133. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

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Mead, Richelle. Shadow Kiss. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2008. Print.

443 pages

Reviewed by Jessica Love

This is the third book in the Vampire Academy series. In this installment, Rose is dealing with an inner battle through most of the book. She is seeing ghosts and working through unexplained rage and blood lust. Without giving away spoilers, I can't say much more than that. 

In my review of the previous book, Frostbite, I mentioned that if there was anything int he series that would make me stop reading, it was Rose herself. I didn't like the way the protagonist was emotionally abusive and irrational. This book helped to further elucidate that issue. I like the way the majority of the book was Rose turning inward, trying to figure out why she behaved the way she did and resolve her inner conflicts. She frames mental health, personal growth, and psychotherapy in a positive and somewhat realistic way which I think is so good for teens to read! 

Mead wraps up the story with some actual physical battle which keeps the book exciting. If I had to pick out strengths and weaknesses of the series so far, I would say Mead's weakness is world building, and strength is character development. The world building is still pretty flimsy. I feel like there are so many blanks to be filled in before this will feel like a fully formed "world." The characters though, are excellent. She is skilled at giving each character a voice that is their own. 

My final verdict is that this book is (and series) is pure entertainment and was decent enough to send me on to the next in the series. 

Would I read it again? 
Maybe. 

Recommended for
Fans of the vampire genre.

Not Recommended for
Readers expecting complex, thorough world-building. Readers younger than 13. 

Word Bank

None

3 stars out of 5

Richelle Mead's website: http://richellemead.com/

Richelle Mead on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/137902.Richelle_Mead

Connect with me!

Instagram: @ladylovestead

Twitter: @ladylovestead

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8035862-j-d-artagnan
Read to Grow Book Club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1058875-read-to-grow-lovestead-book-club

Other Vampire Academy Books Reviewed
Frostbite

124. "The Burning Bridge" by John Flanagan

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Flanagan, John. The Burning Bridge. New York, NY: Puffin Books,  2005. Print.

262 pages.

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love

The Burning Bridge picks up right where the Ruins of Gorlan left off. Morgarath is planning for a war with the kingdom and Will and Halt are following the trail. Spoiler alert, as the title suggests, Morgarath built a bridge and Will burns it down. The end. 

I want so badly to like this series. People in my life cherish it, but I just did not enjoy this book. The descriptions of battle practice were long and monotonous and there was an obvious subtle misogyny underscoring the entire story. 

The portrayal of women and girls in this series just infuriates me. If there was a woman ranger, I'd be all about it, but the women in this series all have soft roles--negotiator and cook (barf). Women in leadership roles in the kingdom are spoken to rudely and treated as if incompetent. Don't forget a nice dose of mansplaining as the cherry on top. Here's an example:

"I'll speak of her, all right! I'll tell you this. She's a woman meddling in a man's world, where she has no place. She should have found a husband years ago and raised a brood of squalling babies. Surely there's a deaf and half-blind man somewhere who would have ten her" (93). 

The worst part of this dialogue? Nowhere does anyone defend Pauline, the woman being spoken of and nowhere is this attitude refuted as despicable or even questionable. 

This book's target audience is boys age 10-12. If I had a son who wanted to read this series, I would let him because I'm anti-book banning BUT we would have a SERIOUS conversation about the toxic masculinity represented in these stories. 

Would I read it again?

NOPE

Recommended for: 

Maybe someone in gender studies looking for a series that overtly teaches young boys toxic masculinity.

Not Recommended for: 

Pretty much most decent human beings.

Word Bank (new-to-me vocabulary)

• cowl (p. 59)
• fenlands (p. 11)
• nocked (p. 82)
• recurve (p. 82)
• saxe (p. 41)
• sintered (p. 51)
• spurious (p. 93)
• tarpaulin (p. 68)
• triumvirate (p. 16)

1 star out of 5. 

John Flanagan's website: http://www.worldofjohnflanagan.com/

Previous Ranger's Apprentice books reviewed

The Ruins of Gorlan: http://thewritereader.blogspot.com/2017/08/108-rangers-apprentice-ruins-if-golan.html

Connect with me!

