Divergent - Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent; Insurgent; Allegiant
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: 2012 / 2012 / 2013
Pages: 487 / 525 / 526

Since I read these books in such quick succession, one after the other, I'm going to cheat a little and review the trilogy as a whole inside of individual books. This was another series that I read on the insistence of students (it is so lovely to have kids so excited about books that they want to discuss the with you so try to read those books as soon as I can).

These books are rather popular at present, so no doubt you've heard of them or seen them (or the new movie) about, but just in case you haven't, here's the run down. The series takes place in a not-to-distant future Chicago. In this world, communities are few and rather closed in. When children reach the age of sixteen they undergo a testing procedure which determines their dominant traits and attributes and indicates which of five 'factions' they would be best suited.

Unlike a lot of other dystopian fiction that employs this trope, however, the choice is ultimately theirs, children can choose which faction, and which trait they which to guide their life - Abnegation (self-sacrifice), Erudite (knowledge), Candor (truth),  Amity (friendship), or Dauntless (daring). Children can choose to align their life with their families, or with what their testing indicates.

For those like Tris, however, testing reveals a shocking secret - she is Divergent. Equally skilled or suited to more than one faction. This way, history has shown, leads to great upheaval and chaos, not only within the individual them self, but for society as a whole. And so people like Tris are feared. And hunted out.

In choosing Dauntless, Tris takes a bold step away from her family and into a new life, but all is not entirely what it seems - and not just at the Dauntless compound, everywhere.

I enjoyed the first two books in this series - not as much as, say, The Hunger Games, but I would definitely recommend it to any fans as a similar read. The last book, however, I found disjointed and off putting as Roth employed an alternating chapter perspective change between Tris and, another main character, Four. This had not occurred in the first two books and I would often get a ways into the chapter before I realised it had shifted.

As an example of YA dystopian fiction it checks all the boxes - a young lead character with a skill above her peers, a love interest with a complication, separation from the parents, and a corrupt government. Through in some crumbling buildings and a cool zip line manned by some under-20s and you're all set to go. Not a bad read, by any stretch, just not anything out of the ordinary. 3/5

Read if you enjoyed:

• Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
• City of Ember - Jeanne Duprau
• The Giver - Lois Lowry
• Legend - Marie Lu (recommended by Lisa)
• Delirium - Lauren Oliver

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Life as we knew it is over…

The Dead and the Gone Susan Pfeffer
301 pages; published 2008

God save their souls, Alex prayed. God save ours. It was the only prayer he could think of, no matter how inadequate it might be. It offered him no comfort, but he repeated it unceasingly. As long as he prayed he didn’t have to think. He didn’t have to remember. He didn’t have to decide. He didn’t have to acknowledge he was entering a world where no one has laid the rules out for him to follow, a world where there might not be any rules left for any of them to follow. (63/4)

Last year I read Susan Pfeffer’s Life As We Knew It, a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. So when I saw the sequel, The Dead and the Gone, in the library I practically pounced. What makes this sequel such an interesting one is that it isn’t really a sequel at all but a reimagining of the first story – same situation, different location and characters. I was very much looking forward to seeing how Pfeffer could do this while still keeping the book fresh and interesting.

While Life As We Knew It tells the story of Miranda and her family in the country, The Dead and the Gone relocates to the centre of New York City. When the moon is hit by an asteroid and knocked ever so slightly out of orbit – just enough to wreak havoc – it is high school senior Alex and family this time who we focus on as their lives are upturned. With the whole world up in the air, Alex’s parents just never make it home, and with his older brother away in the Marines, Alex is left alone to look after his two younger sisters. That would be an unsavoury job at the best of times but with little food, less money and no one at all to help, it’s almost impossible.

Like I said, I loved the first book, but this was even better. At first I thought it was just my pre-existing interest in how the story would go, but I truly think it was a more moving story all over. I just felt so bad for Alex, doing the best he could for his sister but just having no hope. There were chapters that made me sob (and yes, my family were a little concerned), and chapters that frightened me. I found certain parts chilling to the point where even now, over a month later, I’m still unnerved by it.

