Review: Defiance by C.J. Redwine

Book: Defiance by C.J. Redwine (Defiance #1)
Published: August 28, 2012 (Balzer + Bray)
Format: Digital ARC from publisher via Edelweiss
Summary: Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

My Review: I had never heard of Defiance until a few weeks ago, when I ran across a review of it over at Bewitched Bookworms.  The synopsis sounded very interesting, and the review made me even more eager to read it!  I quickly acquired a copy and absolutely flew through it.  There was almost nothing I didn't like about this book.  From the sparse yet imaginative world of Baalboden and the surrounding Wasteland, to the writing style, to the alternating points of view so I could see the stories of both protagonists, I enjoyed Defiance immensely.

The two main characters were Rachel and Logan, both of whom were freaking awesome.  Rachel was dedicated, loyal, and independent.  Not to mention that she could take on three fully-grown guys at once with her super fighting skills, courtesy of her father's rule-defying instruction.  Logan could kick your butt, make you swoon, and invent some immensely useful contraption at the same time.  Alas, though, your swooning would be for naught, because Logan totally only had eyes for Rachel, even though he fought it for a while.  The build-up between these two was spectacular, and the chemistry between them was blatant from page one.  Speaking of chemistry, there was sparring!  Romantically charged sparring/fighting is totally one of my favorite things ever in books, and Rachel and Logan pulled it off wonderfully.

The world of Defiance was engrossing and very easy to get lost in, and the characters were a very big part of that.  It had quite the cast of secondary characters, and many played very important roles.  There was the old family friend Oliver, the barbarous Commander, the helpful yet mysterious sibling duo, and several others. 

Defiance was not a light read; there were many dark elements to it.  Rachel and Logan's journey was anything but easy, with obstacles ranging everywhere from the Commander to the malevolent Cursed One that could set you ablaze almost before you could get a chance to run away.  In addition to this, there were many internal struggles both - especially Rachel - had to deal with throughout the course of the story.

I think you would be hard-pressed to not enjoy this book.  It had a little bit of something for everyone: strong heroine, brilliant-but-gorgeous hero, heart-pounding romance, adventure, suspense, villains, paranormal/fantasy elements, and a very dystopian setting.  Defiance was a winner all the way around, and I can't wait to read the sequel!   

The words are inadequate, but if I open my mouth again, I’m afraid of what I’ll say. Instead, I quietly follow him to Oliver’s tent, the imprint of his palm on mine lingering long after the heat of his skin fades away.    There are much more important qualities to have than a docile disposition.    I clench my teeth and tell myself pain is just a state of mind. I can rise above it. My body doesn’t agree with my theory, so I force myself to recite the Periodic Table to give myself something productive to focus on.    A laugh bubbles up, even as tears sting my eyes. I reach up to clasp...the symbol of his promise to me, and hold the tender, vibrant thought of him close as the stars chase each other across the sky.

P.S. As if you don't want to read it enough already, take a look at this fantastic trailer!


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Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Title: Insurgent (Divergent #2)
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: May 2012 (HarperTeen)
Summary: 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.

My Review: I had less than a month between the time I (finally!) read Divergent and when I got Insurgent, and that time felt incredibly long! I have no idea how you people held out for a whole year. I would have gone insane! But anyway. This book was definitely worth the, for me, albeit-realistically-rather-short-but-felt-way-too-long wait.

One aspect of Insurgent made me very happy there was so little time in between them for me: the lack of "infodump" in the book. A lot of times in series, authors will stick in little paragraphs or sentences here and there to remind the reader of things they've already learned from reading the previous book(s). I'd seen some adverse reactions about the fact that Roth was purposefully not doing this, but I personally felt like it was a great choice. Admittedly, the information of Divergent was still fresh in my head, but Roth also made a huge post to remind everyone of necessary information from Divergent, which was pretty darn awesome of her. I think that Insurgent was spared the unnecessary clutter of the infodump, and I definitely appreciated this.