Instagram: @jdartagnanlove

Twitter: @jdartagnanlove

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8035862-j-d-artagnan

114. "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Halse Anderson, Laurie. Speak. New York: Puffin, 2001.

208 pages.

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love

Popular among teens right now is the Netflix original series 13 Reasons Why based on the book by Jay Asher.  Having watched the series myself, but not read the book, I"m going to venture an educated guess that Speak is far better. It addresses the same kinds of themes but more tactfully and with less misogyny. 

In Speak, Melinda is dealing with a trauma, the origins of which aren't revealed until later in the book. She deals with this trauma by withdrawing into a dark place. She stops speaking, thus the title of the book. It is through the help of a teacher and some of her own inner resilience that she is able to work through her limitations. 

This lyrical novel reminds me slightly of Francesca Lia Block's style in the Weetzie Bat series. It has the same lyrical quality but where it differs is in the concrete story line and absence of magical realism. Laurie Halse Anderson has an unmistakable voice that is consistent throughout the story. 

I appreciated this story and felt it was a germane representation of trauma and the resulting depression and anxiety. I'm looking forward to reading it again. 

4 darts out of 5

Recommended for: readers who liked 13 Reasons Why. This is better.

No recommended for: readers who are sensitive to depictions of mental illness, readers who don't like lyrical writing, and readers sensitive to sexual themes. 

113. "The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll

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Carroll, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2005.

129 pages.

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love

Most people know of this classic children's story. Most people also cheapen Alice's journey through Wonderland by claiming the story is just one big acid trip. While it is fantastical and full of whimsy, the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is much more political and social commentary than it is an acid trip.

In sum, Alice, a little girl follows a rabbit down a rabbit hole. This leads her to a series of adventures that are hard to believe. For example, in one scene, Alice enters the rabbit's house and drinks a potion that causes her to grow so large, she sticks one hand out the chimney and a foot out the door. A cat with a Cheshire grin seems to float through the air because he can make parts of his body invisible at will. The story is dizzying and disorienting and makes almost no sense. 

I enjoyed reading the book but I'll be the first to admit that fully appreciating this work is going to require that I do much more extensive research. A brief survey of the literature on this work points to Carroll indulging in a style called English nonsense verse that became fairly popular in his time. Carroll holds some scathing opinions about the English school system based on this tale and that is about as far as I've gotten with my research. 

The edition that I read appeared to only contain the first part of the story (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) so I need to find the second half and read it (Through the Looking Glass) and continue to read more about how scholars have made sense (as much as one can with the genre) of the writing to feel like I truly "get" Carroll. I'm not yet a frenetic fangirl, but I am intrigued and will keep exploring. 

Recommended for: a reader who has time to dedicate to really learning about the political and social discourse happening in these stories.

Not recommended for: readers who want a story that makes sense or readers not accustomed to searching for clues in writing. Someone who hates poetry, for example, would probably hate this.

3 darts out of 5

Reference

Kwoka, B. (2009).  Literature, History, and Culture in the time of Victoria. Retrieved from http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/carroll/kwoka8.html

(I know I'm mixing citation styles here but I primarily use APA but started this blog in MLA and try to stay consistent. Forgive me?)

108. The Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins if Golan by John Flanagan

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Flanagan, John. The Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan. New York: Puffin Books, 2005.

SYNOPSIS: Orphans in this fantasy universe are made into apprentices when they reach a certain age. Will, the protagonist, is selected to be a Ranger's apprentice. Ranger's are, essentially, the CIA of the kingdom--specialty fighters trained in espionage. This book is part of a series and mostly focuses on setting up the characters and plot for the books to come.

WHAT I LIKED: This is a great adventure fantasy and is probably written for middle school aged readers. In middle school, I would have loved this book. The writing creates excellent tension and I wasn't ever pulled out of the story but was instead fully absorbed in the story. I liked the concept of the ranger and a ranger's role in a kingdom.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I didn't like that there were almost no female characters. It grew tiresome reading about male characters through about 90% of the book. A female ranger would be AMAZING. Instead, all the women and girls in the book had soft roles--diplomat, and cook. YUCK.

