Book Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Lena is now an active member of the resistance.  The fight between the government and the Invalids and rebels has reached its boiling point.  While Lena works with the rebellion to change things for good, her former friend Hana lives a regulated life in Portland and is about to be married to the city’s mayor. The two girls could not have more different paths, but the imminent battle will force them to converge one last time.

Lauren Oliver’s final book in the Delirium Trilogy offers readers some closure but leaves a lot open to interpretation and imagination.  This is going to work for some readers while it will alienate others.  As with the conclusion of any popular trilogy, an ending is just that: an ending.

There’s plenty here to like.  Oliver wisely alternates narration between wild and resistant Lena and her former best friend Hana, now cured.  What is most interesting is that Hana’s story is much more compelling than Lena’s.  Hana’s life with her soon-to-be husband feels more dangerous and fraught with tension than Lena’s life in the wild as the resistance builds its numbers.  This might not be true for all readers, but for those who are tired of the love triangle trope, Hana’s story will be that much more compelling.

Both girls are excellent narrators with strong voices and authentic personalities.  Lena’s growth as a character from the trilogy’s inception can be felt fully here, as she is brave and resolute in a way she lacked at the start of Delirium.  Likewise, Hana’s character undergoes a tremendous amount of growth as well.  Both of these character arcs are immensely satisfying.

Readers looking for a tidy resolution to the story are going to be let down.  Furthermore, readers hell-bent on finding out which boy Lena picks in the end are going to find themselves scratching their heads.  However, it is this reviewer’s opinion that not fixating too strongly on the love triangle in this novel does it a great service.  That being said, the novel doesn’t reinvent the wheel.  The romantic elements are still there.

Slow to start but builds to a tense climax.  This is a must-read for fans of the trilogy, but expect opinions about the ending to be very split.  Recommended for dystopian fans, if they aren’t sick of the genre yet.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver. HarperCollins Children’s: 2013.  Library copy.

Waiting on Wednesday: Sever by Lauren DeStefano

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.  Its purpose is to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

This week I’m eagerly awaiting:

Sever by Lauren DeStefano

Expected release date: February 12, 2013

With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered.

(summary via Goodreads)

I could have sworn I already featured this book in a WoW post, but my records don’t indicate it.  At any rate, I’m looking forward to the end of DeStefano’s lyrical dystopian (post-apocalyptic?) world.  Even though I think the second book in the trilogy dragged and was ultimately a total let-down, I’m committed to seeing how Rhine’s story ends.  I won’t miss the (kind of) silly covers, though.

What are you waiting on this week?

 

Book Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

What should have been a day for celebration ends in tragedy.  Tris has been initiated into the Dauntless faction, but she’s lost both her parents in the meantime.  As Tris struggles with her grief and guilt over what has happened, she must also deal with the fact that a war is coming.  The factions can no longer live in relative peace, and everyone is choosing sides.  As she and Tobias work to find out the truth about what is going on and struggle to determine who is on the side of right, they must also deal with their feelings for each other–and what it all means.

Insurgent, Roth’s follow-up to last year’s extremely popular Divergent, is arguably one of the most anticipated books of 2012.  The publicity blitz surrounding the book’s release at the beginning of May was overwhelming (and frankly a little off-putting).  Now that the book’s out, fans will be clamoring to get their hands on a copy of the fast-paced dystopian novel.  For a middle novel in a planned trilogy, Roth manages to continue Tris’s story without sacrificing suspense.  Additions to the complex world-building as well as superior characterization make this novel surprisingly readable.

Perhaps most noteworthy is Roth’s clear fascination with the sociological and emotional ramifications of the faction system in place in Tris’s world.  As the factions get closer and closer to war with one another, Roth is careful to examine each of the faction’s traits and what it is that makes the people within them tick.  There’s a great deal of exploration of each of the factions in the novel, and while some readers will grow tired of it, others will relish the care and depth of thought that went into creating each of these groups.

Roth is also adept at her characterization.  This is never more clear than it is with narrator Tris, whose personality and convictions only grow from the first novel in this second installment.  Her grief over the loss of her parents is palpable and informs her every choice.  Although Tobias is not as well-developed as Tris, he still has clear characteristics, and the two have a realistic chemistry.  Also remarkable is Roth’s ability to lend characterization to so many secondary and tertiary characters–and they are plentiful.  There are a few too many characters present in the novel, especially because Roth does not bother recapping the first novel in order to help refresh the reader’s mind.

