"Insurgent" by Veronica Roth~Divergent Series

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.

PARTICULARS OF THIS BOOK :

Published by:  Harper Collins
Pages:  544
Genre:  Dystopian
Author:  Veronica Roth
Read more about her first book "Divergent" here:
  Veronica Roth as well as purchasing your copy


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Veronica Roth is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent and Insurgent, the first two books in the Divergent trilogy. Now a full-time writer, Ms. Roth and her husband live in Chicago. You can visit her online at Twitter, Tumblr, her blog, and her website http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/p/books.html


TRAILERS:     First "Divergent"  the book that started the series ~

"Insurgent" Trailer

 

You can hear a 45 minute audio book reading of Insurgent on Youtube!



THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

Well, I am behind the times in bringing you this review, but it's only a prelude to "Allegiant" which I'll be reviewing in the next week.  "Allegiant" is the final book in the Divergent series and has created a whirlwind of controversy online with the YA community.  I have loved the whole series so far and am just getting into the final novel, but wanted to read "Insurgent" to fill in the blanks.  It's a fast read and a show stopper in and of itself, but a book that really needs the background of "Divergent" to understand all the nuances.

"Insurgent" takes us back to the dystopian community in Chicago now splintered by the war created by the Erudite faction into different factions and antifactions who are unsettled and not sure what to do with themselves.  Leaders rise up, albeit some are weak and fall under the simulation spells of the Erudite.  Tris and Four are left to try to put down the darker forces for the good of all, but eventually fall short of this although they risk their lives for the better good and for learning the truth.  It's a fast-moving novel with lots of action and a love that's building between Tris and Four.

At the end of the novel, things change when a mystery is revealed to the whole of the Chicago factions through the work of Tris and others.  It's a mystery that is certain to change the course of their fight and their work going forward, and one which sets the stage for the book "Allegiant."

I enjoyed this second book in the series very much.  Veronica Roth doesn't let her fans down, but keeps up a steady pace of action and adventure...and a strong bond of love and friendship through her characters.  There's not a page that lacks interest.  Not a page that lacks an absorbing element to enhance her story.

This is another dystopian to sit back and enjoy.  It's a good middle book that leads into her final one wrapping up this wonderful series.  I for one will hate to see it all end!  I know those who have been following it will, too. If you haven't gotten on this bandwagon...you really have to.  It's one of the best of the dystopian series on the market.  While "Insurgent" is very good, however, it's not quite as good as "Divergent."  But, I think it's a necessary middle book to bridging the gap to the end...


4 stars                        Deborah/TheBookishDame

YA Novels~Signs of the Times

Before I begin my post, let me direct your attention to this humongous giveaway going on at Beth Revis's blog!!!  See the link: http://bethrevis.blogspot.com  Talk about a Thanksgiving Special!  Please do yourself a favor and go there to sign up for a change to win this spectacular stash...

I just wanted to take this time to be thankful this year about the plethora of YA novels and writers of them.  I used to spend more time reviewing them, and  hope to continue in that vein in coming months. 

What has impressed me most with the ones I've chosen to read, and which have become the best sellers in the past years or so is their impact on how our future is interpreted for young adult readers, and not only them but adults who are cross-over reading the same books.  Books like the obvious "Hunger Games," but also "Divergent," "Pure" and many others will see our future as projected through the eyes of authors for this generation who may experience a time in the future holding destruction and survival like we've not known to this point.  Frightening...and hopeful at the same time.  I'm drawn to the dystopian novels in particular.

Personally, I've found the fantasy novels with angelics, psychics and faeries interesting, as well on most counts.  But, they fail to hold my attention and they aren't the first books I reach for on the shelves.  To me, most are less compelling than the dystopians and more infantile.  I can see they have a huge draw for the young adults, however, and I've read some very well written examples of them!

I'm a die-hard vampire fan for those who don't know me well.  So, all those having to do with vampires, were's and such are just chocolate to me!  All I can say is give me more!  Richelle Mead is one of my favorite authors in this genre...but there are so many more.  Love them all.

I've left out categories, I know, but there are so many!  If you haven't tried the YA section of your bookstore or library or online shop, you just have to.  There's more than "Harry Potter" out there today for you. 

Here are some new recommendations:

"Reached" is the third in the "Matched" trilogy which is a futuristic novel series.

"The Evolution of Mara Dyer" is the second book in a series you have to read!  "The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer" is an unforgettable novel!

"Pure" is a novel I reviewed here recently about a post-apocalyptic world...fantastic book.

and "Divergent" is a sort of "Hunger Games" book, only better in my humble opinion.  This one could be the next great movie.  It already has a cult following.

