Insurgent

Insurgent by Veronica Roth. The sequel to Divergent. An incredible second book to this amazing series.

**WARNING** If you have not read Divergent, please note that this post may contain spoilers.

A refresh on Divergent. Beatrice "Tris" Prior is living in a futuristic Chicago where at age sixteen they must choose a faction, a decision that might change their life forever. For Tris, it's leaving her family. But she soon finds out that she's not fit for a certain faction. She's Divergent.

Jeanine Mathews has made her intentions clear at the end of Divergent. She will do anything to keep the rest of the city from accessing some very important knowledge, including murdering innocent people, and mind controlling others to do so. War has officially broken out between the factions. They must choose sides, and they must decided how to proceed with the Erudite. But the Erudite are very good at getting what they want. Tris has to decide who to trust, and to make sacrifices for everything she believes in. But how is this possible when there are very few who are on your side?

The book starts right off from where Divergent ends. Tris and her friends find refuge among the other factions, and in this case, the factionless too. Amity, Candor, none of them guarantee to help them. Sometimes your allies are the people you'd least expect to be. Sacrifices are made, and more information is revealed. Who are they? Who created the faction system? Were they put there for a purpose? What's outside the fence? More questions arise and Tris is at a loss. She needs to trust her instinct, even if the consequences might be fatal. You get to explore more of the other factions, and you also get to learn more about the Divergent. A slight twist in the plot in the end, and of course a major cliffhanger. Betrayal, shock, grief, and sacrifices. I only have one word for it. Amazing.

My Rating: 10 out of 10 stars

Click HERE for my review on Divergent.

I am Number Four

I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore is about nine children and their guardians from the planet Lorien, the only ones left after it was wiped out. Now all of them are living separate lives on Earth, binded by a charm where they can only be killed in numerical order. Hunted by the Mongadorians, they have to keep a quiet life, and avoid any attention or suspicion toward themselves. But the Mongadorians are finding them, and are getting closer and closer to killing them all. Three are dead, and John is Number Four. But when love and friendship gets in the way of survival, not only is his own life at risk, but the five others.

I loved the plot idea, and because of this I had high expectations for this book. Boy, was I disappointed. I thought this book was very poorly written, and a perfect example of "telling", and not "showing". It had me wincing many times throughout the book, and I was fed up of the phrase "we aren't who you think we are" being used so many times. The romance was mushy, and the storyline was very slow. If just based off how well this book was written, I probably would've given it 2-3 stars out of ten.

But the plot, the idea. This book would've been so good if it wasn't for the actual writing. But the plot gave through and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series just to see how the story unravels.

My Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor takes place during a war that has been going on for thousands of years. In the middle of it all is an art student in Prague; Karou, who has bright blue hair, speaks many languages, and is constantly sent out on errands to collect teeth of all kinds; bear, elephant, even human. She has been raised by "monsters" since she was a baby, the only people she could truly call her family. When the war finally comes to an end, she is cut off from the people she loves. As she sets out to find them, she comes to discover who she really is.

Angels vs. Devils. Seraphs vs. Chimaera. Enemies even since before the war had even started. Every seraph grows up learning that the chimaera are wild, dangerous beasts, and every chimaera grows up learning that the seraph are greedy, arrogant creatures. Day after day, night after night, the only life they've known is war. But when an angel and a devil fall in love, they imagine a world without war; only peace, and harmony between the two sides. But sometimes things can go horribly wrong. Harmony isn't the only way to end a war; destruction, and crushing the other side into nonexistence is another. And when Karou finally finds out the truth, it might be too late.

A great book, that has you feeling pity and hatred toward both sides, not knowing exactly who's the bad guy and who's the good guy. "Angels and devils" don't mean anything. When your whole life has been centered around war, nothing good can come from that. The only thing you can do is hope, hope for a different life, and a different world. It was very descriptive, constantly switching points of view, though it focused more on what happened in the past, not what she's going to do next. Which is why the author left the book on a cliffhanger. Can't wait for the sequel!

My Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Gone vs. Maze Runner

The Gone series by Michael Grant versus the Maze Runner series by James Dashner. Since I just finished Fear, the fifth book in the Gone series, I realized several reasons why this series is one of my favorites. The best way to show this is to compare it to another book. Not that the Maze Runner series isn't a good series; it is. But for me, Gone, is just my kind of book. I chose Maze Runner because it is very similar as in the things they encounter. They're both about a group of kids who encounter horrifying obstacles and must use the resources they find to survive. A ton of people die on the way, as they face challenges that threaten their lives. Only the structure of how they're written is different.

One thing a good story needs is a variety of different characters. Although both series has a good number of main characters, Maze Runner is told solely by Thomas's point of view, while Gone is told from many different points of view. Although it may be for a purpose such as if it's only told from a single person's point of view, you have no idea what's going on, making the plot more suspenseful, I found it frustrating that I had no idea what was going on in another character's mind. In Gone, the character's points of view just gives a better insight on what's going on, creating more of a horror scene when you don't want them to fall into a trap or something.

The plot itself differs in many ways. In Maze Runner they encounter obstacles one after another; they would get pass one horror only to find themselves facing yet another obstacle in their path. I think this is why it seems so fast-paced, when it never gives you a decent break. Gone has many obstacles too, yet they are organized in a more confusing way. All these little obstacles in the beginning overlap each other, while it leads to an even bigger problem. More like that there are so many things going on, you can't even stop to think. All the different characters, all in different situations, it's enough to make your head spin.

Why they are similar is because they both face horrifying obstacles as they struggle to survive. They both face horrifying creatures, struggling in a crazy new world. They are both exciting, terrifying, suspenseful sci-fi novels. They are both great series. But in my opinion, I think the Gone series is superior.

Fear

Fear, the fifth book in the Gone series by Michael Grant finally gives you a glimpse of what's going on outside the FAYZ. In a world without adults, the barrier and the gaiaphage are both weakening, causing the FAYZ to turn black, into darkness, obliterating any light from the sun or stars. The gaiaphage is dying, and needs to be reborn. The Big Split has them separated when they need to be working together in order to survive. Fear starts to grab at them as they are emerged into complete darkness, as anything or anyone could be lurking around, attacking when you least expect it.

You can never put down any of these books. It's a high-tension, thrilling, terrifying story of a group of kids striving to survive at all costs in an impossible world of horror and hopelessness. The vivid characters and the intense plot keeps you reading, page after page, impossible to put it down as you are drawn more and more into the story. There's always so many things going on you can't stop to think. The author keeps switching from different character's points of view, providing a bigger insight to what's going on in so many different places.

This book is where they introduce the parents, long gone from the first book, and where their role is played in the result of the end of the book. I'm really looking forward to the next and last book in the series; Light. The change in the dome (I won't spoil it for you...) is really going to change the relationship and understanding between the kids and the adults. I'm really curious how this change will affect their lives, both inside and outside of the FAYZ.

My Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

To find out how the FAYZ came to be, check out my review on the first book; Gone. Click HERE to read it.