Book Review: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

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Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (October 22, 2013)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages (Hardcover): 526
Series: Divergent
Source: Library
ISBN-13: 9780062024060
Genre: Dystopian
Author: Twitter | Blog
Series Reviews: Book 1 (5★)

One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

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, tangled 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.

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This review may contain spoilers for previous books in the series.

Overview

The first part of this book was great nad had me eating out of the palm of Veronica Roth’s hand. However, by the halfway point I could see where we were headed in terms of pacing and I began to get discouraged. By the end, I was ready to climb through the pages of this book and mutilate all the characters in a fit of PMS rage. I was so disappointed with the decisions, the purpose, and outcomes. I can see why there was a backlash.

Review

If someone asked me if they should read this trilogy I would undoubtedly say, yes! If someone asked me if I liked this series I would contemplate and say yes. If someone asked if I were disappointed in this series, I again would say yes. When Veronica Roth released Divergent as her debut novel it hit the scene leaving a trail blazing behind it of awesome. It was the next best thing since The Hunger Games. While the hype remained in tact for each of the three books, the brilliance has faded.

The beginning of this book was fantastic. I was so excited to be taking the journey outside the city with Tris and the gang that I could barely contain myself let alone put the book down. I just had to know what was waiting for us. And what I found took me to a new level of disappointment. I was taken aback by the fact that within the city limits these people had no idea about the land surrounding them. When it came to light that they were unaware of what the United States was, I was shocked; I assumed that had been a given. They might not know what is out there know but surely they know where they came from. Regardless, I did not like having to drudge through an elementary level explanation of the rest of the country, its twisted government, and biased genetic wars.

Unlike any other book in the series this book is told in dual perspective from both Tris and Four Tobias This was a welcome change but not executed very cleanly. I really appreciated and loved how Tris changed fromInsurgent to Allegiant. She grew up, she figured out how to handle herself and her grief, and she developed a new foundation of strength. She was amazing in this and I am so glad she came back from the angsty twerp she was before. I also really enjoyed getting to know Tobias and being inside his head. This gave a depth to him and to his relationship with Tris which had not previously been present. With that said, these two individuals should each have very distinct and clear voices but the lines were very blurry in the alternating POV. There were several occasions where I had to reread passages after double checking the chapter heading to see who I was reading at the time.

My biggest problem with this book was the plot. Reflecting back, Divergent was full of intrigue and deception and it was powerfully awesome. Insurgent was just a lay-over for me in terms of connecting this series. But this, I had hopes for this and it comes down to America being Nazi-fied into genetic purity? This book loses points for its heavy descriptions of genetics, science, and continual use of GP/GD acronyms. This was a whole new aspect that had never been part of the story and it was handled poorly. The pacing of all the action was pitiful, by a certain point in the book you know the ending is going to be rushed and you’re thinking “How could this possibly be finished in 200 or less pages!” With that said, all this crafted action, tension, and intense plotting against the government the book just ends in this not-so-perfect-but-convenient ball. Sacrifices and decisions were made that had no outstanding resolutions and no evident spark of changing anything else.

Overall, I couldn’t imagine having not read this book and having the closure that I have now but in the end it was just another love affair that left me cold, lonely, and broken.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Book Review: Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde

Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde By Michael Stackpole

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Publisher: Gallery Book s(June 16, 2013)
Age Group: Adult
Pages (Hardcover): 352
Series: World of Warcraft #12
Source: Library
ISBN-13: 9781416550679
Genre: Fantasy | Lore Supplement
Series Reviews: Arthas (5★)

Shadows of the Horde follows Vol’jin to the lost continent of Pandaria, where the troll chieftain's loyalties are put to the ultimate test when a member of his own faction moves to assassinate him. . . .

Aided by the renowned brewmaster Chen Stormstout, Vol'jin takes refuge in a remote mountain monastery to recover from his wounds. His time there, however, is far from peaceful, as intense visions of the past assault the Darkspear chieftain, and the ancient Zandalari tribe mounts a series of attacks on Pandaria. In his struggle to make sense of what’s happening, Vol'jin must ultimately decide where his allegiances lay—a choice that could save or doom his people . . . and forever alter the fate of the Horde.

