Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Divergent - Chapter 5

The Choosing!

 
The Choosing ceremony happened. Neither Caleb nor Beatrice surprised me with their decisions. Somebody did though, and I will now admit, that Beatrice's mom turned out to be awesome. I think I like her.
 
Anyways, I don't have too much to say to this chapter. I will say I'm even more critical towards the factions - you are pretty much born into your faction. Sure, you can choose a different one, but everyone will think that you're a traitor.
 
Also, I actually enjoyed the way this chapter was written. The more simplistic and chaotic writing reflected Beatrice's shocked panic.
 
// Adeline

Divergent - Chapter 4

An awkward family dinner and two freaked out teens

 

 
This chapter. Gah. Made me hate the faction system and strongly dislike Beatrice's parents and the way she was raised. This chapter also made me kind of love Caleb. 
 
Then there's Abnegation, probably the most annoying faction in my opinion. Abnegation is the sole faction with any actual political Power. Gross. I don't care if they are supposedly self-less, they clearly (well, at least Beatrice's father) show distain for other factions, in particular Erudite, the intelligent. Don't hate the smart kids! Then Beatrice and Caleb weren't even allowed to talk at the dinner table. That's just ridiculous. I'm just. Uh. So annoyed.
 
Anyways, Caleb just seems to be a genuinely good guy. I'm also pretty sure that he doesn't belong to Abnegation, not when he acted so off after the test. I don't know where he belongs, but Beatrice did see books in his room, so I guess he belongs in Erudite.
 
In the end, I'm actually getting emotionally invested in this story. Whoop whoop.
 
(Yeah, Marcus seems pretty shady, though. And B's father seems shady for supporting Marcus.)
 
// Adeline

Friday, February 21, 2014

Angelfall - Chapter 4 & 5

Where Penryn's sister gets angelsnatched
and she gets stuck with a wingless dying one.


I've got to admit: I like Penryn's plan. It's always nice to have a heroine who's not afraid to act. And Snow catching the blade without fail... at least he's a true warrior. Some great like-material going on there. Too bad the whole plan thing didn't work out. 

What I don't get is what the angels want. Why did they come to Earth? What's their goal? Because according to Penryn, it sounds like she thinks they are going to keep her sister alive. She seems really sure of it. And I mean - a small and crippled girl? Even I would probably kill her if I were an angel, because of what use can she be? Perhaps Penryn's just in denial. Although, of course, it's a book, so her sister is probably going to be alive by the end of it.

The only thing I've got to say about chapter five is that I like the angel already, for good or bad. Not only the moment when she touches him, but I mean that amused smile? Snowryn, or whatever they would be called as a ship (yeah, I know, he probably has a real name) is gonna be good. I've got a feeling xD

// Amanda 

New books <3

 
 
 
 
I've got the Blogger app and I have no idea how to use it... But to celebrate my... newness (that can't be a word) I'm gonna do a youtube styled book haul. Unless bloggers do book hauls too, then it's a bloggy book haul.

Anyways, I got some books from Amazon today (I'm not famous enough for free copies of Fangirl okay) and I'm just very happy ^^
 
So I finally got the Gem Trilogy by Kerstin Gier. Amanda told me about these books a while ago, and when she said that the series was originally written in german, I was sold. And look how beautiful they are. I don't know too much about them, but people keep telling me how wonderful the trilogy is. It's about a time travelling heroine, and she is supposedly a great character. I've been looking forward to these books for soo long, and now I got my lovely beauties.
 
Next we got Insurgent by Veronica Roth, the sequel to Divergent. It's probably gonna be the next book I read after Divergent. Look how shiny and pretty it is.
 
The third book I got was The Bone People by Keri Hulme. I actually saw it at Thalia first, and the cover just made me drool. Just the design, and the pages, and the everything. I came home (without the book), and ended up buying it on amazon. It's supposed to be beautifully written, a story about child abuse, maoris and europeans in New Zealand, love and other juicy, pain inducing stuff. I'm excited.
 
The last book I got was Roots by Alex Haley.  It's a story tracing Haley's family six (I think?) generations back. It goes as far as to "the African", Kunta Kinte, who was taken from his home in Africa to be sold to slaveholders in America. Roots was another book I found at Thalia, but I am cheap, so I ordered it on amazon instead. I saved 5 € though, so I'm happy :3

Divergent - Chapter 3

Beatrice finds out that she's... different.

