by Jane | May 30, 2014 | Write Here Write Now
Allegiant is the third book in The Divergent series by Veronica Roth. From the first page, I knew I was going to like it better than the second book Insurgent. It held my attention from the first word to the last. It was engaging partially because of the storyline, but also because Roth added Tobias as an additional perspective. I found it confusing at times, but liked it because it gave us more information about the quiet Four.
The story begins with Tris imprisoned by the factionless, Tobias having escaped by being the son of the factionless leader. The plot revolves around a group of people not only interested in restoring the factions but also wanting to understand and act upon Edith Prior’s message about life outside the city. Tris and Tobias leave the city with this group and learn the true story behind their ancestors and the factions. But that’s not all. Just when the reader believes Tris and Tobias are safe from any more conflict in their lives, the pair discovers yet another group eager for revolt
I loved this book. There is a lot of growth to both characters, and the plot kept me turning pages to learn what was going to happen. The ending, though possibly disturbing to some, was the only way it could have ended to maintain true to the characters. So, pick up Allegiant and learn what happens to Tris and Four. You won’t be sorry.
by Jane | May 23, 2014 | Write Here Write Now
Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal is set in England and Belgium during the Napoleonic Wars, but it cannot be considered historical fiction because there is an element of magic. So instead, let’s call it magical realism. The magic is in the form of a talent shared by the protagonist Jane and her husband Vincent. It is called glamour and involves making intricate pictures out of something called ether. While their talent makes them very popular among English nobility, it gets them into trouble when they are on a working vacation in Belgium.
Once on vacation, Jane finds herself pregnant which restricts her ability to work in the family business of glamour. This leaves her alone with strangers much of the time her husband is off working, strangers she doesn’t quite trust. She begins to wonder if any of these strangers are spies for the Bonapartes and also has doubts about her own husband, thinking that he is lying to her.
Glamour in Glass was a fun book to read, but also quite important. It shows how a Victorian woman who finds herself alone in crisis rises to the challenge that no man will accept. After Napoleon escapes from Elba, everyone tells Jane to flee to England, but she remains behind to help her husband. The situation is difficult, almost impossible, but she rises to the occasion and shows just how strong a woman can be. An excellent read, especially for our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters.
by Jane | May 16, 2014 | Write Here Write Now
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas is the second book in The Throne of Glass series, and it is a delight. Too often the first sequel to a successful book is a disappointment, but that’s not the case here. Crown of Midnight more than holds its own.
When the book begins, Celeana has taken her appointment as the King’s Champion and has been sent on a series of assignments. This is a problem, however, since she disagrees with the king’s policies. But she has found a solution. Rather than kill her targets, she fakes their deaths and sends them away. This works until she is asked to kill Archer Finn, an old acquaintance of hers who the king believes is involved in a rebellion.
The situation is complicated by her growing relationship with Chaol, Captain of the Guard, and growing tensions with Princess Nehemia, who doesn’t know that Celeana has been faking her assignments. Not only is Nehemia mad with Celeana over serving as the King’s Champion, she feels that Celeana should be helping her in her fight against the king. And Prince Dorian is not happy at all.
Celeana is in turmoil, but when her dearest friends are put in danger, she has decisions to make which could change her life. As action-packed, thrilling, and unpredictable as the original, Crown of Midnight is well worth the read. Pick it up and enjoy.
by Jane | May 9, 2014 | Write Here Write Now
Madwoman or spiritualist? The way in which you define Imp will determine the genre in which The Drowning Girl: A Memoir belongs. One view is that Imp is a madwoman, and everything that happens to her can be explained as delusion. Even the fact that Abelyn, Imp’s girlfriend, once saw the mysterious Eva could be explained as Imp’s delusion. However, there are indications in the “Back Pages” at the end of the book that Eva may have, in fact, been supernatural.
The Drowning Girl is an interesting book to read. The author Caitlin R. Kiernan lets us into the mind of India Morgan Phelps (Imp) through writings in Imp’s journal. It’s quite a ride as Imp tries to discover what is real and what isn’t. But the book is not only ramblings by Imp, but also short stories written by her and a constant breaking of the fourth wall, which combine to make this work quite unique.
My only issue, if you can call it that, is confusion as to the genre. Much of the book centers around Imp’s encounter with a naked woman (Eva) by the side of the road. If you believe that Eva is a supernatural creature, it is fantasy. Otherwise, it is literary. And based on Kiernan’s writing, I would have no problem placing it in the literary category. It is beautifully written and focuses directly on Imp and her travels through her own mind. But questions still remain in the mind of the reader: Who or what is Eva? Does she really exist? And if so, how many Evas are there?
