To Be Borrowed: Divergent

After the whirlwind that was Catching Fire, I needed a book to take it easy with and Divergent by Veronica Roth seemed to be the one. I didn't feel like I had to rush through it. It was written at a pace I could sit back, relax and enjoy the journey of Beatrice (who ends up changing her name to Tris).

The book is about a dystopian society in Chicago separated into five different factions, each with their own values. It wasn't a roller coaster book like Catching Fire but it was still engaging. As I read, I visualized it in a similar style to M. Night Shyamalan's, The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable; very mellow and low key.

There were a couple of intense moments as Tris learned to navigate the waters of her new faction. However, near the end the narrative just got sloppy and confusing. A certain character was conveniently somewhere so he could be found and saved by Tris. Then after some very traumatizing events she's making out with her boyfriend in front of her brother! Oh, and there was the running across the "unyielding ground" (pg. 483) that really bugged me. Okay, yes, the ground is usually unyielding unless there's an earthquake or you're trying to escape a volcano. But considering there were no natural disasters or bombs going off, it's safe to assume the ground is unyielding without having to tell me. From that point on the book lost me and whatever I liked about it in the beginning was forgotten as I read what was a failed action/adventure ending. I finished this book on Thursday and since then, my frustration has grown as I've thought about it over the last few days.

I think the problem for me was reading three young adult books in a row about dystopian societies. I have nothing against YA books. My three woobie books are young adult novels. But there is a big difference in style (and substance) between Divergent and, for example, The Dark Is Rising, where the latter appeals to me more. Oh well, it started out well but lost me in the end. This is the first book of a planned trilogy. Will I read the next two books? Yeah, if I remember.

To Be Read: Catching Fire

It’s just a book, I had to tell myself. IT’S JUST A BOOK. This is not much of a review of Catching Fire. It’s more about my reaction to this book:

Catching Fire is like The Empire Strikes Back of trilogies! (Please note I said “like”. Nothing can achieve the awesomeness that is ESB!)

I found myself much more engaged with the characters this time. Maybe because I had gotten to know them and I loved reading about the after affects of the Hunger Games. But oh my goodness, I found myself on the edge of my seat! At one point I had to stop to collect myself! This book had me worked up just like when I finished reading the events of a certain wedding feast in A Storm of Swords, where I started out as mildly annoyed, that then turned into anger, which then produced a raging lunatic babbling about George R. R. Martin being a bastard but unable to stop reading!

Seriously, I had to get up for Kleenex and half an hour later there was still a lump in my throat. I was hesitant to continue reading Catching Fire because of my reaction but I REALLY needed to know what was going to happen next. I finished the book in a day and a half.

It’s just a book, these characters are not real, Panem does not exist BUT OH MY GOODNESS I NEED TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN MOCKINGJAY NOW!!!

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system I am forcing myself to wait to read Mockingjay. I need to be a sane, functioning person for a bit.