Review: Allegiant - Veronica Roth

Allegiant

Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent, #3

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Word Rating: Fierce with a capital F
On Goodreads

It shouldn't really come as a shock that I'm reviewing Allegiant, considering my last post was all about the book signing and discussion I attended for it and I am at least 65% sure I did a Waiting on Wednesday about it.

Okay, so first things first, I will address the question most people reading this review will be asking: What did I think of the ending? The end of this book has been much talked about lately, with people either hating it or loving it (I'm seeing mostly hate). I personally am very satisfied with the ending. Without spoiling it for anyone (because if this ending was spoiled for me, I probably would have punched someone), what I have to say is this: I have no issue with any of the character deaths in this book -- they were all justifiable and although they were sad, I can see why Veronica Roth killed off those characters. Other than the death factor, I thought the ending was pretty solid and that it ended the way it needed to. If I was the author of this novel, there are perhaps some things I would have changed, but I am not the author and I understand where VRoth was coming from and I am satisfied with the way things ended. There, that's as spoiler-free as I can get while still not being totally vague.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk more about Allegiant.
The first thing I want to acknowledge is the fact that this is written in two points of view: Tobias's and Tris's. I absolutely loved the fact that we got to see Tobias's point of view, especially with everything that happened in this book. So props to Veronica Roth for doing that. I really loved reading things in Tobias's voice, and it was very distinct from Tris's. We also got a lot of insight into Four as a character. At one point, he made this observation about his mother and I just really loved it:

"My mother always sits on the edges of things--chairs, ledges, tables--as if she suspects she will have to flee in an instant. This time it's Jeanine's old desk in Erudite headquarters that she sits on the edge of, her toes balanced on the floor and the cloudy light of the city glowing behind her. She is a woman of muscle twisted around bone."

Not only does this help us see Evelyn in a more clear light, but this is just so well written. That last line especially kills me.
In fact, the writing style in general is amazing. It's written straightforwardly, which makes sense considering Tobias and Tris are not individuals who would go around spending pages discussing the way light bounces off the flowers in their gardens. Even with the blunt way it's narrated, the words still manage to strike the reader and are so powerful and so eloquent. One of my favorite scenes in the book was Tris's description of her first ever airplane ride:

"The plane starts to move backward, and I'm surprised by how smooth it feels, like we're already floating over the ground. Then it turns and glides over the pavement, which is painted with dozens of lines and symbols...The momentum presses me back against the skeleton chair, and the view outside turns into a smear of color."

Speaking of the airplane ride, one of my favorite aspects of the book is Tris's view into our world. We get a much better sense of the time and place the series takes place in, and we understand exactly how dystopian their society is. I love the way Veronica Roth handled that, and I love the explanation she gave for the factions, and the uprisings, and just the general existence of everything that happened in the previous books. The beginning of this book, while not as heavy plot wise, gave so much information about what exactly was going on, and how this is a much bigger picture than you would have guessed from the first two books. Once the plot picks up, this book is impossible to put down because not only do you want to know what will happen, you want to know why and how it's happening and what exactly certain characters are going to do with that information.

Allegiant definitely has a LOT packed into one book, and the ending definitely comes with a shock factor, but overall I really enjoyed the book and I'm excited to see what Veronica Roth does next with her writing career.

- Noor

Do you think some people are born to follow a certain path?

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Live Blogging The House of Hades: Chapters 51-60

Hi, all! So, super sorry that there has been such a long wait for this set of chapters, but I hope it'll have been worth the wait! I'm pretty much the reason that the rest of the chapters for The House of Hades haven't gone up, but it happens. Life has been seriously crazy for me. I'm having a lot of trouble managing my time with all my work. (And let's not even talk about sleep. I don't know what that is.) But now that the production I was working on is done (I admit I'm a bit saddened by that), I am back to reading a bit more! I'm also planning on rolling out a new feature in the near future - hopefully within a week or two! So without further ado, chapters 51 to 60!

So we start off with Leo stranded on a very special island! Can I just say how excited I was when I realized what island this was? I almost died. And also, I SHIP IT SO HARD. It's seriously ridiculous how much I ship this right now. Leo adorableness WILL charm someone in this series some book, and I'm hoping that book is this book.