Another thing I liked about the book is that I feel like we got a better look at the other factions besides Dauntless and Abnegation. I really got a feel for them, instead of just being told some facts about them and meeting some people originally from them. However, there are still lots of questions in my mind waiting to be answered! I am anxious to read #3, which is, as yet, untitled and uncover-fied. Alas. 2013 never felt so far away. Well, except when I think about the other books that won't be coming out until then. But I don't like to do that. Oh! And I just now discovered that Free Four exists! So, I'll probably wait and read it at some point when I feel in desperate need of a Four fix. Because it'll happen. I'm calling it now.

While Insurgent wasn't quite as riveting as Divergent, it was still a great book. I really enjoyed the continuation of the story. Insurgent really had a little bit (or more) of everything! Adventure was constant throughout the story. There were several things that made me laugh out loud. There were intensely romantic moments. I was utterly shocked a couple of times, and that doesn't happen to me a lot. All-in-all, I was definitely happy with Insurgent, and I have high hopes for #3.

❝Just the thought of saying the words out loud makes me feel so heavy I could break through the floorboards.❞

❝His breaths, my breaths, his body, my body, we are so close there is no difference.❞

❝I know that I am birdlike, made narrow and small as if for taking flight, built straight-waisted and fragile. But when he touches me like he can’t bear to take his hand away, I don’t wish I was any different.❞

❝We both have war inside of us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.❞

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Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent (Divergent #1)
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: May 2011 (Katherine Tegen Books)
Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating 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 a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

My Review: Quick back story (and, thanks to Phineas and Ferb, I now always think of Doofenshmirtz any time I hear that term, LOL). A couple weeks ago, I had one of those moments when I finished an incredible book - Outlander in this case - and I had no idea what to read next. I knew my next book would have to be amazing, too, but I couldn't decide what I wanted to read because nothing seemed quite right. But then my roommate had a horse show, and I went to support her. However, she only rode for the total of about an hour in the course of a 5-hour show. Thankfully, I'd had the foresight to bring along a book (because, well, that's just what I do). It was Divergent. OH MY GOSH. I read about fifteen pages before she started, and after that, the second she was done in any of her sections, I made a dive-bomb back to my book. I could barely tear myself away. I attempted to read it while I was walking back to the room after the show, but it was raining and I didn't want to mess up the pages. I finished it quickly, wrote down the quotes I'd noted, and handed it off to Lynne, who then proceeded to read it all that night as well. We frequently pass books back and forth, but we haven't both read the same copy of the same book on the same day since The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. (For the record, Divergent was even better and just as addicting!)

There were so many things I loved about Divergent. The first was the creativity behind the world itself. There were five factions, kind of like the Harry Potter houses, each focusing strongly on one trait. However, the people were crazy strict about it. The reasoning behind the forming of the factions was interesting and made sense as to which traits were chosen. I also liked the names of the factions; they fit really well with their connected traits. The details of the world were incredible, particularly in the faction Beatrice chose. The descriptions really sparked my imagination, and I could see all these incredible things. Roth did a great job with that.

The second thing I loved was how incredibly riveting it was! The characters, chemistry, and circumstances all combined and begged you to stay in the story. I liked the unpredictability of it. Sure, there were foreseeable moments, but there were some interesting twists I was not expecting. A couple of those broke my heart a little bit, but it's still something I can appreciate in a story.

As for the characters, the cast of characters in Divergent was large, yet not. The "main" secondary characters were fairly easy to keep straight after they were all introduced, especially because they were all so different. Tris was interesting, and I liked her! And then there was Four. Excuse me while I swoon. Loved him! The chemistry between the two of them was great (and it produced some great quotes, which you will see momentarily). Their relationship progressed a little too quickly and didn't have enough subtleties for my taste, and I feel like they suffered a little for it. But then, I'm weird and like my fictional relationships to have some crazy long build-up. I still loved them, though.

