Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books 

Publication Date: 7th November 2013

Goodreads Summary: 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.

{ Review }

I've taken my time with getting to the Divergent series by Veronica Roth because I was afraid of all the hype surrounding it but boy do I regret it. I have just finished reading this book and I can't believe that I put it off for so long! This book isn't quite what I expected but it's certainly action-packed and I never knew what was going to happen next. 

Divergent follows the story of Beatrice (Tris) Prior in a new dystopian world. In an attempt to proven the outbreak of war, humankind broke into five different 'factions': Erudite, for the clever, Amity, for the peaceful, Candor, for the honest, Abnegation, for the selfless and Dauntless, for the brave. Children grow up in whichever faction their parents belong to, but at the age of 16, they go through an aptitude test to show them which faction they belong in and the following day, at the Choosing Ceremony, they must decide the path for the rest of their lives. Tris knows that she doesn't belong in Abnegation like the rest of her family and so she makes the difficult decision to leave her family behind and join a new faction, Dauntless. A tough initiation process follows - one that not everyone will survive. As Tris tries to fit in among the Dauntless she struggles to figure out who she is and who her real friends are. As if finding herself in a new faction wasn't difficult enough, Tris has a secret that she learned about herself during the aptitude test. A secret that she has been warned to never tell lest it destroy her. 

What I love about this story is that it doesn't seem fantastical in the slightest. The characters and the setting all felt very real to me that's all down to Roth's genius. Each character is flawed, some more than others, and this made it easy to relate to them as a reader and I found that I actually cared about what happened to the characters. When they felt sad, I felt sad; when they felt pain, I felt pain and when they felt happy, I felt happy. It is rare that you find a book in which you can truly share your emotions with the characters but Divergent is one of those gems. The book is written in the first person from the perspective of Tris herself. She often finds herself torn between what she thinks she should do and what she actually wants to do and isn't afraid to admit that she is sometimes selfish. I really loved this about her because, let's be honest, very few of us can say that we don't often have selfish thoughts no matter how hard we try to be moral people. Tris isn't afraid to admit it when she's afraid or weak but she's also strong-willed and determined not to be beaten. She is well aware of what her short comings are and that she hasn't been blessed with the best physique for a member of Dauntless, but she tries her hardest and at the end of the day, that's all that matters right? 

The character of Four was also really interesting because his emotions were always undercover and you could never really tell what he was thinking. Four isn't a difficult character to love but because he doesn't show his true emotions very often, you're also sort of frightened and unsure of him for a large part of the novel. I guess this is perfect because that's pretty much how Tris feels about him for a large part of the story too so the reader and Tris really are as one on this adventure. I love that Roth didn't make him the stereotypical 'bad boy' (I guess that's what he is) but made him a real character that has much more to him than meets the eye. He does what he wants and he isn't easily influenced by the opinions of others. 

Sometimes I felt like the characters seemed a little deadpan but I suppose that's all part of the 'dauntless' act and it made the moments when the characters were happy and laughing all the more special. This certainly isn't a happy story and it isn't one that suddenly retreats in a world filled with fluffy clouds. There is a darkness lining this book that is ever-present, even when the story takes a more positive turn. It is evident that there is more going on in this story than meets the eye but Roth has carefully staged this story so that the reader has absolutely no idea what's going on until it hits you in the face. The reader is on a level with Tris throughout the story - what she knows, we know, what she doesn't know, we don't know. At least, that will be the case if you have been completely unexposed to the spoilers that are just about all over the internet. I knew very little about Divergent prior to reading the story so I found all the twists and turns to be incredibly shocking and exciting. 

There's no insta-love in this story! I think this book deserves a big fat hooray just for that. It's hard to find YA books that aren't centred on romance that still get the romance perfect but I think Veronica Roth may have done it. The chemistry between Tris and Four takes a backseat in this story, but it's always there lurking in the background. There aren't any PDAs or sexual scenes, in fact, the romance is rather chaste which I guess can be put down to the factions in which the characters were brought up in and the ones they currently reside in. 