It’s not necessary for you to read Life As You Knew It before The Dead and the Gone, thought the first does give you a little more information on what exactly is happening with the moon. If you have the chance to read either, I’d definitely recommend you take it. 5/5

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The Declaration

Gemma Malley

301 pages; published 2007

… journals and writing were forbidden at Grange Hall. Surpluses were not there to read and write; they were there to learn and work, Mrs Pincent told them regularly. She said that things would be much easier if they didn’t have to teach them to read and write in the first place, because reading and writing were a dangerous business; they made you think, and Surpluses who thought too much were useless and difficult. (16)

Science has made the leap to curing heart disease, it has cured aids, it has cured cancer. And now it has cured death. With the invention of a new drug called ‘Longevity’ people can literally life forever.

With such drastic advancements, however, come equally drastic restrictions. With no people leaving the planet, there is no room for any new ones and so the Declaration is formed: a legal document that outlaws the birth of any child from parents taking Longevity. Any such child is an illegal “surplus”, a drain on the planets resources, thieving of a life they were not allotted.

Anna is one such surplus. A prefect at Grange Hall, part orphanage-part drilling facility, Anna is everything a surplus should be: she works hard, accepts any and all punishment (no matter how harsh), hates her criminal parents, and desires above all else to be a Valuable Asset. All she wants to do is prove useful, to remove some small degree of the shame and sin her parents had lumped her with. She “Knows Her Place.”

When the Catchers apprehend Peter, a sixteen year old surplus, and deliver him to Grange Hall, Anna’s orderly life meets an unexpected turn. Illegals aren’t normally caught so late in life and Peter has known too much of freedom to give it up so willingly.

But there are other things Peter knows, too. Like that Anna’s parents never wanted to give her up. That her name isn’t “Surplus Anna” but Anna Covey. And, most dangerous of all, that there’s a way to escape from Grange Hall…

The Declaration, Malley’s first novel (her second, The Resistance, a sequel to Declaration was published in September) was an intriguing read, questioning life and who has the right to it. Anna’s voice, so heavily indoctrinated in the dogma of this dystopian society, so believing of her own worthlessness was painfully touching in parts. An interesting exploration of a world in which the rights to a child, not to mention of the child, are virtually non-existent. Definitely recommended. 4.5/5

Purchase The Declaration here.

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Dead Until Dark
Charlaine Harris
326 pages; published 2004

For a second I felt ashamed at calling Bill to rescue me: I should have handled the situation myself. Then I thought, Why? When you know a practically invincible being who professes to adore you, someone so hard to kill it’s next to impossible, someone preternaturally strong, that’s who you’re gonna call. (255-6)

Sookie Stackhouse lives in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Her life is ordinary – she lives with her grandmother, works at the local bar, and has a brother who lives nearby. Problem is, despite her lifestyle, Sookie herself is anything but ordinary. Ever since she was a young girl, Sookie has had the ability to read the minds of those around her.

Normality never sticks around for very long though – at least not with a character like Sookie in the lead. Bon Temps starts to wake up with the revelation of the reality of vampires (they’re “coming out of the coffin”). With the development of a viable synthetic blood, vampires no longer have to feed on humans to survive, and many are seeking a more human lifestyle.

When one such vampire, oh-so-scarily named "Bill", moves to town and, incidentally, next door to Sookie, her life suddenly gets turned upside down. Bill is tall, dark and handsome - and definately dangerous - but, most appealing of all, Sookie cannot hear his thoughts. Around, she does not have to endure the aching strain required to simply afford people their privacy. She is free to just relax.

But when a local woman dies under suspicious circumstances, Sookie finds herself dating a prime suspect. At what cost does her freedom come?

Vampire romances are a dime-a-dozen at the moment. Everywhere you turn you find yet another one creeping up behind you. Despite this, I found Dead Before Dark, the first of the Sookie Stackhouse series, to be an enjoyable light read. While still maintaining the romantic coupling of the moment - a (relatively) normal human girl with the dark scary vamp - it does mix it up a bit by ensuring that she herself is not entirely normal. Sookie doesn't belong in Bill's world ... but she doesn't really fit in her own either.

Harris' writing was a little slow in places; I felt like I was wading through it at times to get to the next part. Having said that, I would still recommend it to fans of the genre. Harris' humour comes into play quite strongly, leaving the book with a slightly oddball air to it, only to be effectively cut down when some of the darker elements come to the surface.

