Divergent takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world, where all living people have apparently been reduced to a single city that is divided into five factions: Candor (honesty), Amity (kindness), Erudite (intelligence), Abnegation (selflessness), and Dauntless (bravery). Each faction possesses an attribute that is valued highly by its members. Before the day comes where young adults choose the faction they will join for the entirety of their life, they take a test to see where they fit best. Beatrice Prior takes the test, but the results come back inconclusive. She's divergent.
I chose to purchase this trilogy because it's all I've been hearing about recently in the way of popular young adult fiction and because the film is coming out in a few months. My little sister loves the series, and several of my friends at college recommended it to me as well. While I personally prefer the tone of The Hunger Games over Divergent, I enjoyed learning about the factions and trying to decide where I would fit best. The idea of a Fear Landscape was also fascinating: an arena of sorts that you enter in order to face and ultimately conquer your greatest fears. Overall, I enjoyed the book. It was clean, entertaining, and I finished the book in a day. Four stars.
This is the second book in the Divergent trilogy, and it is a bit less thrilling than the first. I greatly enjoyed the dynamics between the five factions, but the romance also accelerated in Insurgent. I can never get into young adult romantic relationships in YA fiction, and this held true for Tris and Four. There were several awkward scenes that left me cringing (or reading them out loud to my roommates, who were always ready to laugh with me), and I believe Veronica Roth explained how Four smelled like wind at least four times throughout the book. It took me about two or three days to read through Insurgent. Three stars.
The final book in the Divergent trilogy, it took me forever to get through this one. I felt like the entirety of this story could have been fit into five chapters at the end of Insurgent. More awkward teenage romance scenes (as well as plenty of unnecessary angst), surprise twists that didn't feel natural and seemed to drag on forever, and an ending that felt contrived and could have worked... if it had been done so much better. It took me a full week to read Allegiant, which usually only happens for me if I am extremely busy or if I cannot keep interested in the storyline (and I was not busy that week, at the tail-end of Christmas Break). Two stars.
An orphan named Mary lives on the streets of London in the early 1800s. When the leader of her gang of starving kids is killed, Mary sets off on her own and embarks as a ship's boy on a British Navy ship. Mary disguises herself as a boy and gives herself the new name Jack. Her ruse works spectacularly; she is scrawny, dirty, has the language of any street kid, and she can easily pass off for a 10-year-old. The adventures that wait for her on the ocean are greater than little Mary could ever imagine on her own.
Bloody Jack is my favorite book from my middle-school years. I've read it probably seven times in the last decade, and it never fails to bring me joy and a sense of adventure. There is some minor foul language and heavy content in Meyer's books, but the characters are lovable and the storylines are exciting and fresh. As soon as I heard that the long series was finally coming to an end, I decided to read it through from the very beginning. Five stars.
After spending her childhood on the streets of London and then as a ship's boy on a British Navy ship, Jacky has been discovered as a girl and sent to attend a lady's boarding school in Boston, thousands of miles away from Jaimy, the boy she loves. Jacky knows very little of manners and etiquette, but she does have a way about her that brings excitement wherever she goes.
I so enjoy this book. It amazes me that Meyer can go from writing a gritty novel about ship's lore to a story about the same young woman attending a boarding school and succeed at both, but he has. I love his style of writing, as well as his characters. Five stars.
Under the Jolly Roger by L.A. Meyer
Jacky is back again, this time as a privateer searching for prizes under the security of a letter of marque. She has fled the girl's school (but emerged relatively cultured) and finds herself at home on the ocean, no matter what waits for her there.
The first three books of the Bloody Jack series are by far my favorite. The characters and plot lines are excellently developed, Meyer is knowledgeable about this time in history, and you cannot help but root for Jacky, no matter where she can be found. Five stars.
Jacky is back again, this time as a privateer searching for prizes under the security of a letter of marque. She has fled the girl's school (but emerged relatively cultured) and finds herself at home on the ocean, no matter what waits for her there.
The first three books of the Bloody Jack series are by far my favorite. The characters and plot lines are excellently developed, Meyer is knowledgeable about this time in history, and you cannot help but root for Jacky, no matter where she can be found. Five stars.
Jacky is wanted by the British government, so she flees to America and returns to the safety (and monotony) of Mistress Pimm's school in Boston. Returning to her beloved friends is a joy to her, but it isn't long before the ladies are tricked and held captive within a slaver headed to North Africa.
I enjoy this book in the series, although the number of characters seem a bit overwhelming at times. Thirty girls held captive in a single location can be difficult to remember, although Meyer develops their personalities well. There are a few scandalous scenes that could have been left out. Four stars.
A little boy named Diamond is growing up in Victorian England. He is precocious and innocent for his age. His family is very poor, but Diamond's innate sense of goodness brings them joy. One night, Diamond repeatedly must patch a hole in the loft above the horse stall where he sleeps. The North Wind speaks to him and explains that he is stopping her from looking out the window. They soon become friends, and North Wind takes Diamond on adventures.
I read this book for my Children's Literature class at university. I didn't realize that George MacDonald's writings were a big inspiration to C.S. Lewis. While the story seems simple when I describe it above, it is actually rather dense. There is so much symbolism and allegory in this novel, and it left me thinking about Death and bad things working for good purposes in ways I never had before. Four stars.
I have used very few of the picture books from my Children's Literature class for my reading list of 2014, simply because they are so short! However, The Collective Tales of Peter Rabbit consist of several stories that took me about thirty minutes to read in total, so I'm going to count this as a book! I was raised reading Beatrix Potter as a young child (my favorite was probably the story about Jemimah Puddleduck), and re-reading these tales for the first time in over a decade was charming and refreshing. I understand why these are classics, and I hope they are treasured for centuries to come. Five stars.
Overall, the books I read this month had an average of 4.1 out of 5 stars, so I can sufficiently say that I enjoyed my readings.
Add me as your friend on Good Reads!
One year ago: 5 reasons why you should blog
Three years ago: No more sameness
Overall, the books I read this month had an average of 4.1 out of 5 stars, so I can sufficiently say that I enjoyed my readings.
Add me as your friend on Good Reads!
One year ago: 5 reasons why you should blog
Three years ago: No more sameness
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