Despite the use of several plot contrivances (like the truth serum–ick), the novel’s pace and genuine tension keeps things moving along at a breakneck speed.  Readers won’t be able to put down the book as they race to the novel’s big reveal–though it is not particularly surprising (nor plausible, but that is another conversation entirely).  If readers enjoyed the first book in this series, they’ll enjoy this one.  The only problem is waiting for the third book.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth. HarperTeen: 2012. Library copy.

Book Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Lena lost Alex in the woods after they escaped her village.  Now she must trek through the wilderness on her own and try to find her way to safety.  It isn’t long before she’s welcomed into a homestead filled with a ragtag group of survivors and is taught to be an insurgent to fight the supporters of the cure.  Will Lena ever be truly safe?

When I read Delirium last year, my biggest problem with the novel was its basic premise.  A world in which love has been eradicated is hard to swallow, not only because Lena’s world seemed to be based on the same Judeo-Christian values that define our society.  These values have love as a cornerstone (well, they do in theory, at least) to their existence, and to create a world in which that would so suddenly change was hard to accept.  Oliver has gone on record as saying that Delirium and Pandemonium take place in an “alternate history” world, which makes the pill less bitter going down, but I still think that there’s not enough evidence of this in the actual stories.  That being said, Pandemonium is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor in every way imaginable.  This one was surprisingly enjoyable.

Unlike many middle novels in a given trilogy, Oliver’s Pandemonium ups the action and suspense, expands upon the world in which Lena lives, and provides a realistic, absolutely stunning evolution of her character.  Over the course of this novel, Lena grows significantly as a character.  Instead of just being described as being strong, Lena actually becomes it.  It’s a logical growth that never feels unrealistic, and it’s an absolutely gripping transformation.

It helps, too, that Oliver introduces a much more interesting love interest for Lena in this story.  Julian Fineman is a much more realistic character who can elicit the sympathy of readers.  His back story, including his illness and his family situation, make him a much more authentic character and infinitely more compelling than the cardboardy Alex.  The chemistry and tension between the two characters is much better as well.

Oliver plays with the narration and the time line by alternating chapters with “Then”–right after Lena’s escape from her village and “Now”–after she’s become an insurgent and is captured during a rally.  This structure works exceedingly well here and helps propel the plot forward at a whip-fast pace.  The balance of action and suspense will keep readers turning pages long into the night.

The book loses its footing slightly with two extremely obvious and contrived plot twists near the end that savvy readers will see coming from a mile off.  I was so disappointed by the book’s final twist, in the last two pages or so, that I actually cried out in frustration (much to the chagrin of the other gym patrons).  These plot twists feel like Oliver is pandering to her audience, going for the obvious shock value over actual substance, and that’s disappointing, because Pandemonium is otherwise a pretty great dystopian novel in a sea of mediocrity.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. Harper Teen: 2012. Purchased copy.

Book Review: Crossed by Ally Condie

Still in search of Ky, Cassia moves to the Outer Provinces.  The two struggle to survive secret bombings and the harsh climate of the edge of Society.  As Cassia struggles to decipher Ky’s secret clues about his whereabouts, she also struggles to understand the new mysteries surrounding her Match, Xander.

I read Matched almost exactly a year ago, and while I remember liking it, I remember almost nothing else about it.  When I went back to look at my review for the book, I found that I gave it a fairly positive review.  Even though the actual memory of the book has faded, I enjoyed it in the moment.  This was not the case for me and Crossed.

Some fundamental truths remain: Condie is still a gifted writer.  She manages to develop two distinct voices for Cassia and Ky, who take turns narrating this second book in the present tense.  Where Cassia’s voice is lush, almost flowery, Ky’s is much more clipped and grounded.  The two struggle to come to terms with their feelings for one another, together and apart.  There are fundamental differences in how they see the world, and for the first time, they start to realize that it might not be just the Society that keeps them apart.

That being said, the things I worried about with the first book are present in full-force here.  Condie’s character development and world-building has always been good, but she struggles with pacing.  The second book in the planned trilogy suffers from sagging middle syndrome to be sure, and I found my patience with their journey growing thin as the story progressed.

Also problematic is the fact that Condie introduces more questions without answering many of the previous ones.  Readers might grow frustrated with the increasingly complex world that Condie has created for her characters, but the unanswered questions are likely to drive some readers completely nuts.  Again, this occurs largely because this is the second book in a trilogy, and one can’t help but feel the set-up for the third installment.

Even so, this sequel offers more of what was so appealing about the original: an intriguing premise, beautiful prose, and just a hint of romance.  Recommended to fans of the first novel.

Crossed by Ally Condie. Dutton Juvenile: 2011.  Library copy.