Yet, however you define it, it’s well worth a read. Although the back-and-forth accounts of Imp can be confusing, that only brings us more into the mind of a schizophrenic and how she thinks. It’s a wonderful book. Thank you, Ms. Kiernan for allowing us to know Imp.
by Jane | May 7, 2014 | Write Here Write Now
This post is the first of a new series comparing books and the movies based on them. People are often saying that books are better than movies, and I want to find out why. The first book/movie I have decided to analyze is World War Z.
One thing that I am very aware of is that the way you view the two versions of the same stories is dependent on which you experienced first. I saw the movie World War Z first, despite all my friends’ warnings against it. They were right. I hated it. Brad Pitt is a good actor, but this was a terrible vehicle for him. In the movie, there is a disease that reanimates people when they die, then they swarm around, eating any meat they can find, animal or human. Of course, if a person is bitten, he or she dies and turns into a zombie and rises to infect more people.
The problem with the movie was that I just didn’t care. First, there were the people. I felt some sort of empathy for Gerry Lane, played by Brad Pitt, but I hated his family. They were wooden and stereotypical, giving Mr. Pitt nothing to work off of. Also, I hated the fast zombies. It wasn’t until I read the book that I realized the zombies were supposed to be fast, but it didn’t work for me in the film. Slow zombies are scary; fast zombies are comical.
That being said, there were a couple of things I liked about the movie. One was the special effects, especially the scene where the zombies are climbing on top of each other to scale the wall into Jerusalem (one of the very few scenes stemming from the book). Unfortunately, the zombies reminded me more of cockroaches than of anything really scary.
The second thing I liked was the scene where Gerry Lane was in the zombie-infested wing of a health facility working on a cure. There was some real tension and suspense in that scene, reminiscent of the movie Alien and its sequels. This was really the only part I enjoyed. Even the ending left me cold. They had made progress against the zombies, but were far from eradication, a result move-goers expect. (I just found out there is to be a sequel, which is probably the reason the zombie crisis was not resolved.)
Now to the book. I picked up the book (written by Max Brooks) only because the friends who told me the movie was bad, told me the book was good. OK, this time I listened to them. However, I was very surprised when I started reading. Gerry Lane was nowhere to be found, and the whole focus of the movie (finding the antidote) was also not in the book. Huh?
This is why the order in which you experience the book and movie is important. The book is written as a series of interviews detailing the experiences of people around the globe at the beginning, middle, and end of the zombie war. There is no main character — we don’t even know who the interviewer. So, I spent the first third of the book wondering where Gerry Lane was and when the real action would start. After a while I realized that wasn’t going to happen and sat back to enjoy the book as written.
It wasn’t suspenseful; it wasn’t a book of horror. The dispassionate style of writing may even take it out of the realm of science fiction and into literary fiction. After all, it is a New York Times #1 Best Seller, so it isn’t just a book for readers of genre. Also, rather than relying on plot, it is more concerned with the human condition, a hallmark of the literary novel. Once all my preconceived notions were gone, I enjoyed the book.
Now, having read the book, I feel for screenwriters Matthew Michael Carnahan and Damon Lindelof, having to create a movie-worthy plot out of it. They had to start from scratch, using the basic premise of the book, and create something entirely different. I assume director Marc Forster had something to say about it as well. But like I said, for me, the movie fell flat, and I can’t imagine what the sequel will be like. Hopefully, I won’t have to see it.
by Jane | May 2, 2014 | Write Here Write Now
At the beginning of the book Insurgent, the sequel to Divergent, most of the Abnegation faction and some of the Dauntless have taken refuge with the Amity. Tris is there with her boyfriend Tobias (also known as Four), her brother, and a few friends who survived the attack. But there are also enemies there: Tobias’s father Marcus, who is planning something with the leader of Amity, and Peter, who had tried to kill Tris in the earlier book.
But the real problem is that Erudite is looking for the Dauntless. Tris and Tobias must leave Amity headquarters and travel around the City, taking sanctuary where they can find it. Sometimes in unlikely places. Sometimes with unlikely people. Throughout the book, Tris is unsure whom she can trust, including her boyfriend Tobias and members of their families. There are twists and turns, deceptions and counter-deceptions. I would love to tell you more, but don’t want to give any spoilers.
My only issue is that there is a sluggishness here which wasn’t present in the first book. The two protagonists go from one locale to another, meet different people, get betrayed, repeat. I prefer books that constantly move forward, while this one doesn’t seem to do so. Don’t get me wrong. Insurgent isn’t a bad book; it may just be that it pales in comparison with Divergent. Tris’s decision she must make at the beginning, her initiation into Dauntless, her feelings toward Four: all these elements kept that book moving for me.
But having said that, there is a big surprise waiting at the end of Insurgent, which alone makes it worthwhile, There are also some important events occurring in this book, necessary to move the series along. So, by all means, read Insurgent. You’ll need the information for the final book Allegiant, which I will review next month.
