Book Review / Allegiant by Veronica Roth

The below is the description of Divergent, the first book in the series, for a description of Insurgent please click on the Goodreads link below...

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Published:    22nd October 2013
Publisher:  Harper
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 3, Divergent
Source:  Bought

My Review

What I loved about this book...
What can I say, I loved this book and loved this trilogy.  A lot of what I could say I won't here because that would spoil the story but what I will say is that there is a particular characters I loved being Tris, for obvious reasons.  She starts out not believing in herself and as the trilogy goes along she gets stronger but all the while keeping to her beliefs of what is right and what is wrong.   I really enjoyed following her story and seeing her face challenges throughout this trilogy.  

Now, I have to be honest and say that I do not really read the short stories or companion novels that usually surround series books but I am definitely going to check out the four short stories that follow the story of Four.  I just don't want to leave this world just yet.  For this trilogy, I am going to make an exception because I am a fully fledged Divergent addict!!!

What I was not fond of with this story...
Despite the fact that I absolutely loved this story and the trilogy as a whole there was one particular thing that I was not fond of and that was the ending.  I won't go into detail of what happens to avoid spoilers but all I will say was that I understood what happened but did wish for a different ending to the one given. 


About the Author
From Goodreads

Veronica Roth is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011) and INSURGENT (May 2012). 

The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, ALLEGIANT, will come out on October 22, 2013. 

In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)

Waiting on Wednesday / 5 to 1 by Holly Bodger

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.

Expected Release Date: 12th May 2015
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)

Goodreads link is here.


In the year 2054, after decades of gender selection, India now has a ratio of five boys for every girl, making women an incredibly valuable commodity. Tired of marrying off their daughters to the highest bidder and determined to finally make marriage fair, the women who form the country of Koyanagar have instituted a series of tests so that every boy has the chance to win a wife.

Sudasa, though, doesn't want to be a wife, and Kiran, a boy forced to compete in the test to become her husband, has other plans as well. As the tests advance, Sudasa and Kiran thwart each other at every turn until they slowly realize that they just might want the same thing.

This beautiful, unique novel is told from alternating points of view-Sudasa's in verse and Kiran's in prose-allowing readers to experience both characters' pain and their brave struggle for hope.

Blog Tour / Thoughtful by SC Stephens

A new novel in the Thoughtless series from #1 New York Times bestselling author S. C. Stephens!

Every story has two sides, and in this new book, the epic love story between Kiera and Kellan is shown through his eyes.

All Kellan Kyle needs is his guitar, and some clean sheets of paper. Growing up in a house that was far from a home, he learned a hard lesson: You're worthless. Now his life is comfortably filled with passionate music, loyal band mates, and fast women...until he meets her.

Kiera makes him ache for more. Makes him feel for the first time that he's worth more. But there's one problem - she's his best friend's girl.

Just when Kellan thought his emotional defenses were rock solid, Kiera's indecisive heart wreaks havoc on his soul, changing him forever. Losing Kiera is not an option.

Published:    24th February 2015
Publisher:  Sphere
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 1.5, Thoughtless Series
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

My Review

At the beginning of the year I say to myself that I am going to broaden my reading horizons and try new things, even try genres that I would not previously go anywhere near to see if my tastes have changed or whether that particular book will change them for me.  This is one of those books that I chose to broaden those horizons.  

What I loved about this book...
I really enjoyed reading this book.  For me what I liked the most was the depth and background of the characters, particularly Kellan, and how they progress throughout the book.  I enjoyed following Kellan in this story and seeing things from his perspective and I am definitely intrigued to find out more with the first book in this series.  I am not sure at this point whether it makes a difference to read these in order but I am definitely going to pick up the first book as it has intrigued me to find out more of the story (or the other side of the story).    

What I was not fond of with this book...
This is purely from a personal viewpoint but one of the things that I cannot stand is cheating in any way, shape or form and this is featured in this book.  I found it very hard to get on either Kiera's side when I knew that she was cheating, as well as on Kellan's side too.  Although I did enjoy the story, this is something that bothered me a lot but that is my a personal opinion of mine so please do not let that come in the way of picking this up and giving it a go - it is a good read. 

About the Author
from Goodreads

S.C. Stephens is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who enjoys spending every free moment she has creating stories that are packed with emotion and heavy on romance.

Her debut novel, Thoughtless, an angst-filled love triangle charged with insurmountable passion and the unforgettable Kellan Kyle, took the literary world by storm. Amazed and surprised by the response to the release of Thoughtless in 2009, more stories were quick to follow. Stephens has been writing nonstop ever since.

In addition to writing, Stephens enjoys spending lazy afternoons in the sun reading fabulous novels, loading up her iPod with writer's block reducing music, heading out to the movies, and spending quality time with her friends and family. She currently resides in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her two equally beautiful children.

About the Series
(Picture taken from Goodreads)

 

Book Review / Insurgent by Veronica Roth

The below is the description of Divergent, the first book in the series, for a description of Insurgent please click on the Goodreads link below...