I also didn't like that the solution to bullying was to beat the bullies senseless rather than reporting bullying to the proper authorities. Also, yuck.

RECOMMEND FOR: This could appeal to a wide audience of you're ok with minimal female roles.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Readers who want to see women and girls taking part in the action.

2.5 darts out of 5

93. "Fallen" by Lauren Kate

Kate, Lauren. Fallen. New York: Delacourt Press, 2009.

452 pages.

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

Lucinda arrives a Sword and Cross training school scared and sad and homesick. She’s recently gotten into trouble for starting fires and she’s trying to cope with what she thinks are hallucinations--dark shadows that seem to follow her everywhere and get stronger when something is about to catch fire. At Sword and Cross she meets Daniel, the guy of her dreams, but he insists on paying her no mind. Eventually, his resolve is worn thin, and readers learn the truth about the connection between Daniel and Lucinda.

If I could pin down a formula for successful YA urban fiction it would be this: Character A moves to a new school and falls for Character B. There is something mythical and magical about either Character A or Character B. The discovery of this mythical side of the character is discovered and kept secret. Adventure ensues. Twilight followed this formula. The Vampire Diaries followed this formula. Now Lauren Kate has also nailed the winning formula for a successful YA urban fiction novel.

This book is a fun read, albeit a bit too dramatic for me at times. The intensity of Daniel and Lucinda’s love for each other sometimes had a “gag me” effect but this is quite possibly caused by the fact that I’m no longer a teenage girl. When reading this genre it is so important to keep the audience in mind. I’m not necessarily the target audience but if I put myself back into my teenage frame of mind, I would have eaten this book up and loved, like, everything about it. *hair flip

This book is FOR: people who want a fun, quick, urban fantasy teen romance.

This book is NOT FOR: people looking for in-depth, accurate angel and demon representations or literary fiction.

3 darts out of 5

91. "Cinder" by Marissa Meyer

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder. New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2012.

390 pages.

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

Linh Cinder is a cyborg. She can detach her cyborg ankle and it’s during the process of attaching a new ankle that she meets Prince Kai, the smoldering emperor-to-be of New Beijing. Kai must figure out a way to protect his kingdom and the rest of the earth from the evil Lunar Queen who has left her moon-based home to pay respects to the death of the emperor (Kai’s father). The emperor died from Letumosis, a plague infecting many people across the planet, including Peony, Cinder’s stepsister. It is up to Cinder to fix Kai’s android that contains important state secrets, and work with leading scientists to find a cure from Letumosis while attempting to avoid the stiff curfews and rules set by her unrelenting step mother. All in a day's work.

Cinder was a fun read, like, really fun. It is, in fact, one of the best young adult books I’ve read in a long time. It is also the first book I’ve read in a long while that I missed reading when I wasn’t reading it. I found myself wanting to read it any spare second of time I had. I loved the way Meyer skillfully injected several fairy tales into one futuristic sci-fi, fantasy novel. I picked up on elements of Anastasia, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Cinderella with Cinderella being the predominate fairy tale. I’m sure if I read it multiple times, I would find more fairy tales that I didn’t catch the first time. Maybe it’s the nostalgia of these tales eliciting emotions, but I found the characters to be wonderfully real and satisfying. Cinder is worth loving, her stepmother is worth loathing and Kai is worth rooting for.

Meyer did a great job creating Cinder’s world and all the gadgets therein. It’s sci-fi without being suffocated by the typical "alien invasion" theme. The plot was believable and it is easy to see Cinder’s world as a potential future for us all without having to suspend our disbelief much. Cinder was Meyer’s debut novel and I’m excited to see how she develops as a writer in her future novels. The next book in the Lunar Chronicles has been added to my reading list!

4 darts out of 5 

87. "The Vampire Diaries: Awakening" by L. J. Smith

Smith, L. J. The Vampire Diaries: Awakening. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.

276 pages.