I have to admit that Leo has some stupid thoughts sometimes though. One in particular: "What surprised Leo most was the surge of anger he felt. It wasn't just annoyance or jealousy. He was mad at Percy for hurting this girl." Ok, Leo. I know you're a softy and all, but Percy had some serious world saving to do. This whole scenario? DEFINITELY WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF PERCY STAYED ON THE ISLAND. OBVIOUSLY, LEO. GET WITH IT. Of course, Leo must be forgiven because Leo.

If you haven't figured out what mystery island Leo is on and who the mystery girl who lives there is yet, then I'm not sure why you're reading this because it is spoiler filled! But also, it's Calypso! That's right, Odyssey and Sea of Monsters Calypso. Broken hearted, stuck on Ogygia, cursed by the gods Calypso. Yea. And she is a bad bitch. The way she warded off Gaea... damn.

And onto more Leo brilliance! Fire proof pouch? I SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING, LEO. YOU ARE A GOOD FRIEND. And also the crystal? YES. SO MUCH OF MY YES. UGH. If only all the characters were this brilliant. I mean, they are in their own ways, but LEO VALDEZ. I seriously forgot how much I loved him in the year between The Mark of Athena and The House of Hades.

Awh. So, Leo's chapters end with a bit of a bittersweet moment, but hopefully everything will get better! I mean, it's good, but awh. Aaawwwwwwwhhhhhh.

Anyway, onto Annabeth! The costume designer in me pretty much freaked out at the description of Nyx: "Her dress was void black, mixed with the colors of a space nebula, as if galaxies were being born in her bodice." UGH. I'm so going to attempt drawing this. Someday. If it ever happens, I'll post it, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that. But wow, Annabeth is the cleverest demigod ever born. It hurts. Tartarus tour? Brochure. Stop. Just stop. Rick Riordan, you are a genius. I bow down to your genius *bows*. Well, continuing on, Night certainly has some temper. I mean, is that really necessary? Really? I mean, I GUESS she's kind of a big deal, but still. Percabeth doesn't deserve this. Percabeth rarely gets what they deserve. But going back to the whole Annabeth is a genius thing... she's also a psycho crazy person who is crazy. I mean, I guess if you're in Tartarus, why not just do crazy things. I mean, it can't really get worse...

So some more craziness happens with Percabeth and then we're back to Jason's point of view. This section picks up with what happened to the Argo II after the wind bomb exploded in Piper's chapters. Can I just say that I love Nico in chapter 57?! Nico is perf. Ugh, poor baby. Although Jason isn't one of my favorite characters, I like where the story went with him as a developing character. I thought the whole idea of Jason not waiting for other people do let him do things was a great message.

So during Jason's chapters, we meet back up with Leo. Yay, Leo!!!! Except Leo is super depressed because Calypso and all that. Poor baby. When Frank said that Calypso's original home was somewhere near Malta it almost made me feel like she was meant to go with Leo and it kind of broke my heart a little. Sob. Caleo. I ship it.

And this is the end of my post for chapters 51-60! I know it was super delayed, but share your thoughts on these chapters in the comments! I'd love to hear what you thought of this action packed section!

- Kiersten

Review: Angelfall - Susan Ee

Angelfall

Susan Ee

Series: Penryn & the End of Days #1

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Word Rating: Straightforwardly Fantastic
On Goodreads

Okay let's take a break from House of Hades (just kidding, House of Hades is life). But seriously, Kiersten is out of commission for the weekend, so I have come to the rescue with this lovely tale of romance. I did, after all, promise a review of this.

Alright, so, Angelfall. Positives: this book can be very, very driving. It's ridden with emotion, dappled with lots of wit and humor and it has a strange aura of being magical around it; maybe it's the fantastic diction that Susan Ee lays down:

He kisses me with the desperation of a dying man who believes the magic of eternal life is in this kiss. (Page numbers are worthless with ebooks, worthless.)

Unf. That's pretty romantic. And I love that. It represents the romance that you literally have to fight for in your head because Susan Ee does her level best to have Penryn despise Raffe. But you know it's going to happen. You want it to happen. So it must happen. Not even a spoiler, it's a damn romance, okay? There's even a slight decoy when our characters are captured. But that decoy is nothing in comparison to my loves. It's the typical I hate you I hate you I hate you, no please don't go, okay I think I love you. And Ee pulls it off magnificently by nearly making us snap.