 
 
Yay, I know why the book is called Divergent. I'm curious to see what exactly the amazing power of the Divergent is. If it's only something like a flexible, open mind or the ability to think outside of the box, I will be disappointed. On the other hand, in a world where people are raised to be simple-minded (are they though?) it could be really important. It feels like the book is supposed to be some sort of commentary on stereotypes and dividing into likeminded groups, and the restrictions and dangers of that. I mean, Divergent does make you think of it, whether that was Roth's plan or not.
 
I'm pretty sure Beatrice will choose Dauntless though. Although, now that Roth introduced the factionless, I'm wondering if she'll choose a faction at all. Talking about the factionless, this government/system/social structure sucks. Like sucks sucks. So, you don't fit in the pre-determined boxes? We'll kick you out on the streets!
 
 
// Adeline
 

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Divergent - Chapter 2

Dreamlike aptitude tests and a stubborn heroine

 
 
 
This chapter is so weird - dreams/dreamlike things tend to creep me out - but the pace has picked up a bit, which is nice. The writing is a bit flat, but it's not exactly bad writing, and it is YA after all, so...

I do know the name now, Beatrice! And I also knows that's she has a tendency to be a stubborn brat. Not that I dislike it, it makes her more relatable. After this chapter, I'm even surer she's supposed to pick Abnegation (family pride or something, I guess) but will end up in Dauntless anyway. Roth isn't saying anything out loud, but it's kind of obvious. I mean, Beatrice's tester is from Dauntless. Feels like a not-so-coincidental-coincidence.

Also, what weird government forbids the citizens to talk about the test? Kinda shady. If dystopian YAs ever taught me anything, it is that you should never trust the government. Never. It is always Evil.

// Adeline

Angelfall - Chapter 3

Where Penryn's watching an angel 
get his wings ripped off. 


I scribble notes while reading books to be able to blog about it later (I have an other book blog as well, a Swedish one) and the first thing I wrote about this chapter was: ooh, wonder if that guy will be the love interest? regarding the guy Penryn first described. You know, the giant one. Because generally the first guy to get a somewhat thorough description... is going to be the love interest. 

But I think we can all agree that it's probably gonna be Snow, right? Afterall "everyone likes an underdog". Except President Snow. (Because that's not ironic at all?)

And of course Penryn's sister had to give them away. Honestly I had already got that from the blurb on the back, but still. It's always the sibling that's the kind and innocent one who's sympathetic and not cut out to be a survivor. Or maybe I'm just making Angelfall-Hungergames connections.

Having big hopes for this so far!

// Amanda


Divergent - Chapter 1

The nameless heroine gets a haircut and goes to school.



The hype around this book! So the first chapter is actually kind of cool. It's not the best beginning I've read, but the first bit about the mirror immediately got your attention. Mostly because it's weird, but still.

Roth is introducing her dystopian world, although it's still kind of vague. It's set in Chicago (hahaha I googled Sears Tower cuz I don't know anything about the US), and we got to know about the Five Factions. Personally, I don't get why it would ever seem to be a good idea to split a society like that, but I'm curious to see why that happened (The main character is on her way to history class :D). 

We only got tiny bits of the MC. First of all, I still don't know her name. She seems to find herself pretty plain/ugly, but I'm sure she's actually super sexy and all the boys will love her. "Tomorrow" is the day of the Aptitude Test, and then the Choosing, where she will choose which Faction she wants to be in. She’s making a pretty big deal out of it, so it’s probably way scarier than it sounds.

// Adeline

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Angelfall - Chapter 1 & 2

Where Penryn decides to leave the
 apartment with her mom and sister.

Okay, so this book has really short chapters. Which is great, I love when books are like that, it's so convenient. But unfortunately it also means that there weren't very much going on.

Anyways: the only real impression I've got so far is that I like the beginning. It's exciting, not too slow, and throws you into the story pretty quickly. Other than the first couple of sentences it's very straight to the point. I'm liking Penryn already.

Something I reacted to was the use of the word "supernaturals" in the first chapter. Does that imply that there are more supernaturals than angels out there? Like vampires or werewolves? Or is it just angels? Kind of unclear.

Funny side-note: did ya'll know that the word "apocalypse" does actually not mean the end of the world after a catastrophy such as angel invasion or tsunamis? At least it didn't use to, the word actually means unveiling or revealing. The reason it got mixed up was probably the biblical use in the Book of Revelation where; sure, the world kind of goes under, but it's more about the... revelation of it. Duh. So it got mislead along the way, sort of like the word "inception" nowadays. 

Just thought about that ;)

// Amanda