Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Name: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Harper Collins
Date published: 2014
Rating: 4/5
Spoiler warning: Moderate

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered - fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningliess. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend to complexities of human nature - and of herself - while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

- From Goodreads.

I really liked the plot of Allegiant, in fact I adored it, with all its different layers of secrets and plans and discoveries of what was on the outside of the city. However, I didn't like the characters as much as I liked the plot. I liked Tris, of course, but I don't think she's one of my favourite characters, and I think I liked some of the side characters more than I liked the two main ones, Tris and Tobias. I definitely didn't like like Tobias as much as I liked Tris, and so I couldn't relate to her affection for him as much as I should have been able to.
There were other emotions and actions of the characters that I couldn't understand, like jealousy. I always find jealousy very annoying in characters because it usually feels so stupid (I could probably be more eloquent about that, but I think it's just one of those things that annoys me too much to be eloquent about). It implies distrust and possessiveness and I very much dislike those two things.
The dual viewpoint felt strange at the beginning of the book as the other two books in the series didn't use it, but I suppose that, although it took some getting used to, it made sense towards the end. Speaking of which, I think I'm glad it ended the way it did, with society building itself towards something better (although perhaps I'm not so happy with certain character deaths, there were some pretty upsetting ones, but I won't say anymore about that because this is entering dangerous spoiler territory).
A very good point about this book was that I didn't know what was going to happen and I couldn't predict what was going to happen either which kept it exciting and made the ending more of a shock (and that's definitely where I'll end this because I am on the brink of spoiling everything and I don't want to do that).

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Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Name: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Harper Collins
Date published: 2012
Rating: 4/5

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

- From Goodreads.

Despite any flaws Insurgent may have had (and it really didn't have many), I found I couldn't stop reading it. I just kept turning the pages because I was so interested in it. It was pretty addictive and I ended up reading it all in one day.
I thought it was a good sequel to and a good continuation of the first book in the series, and it wasn't too dull, like some middle books are in trilogies, with not much going on, only filling the space between the first and third books. This wasn't like that, not too much anyway, and it had everything I liked about the first book, the fascinating world and characters, the imagination behind it, and it managed to keep going at the same pace.
It left me really looking forward to reading the next, and final, book to find out how it all ends. The Divergent series is a very exciting one, that can't be denied.

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Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Name: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Harper Collins
Date published: 2012
Rating: 4/5
Spoiler warning: Moderate

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

- From Goodreads.

At the beginning of Divergent, I couldn't really relate to the Dauntless at all, I couldn't understand them, and then I realised that I didn't really like the way they and some of the other factions worked. Then I realised that maybe that was how I was supposed to feel, because, while some members of Dauntless understood the real values of the faction ("I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another"), they were then punished for that, and it was clearly a corrupt faction, just as Erudite was discovered to be, and maybe even just as the whole faction system was. I thought it was clever how you came to realise these facts over time while reading the book.
The story included some really interesting ideas, of the future, of a dystopian society, with the factions, the relationships between them, down to the characters themselves. All of these ideas were well thought out and consequently quite interesting. It was clear that a lot of thought and effort had gone into creating the world of Divergent, and that left me intrigued to know more about it.

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Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Name: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Authors: John Green and David Levithan
Publisher: Penguin
Date published: 2013
Rating: 4/5 (actually more like a 4.5 out of 5, but Goodreads doesn't do ratings by halves, so I suppose that I won't either).

One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers cross paths. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, culminating in heroic turns-of-heart and the most epic musical ever to grace the high-school stage.

- From Goodreads.

In Will Grayson, Will Grayson, I thought that there was a really interesting dynamic between the two Will Graysons (Grayson's?). They were two very different people who still managed to understand each other despite their differences. I liked the symmetry of the fact that they only met twice; the first time towards the beginning, on the night that sort of put everything into motion (I don't want to say the night when everything changed, or the night that started it all, or anything else like that, because it doesn't start everything, because some things have already started and you can never really say exactly when something starts, and it wasn't when everything changed because some things were already changing and some things didn't change - but I digress), and for the second time on the night of the play, where the book ends. I don't really know why, but that kind of symmetry is really quite satisfying (and now that I've spent half of the review blathering on about symmetry and other nonsensical things, let's move on to the next point).
Despite the fact that, I suppose, this book could be called a romantic comedy (or a comedic romance?) (although calling it that would very much simplify everything and would actually really not be a great summary), it wasn't an easy read, in that it challenged you a little, mostly with the cat thing (I'm not a great philosopher), but also with other stuff, for example, in dealing with issues of sexuality, body image, and depression (which it dealt with in a good manner, I thought).
Finally, I would also like to note that I would have thought that David Levithan's Will Grayson's complete lack of correct capitalisation anywhere at all in his sentences would have really annoyed and frustrated me, and maybe it did at first, but eventually I got used to it, and actually ended up sort of forgetting it by the time the book had finished, so I think that must be a plus point.

