Stacking the Shelves #4 (Jan 30th)

Stacking The Shelves by Tynga's Reviews is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!


I know this blog has been kind of boring with only review posts but I was focusing more on a new layout. I will try to switch things up a bit so do let me know if you have any fun memes to recommend! :) I will most probably be doing a Top Ten Tuesday next week. Now on to my book haul!

EBOOKS:

   

Allegiant: It has been 3 years since I started this series. It is time to end it. This came out during my extreme lull in book reading so I kind of missed it but better later than never! :P
The Jewel: Gave this book 3 stars! It was a decent read, book review will be coming up next week.
The Winner's Curse: Heard great things about this, can't wait to read it! Also, after seeing the covers side-by-side, The Jewel and The Winner's Curse kind of have the same cover concept? Is this a thing now? Their dresses are gorgeous though!
Isla and the Happily Ever After: Enjoyed the first two books so much, really looking forward to Isla! Kind of bummed that this is the last of the series :(

PAPERBACKS:

     Amulet #1 - The Stonekeeper: Read this yesterday and absolutely loved the art and the story!
Amulet #2 - The Stonekeeper's Curse: Can't wait to know more about the world and to go on more adventures. :) I may review these in small batches.
Cinder: Yep this was in my previous STS post as an ebook but after reading about 1/3 way in, I was absolutely hooked and I decided to just get a paperback because I will most likely continue with this series. :) Check out my review here.
Scarlet: This is a sequel to Cinder in the Lunar Chronicles series and I did not like it as much as Cinder but it still deserved 4 stars! Review coming up in a couple of days, stay tuned!

Leave a comment if you have read any of the books and let me know your thoughts on it! :)

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Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: May 1st 2012
Series: Divergent #2
Source: ebook

Goodreads | Amazon


Summary: One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

Review: Its been awhile since I've read a book that didn't bore me at some point. Kudos to Veronica Roth! This was so much better than Divergent!!! I remember saying something about how unrealistic it was for the entire population to be divided into 5 factions in Divergent and well that problem was rectified in Insurgent. Insurgent was so amazing, it was action packed, had so many exciting plot twists, a little bit of romance and a lot of psychology/sociology elements. 

I would say that Insurgent had a more serious tone compared to Divergent and it made it extremely exciting. I couldn't put it down! The pacing was amazing and secrets were reveled every other page. Readers were kept guessing on who was making the right decisions and who to trust throughout the book. The characters were no longer classified in black & white and everyone fell in this grey area where we didn't know what they were going to do next.

Another thing that I really liked is knowing more about the other factions since Tris spent some time in each faction in Divergent. We didn't really get to know much about the other 3 factions in Divergent other than its motto/vision so it was really fun when my initial presumptions about a certain faction was overturned.

I loved how all the loss that Tris has experienced has affected her in many ways. It makes her a much more realistic character and I found myself liking her a lot more as the story progressed.

Overall, nothing in Insurgent stood out as bad for me so this definitely deserves five stars. This should honestly be made into a movie, its going to be a better movie than The Hunger games. Insurgent ended with a cliffhanger *sobs*, until next year then.

My rating:

Recommended for anyone who enjoyed Divergent and want to see what happened after the escape.

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In My Mailbox #3 (May 6th)

IN MY MAILBOX from thestorysiren
Every week you share the books you received that week...ones you bought, or got at the library, and ones that you received to review on the blog. That way you could mention titles that might not otherwise get some face-time on you blog.

It has been a little more than a month since I started book blogging and I am having so much fun challenging myself to read more and to be better at reviewing! I also got my first book review request last month from J. Meyers!!! :)

Book(s) for review:

The cover is simply amazing! Can't wait to read it.

ARCs/Galleys:

Can't believe I got these books from NetGalley! :) I have yet to read Ashfall and Hourglass though, this is a good push for me to read them!

ebooks:

Insurgent: I am currently reading it and its so awesome!!!
Deadlocked: I stopped at book 9 of the Sookie Stackhouse series, got to get back into it. :)
The Fine Art Of Truth or Dare: Contemporary Romance <3

Total books this week: 7

Share with me your In My Mailbox posts in the comments below!

Let me know if you have read any of these, if so what are your thoughts?

P.S. All book covers on Bursting Books are click-able and will redirect you to its Goodreads page.

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WWW Wednesdays #2 (11 April 2012)

WWW WEDNESDAYS from shouldbereading 

What you're currently reading: The Emerald City by J.A. Beard 

I am at about page 90 and it is getting better! This is for a much younger audience than I expected and it is a little cheesy for my tastes though.

What did you recently finish reading: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Check out my review here. 

What do you think you will read next: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

I haven't gotten around to reading the books I mentioned in my previous WWW but I am getting around to it! This is a short read, so I thought why not. :)

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Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Published: May 3rd 2011
Series: Divergent #1
Source: ebook


Goodreads | Amazon

Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

Review:  The hype surrounding this book is crazy especially with Insurgent coming up May 1st! I was curious about all the hype so I decided to check out the book. I was expecting a lot from this book because of all the hype surrounding it and because its dystopian. I believe that it takes a lot for a good dystopian book to work, the world building has to be detailed enough with few holes but at the same time have a good plot.

World-building wise I would say that it was weak. How is it possible for the world population to be conformed to either one of the 5 factions (other than the Divergent)? so 1/5 of the population would NEVER tell lies (Candor)? Its really ridiculous if you really thought about it. Also, how does dying your hair funky colours display bravery (Dauntless)? I could go on and on about the weirdness of the Dystopian world created. This should have been a fantasy novel, it would have worked perfectly. :)


So where did the 4 stars come from?
THE CHARACTERS AND PLOT! 

I wish Tris/Beatrice was slightly older so that we didn't have to deal with all the 'OMG you are 2 years older than me, that's sooo old. How can you like me?' With that said, she was such a great character I found myself rooting for her in all the trials. Her bravery was beyond her years and I could really see her grow as a character. She couldn't understand bravery at first and went through different stages of figuring out what bravery was to her.

Four/Tobias was lovable. :) He was tough on the outside but cotton candy on the inside. Also there wasn't a love triangle, yay!!!

The plot was really enjoyable. Everything was well thought out and the Dauntless' trials were really interesting. The second half of the novel picked up pace and it got really good! The action scenes were consistent throughout the book, making you flip the pages at the speed of light to find out what happens next. Did Tris survive? Did they succeed? Overall it was an extremely engaging read and I found myself risking motion sickness on the bus just so I could finish the book! Can't wait for Insurgent!


My rating:

Recommended for anyone who loves exciting action scenes and sci-fi

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Teaser Tuesdays #2 (April 10th)

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
 

 "There's nothing especially brave about wandering dark streets with no flashlight, but we are not supposed to need help, even from light. We are supposed to be capable of anything." - Divergent by Veronica Roth

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