(Have I erred on the side of dystopians?  Oh, well, you can see where my heart is....  :]  )

Happy reading!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

GIVEAWAY!! "The Unfailing Light: The Katernina Trilogy Vol.II" by Robin Bridges

SUMMARY :

Kirkus Reviews

In the sequel to The Gathering Storm (2012), the tsar forces Katerina to put aside her ambition to attend medical college and return to Smolny Institute for another year of finishing school, immersing her in the dangerous paranormal intrigue of the Russian court. Since the blood bond created with vampiric Prince Danilo in the previous effort, he now has access to her thoughts, but Katerina knows better than to trust this handsome royal. Her thoughts are centered instead on Grand Duke George Alexandrovich, but he's been sent to Paris to acquire a better understanding of magic, and besides, he's aligned with the Light Court and she's tied to the Dark. Thanks to her inborn talent as a necromancer, she can reanimate the dead at will. Now, in spite of a protective spell cast over Smolny Institute, an evil spirit has taken over the library, threatening students and staff. Katerina is determined to resolve the situation. The pace is deliberately slow; readers will have to be sustained by Bridges' complex worldbuilding rather than any rapidly rising level of suspense, although the climax is satisfyingly perilous. Given the back story's complexity, the second volume cannot stand alone. Katerina's first-person voice is smart and believable, fitting well into this atmospheric romance. The simmering tale never quite reaches the boiling point, but fans will nonetheless yearn for the conclusion. (Paranormal romance. 11 & up)


PARTCULARS OF THE BOOK :
Publisher:  Delacorte Press/Random House Children's
Pages:  306
Genre:  YA Fiction/Paranormal
Series:  Volume II of III
Author  Robin Bridges
Find out more:  Author
Purchase the book here:  Amazon   and  Barnes & Noble

Who Is The Author?

I think I’ve been writing since before I was old enough to write. My mom has a poem I dictated to her when I was five:

“When you are a baby, you are a little seed.
When you are a child, you are a little bud.
When you are a grown-up, you are a beautiful rose.
And when you are old, the wind blows your petals away.”

All right, so what if it didn't rhyme? When I was six or seven, I made my first book by stapling two pieces of cardboard and some notebook paper together. I was in love with Laura Ingalls’ Little House books, but I did not live in the Big Woods, or on the Prairie. At the time, we lived on 11th Street, so my story was called “The House on 10th Street”. It was about a house with a mean family that lived in it, and the bad kids drew all over the walls. The house was very sad. Then a nice family moved in and fixed up the house. The house lived happily ever after.

I stuck with writing poetry until seventh grade, when I wrote my first novel, a hundred-plus page mystery written on notebook paper, called “The Tunnel Murders”. I don’t think there was a single murder in it, actually. It was more like a bad soap opera rip-off. With smooching scenes! I can’t believe I let my grandmother read it.

In high school, I was more interested in being a rock star and a movie actress than being a writer. I kept a journal and I wrote lots of horrible songs with obscure lyrics. A little too obscure, perhaps. Blood and dragons were mentioned a lot. And no, I will not post any of my song lyrics here for your amusement.

During our senior year, a group of us published our poems in a chapter book, titled Revolutionary Pen and Ink. It led to a short-lived lit magazine, named Back Alley Review. We were interviewed in Coast Magazine! We were famous! Umm, or not.

I went to college and studied theater. One day in Fundamentals of Acting, our teacher held up a picture of a bunch of rocks and told us to write a scene based on that picture. Two hours and seven pages later, the class was over and I was still sitting in that tiny arena theater writing a short story about a girl who grew up in Hollywood and met Lucille Ball. I’m not sure how I got from rocks to Lucille Ball- but I should have known that day I was in the wrong major. It wasn't long before I switched to English and began down the path of becoming a Serious Writer. I wrote serious and depressing literary short stories until I finished school and began teaching seventh graders. Two revelations occurred to me then:

1. I was not meant to teach middle school.
2. I was not meant to write literary adult fiction.

I quit teaching, and wrote a middle grade fantasy, set in ancient Ireland. And then I wrote another middle grade story, about a girl who could talk to dolphins.

(And then I went back to school for a nursing degree because I really like to eat.)

Then I wrote my first YA paranormal. I got an agent. The book didn't sell. I had an idea for a book but I was scared I wasn't ready to write it. I wrote another instead. It didn't sell. I decided to write the scary book idea, a fantasy about a girl growing up in Imperial Russia. The agent didn't think it would sell. I got a new agent. We revised this book over and over before submitting to publishers. It didn't sell. We revised it again. And it sold. Along with its two sequels.

The Bookish Dame Reviews :

This would make a dazzling little Disney movie with darling Russian characters that give it zing.  Abounding in light magic, faerie arts and witches, not to mention blood thirsty beauties and the darkness of ghosts and wolves, this book is a treasure trove of the paranormal.  After all, what's Russian myth and magical tales without wolves and faeries?  I loved this book as an escape.