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

After reading Vampire Diaries: Awakening, I have a really hard time believing that Stephenie Meyer never read vampire fiction. Twilight parallels this book so very closely, it almost seem like she ripped off the story from L. J. Smith. That being said, in Vampire Diaries: Awakening, Stefan Salvatore is a new guy in town and, naturally, he’s a vampire. Elena, the female protagonist of the story is haunted by the recent death of her parents and infatuated with Stefan but Stefan is too troubled about being a monster to truly let Elena into his heart. By the cliff-hanger ending, a love triangle has formed. Sound familiar?

I found this book entertaining but a bit dated. It’s dated in the ways it illustrated teenage social structures. In the story there is one “queen” of the high school (Elena) and her “crowd” of cool people. Their values and interests are shallow and materialistic. The social structures are reminiscent of the films Clueless and Can’t Hardly Wait; they’re very 90s era and irrelevant to teenagers of today’s world. My biggest issue was how manipulative Elena was in trying to “have” Stefan. I’m pretty sure Mean Girls blew this kind of behavior out of the water (again, going back to how 90s clichéd this book is). If she could drop the manipulation and give some concrete reasons for why she loves Stefan other than him being “so hot,” I might actually like her.

If we stripped away the 90s social structures, the story itself is pretty interesting. One of my favorite parts of reading vampire fiction is picking about the vampire mythology used in each series or book. These vampires don’t sparkle and in order to change from human to vampire, the Dracula method is used (vampire sucks human blood and then human drinks vampire blood). There are some other fun magical features to these vampires but I’ll leave that up to you to discover should you choose to read this book.

2 darts out of 5

This book is FOR people who: want a quick, meaningless read with some fun vampire characters.

This book is NOT FOR people who: want character depth or maturity.   

85. "Chronicles of Steele: Raven" by Pauline Creeden

**I was given this book in exchange for an honest review**

Creeden, Pauline. Chronicles of Steele: Raven, The Complete Story. AltWitPress, 2014.

249 pages

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

Raven is a reaper. She has been trained as an assassin, but for every life she takes she must redeem another. Her latest assignment is to protect a young boy, Darius, who has fits that cause electric and steam devices to go haywire. He’s the son of a duke who plans to have him killed if his fits are not cured. Raven’s job is to take young Darius to the Wood Witch in search of a cure.

Chronicles of Steele: Raven is a set of installments that were previous published separately. This steampunk fantasy novel takes readers on a magical quest. There are many stories woven into this journey from a romance turned heartbreak and the unbreakable bond between a daughter and her father. These stories are intriguing and, as a reader, I wish they were fleshed out more thoroughly. The story of Raven and her father could have been so much more touching had readers been given more details. I wanted to know her father’s quirks and see more of their interactions. I wanted more information about his death and why Raven felt so responsible for his death. I wanted more information about Gregory; what were some of the sweet moments they shared as children? I wanted to know more about Captain Jack. What is his back story? What has shaped him? These questions were left unanswered.

Chronicles of Steele is categorized as a steampunk fantasy novel and for people who have never read steampunk before, this would be a good starter. There wasn’t a whole lot of steam in the steampunk, though. Some of the genre staples were present: zeppelins, Victorian age clothing styles, steam powered horses and automaton servants. I wanted more of this stuff though! Steampunk is a genre that relies on details. Some of the reaper weapons were fantastic steampunk elements but there is more that could have been done here as well.

That being said I really enjoyed this book for its entertainment value and its girl power. Raven is a wonderfully feminist lead character. She’s someone I’d want as a friend and companion and I believe her to be a solid role model for young girls. The mission and story of the reapers was also interesting and I certainly hope that Creeden will continue writing stories about these mysterious warriors.   

3 darts out of 5

This book is FOR: people who want a good introduction to steampunk and a powerful female protagonist.

This book is NOT FOR: people who are deep into steampunk already.

83. "The Red Bishop" by Greg Boose

Boose, Greg. The Red Bishop. Full Fathom Five, 2014.

