In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, the shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before–and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. (goodreads.com)
So, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you already know about this here book and series. I included the GR summary in this post just for the heck of it, and because I like my posts formatted in a particular way. Likely you have already read the book and/or seen the movie. I’m behind in the game (ha!) but it was intentional.
I never thought I would read this series. Mostly because my wonderful friend Monkey knows me well enough to know what sort of things push my buttons and incite anxiety and she warned me not to read this book. I was ok with that. I truly was. Then the series got more and more popular and the hype surrounding it was too similar to the hype and obsession that surrounds Twilight so I became eager to NOT have anything to do with this series at all. Once people starting calling out teams (Peeta! Gale!) I pretty much wrote this entire saga off. Not interested. Nope. Not for me.
Then people I knew, whom I never thought would read this series, started reading it and talking about it. They liked it. Then the movie trailer was released and I had to admit, I was curious. I was certain they wouldn’t reveal too much in the trailer that would freak me the hell out, so I watched it.
What surprised me was that the premise actually sounded interesting. Hmm.
Then another one of my best friends happened to get the box set of the entire trilogy and she read them. Then she handed me the box set and said “Read these.”
You know what made me decide to finally pick up the first book? When I finished reading Insurgent and was left gasping for air at the end, I realized something: I have read three series recently that freak me the hell out that I adore. Divergent, The Chemical Garden trilogy and the Birthmarked series are all fantastic dystopian reads and they make my heart race but they didn’t tip me over the edge.
As long as there aren’t any meteors crashing to the earth or tidal waves drowning countries, I think I can handle this type of dystopia. If Insurgent was scary but amazing to read, then I should be able to handle this here Hunger Games thing.
So I picked it up this morning (Monday, May 7) and read it cover to cover while I had strange men in my house installing a heating/cooling system. The time it took me to read this book was exactly the amount of time it took them to get everything installed. Good to know.
Here’s what I think of this story:
1) I think it would have made a great stand alone novel. I got to the end of the book and thought I didn’t really need to go anywhere else with these characters. The Hunger Games itself was enough on its own.
2) The writing was good. The pacing was good. I didn’t hate Katniss or Peeta, which was good. Ultimately, I thought the book was just that – good.
3) I am guessing that the “Teams” I keep hearing people mention come from reading the second book since I didn’t see anything in this first book to warrant that division among readers.
4) I really liked Cinna and his team of make-over characters. What does it say that those scenes were my favourite in the entire book?
5) I would have enjoyed a little more information about the Districts and why everything was laid out that way. I suppose that comes in later books.
Here’s the thing though… I feel absolutely no need to read the next two books.
That’s right.
I brought the books back to my friend the next day. I honestly felt a sense of closure at the end of the story that wrapped things up nicely for me. It’s as though that last chapter, when they arrive home in District 12, was just thrown in there because they wanted people to buy the second book. Like it was made up at the last second in order to add a cliff-hanging element to the book to build on the hype.
I may eventually read Catching Fire and Mockingjay, I am not writing them off. It’s just that right now I have absolutely no desire to read them. I don’t feel like I need to after that first one. This wasn’t an earth-shattering read in my mind. It was simply a good story that was enjoyable to spend a day with.
One choice can transform you–or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves–and herself–while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable–and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. (goodreads.com)
For those of you who won’t read this because you don’t want to be spoiled (even though I promise not to spoil things) I will say this: WHY IS IT NOT 2013 YET? WHY IS THERE NO TITLE FOR THE NEXT BOOK? I CAN’T WAIT A YEAR FOR THE REST! GAH!
You may look away now if you so choose.
There will be an overload of posts about Insurgent popping up all over the place. This book only released last week and it’s been a highly anticipated sequel to Divergent. You may recall that I never read Divergent when it came out. I read it months and months after its release and I had avoided it like the plague because I thought it was over-hyped and likely not going to be any good. You’ll note from my blog post about it in July that I was completely surprised by how amazing a story it turned out to be and how much I needed the sequel to come out, like, NOW.