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Published:     1st May 2012
Publisher:  Harper
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 2, Divergent
Source:  Bought

My Review

What I loved about this book...
Words cannot describe fully how much I am loving this trilogy so far...   I can't believe I have waited this long to read this!  What a great second book in the trilogy!  

Although there are a lot of things I loved that I can't go into here as that would spoil the story for those who haven't read it but one thing I can say is that I am loving the character of Tris and her progression through from the first book to the second.  You can really see her personality change and adapt to what she needs to but at the same time her basic morals have remained the same.  

I do struggle sometimes with second books in a series/trilogy but with this one I flew right through and cannot wait to start the final book in this trilogy, Allegiant.


About the Author
From Goodreads

Veronica Roth is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011) and INSURGENT (May 2012). 

The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, ALLEGIANT, will come out on October 22, 2013. 

In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)






 

Book Haul / 22nd February 2015

Waiting on Wednesday / Rook by Sharon Cameron

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.

Expected Release Date: 28th April 2015
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)

Goodreads link is here.

History has a way of repeating itself. In the Sunken City that was once Paris, all who oppose the new revolution are being put to the blade. Except for those who disappear from their prison cells, a red-tipped rook feather left in their place. Is the mysterious Red Rook a savior of the innocent or a criminal?

Meanwhile, across the sea in the Commonwealth, Sophia Bellamy’s arranged marriage to the wealthy René Hasard is the last chance to save her family from ruin. But when the search for the Red Rook comes straight to her doorstep, Sophia discovers that her fiancé is not all he seems. Which is only fair, because neither is she.

As the Red Rook grows bolder and the stakes grow higher, Sophia and René find themselves locked in a tantalizing game of cat and mouse.

Blog Tour / Obsession in Death by JD Robb

Lieutenant Eve Dallas walks the thin line between love and hate in this fabulous 40th thriller from #1 New York Times–bestseller J. D. Robb…

Eve Dallas has solved a lot of high-profile murders for the NYPSD and gotten a lot of media. She—and her billionaire husband—are getting accustomed to being objects of attention, of gossip, of speculation.

But now Eve has become the object of one person’s obsession. Someone who finds her extraordinary, and thinks about her every hour of every day. Who believes the two of them have a special relationship. Who would kill for her—again and again…

With a murderer reading meanings into her every move, handling this case will be a delicate—and dangerous—psychological dance. And Eve knows that underneath the worship and admiration, a terrible threat lies in wait. Because the beautiful lieutenant is not at all grateful for these bloody offerings from her “true and loyal friend.” And in time, idols always fall…

Published:     19th February 2015
Publisher:  Piatkus Books
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 40, In Death Series
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher



My Review

What I loved about this book...

Now this book was a complete surprise to me reading it.  I am not normally one who likes or gravitates to the crime and murder type stories but when I read the blurb for this one I knew that I had to give it a go, especially given the fact that it was written by Nora Roberts under her alias author name.  I already loved Nora Roberts' writing so I was very interested in seeing how I would get on with this book.  I loved it! 

What I loved the most about this book was the suspense.  This story got me suspecting nearly everybody and did such a great job in introducing each character, what they do etc.  Being new to this series and characters, I was a bit worried that I would not pick up the story or the characters but it really didn't matter that I hadn't read all the books before it (all 39 of them lol!).  You can definitely read this as a stand alone but I am definitely more intrigued to collect and read all the others in the series (and it's going to take me a while to collect and read being that this is book 40 lol!).


About the Author

aka:
Sarah Hardesty
Jill March
Nora Roberts

Eleanor Marie Robertson was born on October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A. She was the youngest of the five children, also the only girl, of a marriage with Irish ancestors. Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life. She attended a Catholic school and credits the nuns with instilling in her a sense of discipline. During her sophomore year in high school, she transferred to a local public school, where she met Ronald Aufdem-Brinke, her future first husband.

In August 17, 1968, as soon as she had graduated from High School, Eleanor married, against her parents' wishes. The marriage settled in Keedysville, Maryland. Her husband worked at his father's sheet-metal business before joining her parents in their lighting company. While, she worked briefly as a legal secretary. "I could type fast but couldn't spell, I was the worst legal secretary ever," she says now. After their sons, Dan and Jason, were born she stayed home. Calling this her "Earth Mother" years, she spent much of her time doing crafts, including ceramics and sewing her children's clothes. The marriage ended separating, and they obtained the divorce in January 1985.

In February 1979, a blizzard in forced her hand to try another creative outlet. She was snowed in with a three and six year old with no kindergarten respite in sight and a dwindling supply of chocolate. During the now famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of those stories. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981 as Nora Roberts, a shortened form of her birth name Eleanor Marie Robertson, because she assumed that all authors had pen names.

Eleanor wrote under the pseudonym Jill March a story for a magazine titled "Melodies of Love".

Eleanor met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, when she hired him to build bookshelves. They were married in July 1985. Her husband owns and operates a bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland called "Turn the Page Books". Since that time, they've expanded their home, traveled the world.

In 1992, she decided adopted other pseudonym so to publish a futuristic-suspense novels, she first decided to use the pseudonym D.J. MacGregor, but she discovered that this pseudonym was used by another author. In 1995, her first "In Death" serial novel was published under the pseudonym J.D. Robb, the initials "J.D." were taken from her sons, Jason and Dan, while "Robb" is a shortened form of Roberts.

