Reviews, YA Dystopian

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Divergent by Veronica Roth

Oh My!

This book exceeded my expectations! It blew them out of the water!

I was hesitant to read this book. I really was. I picked it up a few months ago, read about 3 pages and decided it wasn’t worth my money. Boy, was I a bit judgmental because of the hype! I regret not reading this book sooner. I could have had the hardcover edition of the first book instead of the paperback edition the bookstore only had in stock.

Honestly, this is by far one of the best books I’ve read this year. The amount of action, romance, intrigue, and the writing style, make it into a blockbuster of books! No wonder the hype is as big as it is!

You could say the main characters are Tris (also known as Beatrice) and Four (whose identity I can’t disclose because I want to keep this as spoiler free as I can, Muahahahaha). Tris’ world consists of Five Factions, the Abnegation, the Amity, the Candor, the Dauntless, and the Erudite. Each faction stands for a “value” one could almost say. The Abnegation strive to be selfless, the amity strive to be peaceful, the candor strive to be honest, the dauntless are the brave, and the Erudite strive to gain knowledge. At Tris’ 16th birthday she had to go through a simulation test that decides what faction you’re most compatible with. That’s where things get tricky for Tris because no faction is the correct one for her. She is factionless. Her father is a leader in the Abnegation government and changing faction’s would mean she would betray her family, her government almost.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to fans of any book genre. I’m not a big dystopian fan but this book made me want to read more books in that genre.

Oh and, Divergent takes place in Chicago. That might peak your interest a little more. 😉

Rating: 5/5

Rating System:

1/5: I hated it

2/5: It had some redeeming qualities but overall, not a good book.

3/5: I liked it. A fun read.

4/5: I really like it, but something was missing.

5/5: I love it! It’s as close to perfection as it can get!

Random

Let It Snow Book Giveaway

Hello everyone!

I am giving away the book “Let It Snow” by John Green, Maureen Johnson, & Lauren Myracle.

This is how it looks:

Let It Snow by JG, MJ, & LM
Let It Snow by JG, MJ, & LM

The giveaway is over at my tumblr: theblueoak.tumblr.com

The link to the post of the giveaway & rules to enter is: http://theblueoak.tumblr.com/Letitsnowbookgiveaway

Good Luck to everyone & Happy Reading!

 

Random, To-Read

To-Read: Divergent by Veronica Roth

I gave in.
I admit it, I gave into the hype. The reviews, the recommendations. They all convinced me, so I made a trip to Barnes & Nobles yesterday and bought the book. Couldn’t find the hardcover edition so I bought the softcover edition instead.
See, I have proof!

The book Divergent by Veronica Roth.
The book Divergent by Veronica Roth.

I’ll be reading this book after I read Over You by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus.

Happy Reading!

Reviews, ya romance

Opinion: Confessions of a Serial Kisser by Wendelin Van Draanen (Not a Official Review)

Confessions of a Serial Kisser
Confessions of a Serial Kisser by Wendelin Van Draanen

Just finished reading Confessions of a Serial Kisser. I can describe this book in one word, Hilarious!

This book was so much fun to read. It was what kept me sane, and distracted me enough to really let my mind rest in between sessions of editing essays.

Evangeline, the main character, is funny! Even though the thing she is looking for is not what she should be looking for, (The perfect kiss) as the reader we somehow still root for her and hope that she finds the perfect, “crimson” kiss. Evangeline is a character that in some level we can all relate to in this imperfect world. You’ll understand why I say this if you read the book because I don’t think we all are going on around kissing boys looking for the perfect kiss right? Or at least I’m not.

Reading this book is the equivalent to eating chocolate ice cream out of the carton. So wrong yet so good. A guilty pleasure!

Happy Reading!

Reviews, ya contemporary

Book Review: Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Epic Fail by Clare LaZebnik
Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

When I first saw this book the title through me off. Epic Fail? What type of book title is that?! I am very glad I decided to take a chance on it and read it anyways.

At first, it seemed to be your run-of-the-mill cliché and fluffy young adult book. You have Elise who moves to Los Angeles and starts going to a private prep school where the majority of the student body consists of Hollywood brats (or at least that’s how Elise sees them). Then we meet Derek who will be her love interest. A very interesting character with some pride and a bit of prejudice thrown. Hope you caught what I just did. 😉

Someone said in their review of the book that this book was a gobbler. A gobbler is a fun book you can read in one sitting, and it was just that!

I was so pleased with this sort of cliche, fun, lovey-dovey book. It’s hard to find these type of books nowadays. A good amount of YA books appear to be gobblers but are not. They are like the gobbler’s dumb and boring cousin.

Anyways, if you want something fun to read, pick up Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik. You won’t be disappointed!