305 pages

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

**I was given this book in exchange for an honest review**

Lake Price’s entire life changed when her brother, Kimball, disappeared. Since his disappearance Lake’s main goal was to get into dangerous situations that would help her forget about the pain his absence left behind. One evening, shortly before Thanksgiving, Lake and her friends decide to spend the night in a haunted house and they get way more than they bargained for. They discover a coven of evil witches and from that point on, Lake’s life spirals into a crazy adventure of witch hunting. Halstead, a man who spends his life tracking the witches, believes that Lake is the Red Bishop, an individual genetically programmed to hunt witches.

The Red Bishop is not written for adults. It is not written for young adults. It’s audience is mature children and pre-teens and the writing reflects this as the language is simplistic and the story very linear. The characters are very much teenagers and their dialogue is peppered with “dude!” and “like” and “bro”. That being said, the characters are pretty lovable, though they could stand for some better development. It appears that this will be the first book in a series so hopefully we can learn more about the characters in the coming novels.

My only quibble with this book really is the character development. Lake’s initial reaction to first being attacked by the witches is blasé. She doesn’t react with disbelief or with shock; she is angry and intensely determined to figure out the connection between the witches her brother. Halstead has the potential to be an immensely interesting character but lacks the required back story readers need to bond with him. The best developed characters are Lake and John and, as I said earlier, I hope in the next books of the series, we can get to know the rest of them more deeply too.

The best part of The Red Bishop is the creep factor. These witches are seriously creepy. Seriously. Creepy. I’ve read plenty of scary stories so I’ve been exposed to lots of different creepy bad guys, but the witches in this book are some of the creepiest bad guys I’ve ever met. Even though this was written for mature children and pre-teens, as an adult I was thoroughly frightened by the scenes with the witches. The hair on my arms stood on end and I had to turn on every light in my home. Yeah.

This is a really fun read as long as you don’t expect it to be written for a mature audience. Weaknesses aside, this book is still written better than the last book of the Divergent series. (Did I really just write that? Bad d’Arty….)

3 darts out of 5

This book is FOR people: who don’t mind reading simplistic writing, who are looking for a good scare, and who want a quick, fun read.

This book is NOT FOR people: who want in-depth character development.  

76. "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth

***Spoiler Alert***

This review contains spoilers

Roth, Veronica. Allegiant. Katherine Tegen Books, 2013

523 pages

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

In Roth’s final book in the Divergent series, plot holes abound. I didn’t enjoy this one and not for the way it ended, although the ending was lazy and juvenile. My points of contention are as follows:

1. Bad point of view shifts: In Allegiant, Roth attempts to switch the point of view between Tris and Tobias. She failed….horribly. When using two separate points of view, a writer needs to make the narration different in each POV so readers can distinguish between characters. Tris and Tobias’ voices are identical. The only way a reader can tell the difference between the characters are by the convenient chapter titles indicating who is narrating. Sometimes there was a telling context clue to indicate the narrator, but the voice and narration style was identical. IDENTICAL.

2. Suspension of disbelief can only go so far. There were some serious plot holes. A few plot holes here and there and readers can typically suspend their disbelief to make the story work. Suspension of disbelief can only go so far before the story falls apart. The most egregious plot holes are listed below, but there are others outside this list, even.

• Plot hole #1: David. David is supposed to be inoculated against the death serum. He is the leader of this highly important governmental organization. Why would he not have also been inoculated against the memory serum?
• Plot hole #2: The government is supposed to be highly organized and scientifically sophisticated. They are sophisticated enough to add and remove genes. Supposedly by removing certain genes they created genetically damaged people, so instead of using their incredible gene technology to fix the problem, they decide to wait a couple centuries to see if it will magically cure itself. Are we supposed to believe that in several centuries' time, they aren't still advancing the genetic science used to remove the genes in the first place? This plot is hasty, lazy and illogical.
• Plot hole #3: The government used memory serum on the Chicago population to start the gene program. The study falls apart when factions turn against one another, violently wiping out the divergent populations that the government seeks to preserve. So to solve the problem they decide to re-set the population’s memory….because that worked so well the first time. Riiiiiight.
• Plot hole #4: The ending, according to a blog written by Veronica Roth, was meant to show how Tris chooses Abnegation values over all others. This is a nice thought, BUT it completely erases the entire point of what it means to be divergent. Divergent means that people are able to make choices based on several skill sets and critical thinking skills. They aren’t locked into the patterns of thought that define their factions. If Tris was truly as special and as “genetically healed” as she was described to be, she should be able to think of a creative way to overcome the situation with David without sacrificing herself in the process. The idea of being divergent is something I actually really liked about the series, but this sloppy ending annihilated the entire concept.

