Movie Monday [01]: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Just thought about writing a different post today. Instead of posting loads of review, I decided to feature something different. Something Book Lovers anticipate most of the time, especially when it is a very good book.

Movie Monday features a book that is going to be filmed soon. So, for my first Movie Monday, I decided to feature Divergent. Since, this is the most recent book I've read in which movie will be out this year.

What do I think of the book?

Though I've watched Hunger Games first before reading this one. I haven't got the similarity issues. Aside from they are both under dystopia genre, I can't see anything to compare them with.

I like the story of Divergent, I felt the grief of Tris parents after knowing she will be in a different faction, I felt how Tris wanted to belong and prove herself to her new faction, I felt Tris and Four's romantic moments and looked forward every chapter hoping for a progress.

The world building is definitely awesome, but I don't know if it is "just me" but I did imagine the Dauntless Headquarters to be under some sort of cave.  (My best friend told me that it was "just me". Oh well...)

Anyway, based on previous experiences from books turned movie. I don't expect much. I've learned how to NOT wish for the movie to be as great as I read... because it won't be! 

Nothing beats a good old book and your highly imaginative brains.

Don't forget to check out Divergent!

Divergent

by Veronica Roth

ISBN: 0062024035 (ISBN13: 97800624039)

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, 

Fantasy, Romance

Publication: February 28th, 2012

AMAZON  |  GOODREADS

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue-- Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves... or it might destroy her.

About the Author

Veronica Roth

Official Website ✿ Facebook ✿ Twitter ✿ Goodreads

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Amber Rain by Alyssa & Celesta Thiessen Book Review

Amber Rain
by Alyssa Thiessen & Celesta Thiessen

ASIN: B00I8S5CMM
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia
Publication: February 3rd, 2014
Source: Story Cartel

Ellie Lauder and her family grew up in an underground shelter. They are the descendants of the survivors of the amber rain, an astronomical tragedy that brought human to the brink of extinction. Although population in the shelter are numbered, Ellie and her three brothers was always bullied by kids of their age.

Her father wasn't exaggerating; she was at the top of her class. Not that it won her any friends. Not that anything would. Why do they hate me so much.

Most of the time her brothers stood out for her, but they were always the odd one out, an outcast. There was one incident that forced her to fight back, and Ellie being sick of always being bullied decided to runaway and eventually discovered a secret entrance that leads to the surface. A place where she thought was gone forever.

The  world wasn't opening up and swallowing her. This was outside. This was above. She looked into the sky again. Sun. Clouds. It was so much bigger in real life, so much brighter - so much more terrifying.

My Impression

At first I thought the story would be like "The City of Ember", but visualizing the technology they have here in Amber Rain, I already guessed not. It would pass for a middle grade genre if it weren't for some violent settings. It was an easy read and I really felt like the book is for ages 14+.

I wasn't really enticed by the book cover, I was actually wondering about the connection between the title Amber Rain to the the Girl looking at the wilderness. As I read the story it does makes sense after all. 

The story was okay for me, it kept me reading till the end of the book without pausing. I guess the mystery behind their existence, their history and the mystery of what's waiting for them outside the shelter made me held on. I was actually also waiting for Ellie to fight back and get even with the other kids. I guess, it touches some nerves. LOLx.

I also liked the minimal twist in the story, about Ellie finding out who she really is and the switch! I really liked that part. I was like... TIME TO KICK SOME BULLIES GUTS! 

Although the ending isn't a cliffhanger type, I find myself looking forward in knowing what's going to happen next, how will they survive, how will everyone get along and how those hanging romance bloom.

Rating:  4 Stars

Plot: Well paced story.

Page Turner: In most part

Continued?: Yes.

Recommended: Yes.

Book Boyfriend:  I had a hard time visualizing Lee, River and Will. So, no.

About the Author

Celesta Thiessen

Official Website ✿ Facebook ✿ Twitter

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