A fun read, the sequel of which I'm looking forward to reading. 3.5/5

Other Reviews

• Lightheaded at Everyday Reads
• Becflies at Librarian-ism-ish
• Trisha at eclectic / eccentric
• Trisha at Trisha's Book Blog

Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time

James Gurney

168 pages; published 1992

Dinosaur eyes take in a wider field of view, blending in at the edges like a glass globe filled with water. Nothing is gray or drab or dull; rather they see swimming particles of colour, a moving mosaic of dancing coloured specks. As we would see a starscape in the night sky, they see a sparkling “lifescape” in the woods by day, a world teeming with life.

Some humans can see with dinosaur vision, Bix explained: artists, poets, and children. But for the rest of the us, as we grow older, the mammalian part of the brain clouds over the older reptilian part, and drains away a little of the glory. (106)

When I was little I read Swiss Family Robinson ... at least I assume I did. I don't remember actually reading it (the first time), only having known that I had. Whatever the circumstances, the story was one that fascinated me and stuck with me for a long, long time. The story of the shipwreck and having to find a way to live on a deserted island has been the basis of many (many) of my dreams over the years and there is always something about those types of stories that draw me in immediately.

The first book I remember reading (after the start of the fixation) that had the same idea was Dinotopia. I picked up in the primary school library and just feel in love with - but it was always one of those books that was, at the time, far too expensive to buy and has no become one that I actually enjoy tracking down and finding again when the mood strikes. Not having it on hand makes it a little more special.

Dinotopia is the fictional journal kept by Arthur Denison, a turn of the century scientist and explorer, when he and his son, Will, are shipwrecked on an island the world never knew: Dinotopia. In this fantastic world, humans and Dinosaurs ("Saurians") live together in harmony, in a beautifully cultured and fertile utopia.

The book covers their first year(s) on the island: their travels around the larger cities, their education of Dinotopian ways (first rule of Dinotopia: 'One raindrop raises the sea'), and mostly, their adjustment to this new and wonderful world. Young Will takes to it quite readily while Arthur, amazed at all he sees, maintains his distance a little longer, allowing the reader to see and read the book through his curious, yet steady voice.

Dinotopia is a joy to read, not only for the pure imagination of it's story but for Gurney's unbelievably beautiful illustrations that fill the book. These are images that you just want to fall into. If you haven't already read Dinotopia, it is one you must track down and read. I am very much looking forward to reading his latest book in the series. 5/5

Deadly, Unna?

Phillip Gwynne

273 pages, published 1998

From the Back Cover:

Dumby Red and Blacky don't have a lot in common.

Dumby's the star of the footy team. Blacky's a gutless wonder.

Dumby's got the knack with girls. Blacky never knows what to say.

Dumby's got a killer smile. Blacky needs braces.

Dumby's from the Point. Blacky's from the Port.

Dumby's a Nunga. Blacky's white.

But they're friends.

And it could be deadly, Unna?

I'm finally getting to the bottom of my class reading list and so was quite eager to move this one into the 'done' pile. I can't say that I particularly liked Deadly, Unna? however there was certainly a lot in it that could be used in a classroom and, seeing as that was the point of reading it in the first place, I suppose it was all well in the end.

Blacky's voice was quite strong as he dealt with the issues of racial difference in his town as well as the difficulties faced by his own large family. There were certainly some interesting parts - the relationship between Blacky and Clarence, the incfluence of the town's politics on something as seemingly small as a local boys football team - but on the whole it wasn't really a book that I could re-read. 3/5

The Dante Club
Matthew Pearl
370 pages, published 2006

Revolving around Longfellow and his collection of poets and authors working on the first American translation of the Divine Comedy, this murder mystery combines cleverly inventive crime fiction and nerdy insights into academia. I can’t really tell you anything else without giving away the plot, but it is highly recommended for anyone who loves Dante or who just enjoys a good literary crime fiction.

I did feel that the book dragged a little towards the end – though to be far, I’m not an avid crime reader and may have just wanted to get to it’s conclusion. Despite this, it was beautifully written and I found several passages over which I hovered. 4/5