More positives: the characters are thrilling. We've got two protags, Penryn the damningly short and Raffe the damningly gorgeous. Both are on missions, stuck together because of mutual need (though Raffe would never admit it.)

This is Penryn:

"Oh. My. God." I lower my voice, having forgotten to whisper. "You are nothing but a bird with an attitude. Okay, so you have a few muscles, I’ll grant you that. But you know, a bird is nothing but a barely evolved lizard. That’s what you are.” (The Middle of the Beginning)

And this is Raffe:

“My friends call me Wrath,” says Raffe. “My enemies call me Please Have Mercy. What’s your name, soldier boy?” (I don't like my epub reader)

What's odd is that I love these characters even though they're mostly static. Their changes are very, very gradual. Penryn is hardened by her time post-apocalypse, and she takes it out on Raffe. She tortures him, she berates him, distrusts him, and the book is, in the beginning, about using him. That is because he's an angel . . . but he's different. He's very arrogant, witty, cunning, doubtful (doubt is a good thing, people; doubt means you trust and require evidence), determined, and miserable. He's a bit damaged, too so it's difficult to see the person behind his mask. Ooh goodies.

Unfortunately, this novel suffers from an exceedingly limited and linear plot. It's a fine plotline, but it's almost boring. It seems like a staircase, each step leading toward a better understanding of the text . . . but that leaves little space for mystery and too much space for suspense. In fact, there are just about zero plot twists ever, and all the mystery is found in why the angels invaded and what they're doing, nothing very far beyond initial contemplation. Sure, Raffe, who is an angel, is agnostic . . . but you can tell this text has simple dynamics so even that's probably going to be eradicated with some lame moment of miracles the same way Penryn's faith grows. I hope World After strays away from this kind of construction because Ee is such a good writer otherwise.

Anyway, read this book damnit.

- Marlon

If the world was ending, what would be the most important thing to you?

Let us know in the comments!

ALLEGIANT BOOK SIGNING

Hey everyone! Instead of my regularly scheduled review, I'm going to be doing something a bit different. As many of you may know, Veronica Roth's book Allegiant came out Tuesday, October 22nd 2013. This book is very special because it's the final book in the Divergent series (exciting, right?). The series has become a very popular YA series and so the release of the final book also marked the beginning of a book tour. A book tour that kicked off in New York City the day the book was released. A book tour that I had the pleasure of attending.

And now that I have fangirled and freaked out in New York, I felt that it was my duty to share the fangirling and freaking out with you lovely people.

I took the train into New York with the intention of arriving at the venue at 5. (The even started at 6, and I would have gone earlier, as the seating was general admission and earlier meant better seats, but this was the earliest time I had transportation to the train station.) After a series of subway rides, and a short walk down the busy city streets, I arrived at the venue. The line stretched around the building, and by the time the doors opened, there were so many people behind me, I couldn't even see where it ended.

Finally, the doors opened and we were filed inside. People headed in two directions: to either find a seat or purchase a book (you had to either have brought a book with you or purchased one there to get it signed, it wasn't included in the ticket price). Normally, I would have bought my copy as soon as physically possible, but I sadly live on a college campus where freshman aren't allowed to have cars. Getting to the train station was enough of a hassle, trying to get to a book store would have been pushing my luck. So I stood on a line to buy a copy of Allegiant, along with a horde of other people.
The line was long but I was near the front, and I quickly purchased a copy and rushed inside to find a seat.

There was to be a discussion from 6:00 to 7:00, and then the book signing right after.
A few minutes after I sat down, the discussion started. First, there was a Q&A session. It started out with Veronica Roth being asked questions by the interviewer, and then there was an audience Q&A part.

Some of the questions were standard questions you would ask an author.
"How many drafts did you write?"
"Did you base any characters off people you know?"
"Which death was the hardest to write?"
"What was your creative process?"
I learned quite a bit about the series, like the fact that Tobias's name is based off of a character in Animorphs and that Tris's mother is a lot like Veronica Roth's own mother, who was sitting in the audience that night.

