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

Title: The Water Wars

Author: Cameron Stracher

Pages: Hardcover 240 pages

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Date Published: January 1^st 2011

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

My Rating: 

Goodreads

Vera and her brother, Will, live in the shadow of the Great Panic, in a country that has collapsed from environmental catastrophe. Water is hoarded by governments, rivers are dammed, and clouds are sucked from the sky. But then Vera befriends Kai, who seems to have limitless access to fresh water. When Kai suddenly disappears, Vera and Will set off on a dangerous journey in search of him-pursued by pirates, a paramilitary group, and greedy corporations. Timely and eerily familiar, acclaimed author Cameron Stracher makes a stunning YA debut that's impossible to forget. 




"Let us pray that the world which Cameron Stracher has invented in The Water Wars is testament solely to his pure, wild, and brilliant imagination, and not his ability to see the future. I was parched just reading it."-Laurie David, academy award winning producer of An Inconvenient Truth, and author of The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming

My Review

When I first read what this book was about I was eager to read it until I actually got to reading it then I had a lot of thoughts on it, some not so great. I will start of about how it made me feel… thirsty, really thirsty. Stracher made it possible for me to crave water, the way he explained the shortage of water and the way the characters were described, lips chapped and at the point of dehydration, I have to say it was pretty intense, made me think about real life and how we might not be using water properly. That was probably the good part of the book, how the author can make you feel a certain way and so extremely. Now I want to talk about the so-so portion of the book. There was so much action, if you are into action filled book, this might be for you. In my opinion there was way too much action, so much that it was really improbable, which was disappointing because the topic of the lack of water was so realistic it was even easy to connect then you get all this action that you get in corny movies in which you think to yourself, “how does that happen? Is that even possible? No one can have that much luck. If it was real life they would have already been dead.” A lot of action in which I waited for something important to happen but nothing ever did, it just went from action to more action and so on. This book was not exactly made for me but it was not so bad.

I recommend this book to anyone into action filled stories and into the dystopian genre.

Wither (The Chemical Garden #1) by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Wither (The Chemical Garden #1)

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Pages: Hardcover 358 pages

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Date Published: March 22^nd 2011

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Romance

My Rating: 

 

Goodreads

Obviously, something went terribly wrong. Genetic mutations have festered, reducing human longevity to twenty-five, even less for most women. To prevent extinction, young girls are kidnapped, mated in polygamous marriages with men eager to procreate. Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, a recent victim of this breeding farm mentality, has vowed to break loose from its fetters; but finding allies and a safe way out is a challenge she can only hope she will survive. A dystopian fantasy series starter with wings. Editor's recommendation.

Better summary of the book go here!

My Review

Amazing. Absolutely, remarkable.

What a strange book. By strange I mean this book goes nowhere but goes everywhere at the same time. Confusing, I know. The setting of this story pretty much stays the same throughout the whole book, you don’t go on an adventure like most in most books but this story proves that you don’t need to! From the beginning this book captures the reader’s attention, from there on you become part of the story. I seriously felt I was there with the characters in that house, even felt imprisoned. I felt seriously connected with this book.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the guy characters, Gabriel I can stand but I still feel he was missing something but I really can’t handle Linden, I really dislike his character he annoys me and even grosses me out I have no idea why. I like the rest of the characters, each one is very unique, my favorite is Jenna, and even Linden’s father is an interesting character. This book was different, besides the love triangle, there is no book like it, the story was morbid at times, I just loved it.

Okay one last thing, out of all the books I’ve read I have only cried with at the most three, not even One Day made me cry, its hard for me to get emotional with just anything, but this book had a section where I couldn’t help it, it was way too sad and unexpected.

I recommend this book to EVERYONE!

Regarding 2011 Challenges

When I first heard about this challenge I was really excited I must say, but I have to admit that I am no longer as interested in the Young Adult genre as I was when I first heard about the challenge. In that case I am no longer going to continue with the DAC challenge because I don't want to force myself to read something that I am not currently interested in reading only because I don't want to give whatever book I am reading a bad review based on the mood I was in while reading the book. I did get to read FOUR of the twelve books I promised to read and there WILL be reviews for those four. I did have most of those twelve books on my lists already bought and in my bookcase in which case I might read them sometime in the future and there will obviously be reviews. Just because I am pausing the YA reading it does not mean that I no longer like them in any way because I do, those books were the first type of books I read and I still want to continue reading them, in which case I should mention that I am really excited for a couple of YA books that are coming out soon so please know that there will still be YA reviews. I still have plenty of YA reviews that I have to do so this blog will still be mainly YA based for a while.

As for the Stephen King Challenge, I will continue that challenge along with the goodreads challenge.

2011 Debut Author Challenge!

A challenge to read twelve or more books, YA or MG, from 2011 Debut Authors...

Pretty much fell in love with the challenge idea when I heard about it through Kate (CallMeCrazy YA Reviews) .

The Story Siren is hosting it for the third time and I must say i am really excited for it! Click here for more information about the challenge and a list of books you can choose from.

Since I am new to the blogging world I am really excited for this challenge, my first!

Thank you Lindsi and The Story Siren for the awesome buttons!

OKAY! Finally here are the books that I have chosen:

1. The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher 1/1/11
2. Unearthly (Unearthly #1) by Cynthia Hand 1/4/11
3. XVI by Julia Karr 1/6/11
4. The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney 1/8/11
5. Across the Universe by Beth Revis 1/11/11
6. Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer 2/15/11
7. I Am J by Chris Beam 3/1/11
8. The Liar Society (Liar Society #1) by Lisa and Laura Roecker 3/1/11
9. Wither (Chemical Garden #1) by Lauren DeStefano 3/22/11
10. Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth 5/3/11
11. Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky 5/23/11
12. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab 8/2/11

Most excited about!!!

Wither (Chemical Garden #1) by Lauren DeStefano 3/22/11
Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky 5/23/11
XVI by Julia Karr 1/6/11
The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney 1/8/11
Unearthly (Unearthly #1) by Cynthia Hand 1/4/11