3. Poor development of periphery characters. Several periphery characters die in Allegiant: Tori, Uriah, etc. The problem with this is that character deaths are only an effective writing device if the reader is somehow attached to that character. The lack of development in these periphery characters creates a “meh” reaction when they die. It makes their deaths a quick way to tie a neat little bow around their story arc without having to put much creative thought into it.

4. Four. In the first two books, Four/Tobias is a brash, hard, brave leader of the dauntless. He's mature and makes intelligent decisions. In Allegiant he becomes a weepy, fearful, indecisive man-boy. The problem with this is that the change is abrupt. There is no transition or progression that would constitute, you know, character development. The transformation is instead instantaneous with no trigger. This version of Four is far less appealing than the Four of the previous books and serves little purpose in moving the story arc. If Roth was trying to show vulnerability in his character, it could have been done without making him an entirely different person. 

Often, I can redeem books I don’t like by feeling entertained regardless of the weaknesses. I could do that with Divergent and maybe even Insurgent, but I can’t do that with Allegiant. I don’t recommend reading this book. The only reason I can give for picking it up is so one will know how the series ends, but honestly, watch the movie instead. It will probably be better.

1 dart out of 5

Bookshelf Project Status: Return to library

74. "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth

Roth, Veronica. Insurgent. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2012

544 Pages

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love

I am not the audience for the Divergent series. I get that; I really, really get that. Insurgent, despite understanding that the series is aimed largely at teen girls, left me disappointed. I'll admit, I got my wishes for more action and better plot development I'd hoped for after finishing Divergent (read review here) but there are some really blatant screw-ups in Insurgent that negated any improvements from Divergent.

First, Roth is missing something with which all good writers are skilled: TRANSITIONS. One minute Tris is falling asleep and the next, with no transition whatsoever, she is traipsing across the city. One minute Tris is traipsing through the city, the next she's standing in the middle of Erudite headquarters. The complete lack of transitions made the story jarring and disruptive and not in a way that helped the plot or tone at all. It didn't flow; it skipped and started like a scratched CD.

Second, this is a post-apocalyptic society and survival seems awfully easy for these folks. Food, clean water, clothing and shelter are readily available as is transportation that seems to miraculously appear just when they need to get somewhere. Even as a teen reader, this would have made me lose interest. The factions are warring against one another. Roth repeatedly notes that the two factions NECESSARY FOR SURVIVAL ARE NO LONGER IN TACT. So how in the world are they magically having access to the resources needed to survive?!!!???!?!??!??? It's lazy writing. It's bad writing.

Finally, I might have been able to suspend my disbelief for my second point of contention if the story had not been so predictable. About a quarter through the book, I had it figured out. Very little surprised me about how Insurgent ended. None of the "twists" left me feeling the least bit surprised. They were mostly soap operatic and worthy of eye-rolls.

I think the best way to enjoy this book, is to become attached to the characters. If you are attached to the characters, then the tension that is built from conflicts might hold your interest. This is probably Roth's strength as a writer and what thrilled the general public about this series. It isn't the plot, or the universe, it is the rich, complex, and raw characters that grab readers. It is these characters that compel me to read the last book in the series. If it weren't for them, I'd write off the entire series as a dud.

2 darts out of 5

Bookshelf Project Status: Return to Library

73. "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2012. Kindle ebook.

487 pages.