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Review: Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern

Name: Love, Rosie
Author: Cecelia Ahern
Publisher: Harper
Date published: 2014
Rating: 5/5

Best friends since forever, Rosie and Alex have shared their hopes, dreams - and firsts. But one awkward moment at eighteen, one missed opportunity, and life sends them hurtling in different directions. Although they stay in touch, misunderstandings, circumstances and sheer bad luck seem to be conspiring to keep them apart. Can they gamble everything - even their friendship - on true love?

- From Goodreads.

One of my greatest weaknesses is stories of romance, or, even better, stories of romance and comedy (Love Actually? Notting Hill? Four Weddings and a Funeral? Yes, please), and Love, Rosie has both, and a brilliant combination of both, at that.
The fact that the story takes you over a lifetime, rather than just looking at a year or so in the character's life, really means you can take the time to get to know all the characters and become attached to them, to understand them, to really feel like you've spent time with them. Consequently, the more emotional parts of the story really get to you, really make you feel the happiness, sadness and everything else.
I felt like you really get to know the places in the story, as well as the characters, especially Ireland. You get a real feel for exploring the world, with all the travelling the characters do. I really like it when you can travel the world through reading books and this book definitely has elements of that which add to its enjoyment, and there is definitely a lot to enjoy about Love, Rosie.

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Review: No Stone Unturned by Helen Watts

Name: No Stone Unturned
Author: Helen Watts
Publisher: A & C Black
Date published: 2014
Rating: 5/5

Kelly, a Traveller girl, is isolated and unhappy at her new school. Until the hot summer day when she meets Ben. Ben offers to help Kelly with her history project. It's just schoolwork - except that the investigation quickly becomes compelling. Strange puzzles are revealed. A dark secret of the local quarry comes to life. Soon the mystery of the past is spilling into the present - and into Kelly's own life. Kelly must bring the long-buried truth to light. And she will leave no stone unturned...

- From Goodreads

No Stone Unturned was an excellent, intriguing story that I really loved reading. I loved the way the author was inspired by real history to create a story of her own, and that story really brought history to life, giving facts and figures real action and emotions.
I think I really enjoyed this so much because I've always been interested in history, especially with how it feels to go out and discover something on your own. But I also really liked the mystery of it, it encouraged you to work out what had happened and I thought that made it very intriguing. I think both lovers of history and crime mysteries will enjoy this book.
Plus, I always love it when I find Doctor Who mentioned in a book, so props to Helen Watts for the Weeping Angels reference! (I also, like Kelly, hid behind a cushion when I watched that particular episode. In fact, I think I might have even hidden behind the sofa).

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Review: Paper Towns by John Green

Name: Paper Towns
Author: John Green
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Date published: 2010
Rating: 5/5

Quentin has always loved Margo Roth Spiegelman, for Margo (and her adventures) are the stuff of legend at their high school. So when she one day climbs through his window and summons him on an all-night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow.

But the next day Margo doesn’t come to school and a week later she is still missing. Q soon learns that there are clues in her disappearance . . . and they are for him. But as he gets deeper into the mystery – culminating in another awesome road trip across America – he becomes less sure of who and what he is looking for.

- From Goodreads.

Paper Towns was a book full of insightful metaphors, beautiful descriptions, fantastic symbolism and all that other kind of stuff that John Green is just so good at. 
I thought that the book had a really interesting perspective on the way that we look at people and whether  what we see when we look at people is actually them or just one idea of them - maybe even just one idea of many. For that reason, I found it quite thought-provoking; I was continuously thinking about the ideas the book presented throughout the story.
I think it can also make you think because of the twists in the plot and the different directions it kept taking, in the search for Margo and with the different theories of what happened to her that everyone had. 
I liked the inclusion of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, because I read it this past year at university, and I really liked the way Q couldn't quite understand it at first, and then came to understand it through coming to understand Margo. I think I might have to go and read the poem again now that I've read this book, because I think I've definitely been given a different perspective on it!

P.S. I went to see the movie this week, and it was amazing! The acting was brilliant and I really loved the music that was used in the film. I'd definitely recommend going to see it (and reading the book, of course)!

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