Allegiant by Veronica Roth

            When great series go bad, that is the only way to describe Allegiants by Veronica Roth. I knew

that I wasn’t going to like a lot of it, the end was spoiled for me thanks to some inconsiderate people on Tumblr the day after it was released, but I had hoped that the rest of the novel would make up for it. It didn’t, not even a little bit.

            The novel picks up a few days after Insurgent left off, Tris is in prison for siding with the factions against Evelyn and the rest of the Rebels. Luckily for her, Four has his mother’s ear and is able to get Tris released without an execution. But they don’t want to stay in the city, now that they have heard the message from outside the walls Tris wants to complete the mission the founders of the city started, and she isn’t the only one.

            Two group in the city have risen up against Evelyn, Tris’ group that wants to leave, and the Allegiant, those that wish to return the city to the factions and their previous way of life. Together both groups work together to get Tris, Four and a group of others out of the city. In a last minute effort, Four even rescues Tris’ brother from public execution and takes Caleb out of the city with them.

            The book didn’t start of strong, and once they get out of the city the entire think goes down faster than an inexperienced skier on a double black diamond. Turns out that there are cities all over the world just like there’s, being watched and monitored by government agencies. Even during riots and killings, the government just watched and waited seeing what the people in their walled cities would do.

            Different plans are made, both from the government and rebels within the agency, those still in the city, and those that escaped the city; and not all of them are on the same page. Betrayal and murder runs through the government, as well as those once considered friends who left the city.

            I don’t want to betray the ending of the book, on the off chance someone has yet to read it and have it spoiled by Tumblr or Pintrest, but it was lame. The entire book was boring and ill written. The characters that we have grown to love over the first two books regressed to points even before Divergent began. Everyone is selfish and lying, the entire book I just wanted to yell at the characters for every single decision that they made. Not a single choice Tris, Four, or any of the city members made was in line with who they were in the first books.

            I hated ever word that I read in this novel, and was so glad when it was over. I know that some people thought that the ending was beautiful and heroic, but Tris’ decisions during the book did not logically lead up to it. Roth spent the first two books writing and explaining and intricate world, and then just threw it all away, nothing made sense, and it felt like she was just hurrying explanations along or giving subpar answers to get to the next horribly written chapter. I would recommend people NOT read this book, I wish I had just stopped at the second book, because that slight cliffhanger was a better ending than the actual one.

Control (Book One) by Lydia Kand

Zel was used to moving around. For over a decade her father had been moving the family every

ten months, new cities, new friends, that is if Zel ever made any friends. She was smart like her dad, but her sister had inherited all the looks and social graces. Usually when they move they have a few weeks to prepare, Zel can wrap up her biology experiments and Dyl can break up with whatever string of guys had attached themselves to her. This time, they had a day, less than to pack up and leave.

            Within moments of hitting the road, their vehicle is hit, killing Zel’s father on impact. To make matters worse, Dyl is kidnapped by a group Zel can only describe as mutants. Zel lost and alone is taken into a foster home. A foster home dedicated to fighting those who took Dyl. Both sides are interested in human, genetic mutation and focusing on how if can improve or hurt the world.

            There are secrets in the organizations, things are not black and white, and Zel’s family plays a bigger role than she ever thought possible.

            I really enjoyed this novel, I thought that is was an amazing blend of future America, with tons of science in it. The novel focused a great deal of the science of genes and biology, but I never felt that things were over my head. The author did a great job of simplifying concepts that can be difficult to understand. The pace of the book moved well (although it got a little bit slow in the middle).  I would recommend this novel to people who like a little bit more science in the fiction, fans of Uglies, Divergent, All Our Yesterdays, or any dystopian novel series that doesn’t have to do with the apocalypse.

Anna Dressed in Blood

I started Anna Dressed in Blood nearly half a dozen times before I got past the first few pages, and I am so glad that I did. The beginning was a bit rocky, and there was a section in the middle that I found extremely boring and unnecessary, but the book overall was good.

Cas comes from a legacy of ghost killers. Ever since his father was torn apart by some demon, ghost thing that got away, Cas has been on a mission to hunt down every spook he can and send them to their resting place. Armed with his father’s old knife, he and his mother travel the county based on tips from different covens and inner circles to destroy every beast they can.

Going off of a tip one of his friends gave him, Cas heads to Canada hoping to find and destroy the spirit Anna Dressed in Blood. But things are different here, not just with the spirit but with Cas as well. Cas has always put up walls, no reason to connect with other teenagers when he’ll be moving on soon, but that was before he met Thomas and Carmel.

Thomas isn’t ordinary, he can read people’s minds when he concentrates and comes from a long line of witches and voodoo channelers. It was Thomas who made contact with Cas’ inner circle to bring him hear, to destroy Anna.

But Anna is different than any other entity that Cas has faced. Her power comes from somewhere else, she knows that she is a spirit, and hates that she hurts people. There is something else, a demon inhabiting her spirit form. She wants out of her predicament, just as much as Cas wants to put her out. There is more to her original death than meets the eye, and more evil lurking around Cas then even he knows, things that go back to the murder of his father.

I really thought that this book was excellent (well, besides the part in the middle that just dragged on and on without any point or direction). I thought it was a great little ghost story, that delved into the misuse of magic, without being to scary of hard hitting.

Goodreads Challenge 2014

Goodreads is probably my all time favorite website. I spend more time on it than on Facebook and twitter combined. I love taking quizzes and playing the never ending trivia game, writing and reading reviews, entering contests for free books, making friends and keep track of what I read and what I want to read in the future. My favorite feature of the website however, is their Reading Challenge.

Since joining Goodreads back in 2011 I have joined to book challenge. What is nice is that every individual sets their own goals, either by page number of book number. The previous two years I have set a goal of 100 books in a year. In 2012 I got close, only reading 98 (had I not gone out with my best friend for new years eve I would have for sure finished number 99 and possibly 100 if I didn’t do anything all day but read).

I ended 2013 by reading 107 books. Yes, I beat my goal! It wasn’t easy, I took a spring course in Scotland and I work two jobs (sometimes three when the photography season gets busy). So it can be difficult to read so much, but I prioritize reading about watching TV and sleeping.

Now that it is 2014, the time has come to see a new goal for books I plan on reading. Again, I plan on reading 100 books, but I know how crazy that might be. Working 17 + hour days has become semi normal for me, but books are important and I commit to reading nearly two books a week.