A nearly unattainable love between Katerina and her Grand Duke, George will pull at your heart reminding you of the pains of young love hindered by unaccepting parents.  And, the unwanted attachment and pesky attention of the boy from the dark side adds another dimension to twist the story.  The villians are many and fill this story with imaginative action.  Such fun to read!

Katiya just wanted to go to med. school to become a regular doctor  when the tsar and associated aristocracy expected her to be contented with her naturally selected role as court Necromancer.  Of course she did!  Hurray for her and the role model Robin Bridges develops through the novel.  This brought the book into a future dimension for today's young women.

While this is a wonderful YA novel which can be entertaining in and of itself, it would be more adviseable and best served if you'd read the first book in the trilogy: "Katerina..."  That one lays the groundwork and sets the characters.  As a single read, it may be a bit confusing.

However, if you'd like a fairytale trip to Russia amongst the royal tsarist court of the 1800's in an imaginary paranormal setting, read "The Unfailing Light."  It's a treasure.

4 stars             Deborah/TheBookishDame

                                                     GIVEAWAY!!!

To win your own copy of "The Unfailing Light..." please leave a comment and your email address.

And follow me on Twitter!

This giveaway ends  October 31st.

Good for US and Canada only, please!

"Blood Wounds" by Susan Beth Pfeffer ~YA Family Dynamics

Overview :  Blood can both wound and heal . . . Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother. Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harbored secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? But as Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she also keeps her own secret—one that has the potential to tear apart all she holds dear.

Particulars of the Book :

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publication date: 9/4/2012

Pages: 256

Author:  Susan Beth Pfeffer
Genre:  YA fiction/general

About the Author :

SUSAN BETH PFEFFER is the author of many books for teens, including Life As We Knew It, The Dead and The Gone, and the bestselling novel The Year Without Michael. She lives in Middletown, New York.

www.susanbethpfeffer.blogspot.com

The Dame's Review:

I'm a fan of Susan Beth Pfeffer's.  I absolutely loved her "Life As We Knew It" post apocalyptic series in the YA genre.  She has a fine eye for the YA crowd, and her books fit easily into the "cross over" fiction that I love to tell my readers about.  "Blood Wounds" is another of these books that YAs and adults will like reading.

Pferrer hits your interest from the beginning chapters as we learn about Willa and her juxtaposition of a dialog that tells us how special/loving her family is, versus the conflicting storyline that shows a family that allows her to be left alone and to forge her own way through a horror show of a personal crisis.  As a reader, I was swept up in this book's ability to keep me "fooled" with the conflicting stories...even to the point of wondering if the author knew what she was doing!  It was genius!  I loved how she brought the whole thing to a head in the later parts.  It's a wonderful ploy and one I don't want to destroy more by giving away here.

The characters in this novel are interesting and well worth investing in throughout.  I found Willa to be a particularly well-rounded and absorbing one.  However, the other characters are less developed than I'd like them to have been.  Her lost half-brother, in particular, was an engaging figure, but only developed in a shallow manner.  And, I thought her mother, though we learn a good deal about her, could have had more depth; as well as her step-father.  Adjunct characters such as a best friend of her mothers is rich and most enjoyable to read in the story.

The plot having to do with Willa's bloody biological father, her own "cutting" that mimicked his psychological bent in a minute way, and the dysfunctional family dynamics she finds herself in makes the book captivating.  This is a book I couldn't read fast enough to suit myself.

All in all, Susan Beth Pfeffer wrote another novel I can recommend to readers of all ages.  There's meat here psychologically for everyone.  The story is fraught with warnings about settling for less than we should as individuals and family members.  There is also good wisdom and advice about the psychological manifestation of "cutting."  The writing style is enjoyable.

4 stars                        Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Immortal Rules"~ by Julie Kagawa~Is it all it's cracked up to be?

"Meet 17-year-old Allie Sekemoto, a reluctant vampire struggling to hold on to her humanity and stave off the demon that lies in wait, thinly veiled beneath the surface of her undead skin. Over a half century after a plague has decimated the human race, vampires reign, and humans are little more than "blood bags" to serve their masters. Rabids, vicious hybrid creatures born of the plague, prowl the land beyond the walled vampire cities, eager for human prey. When Allie is savagely attacked by a rabid while scavenging for food, a mysterious vampire offers her the choice of a human death or "life" as a vampire. Ultimately forced to flee both the only city she's ever known and her maker, Allie's determination to remain more human than monster is put to the test, particularly when she joins a band of humans on a desperate journey to safety on the island of Eden. Particularly when she falls in love. Kagawa has done the seemingly impossible and written a vampire book, the first in a planned series, that feels fresh in an otherwise crowded genre. She mixes paranormal and dystopian tropes to good effect, creating a world that will appeal across audiences. Allie's a smart, strong and compelling heroine, and readers will gladly join her for this adrenaline-rich ride."(Paranormal/dystopian romance) KirkusReview



