November 19, 2013

Review: Insurgent & Allegiant

Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Published: May 1st, 2012
Pages: 525
Format: Hardcover

Summary from Veronica Roth's blog:
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  Mini-Review:

My theory that the second book is never as good continues.

Starting off where Divergent left of, Tris and Tobias are on the run from the Erudite traitors to Amity and other stuff happens and then they're in trouble again and yeah. Okay I can't even put a lot of effort into this because I just didn't really like the story.

There was a lot of arguing and Tris and Tobias fighting. And Tris feeling guilty. I swear a lot of this book can come down to this:

Tris: I'm going to do the thing. It's obviously the right thing.
Tobias: Don't do the thing. Don't be dauntless.
Tris: *promises doesn't do the thing*
Tris: *does the thing anyway*
Tobias: Why did you do the thing?
Tobias: We should have done the thing. But I don't trust you.
Tris: You have to trust me where together
Tobias: You're a human being and therefore do things that make me not trust you, like keep things to yourself.
Tris: Look. I love you. But I'm going to do this thing you don't want me to do because I feel guilty about the things, even though they were the right things, of my past. But you should trust me anyway because you keep secrets to.

I feel like that's what the book was. I just couldn't get into it. I kept finding myself skipping sections where nothing was happening, forcing myself to go back and read them and then being like, yep nothing happened.

And then you have the Factionless which kind of have numbers that came from nowhere and you know they're the child you keep locked in the closet during a dinner party because they're just going to cause trouble. (HMU if you got that reference)

Also there were so many people that did not need to die in this book! Oh my gosh no Veronica Roth. You cannot be trigger happy, literally. Stop it. We get it, guns kill people.

I was so glad to have that done with. I also changed my mind. I don't want to be Amity. I think I would choose Eurdite.

Rating: 2/5

                                                                                                                                                                 

Title: Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher:  Katherine Tegen Books/ Harper Collins
Published: October 22, 2013
Pages: 544
Format: Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:
The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent


My Rant (w/Insurgent Spoilers):

It was so much better than the second one, yet also tiresome to read.

Told in two perspectives, Tris and Tobias, Allegiant goes forward with the story by going back. Back to the roots of how their world came to be.

So first you know that the Factionless are taking over the city and aren't letting anyone leave. And there is this group that arises called the Allegiant, and they're now the rebel group of the city. They want to leave/return to the ways of the faction. Tris and the gang join the Allegiant and make it out of the city. That's basically the last time you hear about the Allegiant until the end of the book.

Then you find out that it's all a genetic experiment. And that the Divergent as basically the chosen ones/genetically superior. And you finally, officially, know that they're in Chicago. But that just sets up the stage for a really social problems book. There as so many connections you can make from this book to today's society, too many. I actually had to stop because it kept repeating the social issue.

I also had to stop because I couldn't remember who was narrating the chapter. Tris and Tobias tell a similar story, because they're living the same events. So it's tiresome to have to read the same thing more than once in a different point of view. They also have semi-similar voices so that just confused the issue.

I also had to stop because they trigger happiness continued! SHE KILLED MY  FAVORITE CHARACTER! I am not going to say who it was, because I'm trying to keep this spoiler free. But I did not see the point of my character's death. I really didn't help the plot move forward. It just sent other characters into depression. Not necessary/character developing depressions either.

I would just like to take this time and appreciate the ending of the this book. At first, I was like the rest of the fandom; so angry and confused because I didn't understand what had just happened. But then, after some relaxation exercises, I came to this conclusion: Veronica Roth is one brave woman. I've always wanted a book to end they way it did, and she fulfilled my dream! She did it because she knew it was a fitting end for the character, not what the fans were expecting. In a way, she was writing for herself, not to make money and I think that is such a brave thing. Bravo Veronica Roth. Bravo.

Overall, I think it was a decent ending to the series. The ending of the book itself was excellent, but the rest of the book leads to a lower score.

Rating: 3.5/5

I'm sorry these may not be as coherent as I hoped, but I just really needed to get these done with and out there.



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