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

When I first sat down to read the first book in the Divergent trilogy, I was convinced that it would just be a rip off of the Hunger Games trilogy. From reading the description on the book cover, it looked like Roth might be grabbing hold of the streamers on the rocket success of The Hunger Games. Beatrice Prior, the protagonist must choose her faction. In the city of a dystopian Chicago, at a certain point in their lives teenagers must decide which faction they belong to and each faction represents a particular value as a response to a war that happened long before the start of the story. This is all very similar to The Hunger Games, particularly with the strong-willed female protagonist and post-war factions or districts.

That is about the extent of the overlap, though. As stated earlier, each faction represents the polar opposite value of what people believed caused the war. Further details aren’t really given about this war, but perhaps that is coming in the next couple of books. The Dauntless faction values courage and believe that cowardice was the cause of the war. The Candor faction values honesty and believes that lies were the cause of the war. You get the point.

Beatrice grew up in Abnegation, a faction focused on extreme selflessness. She is not allowed to have her own desires; she is not even allowed to look into a mirror because that is considered self-serving. Beatrice must decide if she will stay in her faction with her family, or join a different faction and never see her family again. To avoid spoilers, I won’t say which faction she decides to join, but the majority of the book traces her progress of initiation into this faction.

Before deciding on a faction, students are given an aptitude simulation test that indicates what factions they have specific strengths for. Most students end up with strengths aimed at one particular faction. In rare cases though, some students will have strengths for multiple factions or no factions. These students are called divergent and Beatrice is one of them. Not much is explained regarding her divergent status other than the perception that those who are divergent are dangerous and thus, in danger so Tris is not allowed to tell anyone about her divergent status.

Divergent is a nice set-up for the future books in the trilogy. There wasn’t much work done in developing the “world” as most fantasy or dystopian writers tend to do. As a result, it was difficult to really grasp exactly why Chicago was in its current state and what that current state was. If I were to grade it like a teacher, I would give this book’s world creation a C. I also thought that the middle of the story really dragged. It was full of teen angst and initiation processes and romantic tension and eventually I became bored with this. By the end of the book, the action started to pick up again and I liked it enough to be curious about what happens in the second book in the series. I am hoping for more action, less angst, and better plot development in book two.

Weaknesses aside, I had fun reading this book and if you are a fan of dystopian literature, it’s worth it to give this one a shot. Just remember it is written for a teen audience!

3 darts out of 5

Bookshelf Project Status: returned to the library.

63. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2008.

- - - . Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2009.

- - - . Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2010.

1,154 pages total.

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

***SPOILER ALERT***

This review contains information about this series that reveals important plot points.

The Hunger Games is the first book in Suzanne Collins’ trilogy set in a dystopian future. In this future, the United States is divided into 12 districts that are all ruled by the Capitol and renamed Panem. The districts are poor and tightly-knit while the Capitol is rich and wasteful. The districts formed after a rebellion against the government and, as a punishment for the rebellion and a reminder of the peace the Capitol now brings, the Capitol mandates The Hunger Games which is an arena-style fight to the death. Each district must sacrifice two children between the ages of six and twelve, one boy and one girl, to fight in the Hunger Games. The children are chosen by a lottery and then taken to the Capitol to train for the games. Once trained, the tributes, as these children are called, are thrown into an arena and must kill one another until there is only one left—this last tribute is then declared the victor of the Hunger Games.

In the first book of the series, readers are introduced to the protagonist Katniss Everdeen. Katniss’ younger sister Prim is chosen as one of the tributes from their district so Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and Peeta, the other tribute, then travel to the Capitol, train, and enter the Hunger Games. The two end up successful by tricking the game maker into thinking they would commit a double suicide rather than killing one another.

This first book does an excellent job introducing the readers to the characters and dystopian structure of Panem. Collins avoids falling into any dystopian clichés that tend to run rampant in the genre such as the world being overtaken by technology or completely returning to agrarian lifestyles with no technology at all. Collins finds a nice balance between these common depictions which makes the setting of this series eerily plausible.

Right away readers are presented with important questions. Is your own survival more important than the life of another human being? In a world that is strewn with poverty, disease, and violence should one even entertain the idea of raising children of one’s own? These are all questions that Katniss and other critical characters wrestle with in The Hunger Games.