Eleanor has also been known as Sara Hardesty, because when the "Born In" series was released in U.K. it carried that name instead of Nora Roberts. She has since changed publishers.

Eleanor has been plagiarized by another best-selling romance writer, Janet Dailey. The practice came to light after a reader read Nora Roberts' "Sweet Revenge" and Janet Dailey's "Notorious" back-to-back; she noticed several similarities and posted the comparable passages on the Internet. Calling the plagiarism "mind rape," Eleanor sued Janet Daily. In 1997, Janet, admitted to repeatedly plagiarizing from Nora Roberts' work, and that both "Aspen Gold" and "Notorious" lifted heavily from Nora Roberts's work. Both of those novels were pulled from print after Janet's admission. She acknowledged the plagiarism and blamed it on a psychological disorder. In a settlement, Janet paid Eleanor an undisclosed sum, which Eleanor donated to the Literacy Volunteers of America.

A founding member of the Romance Writers of America (R.W.A.), she was the first inductee in the organization's Hall of Fame. She also is a member of several writers groups and has won countless award  

 

Blog Tour Schedule / Obsession in Death by JD Robb

Book Haul / 25th February 2015

Waiting on Wednesday / The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.

Expected Release Date: 12th May 2015
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)

Goodreads link is here.

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

Book Review / Divergent by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Published:     2nd February 2012
Publisher:  Harper Collins
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 1, Divergent
Source:  Owned Copy
Review:   
 


My Review

What I loved about this story...
I am having such a great reading year so far for 2015.  Most of the titles I have read have been 4 or 5 stars and I am very happy to say that this title gets the full 5 stars.  I LOVED IT!!!! 

I always tend to gravitate towards books that have a love story in it as well and although it was not a large part of this book I especially enjoyed the parts which did have the starts of a love story in it.  I can't wait to see if that is something that continues throughout the trilogy...

My favourite character, by far, has to be Tris.  The way that she progresses throughout the book is inspirational.  I perceived her as the type of person who is capable of far more than what she seems or even thinks.  It is definitely going to be interesting following her story throughout the rest of the Trilogy....


About the Author
 (from Goodreads)

Veronica Roth is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011) and INSURGENT (May 2012). The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, ALLEGIANT, will come out on October 22, 2013. In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)

Waiting on Wednesday / Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog.

Expected Release Date: 5th May 2015
(Release date obtained from Goodreads)

Goodreads link is here.

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

(This is a standalone novel, not part of the Cruel Beauty Universe.)

Author Interview / Donald Hounam

The Bishop of Oxford is very, very dead. At least the police think it’s the Bishop – it’s impossible to be sure, since someone has made off with his head.

Fifteen-year-old Frank Sampson is the forensic sorcerer on the case. But he is easily distracted. By Kazia, the supposed victim’s beautiful, and possibly dangerous, niece. By Marvo, his police colleague, who seems dead set on making his life difficult. By the terror that he's losing his Gift – the ability to work magic. And by all those stupid rules which get in the way of proving that everybody is wrong about the case . . . except Frank.

Donald Hounam has wrought a sharp, exciting, original new voice in teen fiction.        

     

1. If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?
   Agatha Christie. I have this vision of Hercule Poirot waving a wand and screaming in broken English while bolts of phosophorescence flicker along his moustache…
   More seriously, I tried co-writing a couple of times and it didn’t really work out.
2. What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?
   Two answers again, I’m afraid.
   Three days a week, I commute from Canterbury to the day job in London. I start early so I can stop off, usually at the Caffè Nero, and do an hour’s caffeine-fuelled writing. I hack away on the train up; and again, if I’m still awake, on the train back down.
   The other four days, I’ve got a messy office at home. So all I’ve got to do is just push all that mess out of the way…
3. What is the hardest part of the writing for you?
   Sending things out. My girlfriend had to put a gun to my head to get me to submit Gifted to anybody. Just one of the reasons I dedicated the book to her…
4. When and why did you first start writing?
   I was an obsessive reader as a child, teenager, student… Sooner or later I was doomed to take a crack at making my own stuff up and hiding it away in a drawer.
5. How did you come up with the idea for your book?
   When I was about twelve, I loved Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories, which featured a forensic sorcerer. I re-read them years later, and they weren’t actually so hot; but I still liked the idea of a forensic sorcerer…
6. Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?
   I read a lot less now than I’d like. The day job and the commute mash me up pretty good; and Gifted and its sequal have kept me pretty busy.
   Still, I’m just finishing one of Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. books: The Whispering Skull.
7. Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?
   Ideally, have an immediate relative in the publishing business.
   Failing that, you put your bum on the chair and your feet under the table, then you just hammer it out.
   Madonna says it best:

It doesn't matter who you are,

It's what you do that takes you far.

And if at first you don't succeed

Here's some advice that you should heed:

You get up again, over and over,

You get up again, over and over,

You get up again, over and over,

You get up again, over and over…

And repeat.