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Getting used to the writing style of Michael Stackpole was considerably interesting. The slow points in this book that were story and history based were on the slow side, this really captured that nature of the Pandaren but it also meant for a laborious read. But then in times of war and times of action his writing was action-packed and one blow after the other. This left me on a roller coaster of reading interest; while I absolutely loved this story and everything in it, I slugged through it at an unusually slow pace.

The character of Vol'jin is so critical to the World of Warcraft lore that this book is an integral part of the story. It connects the events in game of the Dagger in the Dark scenario and the 5.3 content patch Escalation. This book is inundated with amazing amounts of lore for both troll, pandaren and the mogu.

Stackpole did a wonderful job at fleshing out characters that we wanted to see more of including Taran Zhu, Chen Stormstout, and Li Li. He also did a wonderful job at introducing us to new characters including Yalia and Tyrathan Khort. He made the lives of these people jump off the pages and they held on to you with a vice-like grip.

If you're a fan of World of Warcraft novels this books is a must read in my opinion. I am a troll fanatic and I just love everything this book has to offer. I should declare that given its subject matter that is does speak in strong dialects at time but that is akin to Stackpole's great job of creating mood, voice, and setting!

Rating out of 5:

 

Book Review: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

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Publisher: Tor Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 378 (Hardcover)
Series: The Rithmatist #1
ISBN-13: 9781476708645
Genre: Fantasy

More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings — merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles. 

As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing — kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery — one that will change Rithmatics — and their world — forever.

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Brandon Sanderson is a bestselling author. He was hand chosen by Robert Jordan to finish the Wheel of Time series. Those facts coupled with his large fan base had me going into The Rithmatist with high expectations. He is supposedly a wonderful creator of fantasy worlds and magic styles but I found only hints of these things in this book.

Starting off, the setting for this fantasy is in a re-imagined America. In the United Isles of America there are 60 American isles like Nebraska, Georgiabama, The California Archipelago, etc. This setting and lack of explanation of world was a consistent bother throughout the entirety of this book. In a time for YA literature when America is a popular setting, the idea that Brandon Sanderson created a whole new world from America to Egyptia but lacked clear definition was extremely disappointing.

The disappointment in clarity of ideas was furthered in the concept of chalklings. The idea of chalklings and rithmatics all together was a very broad and abstract idea that took no real and definitive shape until the end of the book. It was not hard to follow but it was such a vague concept that required such technical and geometric writing that it was not balanced very well, even with illustrations.

I was also beside myself with disbelief that the book took on such a religious metaphor. The idea that Rithmatists were touched by the Master (a metaphor for God) was too much. It took on connotations and ideas that should have been left well enough alone for a fantasy escape. To tie this to another point, the history of Rithmatics was dabbled in throughout the book but it only allowed for more plot holes/questions. If Rithmatics would never have been discovered by King Gregory, why would there be Chalklings in the first place to be wild? What dark force could create the things that attack Nebrask? It's too open-ended and unanswered even to be a series.

Even when an overall idea or setting is lacking, the characters and plot have the opportunity to "fix" a book. Again, I am underwhelmed by Brandon Sanderson in that his characters and plot fell flat. Joel was a likeable enough character but at a certain point he is obsessed with Rithmatics, something he can never do, to the point he is outsmarting scholars? Prodigies exist but Joel doesn't fit into that mold either. Sometimes I found myself wanting to yell and scream at him that he is forgetting to live the life he has in leiu of his dream. Joel is poor, intelligent, and down on his luck but that doesn't make him a favorite for much.

But at least he is able to find a true friend that happens to be a girl and doesn't require romance. Melody is the one redeeming factor this book had to offer. She was quirky, her attempts at her rithmatic destiny were futile, but she was determined. There are a lot of terms to define her, and in the beginning she is quite a hassle to deal with, but in the end, she is a shining win.

Overall, this book seemed to be striving to be like Harry Potter and it failed. It ended up simply being campy, cliche, and an over used fantasy idea hidden under the guise of a unique magic system.

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