Then there were some strange questions, from audience members.
"The release date is 10/22/2013. Did you plan that 2+2 add up to four and 2+0+1+3 add up to six?" (She didn't.)
There were also quite a few questions about the
movie. She talked about how she really liked the way it was coming along and she mentioned that Shailene Woodley and Theo James actually scaled an actual Ferris wheel for one of the scenes. She was also asked what faction certain people would belong to. (Shailene: Amity. Beyonce: Dauntless. Lady Gaga: Also Dauntless). And there were some other fun questions, like "Coke or Pepsi?" or "Roller coasters or Ferris wheels?" or "Do you ever meet people and automatically place them into a faction in your head?"
The Q&A session was definitely really entertaining and the responses Veronica Roth gave were generally either really insightful or really funny.
After that, they decided to show us a "very special trailer."

 First, they showed us this trailer-like video with the actors talking about their characters and what they thought of the movie. They played some shots of them acting and trying to replicate certain scenes. After that, they showed us the actual trailer, which was super awesome and badass.
And then the special guests came out and they turned out to be actors Ansel Elgort and Christian Madsen, who play Caleb and Al, respectively.

They talked about filming the movie and working with all the other actors, and how much fun they had on set and how close everyone got to each other. They shared some stories (one of them involving a pair of ripped pants) and there was a mini Q&A session with them, too. They answered how they met Veronica and  Shailene, and how the filming process went altogether. They seemed like such funny, genuine people and listening to them talk was extremely enjoyable. I loved the stories they told and I really can't wait for the movie to come out.

Finally, the event was over and there was a mad dash to go outside and form a book signing line. Through some black magic and awesomeness, I was towards the very front of the line. Not only did this mean that I only had to stand outside in the cold for a very short time, but when a photographer told everyone to smile for a picture for the official Facebook fan page, guess who made it into that photo?

Look, there's me in the middle, wearing pink!

When we entered the room where she was signing, we weren't allowed to take photographs, which was understandable because Veronica Roth has mentioned her anxiety problems and a constant flash going off probably wouldn't have helped with that. She was being very kind and asking everyone a warm "How are you?" as she signed each book. When it was my turn, I exploded into an incoherent mess of "Hi, I'm great, I'm so excited that I finally get to read Allegiant and that I'm actually meeting you and I really love you and your writing and I'm sorry I'm speaking at a million miles an hour, I'm just really happy." She laughed and told me that I probably wasn't speaking as fast as I thought I was and that she was glad I liked her work.



With that, I was on my way, with the inside of my book signed by the one and only Veronica Roth. I'm still not completely over the fact that her words and her marker and her fingers have touched my book.

Basically, it was an awesome night and I had a great time. Because I have two other books I need to read for school, I'm only about a hundred pages in to Allegiant, but so far I think it's great and I cannot wait to finish it and have a review up for it. Okay, time for me to go read and have my emotions ripped out by a novel once more. Farewell!

- Noor

Waiting on Wednesday: Trust in Me - J. Lynn

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I'm waiting on Trust in Me by J. Lynn.

Trust in Me
J. Lynn
Series:  Wait For You, #1.5
Release Date: November 26th, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins
Waited on by: Amrutha
On Goodreads

Cameron Hamilton is used to getting what he wants, especially when it comes to women. But when Avery Morgansten comes crashing into his life – literally – he finally meets the one person who can resist his soulful baby blues. But Cam’s not ready to give up. He can’t get the feisty and intriguing girl out of his head.

Avery has secrets, secrets that keep her from admitting the feelings Cam knows she has for him. Will persistence (and some delicious homemade cookies) help him break down her barriers and gain her trust? Or will he be shut out of Avery's life, losing his first real shot at the kind of love that lasts forever?


I AM SO EXCITED TO READ THIS BOOK. The previous novel in the trilogy, Wait For You, was quotes possibly one of the worst books I have ever read. Cheesy, overdramatic, predictable, cliche, annoying, and down right awful. I did a review of it before here. 

Now you may be wondering: why is Amrutha eagerly awaiting the sequel to a terrible book? The answer is simple - THESE BOOKS ARE HILARIOUS. They're literally so bad that they are laugh out loud hysterical. Cannot wait to see Cam's version of waiting for Avery to sleep with him.

- Amrutha

What are YOU waiting on?

Let us know in the comments!