Divergent

Divergent
By Veronica Roth (click here for her blog!)
Published by HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books

Beatrice Prior lives in dystopian and crumbling Chicago city. She was born into Abnegation faction (there's a good SAT vocab word for you!), one of five factions that people are now divided into after taking an aptitude test at age 16. The Abnegation faction is defined by their selfless lives, they live and work only to serve others. To aid this life of denial, things like pets, hobbies, and mirrors are not allowed. Beatrice has always felt like she does not belong in Abnegation, she is too selfish and too curious (curiosity is also looked down upon because it only serves a selfish desire for knowledge). But where does she belong?

In Candor, where everyone is truthful to the point of not caring if words hurt others? In Amity, where people strive for friendship with everyone? In Erudite (ding, ding for another vocab word!), where the pursuit of knowledge is everything, even above your sense of humanity? Or is it in Dauntless, where your bravery is tested every day, sometimes in cruel and shocking ways?

With her identity crisis looming in the very tangible form of her aptitude test, Beatrice knows she can't escape the truth that she is different. But just how different, and dangerous, she has no idea. Her worst fears come true when her aptitude test comes back inconclusive. Her tester tells her in a hushed and strained voice that she is Divergent, but that she must never, never, never tell anyone.

The day after her inconclusive aptitude test, Beatrice faces the first of many tough choices in her life. At the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice must decide if she will choose to leave her family forever and join another faction for her own happiness and to be true to herself, or to stay with her family's faction which is safe full of memories. If she chooses to leave, she must decide who is she in a new world away from family. If she chooses to stay in Abnegation, she will be denying herself any chance of self-discovery but she will be with her family. Choices, choices...and the choice that Beatrice does make will reveal how little she knows about her own parents, how precarious is the peace in her world, and how hard and self-less it is to love and to be brave.

Veronica Roth is a new writer on the scene and she has lots going for her! Readers of The Hunger Games will feel at home in these novels, minus the Edward/Bella/Jacob love triangle (which was the biggest detractor in that series, for me). At first, I felt that our protagonist Beatrice was not defined enough. There is very little self description on her part, leaving her kind of vague in your mind. But as the novel progresses, so does her self-discovery and her character finally finds definition. And while I found this annoying at first, perhaps it was a very clever ploy on the part of the author to make Beatrice's maturation in the novel that much deeper.

I highly recommend this book. I think high schoolers and even college students will enjoy the story and be totally sucked in to the darker moments of the novel. Ms Roth has a second book in the series, Insurgent, due out in May 2012. I can't wait!

The Maze Runner

My very first review!

The Maze Runner
By: James Dashner
Published by Delacorte Press (an imprint of Random House)

Thomas can't remember where he came from. He can't remember anything about his past life or himself, except for his name, when he is delivered into The Glade by a rusty elevator and into the hands of a group of boys with similar missing memories. None of the boys can remember more than their names when they each arrive at The Glade, an area surrounded by the high stone walls of a maze with four doors in each direction. Although Thomas is scared, the other boys are quick to show him the order of things in The Glade, which includes the number one rule: don't be caught out in the Maze when the doors close at dark.

There are terrible mysteries out in the maze, including walls that move and creatures called Grievers. If anyone is stung by a Griever needle, their only hope of survival is a serum stored in The Glade. But the serum can't save you from the Changing. The Changing is the painful price you pay for getting stung by a Griever, but it is also the only way to retrieve a few precious memories. The problem is that some of the boys who survive the Changing don't seem to think that their lives before The Glade was any better.

Thomas soon learns that the boys are provided with provisions and serum daily by the Creators, the name the boys have given to those who created the maze and put them into it. But the more Thomas learns about The Glade, the maze, the Creators, and the Grievers, the more it all seems too familiar. Soon, things begin to change in The Glade: a boy goes missing in the Maze, for the first time a girl is brought up in the box elevator with a startling message and a new game is put into play by the Creators; one more dangerous than the game of survival the boys have already been playing. Now Thomas can't help but feel that his arrival has brought about all of these changes.

But can Thomas, along with his new friends and the girl, solve the puzzle of the Maze before the Grievers take them all?

This is a book for tweens 11-14, especially young boys who have enjoyed dystopian science fiction classics like Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card or The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Now that you have the synopsis teaser, here are some of my nit-picky thoughts. Mr. Dashner has done a great job with painting the brutal reality of a society of adolescent boys faced with the realities of death, starvation, and betrayal along the lines of Lord of the Flies. However, his portrayal of Thomas' insecurities and the Griever's ferocity is one dimensional. I would like to have seen more ferocious cunning in Dashner's monsters and another emotion besides "dizzying thoughts" and confusion in Thomas. I can only suppose that Thomas will become a more well-rounded and lively protagonist in the other two books of the trilogy, The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure.

My last thought on Dashner's novel is about his plot revelation timing for both readers and characters. For 9/10 of the novel, you feel like there is very little discovery and revelation by the characters. While this may be very close to a reality of adolescent boys discovering these things on their own, Dashner should know that novels can't be read in real-time. After 9/10 of the novel are over, it is as if Dashner realizes that he hasn't given any answers or enough lead time into the set-up for the sequel, which you realize must be coming when you have five pages to go and they are still in the Maze. 


To sum up: Dashner has promise in his gritty portrayal of his dystopian young adult science fiction, however he could learn much from Orson Scott Card on his use of adumbration. Still, not bad for an accountant-turned-author. We're so happy you've seen the light Mr. Dashner.