Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

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5 stars, book review, divergent, dystopia, favourites, veronica roth, young adult

Title: Divergent by Veronica Roth (Divergent #1)

Format: paperback

Published: 3rd May, 2012

Genre:  Dystopia, Young Adult

Synopsis (from Goodreads): In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

Review: 

I have a term for books that I am so into I stop for nothing. Not food, nor sleep, nor anything else. These books are my cereal-for-dinner books – the ones where I don’t even want to take a break for a decent meal but rather I just pour a bowl of whatever I have on hand and some milk and keep on reading. Last night was a weet-bix kind of night.

At the age of 16, everyone must undergo an aptitude test to determine which faction of society they are best fitted to and then choose where they will spend the rest of their lives. Faction before Family. 

When Beatrice Prior undergoes the test which decides which faction she is best suited to, there is an anomaly with her results. She is “divergent” – not a perfect fit into any one of the five factions but rather equally suited to three; Dauntless – the dare devils who protect everyone from the horrors outside the city limits, Erudite – the book smart people who think the answer to everything is knowledge AND Abnegation – the people Beatrice grew up with who are selfless above all else.

Beatrice has more to think about than most when deciding which faction to dedicate her life to. Does she go with the Abnegations – and live the life she’s been brought up with but never truly feeling like she belongs? Or does she take a chance and abandon her family?

There are a lot of plot twists and turns in this novel. There are so many things that I wasn’t expecting (and a few that I was) but overall I think what I enjoyed most about this book was that it was different. It’s set in a post-apocolyptic dystopian world and for many people, they will see many similarities with The Hunger Games. But I found there to be enough differences to be throughly entertained.

Beatrice (aka. Tris) is a fantastic heroine. She’s more than what she seems. Her transformation from an Abnegation child to a Dauntless inductee was fascinating to read about. I did have a few problems with her (I can’t believe some of the things she does or more disturbingly, the way she feels about some things) but I think I’m hard to please and had she been less hard and a little softer I’d have been disappointed too. Four is my favourite character. He’s fascinating. I had an inkling about who he was and what his former faction was a long time before it was revealed but still enjoyed the journey. I liked how his relationship with Tris progressed.

It’s a good think that there’s only a few weeks till the sequel comes out. I’m impatient to find out what happens next. This book was fantastic. I recommend it to anyone who likes teen fiction that’s not romance centric, likes dystopia stories and isn’t scared off by a bit of violence.

Rating:

5 out of 5

Purchase book at:

Book Depository / Amazon

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Book Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

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4 stars, blood of eden, book review, dystopian, Julie Kagawa, The Immortal Rules, vampires, young adult

Title: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (Blood of Eden #1)

Format: ebook (an ARC provided by NetGalley)

Published:  April 24, 2012

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Vampires, Dystopia

Synopsis (from Goodreads): In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

Review: 

This book is dark, gritty and exciting – but not for the faint hearted. Unlike most young adult vampire novels I’ve read in the last few years, The Immortal Rules is an incredibly dark and dangerous story. The vampires in this world are not the kind you’d want to kiss but rather the kind that haunt your nightmares and terrify you at their mere mention.

In the future, Allison (Allie) Sekemoto, a feisty and kick-ass seventeen year old girl who lives with her gang of misfits, is living in a world where a disease called Red Lung has wiped out the majority of the human race.

In come the Vampires – they now rule the world and have enslaved the remaining humans as their pets. Humans have the choice to Register or remain Unregistered. Registered humans are provided for with meal tickets and all the Vampires ask/demand in return is a blood donation every so often. Miss a blood donation appointment and the Vampires will come to collect… and they won’t be nice about it. Unregistered humans have none of the privileges of the registered and are forced to scavenge and steal to survive  but get caught thieving and it’s the gallows for you – and they’re serious. The first scene of this novel has Allie witnessing three teenagers hanged as punishment for their stealing ways.

And then there’s the Rabids – much like zombies and rabid dogs – these former humans roam the land biting and feasting on humans. For an unregistered human there’s much to fear in this new world.

Allie refuses to become Registered. She hates the hunger that plagues her, never knowing when her next meal will come from but she’d rather scavenge than be owned by a Vampire. So when Allie finds a stash of food outside the Wall, she tries to hoard as much as she can only to be attacked by a gang of Rabids. On the verge of death, a strange man gives Allie a choice: to die forever or to die as a human and rise as one of the creatures she’s always despised. A Vampire.

This story surprised me. I have to admit it has a lot of plot twists and turns that I was not expecting. And I loved Allie. She’s fierce and feisty. She’s lead an incredibly risky life and managed to survive. She doesn’t take any shit from anyone and knows what she wants from life. She wants to free the humans from the enslavement of the Vampires.

And she has her priorities right… “Owning books is highly illegal” … and yet she still manages to have a secret library hidden from everyone as owning books is punishable by death – not just to her but the Vampire’s “Pets” would burn her home and everyone in it to the ground.

The romance plot was well received with me. This is not a story of instant love nor is it one where the author forces a love triangle just to make things more suspenseful. A good thing too because there enough suspense in the other parts of the story, I think I’d go into overload if there was any more. I loved the relationship of Allie and Zeke. It was beautiful constructed and realistic in a way that made their relationship all the more meaningful to me.

I thought the beginning was brilliant but then things slowed down a bit until half way though the story. It was a bit hard to fully get into the story as things were dragging. But all the information was necessary in order to get a truly fantastic ending.

Brilliant book. Recommend it to fans of the Hunger Games – this novel has a kick-ass heroine who tries her hardest to survive anyway she can in a dystopian world – and anyone who loves the darker side of vampires.

Rating: 

4 out of 5

Purchase book at:

Book Depository (hardcover) / Book Depository (paperback) / Amazon (kindle version)