"Allegiant" ("Divergent" No. 3) by Veronica Roth

I am finally ready to review Allegiant, the final book in Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy. I hate to say this, but I must agree with a lot of readers that Allegiant was disappointing for a lot of reasons, and the death of the main character is not one of them. First of all, I absolutely loved the first book – Divergent. It was fresh, engaging and fun. Insurgent (Book 2) was not as good, but it was ok. It provided additional information about the world and created a nice set up for a highly anticipated finale. Now, come the final installment, and… I just could not get into this book. I got half way through it and then actually abandoned it in favor of reading two other trilogies back to back. That is how uninterested I was in the narrative. First of all, this third book is a massive information dump. We had learned close to nothing about the dystopian world outside of the closed city of Chicago in Book 1. Book 2 provided some answers in the very end, and then in Book 3 we are faced with this massive avalanche of information that is really not that engaging. In addition, the narration is alternated between Tris and Tobias’ POV. But they sounds exactly the same! Without noting the heading of the chapter, you would not be able to tell who is speaking. So as you see I was hugely disappointed in this book before I ever got to the “good part”.

The plot itself has a few flaws: the entire premise that the society is split into genetically pure and genetically damaged seems weak. People seem to be literate, yet, no one has access to historic records, and the GPs are blamed for all the evils. Seems like a pretty weak argument for such a technologically advanced society (my head was spinning from the variety of all the serums!). The narrative actually got better once Tris died. It almost feels like Roth really wanted to kill her off and Tobias’ grief is the only part in this book that felt authentic. I will stop my rambling here because I could go on and on about everything that I did not like about this book. Sometimes it happens with series. This simply was not a good book; not a strong finish at all. So if you are thinking of reading the series, do read Divergent and then proceed with caution. I would not recommend books 2 or 3.

Let's Talk about Classics

I noticed that my recent reads have all been YA dystopian novels. So it is time to mix things up and jump into something different. I have not done a review of any classics on my blog so I decided to list some of my favorites as well as come up with a "to read" list for classics. In order to make this more manageable, I will limit myself to three favorites and three to be read titles.

First of all, by classics I mean books that have been in print for a very long time and basically withstood the test of time. So classics is not really a genre. They are truly the best of the best of various genres that were written mostly in the 17th, 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. My favorites tend to be from the 19th and early 20th centuries and those are the ones you will see listed below.

A lot of people, myself included, are sometimes intimidated by classics, and I think some of it has to do with the differences in language/archaisms; and some of it is the fact that the classics we do read tend to be required readings for school. And if you are made to read a book, it is hard to call it enjoyable. Nevertheless, it is very possible to read classics for pure enjoyment and fun. I thoroughly enjoyed all of these and would encourage everyone who has perhaps been intimidated by classics to give them a try.

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - I love this book. I cannot even tell you how many times I've read it. It does not get old for me. The heroine has an amazingly independent free spirit, and passion for life despite having come from humble beginnings and a really awful childhood. It is also an incredibly romantic love story, so I would definitely say this is my favorite classic work of literature.
2. My second favorite is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I love all of her novels, but this one has to be my favorite. It is sweet, funny, romantic and very easy to read. This is the kind of book that gets one hooked on classics. There are also multiple film adaptions of both of these books, so you can visualize the characters as you read.
3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. This is a mammoth of a book - 4 volumes. However, I liked it so much that I actually read it twice. Do not be put off by its size. Tolstoy is a great writer and this is an epic story that follows the lives of several families during Napoleon's war with Russia. It has everything: incredible romance, war, heartbreak, coming of age, etc. You will grow with the characters and come to love some of them and hate others. There is truly a reason this book is still in print.

I have several classics on my bookshelf that I've been meaning to read. So I decided to set a manageable goal and try to read three classics over the next six months. Here are the titles I've chosen:
1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I've been planning to read this book for the past 15 years or so and just never got to it. So I think this is the perfect one to start with.
2. The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. This is another book I've been meaning to get to. It has also been mentioned in some books I recently read which sort of renewed my interest in reading it.
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - I've had this book on my Kindle for a while, so it is probably time to read it. I love Wilde's plays and this is his only novel, so I hope it is just as witty and clever as his plays.

