YA

Review: Four by Veronica Roth

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

four -veronica rothTwo years before Beatrice Prior made her choice, the sixteen-year-old son of Abnegation’s faction leader did the same. Tobias’s transfer to Dauntless is a chance to begin again. Here, he will not be called the name his parents gave him. Here, he will not let fear turn him into a cowering child.

Newly christened “Four,” he discovers during initiation that he will succeed in Dauntless. Initiation is only the beginning, though; Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. His decisions will affect future initiates as well as uncover secrets that could threaten his own future—and the future of the entire faction system.

Two years later, Four is poised to take action, but the course is still unclear. The first new initiate who jumps into the net might change all that. With her, the way to righting their world might become clear. With her, it might become possible to be Tobias once again.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth comes a companion volume to the worldwide bestselling DIVERGENT series, told from the per-spective of the immensely popular character Tobias. The four pieces included here—THE TRANSFER, THE INITIATE, THE SON, and THE TRAITOR—plus three additional exclusive scenes, give readers an electrifying glimpse into the history and heart of Tobias, and set the stage for the epic saga of the DIVERGENT trilogy.

3.5 Drink Me Potions

I’ve been waiting a long time to read Four’s POV. Yet, I could’ve never imagined that I enjoyed the first 3 novellas more than the The Traitor, which occurs after Four met Tris.

The Transfer, The Initiate, and The Son flowed really nicely from one to the other as we follow Four’s journey in redefining who he was, away from his father’s abuse and rules. I really enjoyed learning where he came from. In some ways, it was more enjoyable than Tris’ efforts at becoming herself, away from the teachings of Abnegation or Dauntless or whatever faction would have her conform to. I think it was because they were novellas and were so much more straightforward with the point. Tobias had a lot of baggage to get rid of, with 1 parent gone, presumed dead, and 1 who caused his worst nightmares. In finding the courage to be someone beyond who anyone would define him as, who any faction would limit him to, he found a way to express even the tiniest bit of the Divergence in him.

How? Through his tattoo. I’ve always admired it, but hearing the whole contextual reasoning for it made me realize just how brave, and possibly reckless, of a move that was. It made me like the guy more.

And that says a lot. I haven’t read the Divergent series in a long time. I remember the major scenes, but most definitely not the intricate details or underlying chemistry he had with Tris. For that reason, I felt this story made Four likeable, whether or not someone had read Divergent and just really liked him ’cause he was Tris’ boyfriend. At the end of the day, who doesn’t have fears to conquer and demons to relinquish? He did it all, in the best way he could by shedding his old self and becoming anew.

Speaking of which, I think that’s why The Traitor didn’t sit as well with me. I mean, it was nice to kind of remember these scenes from Tris’ POV and now see it from Four’s, but I sure didn’t remember their chemistry enough to really love the extra perspective. It was kind of just repeating the same scene again, in my opinion. If I had time to have re-read Divergent, it probably would have been a better experience. I definitely recommend doing that if you were excited for these scenes between the two of them.

Anyway, I know novellas are getting ridiculous with popular YA series these days, but I really liked this one just because it wasn’t necessarily re-telling the same story from someone else, and instead showcased how far Tobias pushed himself in order to become the guy he was when Tris met him, as Four.

P.S. but did anyone else think the scene on the Ferris Wheel would be in this story? Come on, the cover is so pretty – and misleading.

Overall Recommendation:
First note, probably should re-read Divergent at least in order to get the best experience out of Four, unless your memory is spot-on of the chemistry between Tris and Four. It would’ve been what I would redo. But, even without that, Four proved to be a really nice read, diving into the mind of a guy I had admired in the series, but now am seriously respecting and even loving him. It takes a lot of perseverance and determination for an Abnegation, a “Stiff”, to redefine himself so well with barely anyone else’s help. All in all, this story doesn’t just complement the series, but it went a long way in baring Tobias’ character to the world. That’s what makes it good, and not because fans just love him for his part in the bigger series.

