Allegiant by Veronica Roth

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, tangles 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.

• Number of Pages: 526

Review

I write to you now in mourning of this series, a series that lived a great life in the dark of my room and through my most vivid imagination. I travelled along this city and beyond its walls with a girl with a love so great and the courage to preserve that love for all, no matter the cost. I mourn because there is no more for me left to follow and these characters must now move on with their untold stories.

Consider me melodramatic if you will, but do not think me insincere. I disclose complete honesty my book reviews, so believe me when I tell you that I finished this book five minutes ago and I still can’t stop crying. This book was the wrap up that no one wanted yet was inevitable. I will not give away any information for those of you who want to start the series of Divergent.

I created a joint review of the first two books in my previous post. I wrote of how great it was, out of the norm, and completely believable in its characters. What was true then is true now. But here is where I write less with emotion and more with facts.

Fact one: This is a great series.

Fact two: This book is slower paced than the rest. (Patience is required)

Fact three: The end is inevitable, but leaves you—the reader—knowing for certain how all the beloved characters end, which is a comfort. 

I remember starting this book with immense anticipation, but was slowed down to a duller pace in the beginning. There is a lot of information given and a lot of planning where there is less action taking place. But once you start this series you need to see how it ends, and the ending is what makes it all worth reading whether it be the ending you wanted or not. I really enjoyed the dual perspective between Tris and Tobias. The first two books are completely under Tris point of view, so it is interesting to see how the author manages to change voices without disrupting what the reader is already use to. In total it was a series worth reading, and I recommend the series to you all. Stick it out in the last book. From 1-10? I give this book a 6, but the series in all is an 8.

Seeds of War by Rachel Fisher

Summary

The mission of Eden must be fulfilled and Eden’s best Seekers are needed. Forming a new group they dub the Seeders, Fi, Asher, and Sean are joined by a new addition as they set out to bring hope and support to the Topsiders in the form of radios and heirloom seeds. As radio broadcasts begin to reconnect the survivors, the Seeders stumble upon mysterious broadcasts from unknown stations. When two of their own new radio stations go silent within days of each other, Fi and her companions realize that something is terribly wrong. Eden finds itself pitted against a growing and unknown force as their very mission lights the flames of war.

• Number of pages: 262

Review

First off, if you haven’t read book one in this trilogy then read it. Once you are finished go straight to this one. Book two picks up right in the moment where it ended in book one, and there is lots of information in both books so you wouldn’t want to miss anything, trust me. I had to reread the first book in its entirety because there was no way that I was going to remember all the little details that were present, but then again that could be just me.

If you have read my post on the first book then you will have noticed that I emphasized that book as a survival book. So what does that make book two, Seeds of War? For that I will have to steal a word from the book itself, and that word is “Reconnection”. What does that mean exactly? Well, Fi and her Family have made it to Eden, they have settled in, they have revived their strengths, and now Fi is out to reconnect with the people living in the world, the “Topsiders”, and to replant the original plants and grasses that were first created when the Earth was young, before humans tampered with it. Sorry if that gave away a few spoilers of book one, but there is no other way for me to describe what is going on in this one. So mainly, Fi, Asher, Sean, and a new friend named Sara are off to save the world by helping the scientists of Eden recreate the Earth’s original properties, but along the way trouble starts to brew.

After reading both books, I feel like I have traveled Topside right along Fi. The characters were amazingly created by Rachel Fisher, who seems to have a real talent for making a story real. The plot has always been amazing, intricately created with points that make it seem like everything that has happened to these people in 2030 something is very possible in our future, but what I found most interesting was the characters. And what I love about this author is that although Fi is the main character that we usually follow, we still jump from character to character to character depending on the scene. I really got to know all of them in a deeper way, which was great for my nerdy side. And they felt believable because of it in a sense that if I was tromping in the forest with three other people with the weight of the world sort of literally on my shoulders, this is how I would feel. These would be my concerns, if that makes any sense. I also got the sense that unlike book one, this was more of a moral or ethical book. I loved how these moral and religious questions popped up in Fi’s mind because I would think that is normal. What if God was punishing them? What if killing someone meant saving someone else? What are your choices? It all heightened the sense of survival and the problems they were all facing.