So I bought the sequel the week it came out. I have not done something like that for a long time. This 400+ page book took me a couple of days to read because, well, work and stuff get in the way. (Why does sleeping have to happen?) Although I did spend much quality time with the book on Saturday and Sunday.
There are two worries with Insurgent. 1) Will it live up to the hype it’s going to get? 2) Will it live up to the awesome that was Divergent?
Big ol’ YES to both of those questions.
Insurgent is action-packed and scary and real and gripping and emotional. Tris is one kick-butt protagonist and even though she’s the typical “I’ll rush in and save the day because I’m the main character!” sort of character, I found that I could not find flaw in her reasoning behind her actions. She’s a smart cookie who has fears and dreams and she just seems like a real, every-day person. Someone who could very well exist in the real-world, if the real world was a scary, dystopian society. You know. That.
There’s no insta-love. (Yay!) There’s no love triangle. (Yay!) There are real relationships that are fragile and broken and not always mended.
This story is gripping and creepy as all get out. It freaks me out, but not enough to need to take a bottle of Xanax to calm down.
The only potential negative I’d have about this book is more about a plot line that I find repetitive in dystopian novels – why is there always a “Inside the Wall” and “Outside the Wall”? This isn’t the first dystopian story I have read where the characters are trying to escape some compound, whether they realized they were in one or not. It’s just such a common theme in this genre that I’m a little “meh” about it. Is this really how people envision our (rather depressing) future? Are we doomed to all be corralled into some mega gated community and monitored for some whack-job’s pleasure? I’m curious. That and flying cars (shouldn’t we have those by now?) are always part of the future projections I keep reading about. I’m not particularly thrilled with that concept. Hmm.
But I digress… there’s just so much revealed in Insurgent and it’s not rushed, nor is it vague or half-assed. This is one thrilling read from start to finish and you’ll likely be salivating for MORE! MORE! MORE! by the time you turn that last page and realize you’re suddenly at the Acknowledgements and you’re like, NO!!!! WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! DAMMIT! CURSE YOU, VERONICA ROTH!!! *shakes fists at the heavens*
I promise you that this book, this entire series, is worth reading. I will certainly be pushing it on my friends and making sure they read it as well. It’s not a fluke that people are raving over this series. I promise you that I am 100% genuine in my adoration and praise of the Divergent series. I have not lied to you yet on this here blog and I’m not going to start now.
The clock is ticking for Sabina Kane. Her sister has been kidnapped by her grandmother, the Dark Races are on the brink of war, and a mysterious order is manipulating everyone behind the scenes.
Working on information provided by an unlikely ally, Sabina and her trusty sidekicks–a sexy mage named Adam Lazarus and Giguhl, a Mischief demon–head to New Orleans to begin the hunt for her sister. Once there, they must contend with belligerent werewolves, magic-wielding vampires and–perhaps most frightening of all–humans.
But as much as Sabina is focused on surviving the present, the past won’t be ignored. Before she can save those she cares about most, she must save herself from the ghosts of her past. (goodreads.com)
I am embarrassingly behind with this series. I can’t believe it took me over a year to buy the third book and now the fifth is only a month away from publication! Bad, me! This was something I thought would help me get over my reading rut, but it still took me a long while to pick it up and read it.
Because I am woefully out of touch with the series, it took me a couple of chapters to reacquaint myself with the characters, plot and world. I had forgotten that apple-related things like wood and cider are the ways to kill a vamp or that brass hurts mages. I remember liking that originality in the last two books so once I was all “Oh, right! This is cool!” and had my brain jogged I quickly got into the swing of things.
I also forgot how much I liked Sabina and her minion, Gighul. I especially liked Gighul’s flirtation and friendship with the fae Brooks in this particular book. At some point or another, an Urban Fantasy novel will end up in New Orleans, and this is where we found ourselves during Green-Eyed Demon. I have never been to New Orleans, nor do I really want to go (maybe I do? I don’t know.) but for some reason I just love books set in that city. There’s a gothicy, ghosty feeing to all stories set there. Maybe it’s the many cemeteries that makes it interesting to me, I don’t know. I love it as a story setting.
