Thee Daily Prophet: March 2014

Ouch... this month was slow as far as reading goes because life was hectic, 10 books in total! Busy at work, busy catching up with old friends, and busy spending a lot of time with my family. I do love my books, don't get me wrong, but us book lovers need to set aside the book to live in the here and now too!

For March I met all of my monthly reading goals with one graphic novel, one non-fiction, and kept up with one book club, just barely!!! Hooray!!! As of right now (not including novellas) I am currently 35 books down and that means 9 books ahead of schedule for my 2014 one hundred book challenge. So without further adieu, here is my March Wrap-Up!

Scott Pilgrim vs The World by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Book #2 in the Scott Pilgrim

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Book #1 in the If I Stay Duology

The Queen's Army by Marissa Meyer

Novella #1.5 in the Lunar Chronicles Series

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Book #2 in the If I Stay Duology

Frostbite by Richelle Mead
Book #2 in the Vampire Academy Series

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
Book #2 in the Chaos Walking Trilogy

The Storybook of Legends by Shannon Hale

Book #1 in the Ever After High Series

If Only by A.J. Pine

Book #1 in the Entangled Embrace Series

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

10)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Book #1 in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Series

What have you read this month?

What were your favorites? Your no go's?

Will you be picking any of these up next month?

Here's to March 2014!

Synopsis:

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.

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Good. I will start by saying Divergent is better, more addictive, but don’t let that fool you. Insurgent is still a very entertaining read and will not disappoint as so many middle books can do in series. Insurgent didn’t lull too much and kept me at the edge of my seat with all the action packed within its pages. I really enjoyed this read!

~Spoiler Free Review~

Writing: Divergent was a hard act to follow and I went into this book VERY nervous as I wasn’t sure Veronica Roth, especially being a newer author, would be able to pull off an amazing sequel that Insurgent needed to be. Roth execution to this book was done beautifully. Just like in Divergent, Roth’s fast paced writing was done with such ease and great movement. Very easy to follow and digest. I will say there were a few sections of this book that were slower but it wasn’t bad enough for me to have time to put the book down as the character building pushed me through. I love Roth’s writing and I really don’t think she has taken a wrong step thus far. Knock on wood…

I really appreciate the lack of a love triangle. I was grateful for this in the first book but I was so nervous a love triangle would emerge in the second book. Thank heavens this was not the case. I think love triangles can be stupid and immature on a story and very telling of an author’s abilities. Sometimes this can be a crutch to an amazing story and I love that Roth is talented enough to write such an amazing story without relying on three complicated characters (cough… Twilight… cough).

World: The world-building in Divergent was outstanding, and thankfully Insurgent just builds on that. This futuristic yet dying Chicago-land is captivating, exhilarating, and haunting.

Characters: When I first met Tris in Divergent, she quickly became one of my favorite female lead characters of all time, and that was in just one book!!! I absolutely adore her strength, determination, fearlessness, and ambition. All of these attributes combined with good writing and a killer romantic relationship make her the perfect character. Tris, though she acts first and thinks later, was such a dynamic heroine in Divergent that I was extremely eager to seeing her unfold more in Insurgent. Life for Tris in Insurgent become much more complicated, which in the end just makes Tris more realistic and convincing. There is a certain level of hopelessness that develops for Tris and she just can’t seem to shake it, though she tries! Even with all of this turmoil and doubt however she never reaches that level of weakness that I despise so much in female characters. Never once in the book is she dependent on someone else even when death is imminent. Everything Tris thought she knew gets tested and tried. People she thought she could tried fall between the cracks and people she thought she couldn’t trust become crucial to her survival. I LOVE Tris, and this book just made my feelings about her more concrete.

Four/Tobias (insert lovey fan girl sigh here). I fell in love with Tobias in Divergent but in Insurgent I understood him. I was able to dig deeper into his character to get a better grasp of who he was and why he’s the way he is.

I will say I feel that sometimes I was introduced to a character just to watch them die… BUT it puts the story into perspective. Some characters surprise you. Some disappoint you. Some characters you despise and wish Tris would off! There are just so many good characters and character development…

Plot: This intricate story takes an enthralling turn in Insurgent and there is a lot to explain. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the factions and the Factionless. I found the rules that each group lives by and the dynamics within the leaders of each group to be super intriguing. Amity is awe-inspiring with their simplistic ways and absence of management. Candor is weirdly beautiful with their potent honesty and transparency. The Factionless are encouraging with their strength and determination for more in life.

Side Note: I love the cover with the tree symbolizing Amity

The romance between Tobias and Tris was beautifully constructed. I love that Roth doesn’t turn Tris into the typical selfish teenage girl who only thinks about Tobias. Things were occasionally strained between them but I think that’s what makes it so beautiful, so real, and so heart-wrenching. I was left completely satisfied with their love and how it develops into so much more.

I absolutely love all the action. There is obviously action in the main story-line but there is all this action on these side stories. SO.MUCH.ACTION! And that ending?!?! Damn you cliff hangers but oh, the feels…

Overall, Divergent was amazing and Insurgent lived up to all the hype. I think Roth has some tricks up her sleeve and book three HAS to be amazing… The bar is set high, Allegiant please don’t disappoint!

“We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.”

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“Sleep,” he says. “I'll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you.” “With what?” “My bare hands, obviously.”

Really liked it (4.5)

★★★★

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