"Shatter Me" Series by Tahereh Mafi

I just finished this series and am still trying to understand what I think about it. If you are contemplating "to read or not to read", I would definitely say "read". Tahereh Mafi is an amazing writer. She is the queen of simile. So you will definitely enjoy the style, it is fresh and unusual. Her prose is very poetic. She crosses things out, she ignores punctuation rules and writes out sentences in a column for emphasis.

What drew me to the book was the promise of a strong female character with an awesome superpower. Ever since I finished The Destroyer Trilogy by DelSheree Gladden, I've been trying to find a book with a similar feel. The series consists of three full-length novels and two novellas. The novels are written from the female lead's point of view (Juliette), and the novellas are written from the point of view of the two main male characters: Warner and Adam. We find Juliette locked up in an asylum because she is considered to be a danger to society: she kills people simply by touching them. The reader spends a lot of time in Juliette's head as she deals with her fears, insecurities and yearnings. Without giving too much away, I will say that Juliette goes through an amazing character transformation in this series. If you like love triangles, this book is definitely for you. There is a lot of romance and an amazing love triangle is set up early on in the story. I think this book is marketed as young adult fiction, however, I must say that some scenes in the last book are a bit racy for YA audience. I'd say it is better suited for 17-18 and older, and definitely not for younger readers. Juliette (in my opinion) is way too eager to jump into a physical relationship and I am not sure this sends the right message to younger readers.

Overall, the narrative moves along at a nice pace, the characters are interesting and well fleshed out and the trilogy has a very strong conclusion. I would definitely bring these books along to the beach or on a long airplane ride.

"The Maze Runner Trilogy" - Book 3

I really liked the first two books in this series, but this third and final installment was a bit of disappointment. It almost felt like the author ran out of steam. The first two books are non-stop action and really keep the reader on the edge of the seat. The Death Cure starts out really slow - we are talking 300 pages into it I felt like the characters were aimlessly roaming around and was not sure where the author was going with this. I was also puzzled by Thomas' decision not to get his memories back. It almost feels like in the end, he never got all the pieces of the puzzle. He realizes that he played an important role in setting up the trials, but ultimately chooses to stay in the dark about the details of his personal involvement. It almost feels like he wants to distance himself from his own past and not to accept responsibility for his own actions. This decision also robs him of his past with Teresa - I was disappointed he chose not to remember that part of their life. In addition, the overall ending to the story is kind of depressing. The immunes basically escape and start a new society whereas the rest of humanity is left to die a horrible death. In sum, I read the third book because I wanted to know how the story ends. However, the book itself does not live up to the standard set up in books 1 and 2. I think the final book should have been a lot stronger.

"The Maze Runner Trilogy" - Books 1 and 2

I really enjoyed "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner. I heard about this book when I finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy a few years back. However, I did not get interested in reading it until I heard that a Maze Runner movie is coming out soon. We all know that a lot of recent YA film adaptations have not been successful. I sure hope the Maze Runner will do better. The book itself is fast-paced and kept me interested. I finished the book in less than three days and immediately dove into the second. I am now reading book 3, but still do not know the entire story. The post-apocalyptic world is slowly revealed to the reader as the main character gradually regains his memories or gets glimpses of the world from others. I think Dashner is a great writer. I was not distracted by trite word choices or long descriptions. The story moves along smoothly and it is easy to visualize what the author is trying to present. In addition, I think his portrayal of what it would feel like if someone woke up with his/her memory erased is very believable. His characters overall felt authentic and very real. They did not act super human and their reactions and feelings seemed logical to me. In addition, the fact that the first two books have only hints of the main character's possible romantic interests was refreshing and completely different from some other YA novels that tend to overemphasize teenage angst-filled infatuations. There is so much action going on and the main character is so focused on surviving and keeping his friends alive that there is simply no room for a parallel romantic story line. I can't wait to see how book 3 ends and I definitely recommend this book to those who are into dystopian fiction.