YA

Review: The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

the start of me and you -emery lordFollowing her pitch-perfect debut Open Road Summer, Emery Lord pens another gorgeous story of best friends, new love, & second chances.

Brimming with heartfelt relationships and authentic high-school dynamics The Start of Me and You proves that it’s never too late for second chances.

It’s been a year since it happened—when Paige Hancock’s first boyfriend died in an accident. After shutting out the world for two years, Paige is finally ready for a second chance at high school . . . and she has a plan. First: Get her old crush, Ryan Chase, to date her—the perfect way to convince everyone she’s back to normal. Next: Join a club—simple, it’s high school after all. But when Ryan’s sweet, nerdy cousin, Max, moves to town and recruits Paige for the Quiz Bowl team (of all things!) her perfect plan is thrown for a serious loop. Will Paige be able to face her fears and finally open herself up to the life she was meant to live?

3 Drink Me Potions

“Knowing what happens isn’t the same as knowing how it happens. Getting there is the best part.”

Likewise, it wasn’t hard to predict how The Start of Me and You would turn out, but Paige’s journey in rediscovering herself, both returning to her old self before the accident as well as figuring out her new self, was a wonderful thing to witness. Paige had lost her boyfriend, Aaron, by a freak drowning incident after only a few months of dating. I was a little glad that this book didn’t focus on her sadness too much, as some books with similar freak accidents do. Instead, it focuses on her determination to get rid of That Look of pity from others and to learn to move on with her life without feeling guilty that she had this opportunity while Aaron hadn’t.

Thus, she makes a simple list of 5 things to accomplish for her junior year to help her move on from her standstill. For some reason, I really like books that make simplistic lists to follow as it gives the events of the story a structured feel. But accomplishing lists don’t always seem as easy as it is to just write it down. Throughout her school year, Paige finds in herself all these small moments that she could never have predicted she could have gotten. I thought she rather aptly named her list of goals as How to Begin Again, as it really was the first step that set the ball rolling for the rest. In fact, I liked it so much, I kind of wonder why How to Begin Again wasn’t the title. Ah well.

Besides the steady-paced journey to discovery for Paige, I loved her relationship with her 3 girlfriends. Their friendships were so real, as besties should be. Each brought something different to the table, they were uniquely themselves (come on, they each even had very specific music preferences), yet they could come together so easily in order to hold up each other when any of them needed it. Not many books write about friendships as well as Emery Lord does. I think my favourite way that Lord described this friendship was in this single sentence.

“Together, we made four walls, holding each other up even as the world around us shifted.”

It is absolutely the best way to imagine a close friendship, or rather, close friendships between 4 girls. Even when the world threw all these different problems at them, whether it be death or breakup or abandonment from parents, they held each other up. That’s the kind of inspiring relationship here that I’m starting to recognize as Emery Lord’s signature description of the best kinds of friendships.

And that leaves me to talk about the romance. It was, at the end of the day, realistic. Yes, it was kind of slow, especially since Paige was so consumed by the idea of Ryan. However, I loved Ryan as much as I loved Max. Just because one guy is popular while the other is a nerd doesn’t mean they can’t both be kind and selfless. In fact, the biggest difference I found between the cousins was just in their label: the Guy Everyone Wanted to Date and the nerd. So, just because there is the stereotypical label in place, their personalities aimed to be different. That was an admirable attempt, although it made the two boys harder for me to decide on which I liked more. Hence, the romance was a little lagging for the first half of the book.

The only other problem was Ryan’s rather unnecessary attempt to chase after one of Paige’s friends. Like, just because she moves on to realizing Max might be more meant for her, was it really necessary to make Ryan seem a little desperate to move onto someone else as well, given the bad breakup he had? Sure, this book is all about rediscovering yourself and possibly finding the involuntary pull of someone else. It just felt a little off to me, although I was kind of glad Lord didn’t tie it into such a neat bow that there was an explicit relationship mentioned. I guess it left it open for interpretation for anyone who would rather that he found his happiness too.