Catching Fire picks up where The Hunger Games leaves off with Peeta and Katniss on their victory tour. By rebelling against the game-makers, the two have unintentionally started rebellions in varying districts and President Snow has demanded that they settle the unrest on their tour. When the duo are not as successful as Snow desires, a 75^th Hunger Games is created in which all the victors must return to the arena, sending Peeta and Katniss in for round two. During this Hunger Games Peeta and Katniss make alliances with victors from other districts and are unknowingly caught in a tangled web to overthrow the Capitol.

Catching Fire was my favorite book of the series because the arena was incredibly creative and the characters unique and lovable. This book was a page-turner—even more so than the first. It expounded on the questions from the previous novel as Peeta and Katniss discuss how to handle this round of Hunger Games as ethically as possible, and still survive.

By the time readers reach Mockingjay, the third and final book, Katniss is in District 13 with a rebel group attempting to overthrow the Capitol. Collins is not kind to her readers in this portion of the series. Beloved characters are maimed and killed. Entire districts are destroyed. In the end, both leaders, Snow and Coin (leader of the rebel group) are murdered. The end of the series is abrupt and hastily written. Many readers argue it is the weakest part of the trilogy and leaves readers with a pit in their stomach. Neither side of this war are redeemable. There is no side to root for, no victory to cheer and by the end, Katniss, the leader, mascot, and symbol of hope is broken.

It took me months to understand how I felt and what I thought about the end of this series. My first reaction was to be extremely disappointed. A nagging at the back of my mind told me there was more to this conclusion than my initial reaction. I realized the ending of the series doesn’t sit well with me because it is so darn realistic. War is messy. War doesn’t have nicely wrapped up climatic endings in which good always triumphs over evil. The line between good and evil is blurry and difficult to draw. War ends abruptly and leaves a lot of loose ends. The conclusion of this series is all these things. Instead of following the typical narrative of romanticizing war, it does the opposite. It says that war is not something to revel in. It is not something to celebrate. No one is innocent. No one is unaffected. We aren’t supposed to enjoy it and until we stop romanticizing war, there will always be another Hunger Games. 

This realization made me really appreciate Collins’ choices in ending the series. Yes, it felt rushed and yes, perhaps I’m assigning my own meaning to this body of work and she was just rushing to meet a deadline. Isn’t that what literature is supposed to do, though? Help us find a deeper meaning and navigate parts of our own psyche? I’ve heard many people bash the ending of The Hunger Games series and all I ask is that you think it over a bit more before drawing your conclusions.

4.5 darts out of 5

Bookshelf Project Status: KEEP

55. "Lies Beneath" by Anne Greenwood Brown

Brown, Anne Greenwood. Lies Beneath. New York: Delcaorte, 2012

320 pages

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love


At first glance, Calder and his sisters appear to be just your above average, attractive teens. Like any person blessed with such beauty, they mesmerize people by simply looking at them. Totally normal, right? Think again. Calder and his sisters are not like most people. They're mermaids with a less than attractive agenda: revenge.

Calder and his sisters, Mariss, Talulah, and Pavati, are set on a mission to seek revenge for the death of their mother. In order to fulfill their goal they must kill Hancock, the father of two girls. The mission is simple at first: find Hancock and drag him to the water where the mermaid siblings can suck the very life out of him. This mission is complicated when Calder who desires to be set free from his controlling sisters, finds himself becoming more and more attached to one of Hancock's daughters, Lily.

This is a really fun read. During the stress of my busy work week, Lies Beneath transported me to another place where my childhood fantasies came true. The writing was clear and accessible--just what I like about young adult fiction. The plot had a twist at the end I wasn't expecting which tickled me to no end. I don't usually read books more than once, but this is one I could easily read again on a hot summer's day when I need a book to just sit back and enjoy absorbing. If you are looking for a quick, entertaining read this summer, dive into Lies Beneath!!

 3.5 darts out of 5
 Bookshelf project status: KEEP