Reviews, YA Paranormal

Book Review: City of Bones (Book #1 of The Mortal Instruments)

City of Bones (#1 The Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare
City of Bones (#1 The Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare

Out of the blue, I decided to read The City of Bones. About a year or two ago I remember picking up this book and wondering if I should read it but some other book caught my eye that day at the bookstore and ever since then, I had not given it another glance until a few months ago. I started hearing about TMI (The Mortal Instruments) left and right because the film adaptation of the book is coming out soon. I decided to read the book in order to see if the movie might be “worth” seeing.

The City of Bones ended up being action packed and intense! I was not expecting this at all. To be honest, I was expecting romance and lots of it for some strange reason. This book has almost every mythical and paranormal creature you can think of. There are vampires, werewolves, fairies, trolls, demons, etc. Seriously, they have about everything. They even have angels, the fallen angels and archangels too. When I say everything, I mean everything.

As the first book in the series it is just… okay. There was no mind-blowing thing going on in the book but it also wasn’t a bad read. Personally, I give it a 3.5 out of 5 or a B-. Take your pick. Honestly, I wanted more character development. The whole time I was reading the book I was so entranced with the action that the few moments where valuable information was given, the action/fighting scene overshadowed it. Another thing that really bugged me at first was how the author switched point of views. It was unexpected and at times, random. I feel as if it made the book a bit disorganized.

I probably won’t read the rest of the series but at least I gave it a try.

Now TMI fandom, please don’t bash me. We all have our opinions and likes and dislikes. 🙂

Oh and one last thing, DO NOT read this book all in one day from morning to night. It will give you nightmares and will not let you sleep. I was up imagining the horrible monsters described in the book and the whole Jace and Clary thing. Their issues are like none I have ever read before. I almost encourage you to read the book just so you can see what I mean.

This concludes my “review” of the book. These are my opinions and you are very welcome to disagree with me. 🙂

Happy Reading!

Random

The New Year

First of,

Happy New Year! *pops some fireworks*

Hope everyone had a lovely New Year’s Eve and New Year as well!

This year I have enrolled in the GoodReads 2013 Reading Challenge. The goal I have set myself is to read 50 books by the end of the year! That’s going to be hard because I have one more semester of college and then I’m out into the working world. Crazy stuff. But if I’m completely honest, it is when I am REALLY stressed that I read like there is no tomorrow. So, maybe I will reach my “read 50 books” goal. We will see.

Anyways, if you would like to be my “friend” in GoodReads, here is the link!

Happy New Year! (again)

&

Happy Reading!

Reviews, YA Mystery

Review: The Lies That Bind (Liar Society #2)

The Lies That Bind (Liar Society #2)
The Lies That Bind (Liar Society #2)

Just finished reading The Lies that Bind and I must say I loved it!

It took me longer to finish this book than I anticipated because I would constantly get mad at the main character or the supporting characters! LIKE COME ON NOW! Apart from that though, the twists in this story kept me completely engrossed. These writing sisters know how to make a good book! I did not expected the ending at all!

I must now wait for the third book to come out who knows when…but I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

I give this book a 4.5 out of 5. It doesn’t get a complete 5 because there was one chapter in the book that made me go, “Come one now! Get on with it!” but apart from that, I cannot complain! I loved it and I’m sure you will too. This is some good YA here. I suggest you read it if you haven’t! Don’t forget to read the first book 1st! It’s called The Liar Society.

And with this amateur review of the book I sign off!

Happy New Year Everyone!

To-Read

Christmas Break To-Read List

Hello Christmas Break!

I’ve been waiting for the semester to end so I could read!

My list for the week and a half I have off school is the following:

  1. The Lies That Bind by Lisa & Laura Roecker (YA)
  2. Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell (Chick Lit/Fiction)
  3. Forgotten God by Francis Chan (Religious)
  4. Girl v. By by Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout (YA)
  5. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (Fiction/Literature)
The books I will be reading this Christmas Break.
The books I will be reading this Christmas Break.

The Lies That Bind is the second book in the The Liar Society book series. It is a pretty good series for a YA detective/secret society type of book. Its written by two sisters, maybe that has something to do with it. Two heads do think better than one, right? I’m currently halfway through The Lies That Bind and I have not been disappointed yet. I hope not to be.

I will also be reading “The Making of a Story” a Norton textbook. Yes, I bought it for fun. I’ve been writing a lot lately and I want to make myself a better writer and I can’t do that without some textbooks.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I plan on making a page of all the books I’ve read or… maybe I’ll just post a goodreads link instead. I want to spend this break reading, not just stuck to my computer like I have been for the past four months. One more semester of university and I’m done! Praise God for that!