At the end of the day, The Start of Me and You was a very interesting story with its heartfelt relationships, both with friends and with Paige’s family, as it chronicled her year of attempting to begin again.
See? How to Begin Again would’ve made such a great title. Honestly.

Overall Recommendation:
Another beautiful story of the best kinds of friendships, heartbreak and the ability to redefine yourself afterwards, Emery Lord doesn’t disappoint. Albeit a bit slow in the romance department at first, the story excels in other areas as we follow Paige’s journey at learning to be herself again without the label of Girlfriend Whose Boyfriend Drowned. Loveable characters and universal ideals that can easily touch anyone’s heart, this proves that Emery Lord weaves gorgeous stories that inspire hope and friendships even in the darkest of days. I suggest you give this a try.

YA

Review: The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Bloodlines #6

the ruby circle -richelle meadTHEY WILL BE TESTED

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets – and human lives.

Their forbidden romance exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s bestselling Bloodlines series.

When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, she and Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world and alter their lives forever.

Don’t miss their unforgettable final chapter…

LOVE WILL CONQUER ALL

4 Drink Me Potions

And thus the Bloodlines series finally concludes, with the final battle rightfully dealing with Jill’s kidnapping, as that was the original fear that had set off this series of events. I find myself a little sad that it’s done. I do hope this won’t be the last time I see these characters. What I love most about this final installment of the series is Richelle Mead’s ability to wrap up ALL, and I do mean ALL, the crazy plot lines that has happened throughout the series. And also seeing most of the recurring characters that I know I at least have grown to enjoy make appearances somewhere at least.

That being said, the biggest problem I had with the book was also because there were so many plot lines to figure out and make satisfying conclusions to them. It felt crowded and a little rushed in some conclusions. I had wanted to read more about one adventure and then it just finishes, with Sydney and Adrian moving on to the next problem that needs to be solved. Nothing lasted very long, and in that way, made each conclusion feel a little less satisfactory. Like it could have been more epic of a battle or whatever, but it never really came to that as nothing was built up to a climax moment for such a strong feeling to occur. It was like, engage with enemy, then in a short while, it was eliminated. Yay. Just not as much excitement as I’d initially hoped for.

The only other thing I wished for was a more satisfactory way for Adrian to deal with his spirit problem. I love that we get to go into his head and see how hard he’s struggling with his want to help while fearing the potential downfall of spirit usage. He’s a delightfully complex character that yearns to help others with all he’s got. However, I suppose that nothing “epic” could be solved for spirit users yet in controlling their horrible side effects. It was just a wish, seeing as this was the last book after all.

Throughout it all, this book still centres all the amazing love between Adrian and Sydney. I love their connection and even when they argue, it shows even more that they can last even through the rough times. They balance each other perfectly, even when they really don’t seem to be. They’re truly the perfect couple I’ve had the pleasure of following in a series in a long time. And that epilogue? Just. Perfect. I couldn’t have wanted a better one.

Although it was a happy ending, the world of the Moroi and Alchemists haven’t much changed in their taboos and such. For that, I do wish there would be more on this world someday as there is still such potential storylines to be explored. I can only cross my fingers and hope with all my might. All in all, it was a satisfactory ending that left a sweet nostalgic taste of the crazy adventures Adrian, Sydney, Jill and the rest of the gang had gone through in the last 6 books.

Overall Recommendation:
I found The Ruby Circle as a wonderfully satisfactory ending to the Bloodlines series. My only problem lies in the fact that although the many plot lines throughout had been solved in some way, it felt kind of crowded in one book. So much went on that it literally felt like Sydney and Adrian were moving off from one problem to the next, or alternating with other problems in between. It never allowed for a lot of time to build up each conclusion to something that could be called epic. However, the rest of the book did justice to all the main characters and I find that I’m going to miss them. Richelle Mead made each memorable and uniquely their own selves. Although a bit sad to see the conclusion to the spin-off series, I have hopes that something new in this world of Moroi, Strigoi and Alchemists will come back one day.