(#78) Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

In a not-so-distant future, people in the United States (well, at least in Chicago) are divided up into five groups called factions.  Each faction represents the characteristic the members feel is the most desirable: Candor (honesty), Amity (peace), Dauntless (courage), Abnegation (selflessness), and Erudite (intelligence).  Beatrice has spent her first 16 years in Abnegation with her parents, but at her sorting ceremony, she chooses to become a Dauntless.  Now she must face a dangerous, stressful initiation into a group that is completely foreign to her.

What makes Roth’s debut novel so clever is that she’s created a world in which the reader can’t help but insert their own self into it.  It’s impossible to read Tris’s story and not wonder about which faction you belong in.  I am, without a doubt, a Candor.  Honest to the point of fault (and often in trouble because of it), I value being able to tell the truth above almost all other things.  That being said, as ultimately compelling and readable as Roth’s novel is, there are some serious problems with this book.

The first, and perhaps largest problem with the story is the world-building itself.  While some readers might swallow the concept that the factions were created in an effort to prevent war, nothing about them ever made sense to me as a reader.  It is clear that it’s a system that makes most people relatively unhappy, but what is the incentive to tolerate the system?  The fear of war doesn’t seem to be strong enough to support this.  (Also playing into this is the fear of becoming factionless, which didn’t ever completely make sense to me, either.  Why would the factions allow these people to roam the streets?  How could this not lead to disaster?)

Perhaps even more importantly, there doesn’t seem to be a gray area in Roth’s world.  Tris is Divergent, which means she embodies the characteristics of more than one faction, but don’t we all?  While I could be Candor, I also have characteristics of the other factions.  In this world, it seems that everyone has one virtue and one virtue only, and that just didn’t jive with me.

Of course, all of this is rendered almost mute by allowing teenagers to test and then choose their own faction.  What is the point of both testing AND choosing?  Teenagers are allowed to choose their own faction no matter what their test results are, so why bother testing them in the first place?  Am I over-thinking this?  Probably, but the more I think about it, the more distracting from the story it becomes.

This is not to say that it’s all bad in Roth’s book, though.  She crafts fairly strong characters, particularly in the case of Tris.  Tris is smart and strong, but she also exhibits the melodrama of a teenage girl and often acts as an unreliable narrator, particularly as she becomes more enamored with Four and tunes out the rumblings of dissent amongst the factions.  Her friends are well-drawn as well, and the chemistry between Tris and Four is pretty palpable, too.

Roth’s writing is also stylistically strong.  She’s a good writer, and her surprisingly sparse prose worked well for me.  Her action sequences were descriptive enough to provide detail without detracting from the pacing.  The last fourth of the book was particularly emotionally strong, but it took too long to get there.

Which, of course, brings me to my last point.  Roth’s book is massive, coming in at almost 500 pages.  While it is a relatively quick read, the story takes a long time to get going and noticeably sags in the middle.  Much of the first part of the book is devoted to describing the trials of the initiates, and for too long, Roth depends on daredevil stunts that are largely predictable and more than a little boring.  It is not until near the end, when she explores some high-tech hallucinations that prove to be completely fascinating, that the story finds its footing.  I just wish she’d gotten there sooner.

The first in a planned trilogy, Divergent is best suited for fans of The Hunger Games who are feeling some withdrawal.  It’s clear that this book was crafted hoping to cash in on the popularity of that series, and while it isn’t quite as successful, it still holds a lot of promise.  Here’s to hoping Roth hits the ground running in the second novel and provides some fun, fast entertainment.

Divergent by Veronica Roth.  Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2011.  Library copy. 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Dystopian & Post-Apocalyptic Titles

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday over at the Broke and the Bookish is a “freebie” week, meaning that bloggers can post about whatever they want to.  One of the suggestions they make is a top ten list of the best dystopian novels.  Since August is Dystopian Month over at Presenting Lenore, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon (and yeah, okay, I’m feeling a little uninspired when it comes to other ideas) and present a list of ten of some the best Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic* novels around.

1. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood: Quite possibly my favorite book of all time, Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale should be required reading, whether you’re a fan of dystopian lit or not.  I’m so glad to have my copy of the book back (it’s a long, boring story) it’s not even funny.

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:  Three of the girls I shared a cabin with this past week devoured the series while we were in the nature.  While it is my personal belief that the first book is the strongest, all three of the books in Collins’s trilogy are well worth your time.  If you haven’t read the series (whatever your reasoning might be), you should rectify that.  Like right now.

3. Into the Forest by Jean Hegland: This book is disturbing, but also completely haunting.  It’s a book about sisters and nature and survival.  Technically post-apocalyptic, it’s an adult novel with YA-crossover appeal.  If you haven’t read any of Hegland’s work, this is the book to start with.  It’s been years since I’ve read it, but the characters are still with me.

4. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness: I’ve talked about my love for Ness’s richly-realized series about a boy named Todd and the future world he lives in on this blog before, but it bears repeating.  Like the Hunger Games, I think the first book in the Chaos Walking Trilogy is the strongest, but all three novels are fast-paced, fascinating, and compulsively readable.

5. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: The only short story to make the list, Shirley Jackson’s terrifying account of a small town with a terrible tradition is one of the first dystopian tales I ever read.  From a young age, I was affected by this story and Jackson’s lyrical, sparse prose.  If you haven’t read this story (or the rest of the tales in the eponymous collection), you should.

6. The Stand by Stephen King: Long and twisty, The Stand is arguably King’s best work.  A contemporary tale about a deadly virus that wipes out most of the world’s population is absolutely terrifying and totally compelling.  The terrible miniseries starring Gary Sinise and Molly Ringwald is worth watching, too.

7. Y: The Last Man (series) by Brian K. Vaughn: Another series I’ve talked about on the blog, Brian K. Vaughn’s gorgeous graphic novel series (collected into 10 trade paperbacks) tells the story of perennial man-child Yorick Brown who suddenly finds himself the only man left on the planet.  Funny, smart, and more than a little heartbreaking, this is a series for even the most skeptical of graphic novels.

8. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff:  Rosoff’s story about a young girl who falls in love with her cousin as the world around them erupts into a devastating war is lyrical and gorgeous.  The unique prose makes for an interesting, stream-of-consciousness tale, but it is the rawness of narrator Daisy’s voice that makes this novel worth your time.

9. The Road by Cormac McCarthy: Perhaps one of the most famous post-apocalyptic novels to come out of the past decade, McCarthy’s sparse, horrifying account of a man and his son trying to survive in a world full of predators is one of the most depressing books I think I’ve ever read.  That being said, it’s still pretty terrific.

10. The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman: Perhaps not one of the best dystopian novels out there, but one that’s certainly worth mentioning, if not just for the fact that I think it’s really underrated.  Perfect YA for the younger crowd, Goodman’s novel about a girl, her family, and her struggle for the truth about the world in which she lives is an entertaining, interesting story.  Something about it reminds me of Matched, only this one’s less gimmicky (and has about 99% less hype surrounding it).

*While I realize that there is a firm, definite difference between dystopian fiction and post-apocalyptic tales, for the purposes of this assignment, I am combining them.  I’m too tired and more than a little lazy this week.  I know, I know.
What did I miss?  Probably a lot, right?  TELL ME.

(#72) Book Review: Dark Parties by Sara Grant

Neva has lived within the electrified boundaries of the Protectosphere for her entire life.  The isolation of her world has put a strain on the civilization: resource shortage, inbreeding, and government censorship are all part of daily life.  Neva and her best friend Sanna believe that the government is lying when they claim that there is no life outside of the bubble, and they hold a dark party to try to recruit members into their resistance.  As Neva begins to discover the truth about her world, she realizes she might have gotten more information than she bargained for, and the choices she makes will effect those she loves.

Sara Grant’s Dark Parties is a dystopian novel for people who haven’t read a lot of dystopian fiction.  It’s not a bad debut novel by any means, but it’s not particularly inventive, either.  Fans of dystopian stories are going to see too many similarities to other novels in the genre, and because Grant’s story doesn’t have a whole lot of new ideas to offer, this will be disappointing.  However, Grant is a good writer, and she’s written a fast-paced, mostly enjoyable novel about a girl’s awakening to the injustices of the world.

Neva is a strong female protagonist, and her devotion to her family and friends is believable.  While Neva herself is a well-drawn character, most of the characters who surround her are not.  Because much of the novel is focused on pacing, little attention is given to building character development or the world around them.  A particularly weak point is the supposed attraction between Neva and Braydon, which felt rushed, superficial, and more like a plot point than an actual romance.

There are some good things happening in Grant’s novel.  The commentary on history and how the people in charge can shape and change it is particularly striking, as is the concept of a dwindling population trapped in their own xenophobia.  The cliff-hanger ending leaves the story open for a sequel, but I can’t help but hope that Grant leaves Neva’s story where it is and allows the reader to imagine what could happen next.

Dark Parties hits shelves on August 3, 2011.

Dark Parties by Sara Grant.  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: 2011. Electronic copy accepted for review from publisher.