The story doesn't exactly end on a cliffhanger so you could almost read Divergent as a standalone novel and be satisfied at the end. That said, this almost certainly won't be the case because you'll want  to find out more about this phenomenally interesting world. I did find the ending to be a tad abrupt as I turned the page on my kindle expecting to find more story when, in fact, it was already over. There were no clues whatsoever as to how this story will continue so you really are in the dark and I can't wait to get my hands on a  copy of Insurgent! This is, I think, one of the keys to this story's success. This book wasn't predictable in the slightest and never knowing what was coming next made me desperate to keep reading. 

All in all, Divergent is a fantastic and captivating read that I would highly recommend to all fans of dystopian novels. The combination of very real characters and an original plot make this an absolute must read and I understand now why there is so much hype surrounding this series. If you're looking for a YA book that stands out from the rest, then this is your book. I absolutely cannot wait to read Insurgent now and watch the Divergent film, which I've heard is actually better than the book, believe it or not! 

First posted on Readgig, click here to read it there. 

Obernewtyn follows the story of Elspeth Gordie who lives in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by the 'Great White'. Elspeth, or Elf, was born with strange mental abilities that cannot be explained and will most likely get her killed if she is exposed. Hiding amongst other Misfits, Elspeth knows it isn't long before she's found, especially as there have been subtle warnings that she is safe from her friends and her own visions. Following a visit to her village by a Madame Vega, she is taken away to Obernewtyn, a distant compound that nobody knows much about, but what they do know is that once you're taken there, you never return. Elspeth must constantly be on her guard at Obernewtyn because there's something strange going on and she's certain that whatever it is, it involves her and her coveted abilities. 

The plot had many highs and lows but I don't feel that it really had much of a driving force behind it. If you asked me to describe the plot of Obernewtyn to you, I'm not really sure where I'd begin or end as I don't think there's a conclusive story line and it was more like a bunch of events that happened. Some parts of the plot moved really fast and others moved really damn slowly with most of the more 'exciting' moments extremely rushed. I found this book very hard to get into at the beginning but once the plot got going it was easier to read. However, the ending was incredibly rushed and there were several important details that I feel were skated over leaving a few holes in my understanding of the story which was disappointing. This story is actually rather complex and in order to fully understand the new world that the author has created and what the purpose of each and every character is, you'd probably have to read this incredibly slowly and carefully or read it more than once which is a hindrance. 

The world that the author has created is really intricate with different words for familiar concepts and some altogether new words. It takes a little while to get used to her style of writing and the new universe that she has created, but once you've got a grasp of it, you become really absorbed into the new world post Great White. The setting and the descriptions are excellent and Isobelle Carmody presents an altogether new and unique world that I haven't read about before. Although it isn't explicit, the 'Great White' appears to have been caused by a nuclear accident so this book subtly ties into world issues that are prevalent today, but hidden in the form of fiction. 

Despite the brilliant setting, I have to admit that I really didn't take to any of the characters and this made it difficult to get into the actual story. I didn't feel any sort of connection to the protagonist, Elspeth, nor did I have any particular feeling about any of the other characters. A lot of the characters develop drastically throughout the story and some have completely different personalities by the end which I found confusing rather than interesting. My first impressions of characters were all wrong but I felt like this was more of a genuine fault in the writing rather than a stylistic device employed by the author. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect of Obernewtyn before I picked it up and in all honesty I'm still not quite sure what to make of it now. Whilst it is an interesting story, it has a few too many highs and lows and wasn't consistent in holding my attention at all. Sometimes I was thoroughly bored by this book, but at others I was really interested. The problem with the 'interesting' parts was that they either weren't fully developed or they didn't last long enough to peak my interest for a long period of time.  All in all, I feel that the author had a brilliant idea that didn't quite come to fruition. There are sequels to Obernewtyn but in all honesty I'm not sure whether this book interested me enough for me to read the subsequent novels. 

Many thanks to Sam at Readgig for providing me with a  review copy.

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Title: Taken

Author: Erin Bowman

Genre: YA Dystopia

Goodreads Summary: There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends...and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive. 

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

I was completely 'taken' (pun intended) by this cover from the moment I saw and after reading the synposis I am positively desperate to get my hands on this! It sounds like it's going to be an intriguing story with lots of mystery, though I do have one question. If there are no men, then how are there any children? Unless if every single child is fathered by someone under the age of 18, though this seems unlikely, then surely there are no more children? I guess I'll find out next April! 

What's everyone else waiting for? Leave me the link to your WoW below! :)