Anyway, I again found Rachel’s work great. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and I am just dying to get my greedy little hands on book three. (Hope it doesn’t take too long!) It was an excellent story, but it is also a "thinking" kind of book. Lots of scientific stuff and theories. At times confusing, but never unbearably so. Something I do think I should warn you about is that this book may not be for the faint hearted. This is still survival of the fittest, kill or be killed. There were parts where it may be a little bit bloody or scary and pretty intense, but it was all done to heighten the sense of danger that the author was giving off. At least, that’s what I felt. Either way I feel like this was a wonderful book, and the series is turning out to be a real mind opener, not just some silly little love story. I really like that. (Though the love story in this book is amazingly sweet, just saying.) So from 1-10? Seeds of War is a definite 8.5

Angel Fire by L.A. Weatherly

Summary

In the wake of the Second Wave, the angel menace has exploded, and Alex and Willow are on the lam. Willow has a prophetic dream that points them to Mexico City, where they connect with a fledgling group of angel killers, Alex takes the team in hand, training them for a rush attach on the Seraphic Council, an elite group already under watch by Willow’s angel-father, Raziel, who wants “The Twelve” dead for the sinister reasons of his own and will stop at nothing.

What Alex doesn’t know is that there was also a boy in Willow’s dream, one she felt overpoweringly attracted to. and when enigmatic Seb shows up in the flesh, he turns out to be another—possibly the world’s only other—half angel.

Seb’s been searching for Willow all his life . . . and as the team prepares for grim warfare against a divine enemy, Willow must weigh her love for Alex against the truth of her nature, with everything to lose.

Number of pages: 638

Review

I am emotionally drained from this book . . . in a definitely good way. Angel Burn was everything I expected from book 2 of this trilogy. In fact, I think it was even better than the first book. Mainly I think it’s better because in the first book, the only characters that really get viewed is Alex, Willow, the bad guy, and a handful of people that pass by. Most of the time it was just Alex and Willow. In this book, you see a wide range of characters. My favorite of those new characters being Seb. I loved him. The whole chemistry between Seb and Willow, even the chemistry between Seb and Alex who were always at odds was extremely entertaining.

I liked how it ended a lot. Sometimes in a series like this, the ending either leaves you unsatisfied or so satisfied that you don’t want the next book to come out because it ended off just the way you want it. This book ended in a way that left me with all the loose ends lied up . . . for now. But then it also left a whole new plot to open up in the next book. I found the way L.A. did that was just great. The story did seem a little drawn out to me in the middle, but overall enjoyable. From 1-10? It’s a definite 7.5

Quick opinion on the cover . . . I didn’t like it at all. Honestly, I understand it after I read it, but it looks completely demonic to me, and I didn’t much care for it. If it weren’t for the fact that I have book one in the hardcover format I probably would have gotten book 2 in kindle because the cover really bugs me. 

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Summary

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awake on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into a brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship—tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed’s hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there’s only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Number of pages: 398

Review

**WARNING REVIEW MAY CONTAIN A SPOILER OR TWO** (sorry I usually try to leave out any spoilers but this time I cant help it, no worries though I don’t give out anything major)

Wow.

This book was... incredible. So intense. This was just the kind of book I have been craving for lately. The whole book was so powerful; I had no control to put it down. I heard a lot about Across the Universe and the great reviews it got and I completely understand why.

The entire story is divided between Elder’s point of view and Amy’s point of view. I love when books are like that. I don’t know why, I guess it’s because it feels more personal when you get both sides of the story. Anyway, Amy is frozen and put as cargo in the super spaceship, Godspeed. They hope that 300 years into the future Godspeed will reach this new habitable planet. Well would that be perfect except for the fact that she is woken up waaaaaay to early in the most horrific of ways. Elder is there to help her along the way as they try to discover who is waking up the frozens and stopping the spaceship leader from stealing free will from the people aboard. If this alone doesn’t show you how intense this book is then I seriously think you should find this book somewhere and read for yourself how strong this book is. From the first page to the last page I was kept in full suspense. Some points in the mystery seemed obvious but not in an obvious way… did that make sense? It was like you knew the puzzle pieces, and you had no way of know how those pieces fit together. It drove me crazy at night trying to see how this piece and that piece had anything to do with this one. I loved it.

I do have to warn all of you out there who are suckers for happy endings and don’t like anything less than a happily ever after, this book will not satisfy your thirst for a happy ending. It’s not going to happen. Personally, to me, the ending was the most logical one to end this story, but I can’t help wishing that after everything those two went through they had to end like that. It was sad. But all around I enjoyed racing through the ship with Amy and Elder so from 1-10? It has to be an 8.

On cover news I have to say that it looks amazing! The picture on the cover came out so incredible, but what put it over the top was the blueprint of the spaceship on the inside part of the hard cover’s slap. It made everything seem more realistic. I loved it! I’m kind of upset right now because I took off the cover so I wouldn’t damage it at the beach a couple of days ago, and now I can’t find it!!! Grrrrreat -.- . . . oh! never mind I found it! :D

I went on the author's website and read that Across the Universe is part of a trilogy! Looks like this is far from the end . . .