(#51) Book Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

The future-world in which sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery lives is a pretty bleak one.  Thanks to the advances of modern medicine and science, people in her generation die young.  An unnamed virus kills the females of her generation at age 20, while the males live to the ripe old age of 25.  As a result of this, young girls are kidnapped off the street and forced into arranged marriages in order to procreate and keep the human race alive.  When Rhine is captured, she finds herself living in a sprawling mansion, married to a 20-year-old named Linden, a sister-wife to two other girls.  With the limited amount of time she has left, Rhine vows to break free, and with the help of a servant boy named Gabriel (who she finds herself attracted to), she might just be able to accomplish it.

Lauren DeStefano’s luminous debut novel lives up to the hype if the reader goes in understanding that this soft-science-fiction novel is more adult than young adult.  DeStefano’s story is slow-moving and completely character-driven, but it’s also very engrossing and extremely emotional.  The novel deals with grief and loss as well as presenting a dichotomy between captivity and freedom.  DeStefano also explores the concept of finding a balance within the confines of a forced marriage, and she does so thoughtfully and so beautifully that it never feels tired or cliche.  The fact that nothing in this story is black-0r-white helps add dimension to the dilemmas that the characters face.

The characters are what make this novel work as well as it does.  Virtually all of the characters are given depth and personalities.  DeStefano plays with preconceived notions about who these people are and pulls the rug out from under the reader more than once.  DeStefano’s careful crafting of each character in this novel elevates it above other dystopian tales that are currently flooding the market.  Readers end up caring about all of the characters (especially Rhine and her sister-wives, who are remarkably well-drawn), which is fairly rare in YA these days.

It’s not a perfect book, though.  Like some other reviewers, I struggled with aspects of DeStefano’s world-building.  The concept that the Eastern seaboard of the United States remains above water while most of the rest of the world has sunk below the oceans is a hard pill to swallow (though part of me wonders if this is a detail that will be explained in the next two novels).  However, the biggest concern I had with the novel were the rules of the virus, which frankly don’t make any sense.

Those are minor nitpicks, though.  Overall, I found myself really enjoying Wither and its atmospheric prose.  It’s a thoughtful, well-crafted novel, and it is much more likely to resonate with adult readers than with teens, despite being marketed to the young adult set.  Highly, highly recommended.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano.  Simon & Schuster: 2011.  Library copy.

(#32) Book Review: Bumped by Megan McCafferty

In the not-too-distant future, a virus has made everyone over the age of eighteen infertile.  People pay teenage girls to get pregnant and give birth as Surrogettes, and this has made teens quite the hot commodity.  The better one’s genes are, the more money a girl can potentially earn with each pregnancy.  Going professional means entering the highest echelon of society, and that is exactly where Melody’s parents want her.  They’ve groomed her for it, and she’s days away from bumping with an equally-desirable boy.

When Melody meets her long-lost identical twin sister Harmony, the two girls realize that each of them has been living a life in complete opposition to the other.  While Melody has spent her life preparing for her role as a Surrogette, Harmony has been living a quiet, chaste life in religious Goodside.  The two girls could not be more different, but as they get to know each other, they start to feel a sort of affection for one another.  The entrance of Jondoe, a professional sperm donor, complicates things, and both girls will have to make some hard choices.

Hailed as McCafferty’s first official YA novel, Bumped is not the next Jessica Darling novel.  Fans of McCafferty’s awesome and hilarious series should know that going into this one.  Where the Jessica Darling novels were grounded in reality and humor, Bumped is an incredibly satirical look at the present state of our culture and the sexploitation of young girls.

McCafferty is at her best when allowing her natural humor to show through.  She’s a sharp, funny writer, and her observations about culture are astute and spot-on.  Although the jargon starts to wear a little thin as one reads through the story, the underlying purpose is clear and it never feels completely gratuitous.  There isn’t a ton of world-building, which will frustrate some readers, but there’s enough so that one never feels too lost.

Told in alternating perspectives between Melody and Harmony, it was sometimes difficult to remember who was who, even though the girls have very different personalities.  Both girls are smart and articulate and driven in their own ways.  One wouldn’t expect anything less than some strong female characters from McCafferty, though.  Unafraid to tackle sex straight-on, this book deals with teen pregnancy and teen sex in a real way while also keeping its satirical edge.

Although it starts off slow, readers who can get past the first 50 pages or so will be rewarded.  It’s a fun read on the surface with some deeper meaning hidden below.  An examination and critique of pop culture are present here, and McCafferty is sure to delve even deeper into those issues with the follow-up, which she is writing  now (yes, there is a little bit of a cliff-hanger).

Bumped hits shelves on April 26, 2011.

Bumped by Megan McCafferty, Balzer + Bray, 2011. Electronic galley accepted for review.