A Book Review of Divergent by Veronica Roth

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In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating 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 a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Series: Divergent
Genre: YA Dystopian
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (May 3, 2011)
Page Count: 501

What I liked: I really enjoyed this book. A friend bought it for me for my birthday urging me to read it and I was like "What is this?" But once I started it I really liked it. The five factions concept is very interesting, and I love Roth's writing style.

Tris is a great main character to take a ride with she's strong, but very human at the same time. She's a good role model, but also able to be related to by the reader. The romance was great. Four is a great fictional guy. ;) There was a great diverse cast and the twists definitely threw me. The book was very intense especially towards the end. I had trouble putting it down.

What I didn't like: There was some brief swearing I didn't enjoy.

Content Cautions: As stated before there is some sparse swearing and also intense images and themes.

In Comparison to the Film: The film stays very close to the book. The characters were casted perfectly. They were very close if not exactly to Roth's description. Some scenes were cut due to pacing, but very few. The story flowed the same way as the book. The Pit at Dauntless was more cement instead of stone. I'm not sure why they did that. Only one scene was put out of order. The heart of the book was certainly there and the movie doesn't conflict with the book at all. Fans definitely won't be disappointed. My full review on Geeks Under Grace!

But all and all I very much enjoyed this book. I'm definitely getting the sequel! :D

About the Author: 

Veronica Roth is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011) and INSURGENT (May 2012). The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, ALLEGIANT, will come out on October 22, 2013. In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)
You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and her blog!

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

Summer Update!

This is the Kanji (Chinese) symbol for my name
Tori which means bird drawn in Jacksonville
beach sand

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while. My two week vacation took a lot of out of me and I've been busy since. I've decided to take this post to update you all about what's going on with the books I'm writing and such.

As of now I'm going for my third rewrite of Subsapien Biomech after an edit from my published author mentor. It's going to be a lot of hard work, but I know the story is going to be better afterwards. I do have one agent interested as of now, but I'm waiting until I really polish up the manuscript until I submit it to her.

I hope you all have been having a great summer. I have! I spent two weeks of it with a good friend. Rouyn-Plushie came and hung out with my friend's two plushies. She's a Star Wars fan. ;)

Rouyn-Plushie is a chibi-plushie form of one of
my fantasy characters a friend made me.
He's a mascot for my blog and books. ;)

For newcomers and loyal followers ... I hope you all are enjoying the blog. To those who aren't familiar with me, I'm a young adult writer who's working through life to become an author. I'm a geek and proud, which includes being a big fan of Castle, Legend of Korra, Lord of the Rings and Marvel.

I love to draw and listen to soundtrack music. ^ ^ I'm working on a science fiction and a fantasy novel right now. You can see more about those two books in the Current Projects tab, Characters tab or character interviews by looking them up in Labels on the left. To see some of my art check out the gallery. :)

Also I'd like you all's opinion about the blog. What are you interested in seeing more of? Writing advice? Character interviews? Book reviews? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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Plushies, Contests, France and Titles!

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)

A Book Review of Placebo by Steven James

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While covertly investigating a controversial neurological research program, exposé filmmaker Jevin Banks is drawn into a far-reaching conspiracy involving one of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms. After giving up his career as an escape artist and illusionist in the wake of his wife and sons' tragic death, Jevin is seeking not only answers about the questionable mind-to-mind communication program, but also answers to why his family suffered as they did. 

Rooted in ground-breaking science and inspired by actual research, Placebo explores the far reaches of science, consciousness, and faith. Readers will love this taut, intelligent, and emotionally gripping new thriller from master storyteller Steven James.

Series: The Jevin Banks Experience
Genre: Adult Fiction/Suspense
Publisher: Revell (November 1, 2012)
Page Count: 416

What I liked: I really enjoyed this book. I'd never read a book with an illusionist as a main character, but he was very interesting to be with during story. His skill set was really cool.

The characters are one of my favorite aspects of it. Each of them was unique and very realistic. The book goes into multiple point of views. I loved Steven James' point of view transitions. It really created suspense.

As a lover of science, I really enjoyed the scientific aspects of the book. The research must have taken forever, but the information about illusionist tricks and medical facts including the placebo effect was very interesting. I also loved his usage of short lines to create urgency. I've seen it done in other books, but I love how masterfully he did it in Placebo. I want to try out the technique myself. :)

What I didn't like: One thing that did annoy me from a writers perspective was that throughout the book he told instead of said what a character did. I understand that for long bits of repeated information like for informing another character, but for short sentences it jerked me out of the point of view of the character for some reason. I know it's probably his style, but I didn't really like that.

Content Cautions: This is a PG-13 book I'd say in movie terms. There are some intense images and mature concepts so if you're a younger or more sensitive reader take that in mind.

All in all this is a definite five star book. Thank you, Mr. James for the fabulous read!

About the Author:

Critically acclaimed author Steven James has written more than thirty books, including the bestselling Bower Files thriller series. He is a contributing editor to Writer's Digest and has taught writing and storytelling on three continents. Steven lives in Tennessee with his wife and three daughters. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and his website.

Also check out my interview with the Author!

I hope you all enjoyed this review! Look out for ones of Veronica Roth's Divergent and Jill Williamson's Replication!

If you liked this post, come back every Saturday for more writing advice, character interviews, book reviews and more! On Sundays I have Soundtrack Sundays where I post a new score piece, Tuesdays are Tea Tuesdays with tea reviews, Wednesdays I have Wonderful Word Wednesdays where I post a new vocabulary word, and Fridays are Fan Fridays where I post tags and other goodies. To help support my dream to be an author follow this blog, like me on Facebook, watch me on deviantART, and follow me on Pinterest and Twitter. If you want to know more about my books check out them out here. Thank you! :)