The Dame's Word On It :

By now we all know Julie Kagawa for her Iron Fey series the "Iron King," the "Iron Queen," etc. which has a tremendous following, but which is a far cry from this newest series on vampires that Julie's embarking upon.  See blurb below:  

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up—On her 16th birthday, Meghan Chase's four-year-old half brother is exchanged for a changeling and she discovers that her best friend, Robbie, is actually Robin Greenfellow, aka Puck, from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is her guardian and will lead her into the faery world to rescue her brother. Once there, Meghan learns that she is a princess, daughter of Oberon, king of the Seelie Court. With a mortal mother and a faery king for a father, she is very powerful, and Oberon and Queen Mab, queen of the Unseelie Court, are both fighting to keep her. With help from Puck and a talking cat, Meghan sneaks into the Unseelie Court to rescue Ethan, only to discover that he is held captive by more powerful forces that could destroy the entire fey world. Meghan is a likable heroine and her quest is fraught with danger and adventure. The action never stops, and Meghan's romance with Ash, the handsome prince of the Unseelie Court, provides some romance that is sure to continue in the sequel. Faery books are in high demand now, and this is one of the better ones. Expect it to be popular with teens who liked Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely (HarperTeen, 2007).—Ginny Collier, Dekalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA

Show Less

"The Immortal Rules" has screams of movie rights!  YA's are just chomping at the bit to cast the movie.  See YouTube and Harlequin's official trailer below:

Read More

I just know YA's are going to be "casting" this one on YouTube within the next few weeks.  They just need time to read it.  Since it's only been released this week, we'll have to wait a few weeks to see who's going to get top billing in their minds!  LOL

Here Is A Quick Excerpt for You :

"Not our problem." I felt bad for saying it, but it was true. In the Fringe, you looked out for yourself and your immediate family, no one else. My concern didn't extend beyond myself, Stick and the rest of our small gang. This was my family, screwed up as it was. I couldn't worry about the trials of everyone in the Fringe. I had plenty of my own, thanks.

"Maybe…" Stick began, and hesitated. "Maybe she's…hap-pier now," he continued. "Maybe being Taken into the Inner City is a good thing. The vampires will take better care of her, don't you think?"

I resisted the urge to snort. Stick, they're vampires, I wanted to say. Monsters. They only see us as two things: slaves and food. Nothing good comes from a bloodsucker, you know that.

But telling Stick that would only upset him more, so I pretended not to hear. "Where are the others?" I asked as we walked down the hall, picking our way over rubble and broken glass. Stick trailed morosely, dragging his feet, kicking bits of rock and plaster with every step. I resisted the urge to smack him. Marc was a decent guy; even though he was Registered, he didn't treat us Unregistereds like vermin, and even spoke to us on occasion when he was making his rounds at the Wall. I also knew Stick had feelings for Gracie, though he would never act on them. But I was the one who shared most of my food with him, since he was usually too scared to go scavenging by himself. Ungrateful little snot. I couldn't watch out for everyone; he knew that.

"Lucas isn't back yet," Stick finally mumbled as we came to my room, one of the many empty spaces along the hall. In the years I had been here, I'd fixed it up the best I could. Plastic bags covered the shattered windows, keeping out the rain and damp. An old mattress lay in one corner with my blanket and pillow. I'd even managed to find a folding table, a couple chairs and a plastic shelf for various clutter, little things I wanted to keep. I'd built a nice little lair for myself, and the best part was my door still locked from the inside, so I could get some privacy if I wanted.

"What about Rat?" I asked, pushing on my door.

As the door squeaked open, a wiry boy with lank brown hair jerked around, beady eyes widening. He was older than me and Stick, with sharp features and a front tooth that stuck out like a fang, giving him a permanent sneer.

Rat swore when he saw me, and my blood boiled. This was my space, my territory. He had no right to be here. "Rat," I snarled, bursting through the doorway. "Why are you snooping around my room? Looking for things to steal?"

You can visit Julie's site here:  Julie Kagawa
Buy her book at these locations:
Amazon ,  Barnes & Noble ,  and  your local bookshops

Here's Julie's Bio. :

Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn�t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.

When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dogtrainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyper-active Papillon puppy.

Okay, now I'm off to read "The Immortal Rules" so I can review it for you!  I'll be checking back tomorrow to let you know what I thought about it...stay tuned, please!!

Deborah/YourBookishDame  :]