Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (4570)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Marylegs (44 KP) rated Fallen (Fallen, #1) in Books

Aug 14, 2019  
Fallen (Fallen, #1)
Fallen (Fallen, #1)
Lauren Kate | 2009 | Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
2
7.2 (36 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, Fallen. What do I think? Well I’ll start with the phrase, “I’ve read worse.” But not many.

Whilst that doesn’t seem like a good place to start it’s pretty much all I have for this book. A story based around ‘star-crossed lovers’, fallen angels, slight love triangles, blah, blah, blah, your get the picture. So the story centers on Luce, a girl who has been sent to a reform school and goes through her first couple of weeks there. The love element starts pretty quickly but in my opinion never really goes anywhere. He blows hot and cold and then there is a big realisation of love. It feels like a rehash of every other YA romance/para going.

The author has tried really hard to make it a different type of YA book. But seemed to lack the ability to structure the book in a way of you coming to realisations on your own as a reader. There were often times a Luce would be in a conversation, and then ‘think’ so far ahead of the story you felt push to that conclusion, or that it had been handed to you on a plate rather than having a light bulb type moment due to good writing.

I know there are others in this series, so it may be hard to judge this as a stand-alone book as the story seems to go somewhere within the last two chapters. But I honestly don’t think I liked it enough to bother with the rest. It felt like a chore to read and I don’t think it’s even worth reading to form your own opinion of it. Pretty disappointing on the whole.
  
40x40

Rachel King (13 KP) rated Divergent in Books

Feb 11, 2019  
Divergent
Divergent
Veronica Roth | 2012 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
10
8.1 (140 Ratings)
Book Rating
So this book is a bit of a recycled plot - whether or not Roth was aware that it resembled Hunger Games. Honestly, though, I really don't care. The book was entertaining, the world-building was still unique, and I can't wait to read the next one.
I found the idea of dividing society into factions based on a specific personality trait interesting in that I wanted much greater detail about each faction, much more so than the main character, Tris, was willing to provide. Tris is a teenager being forced into making the greatest decision of her life, and there just is not time for dwelling on the details. I found the simulation that is designed to help decide the faction of each individual too simplistic. Human beings are complex creatures, and an individual's personal prerogatives can change very easily from year to year. Abnegation, Amity, Erudite, Candor, Dauntless, or the rebellious Divergent - I could easily fit into any of these at different times in my life. The characters in the book are no different.
Much of the book centers around Tris undergoing the trials of becoming Dauntless, with details of the other factions trickling in, as well as the state of the political current. While this world of factions was originally created with the best of intentions, corruption has set in at all levels, and Tris's world will be toppled by the end of the book. While her trials are a journey of self-discovery, she is also forced to grow up quickly to protect the people she loves.
The only thing I would have liked to end differently is what happens to Tris's mother - with everything that we discover about her, she could have been a fountain of fascinating plot elements. Unfortunately, in most YA books, parental figures rarely stick around. Hopefully, I will get my hands on Insurgent soon!