I felt like I was the very last person in the YA-reading world to read Divergent, but I'm actually not! I've seen several people "currently reading" it, and a couple people mentioned they haven't read it yet, either. If you fit into that category, I would encourage you to read it! After all, what are you waiting for? The second book is officially here! Or, in my case, will either be here after 105 people from the library finish reading it, or I cave and buy it. Whichever comes first.

(Apparently, EVERY SINGLE quote I saved was about Tris's reaction to Four. Whoops! Guess you can tell where my mind was... Honestly, though, who's actually surprised?)

❝When he stops in front of me, my insides twist like someone’s stirring them with a fork.❞

❝Something about him makes me feel like I am about to fall. Or turn to liquid. Or burst into flames.❞

❝I feel my heartbeat everywhere, even in my toes.❞

❝Sometimes I see him as just another person, and sometimes I feel the sight of him in my gut, like a deep ache.❞

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Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1)
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Published: November 2011 (Harper/HarperCollins)
Rating: 4.5/5
Summary: "You can't touch me," I whisper. He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him. Please touch me, is what I want to tell him. But things happen when people touch me. Strange things. Bad things. Dead things.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time -- and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.

My Review: I really did not want to start another incomplete series right now. I saw this book at Barnes & Noble the other day and was completely intrigued. I came home, looked it up, added it to my Goodreads to-read list, and let it go for the moment. Then, completely unexpectedly, I saw it on the library shelf two days ago. I picked it up last night after I finished my other book, read the first two pages, and promptly stopped because I knew I needed to go to bed and that I wouldn't for another few hours if I read any further. I then proceeded to wake up this morning and begin reading it immediately. I was completely hooked! I took a short break for lunch with friends, then came back and finished it. It was such a great read! My heart broke for Juliette a thousand times, and I held my breath and nearly cried and even laughed. I rooted for her again and again. I was enthralled in the story, and I never wanted it to end. Unfortunately, it did (thankfully, not in a cliffhanger-that-makes-me-want-to-kill-something way), and now I will be waiting on the edge of my seat for the sequel. Now, let the gushing commence!

My absolutely-no-contest favorite thing about Shatter Me was the writing. I am left without adequate words when trying to describe it. It was so unique, so fresh, so lyrical and bold and stunningly, flawlessly gorgeous. I am a huge sucker for great writing, and Shatter Me had it in spades. I always write down quotes from books, but I was almost at a loss for this one. There were a few that stood out as good quotes to keep for the future. But as an example of just how amazing the writing was? I would not even know where to start. Here are two of my favorites:

❝I spent my life folded between the pages of books.

In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.❞

This is one segment that struck me as I was flipping back through (it is only from page 8, so no worries about spoilers):

❝His hand.

On me.

2 tips

of 2 fingers graze my cloth-covered shoulder for less than a second and every muscle every tendon in my body is fraught with tension and tied into knots that clench my spine. I stay very still. I don't move. I don't breathe. Maybe if I don't move, this feeling will last forever.

No on has touched me in 264 days.

Sometimes I think the loneliness inside of me is going to explode through my skin and sometimes I'm not sure if crying or screaming or laughing through the hysteria will solve anything at all. Sometimes I'm so desperate to touch to be touched to feel that I'm almost certain I'm going to fall off a cliff in an alternate universe where no one will ever be able to find me.

It doesn't seem impossible.

I've been screaming for years and no one has ever heard me.❞

How could you not love this? I just want to read it over and over and over.

One thing that seemed to bother people was the use of strike-throughs. Personally, I absolutely adore stricken text. It is a cool writing tool that can be very powerful and effective when used well. And it was used perfectly in this book. But just as a warning, if it bothers you, it is used pretty heavily toward the beginning.

*Warning: The rest of this review contains spoilers.*

Review: Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Specials (Uglies, #3)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Published: May 2006 (Simon Pulse)
Rating: 3/5
Summary: "Special Circumstances": The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor — frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary. And now she's been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid. The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.