It’s been a long time since I sat down and read a good Urban Fantasy book. Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampire series aside, I have been delinquent not only in reading the Sabina Kane series, but other really good UF series that I used to adore. I need to go back to the UF sections of the bookstore (online, as well) and just get caught up and maybe find something new to read. It’s also rare to find good UF that doesn’t have a 90% focus on gratuitous sex scenes. Thankfully, this series had much sexual tension, but no graphic sex every three chapters or so. There’s plot (good plot!), action (good action!) and a cast of characters who seem more than one-dimensional. I love the Urban Fantasy novels that read like Epic Fantasy the best. No love triangles. No pining over the smokin’ hot body and wanting to drool all over the other person every time you’re next to them. None of that. Just good, solid storytelling and a lot of action (of the fighting variety and not the sexytimes kind).
Do yourself a favour if you love Urban Fantasy and you want to try something new! Pick up this series and dive right in. You’re at the point where you could easily have five books in a row to read.
I don’t care if I bought the books, when I get books in the mail it makes me stupid happy. To be honest, anything I get in the mail that isn’t a bill or junk mail makes me happy. I’m pretty easy to please.
Links all go to Goodreads, assuming the site doesn’t go down while I am writing this post like it did last weekend.
Guest appearances by my dogs. Especially Billionaire Jinx Puppy, the Proper Dog who does not approve of rats in the backyard. Nor does he approve of my subjecting him to paw waving on camera.
Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn’t slept properly for months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Sometimes he half-wakes, paralysed, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around while his body lies asleep on the bed. His doctors say sleep paralysis and out-of-body experiences are harmless – but to Elliott they’re terrifying.
Convinced that his brush with death has attracted the spirit world, Elliott secures a job at a reputedly haunted museum, determined to discover the truth. There, he meets the enigmatic Ophelia. But, as she and Elliott grow closer, Elliott draws new attention from the dead. One night, during an out-of-body experience, Elliott returns to bed to find his body gone. Something is occupying it, something that wants to live again – and it wants Ophelia, too . . .(goodreads.com)
This book surpassed my expectations and my expectations were pretty darned high. I have been madly in love with Michelle Harrison’s 13 Treasures series (middle grade) and couldn’t contain my excitement when I found out she was releasing yet another book, but this time in the YA realm.
Unrest is such an incredibly well-written and thrilling ghost story. If you’re thinking in participating in that RIP Challenge thing in the fall, I would suggest you add this one to your list of books.
There’s no fluff in this story. From the first page to the last, I was gripped by the mystery. My heart raced, I was happily creeped out and the suspense was just delightful.
I’m not quite sure how to write about this book without giving anything away because there were so many twists and turns and surprises throughout that I want you all to experience them for yourselves. I loved everything about the book from the way Elliott and his father and brother interact, to Ophelia to the ghosty goodness.
Unrest is completely different that Michelle’s 13 Treasures series. Those books were well-written as well, but have a different feel to them (not just because they were middle grade and this isn’t). I found Unrest to have a more literary feel to it. That isn’t quite how I want to explain it, but I can’t think of how else to put what I mean in words. It’s certainly not a fluffy book (not that fluffy books aren’t awesome.) It’s a book whose words carry weight.
GAH. I am not explaining this well at all. It’s close to what I call a “Smart Book” but it’s not exactly there, but it’s certainly not fluff.
I’m going to stop now because I’m not making sense and I don’t want to take away from how amazing this book is. (And I am not just saying that because I know, and like, the author.)
And I’m not taking away from YA literature when I say this – Unrest could be on the adult fiction shelves under thriller. I think it’s only YA because it has a teen protagonist, but I’d put the book up there with the amazing adult thrillers that come out.
Damn it all…. THIS BOOK IS AWESOME AND SUSPENSEFUL! Read it. Just do it. Even if you wait until autumn. Just ignore my failed attempt to explain what it’s like. Ugh.
Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.
Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late? (goodreads.com)
There’s nothing better than a fun story that makes you laugh out loud. Each of the three Hex Hall books have made me laugh, yet I forget each time that this will happen. I’m not one to collect quotes from books, but rarely I’ll come to the end of a story and regret that I didn’t note down the page numbers for a couple of the lines that really appealed to me. Spell Bound happens to be one of those books I wish I thought to collect quotes from. There was one snappy retort about this “not being a slumber party” that had me laugh so loud I annoyed my sleeping dogs. I just tried to flip through the book to find it with no luck. Bah! I should know better by now, but I’m just not someone who sits with a pen and paper at the ready while I read a book.
So you’ll just have to take my word for it that it was funny and that there are so many other funny instances in this story. In fact, I’m suddenly recalling the beginning of the FIRST book and Sophie’s reaction to meeting a werewolf for the first time and regretting not noting down THAT quote.
This is a YA series that I think would translate to Middle Grade readers pretty well. There’s not too much swearing, though words like jackass and bitch do scatter the pages occasionally. Oh, and there’s some death and scary stuff, but if you’ve read Harry Potter this is a lot less dark. For the most part, the Hex Hall series is a whimsical, witty, action-packed romp that will make you happy.
Maybe that’s because the imprint is owned by Disney? Who knows. But it works.
I’m pretty certain this was only a trilogy. As much as I love Sophie, Archer, Cal and Jenna (and Elodie!) I wouldn’t want them to wear out their welcome. Spell Bound wraps things up nicely and doesn’t disappoint when compared to Hex Hall and Demonglass.
One of the best things about this series is how well written it is. In a sea of repetitive paranormal YA books, this series truly stands out to me. I’m still not sold on the cover art for the books, but what shows up between those covers is excellent.
Added to the awesome that was this story is the fact that the book smelled amazing. It has that perfect book smell. You know what I’m talking about. I don’t know if all copies will smell wonderful, but mine was heavenly. I’d read a few pages and then bury my nose in the book and sniff and read on. Yes, I am a dork for that, but I don’t care. Book smell = BLISS!
Thank you, Rachel Hawkins, for making me laugh when I really needed it (not to mention I read this right after crying for an hour after finishing The Flight of Gemma Hardy. Talk about your 180-degree turn around in subjects!) I’m just so thankful that there are authors out there writing books like this. Great writing, funny dialogue, interesting plot and action… who could ask for anything more?
Me: Ooo! A parcel! I wonder what it is! I thought I’d gotten everything I was supposed to get already.
Husband: Well, aren’t you special.
Me: *opens parcel and see’s The Humming Room by Ellen Potter*
Me: Ooohh! The Humming Room! I totally wanted to read this!
Husband: Wait, didn’t YOU BUY this book?
Me: I guess I did. I don’t remember, but I guess I did, I mean, the packing slip says I did. I think I remember doing this.
Husband: You know you have a book-buying problem when you can’t even remember what books you’re getting anymore.
Me: *maturely sticks out tongue at husband*
The Unnaturalists - Tiffany Trent (I totally say the name wrong in the video. Ugh.)
Envy (Fury, #2) - Elizabeth Miles
Accidentally bought from Book Depository (er… & Chapigo) (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)
The Flight of Gemma Hardy - Margot Livesey
Unrest - Michelle Harrison
Poison Heart - S. B. Hayes
A Witch in Winter - Ruth Warburton
The Book of Blood and Shadow - Robin Wasserman
Violet Wings (book 1) - Victoria Hanley
The Humming Room - Ellen Potter
Renegade Magic (The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, #2) - Stephanie Burgis
And, hey! I’d link all of these up to Goodreads as usual, but the site just went down as I was finishing up this post, so, you get two links for your viewing pleasure. You’ll have to find the others on your own because I will totally forget about coming back here and fixing up this post once it’s done. I have no memory capacity anymore. =P
I’m going to continue reading Unrest now. Happy weekend, Internet!
The Hunger Games
Unrest
Spell Bound (Hex Hall, #3)