Still, it's easy to tune that out — until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.

My Review: *This review includes spoilers.*

I am...not sure what I thought of Specials. I had a very difficult time rating it. I almost abandoned the book and, thus, the series before I had read even 15 pages. Thankfully, I pushed past that part and realized that this one had an intriguing storyline and redeeming qualities. There were parts that I really liked, most definitely, but there were parts I wasn't crazy about. And the overall effect of the book was that while I was reading it, I was hooked. If I set it down for more than 10 seconds, I pretty much didn't care about picking it up again. I made myself because I knew I would enjoy it once I started, and I did (for the most part).  Now, onto the actual story.

Review: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Pretties (Uglies, #2)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Published: November 2005 (Simon Pulse)
Rating: 3.5 stars
Summary: Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.

Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.

My Review: I truly am loving these books! However, it is difficult to review books in a series separately. A lot of what I said about Uglies still applies here. The originality of the world is perfect, and the different vocabulary choices work really well with the characters and atmosphere. Westerfeld portrayed the vapid, confused mind of a Pretty in a way that lets the reader understand it and still connect with the person while simultaneously being frustrated because they see how flawed it really is.

I enjoyed the new people we met in this book. Parts of it were a little darker than before, but the focus wasn't on that too much. [spoiler]Shay has never been my favorite character, and what happened to her, while sad, was not a surprise.[/spoiler] I find Tally a unique and likable heroine, and her survival skills never cease to amaze me. As for other characters, I love Zane! He is fascinating and definitely a good addition to the cast of characters. I found Andrew intriguing, and I am hoping he shows up again in the future. I am looking forward to when that storyline gets addressed.

I loved how Westerfeld used the same basic premise of a dream to symbolize everything that was going on in the world around Tally. They were always accurate, and it was a good portrayal of how Tally subconsciously felt about and viewed circumstances without sticking everything into informative dialogue or unnecessary thought processes. As the books are written in third person, not first, too much internal monologue would be out of place. The way they are written works well with the characters and the story.

The end of the book! It left me in chills, and I can't wait to see what happens. I will definitely be reading it soon (probably after I drag myself out of bed and go get some breakfast).

Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Uglies (Uglies, #1)
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Published: February 2005 (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing)
Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

My Review: I have been hearing about the Uglies series for what seems like half of forever. I always thought they sounded appealing, and I even picked the first one up from the library once but returned it unread. However, a couple days ago, I found the first two books at a local thrift store for 99 cents apiece. When I spotted them, I practically tripped over myself making a mad grab for them before anyone else could spot the marvelous deal sitting in front of their very eyes. I'm not entirely sure what prompted this, as there was no one particularly near besides my sister and one woman with whom I had carried on a perfectly pleasant conversation about the Stephanie Plum series moments earlier. Regardless of the motivation, I made a slight fool of myself, but in the end, I got the books. That's what matters, I suppose.

I started the book the morning of December 31st, and I was hooked right away. I became completely engrossed in this fascinatingly original dystopian world. I was intrigued by the premise, and the execution by Westerfeld was fantastic. I never wanted to put this book down. The unusual world, the unique-without-being-absurd names, the terminology that was different from our own yet easily understood, interesting characters, and a compelling plot all existed in this book. These are all things that reflect positively on Westerfeld and his ability to craft a superb dystopian novel. I loved reading about Tally and how she changed throughout the book and how her opinions changed with her. Another thing I enjoyed was the fact that with this world, the characters can refer to all the wasteful and stupid things people did in our time. It references wastefulness and racism and things like that, and because of the setting, it does everything without sounding preachy. It is necessary for the story, and it also makes you stop and think from time to time. Even moreso, it does the same thing for beauty, which is absolutely wonderful. Beauty is all in the beholder; you don't have to be flawless to be beautiful.