Review: Insurgent, Veronica Roth

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperTeen)
Pages: 525 (Hardback)
Release: May 2012
Genre: YA, dystopian
Source: Bought
Good to know: Summit Entertainment, the studio that made the Twilight - movies, have bought the movierights to the trilogy. Book 3 is apparently being released some time in 2013.

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.

A good follow - up to Divergent 
(This review contains spoilers if you have not read Divergent yet)

I have been waiting a long time for the sequel to Divergent, one of my favorite books of 2011. I preordered the book as soon as I could, but I did not have time to wait for the book arriving in the mail, so I also bought the kindle - edition of the book. I can now state that Insurgent also is a great read.

The story in Insurgent picks up where Divergent ended. There are more things on stake for Tris, and she must fight for her own life as well for the lives of the people she believe in and love. Someone has the need to find out what secrets the Divergents hide in their brains, conflicts are brewing and people must choose sides. There are some surprising revelations, and Tris begins to question the meaning of the faction - system.

I read somewhere, once, that crying defies scientific explanation. Tears are only meant to lubricate the eyes. There is no real reason for tear glands to overproduce tears at the behest of emotion.  I think we cry to release the animal parts of us without losing our humanity. Because inside me is a beast that snarls, and growls, and strains toward freedom, toward Tobias and, above all, toward life.

Insurgent is, as Divergent was, a real pageturner. There is not a dull section in the book. I was thrown from page to page, reading about suspense and dramatic events.

I also like the fact that we get to know all the characters and the releationships between them even better in this book. I specifically like how the author spends time developing the relationship between Four and Tris. She does that very believeable, without use of cliches. Tris has a great development. There are a lot of great character-descriptions in the book, much more so than in Divergent. That is a natural thing. In bok 1 there is a need to set the story and the plot, to show the reader the characters. In bok 2, the author may dive deeper into the people on the pages and the story.

Evil depends on where you're standing

The language is also good, not one sentence appears to be in vain. Everything is so perfectly built up. There are also a lot of nice quotes.

Grief is not as heavy as guilt, but it takes more away from you.

The last part of the book is so suspenseful, and the ending just wants me to grab the third book rightaway. How will I be able to wait until 2013 to know what happens???

I still believe that this series will be the next Hunger Games. The books have everything: suspense, romance, mystery, dramatic events, great characters etc. I love Roth's worldbuilding in the books, the thought behind every faction and the way they are described.

If you have read Divergent, you can really look forward to this book. If not, you need to read Divergent right now! This is an awesome series!

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Review: Bliss, Kathryn Littlewood

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 374 (Hardback)
Release: February 2012
Source: Bought
Genre: Middle - grade readers
Good to know: Bliss is Littlewoods debutnovel, and it is the first book in a planned trilogy.You can read an excerpt here.

Rosemary Bliss’s family has a secret. It’s the Bliss Cookery Booke—an ancient, leather-bound volume of enchanted recipes like Stone Sleep Snickerdoodles and Singing Gingersnaps. Rose and her siblings are supposed to keep the Cookery Booke under lock and whisk-shaped key while their parents are out of town, but then a mysterious stranger shows up. “Aunt” Lily rides a motorcycle, wears purple sequins, and whips up exotic (but delicious) dishes for dinner. Soon boring, nonmagical recipes feel like life before Aunt Lily—a lot less fun. So Rose and her siblings experi-ment with just a couple of recipes from the forbidden Cookery Booke.A few Love Muffins and a few dozen Cookies of Truth couldn’t cause too much trouble . . . could they?

Sweet magic

Kathryn Littlewood have written an incredibly cute story about believing in oneself, family ties, loyalty and magic.

Rose' parents, or Rosemary as is her full name,own the Bliss Bakery. Here they make cookies, cakes, breads etc after recepies that have been in the family for generations. Their pastries is very sought after, and there are always a lot to do on the bakery. Rose is ten years old when she discovers that an important ingredient in the pastries is magic.

It was the summer Rosemary Bliss turned ten that she saw her mother fold a lightning bolt into a bowl of batter and learned - beyond the shadow of a doubt - that her parents made magic in the Bliss bakery.

The family lives in the little town Calamity Falls, where their pastries means alot to the other residents. They use food to sove small and big problems for the residents, literally speaking. Old Mr Rook was having trouble with sleepwalking, but after eating Stone Sleep Snickerdoodles, the sleepwalking stopped. The Bliss - family also helps out when a singer has a sore throat, or people get ill.

When the flu hits Humbleton, Rose' parents are asked to travel there to help the people get well. Their almond - croissant are perfect for that. Rose and her brother Ty are left to take care of the bakery, and they are told not to look in the book with all the recipies in it, and mot important of all: not use magic. But Rose and Ty does not do as they were told. They look in the famous cookbook, and goes down to the secret basement where their parents keep a lot of special ingredients. The result: chaos in Calamity Falls.  On top of all of this, they are visited by their aunt Lily - a relative their parents does not keep contact with because of a centuries old familiefeud. Lily seems very interested in the cookbook...

Ty read the recipe out loud: Sir Jasper Bliss did grate one large green squash while chanting the names of lonely customers thrice. Sir Jasper did pass through a metal sieve one fist of flour and one fist of sugar. Sir Jasper did drizzle two acorns of the finest distille Tahitian vanilla over the flour. Then he did fold within the batter one egg of the Masked Lovebird, Agapornis personata, which Sir Jasper did acquire from a mystic who had collected them from the primordial forests of Madagascar.

It is hard not to be charmed by this book. It is really cute, and it is apparent that the author has had a good time whilst writing it. The book have a lot of creative twist and turns, and the recepies are truly original and creative.  I cannot compare the book fully with the Harry Potter - books, but it is not hard to see that Littlewood has the same imagination as do J.K. Rowling.

Rose is a character that many young girls will sympatizes and identify with. She feels that her parents doesn't see her, she is unsure about herself and about her parents love for her. She dreams of a special bou, and about being noticed. During the story she has to figure out if her own self-realization is important, or if she should focus on her family. Rose does not have confidence in herself, and all she wants is to help others and do something useful.
Rose' brother Ty is a little more outgoing, and he happily uses his parents magic recepies to his own gain, but the result is not what he expects at all.

Littlewood deal with a lot of important topics. First of all, this is a coming of age - story, a story about maturing, getting older and the fact that it is quite possible to change without the use of magic. It is about sticking together, about family and loyalty.

I think that this book will appeal to thee target-audience. Bliss is a cute and riveting book, even I got caught up in the story. I also like that the author have given a title to every chapter, and that there are cutre drawings on the first page of every new chapter.

The book has a satisfiying ending, but there is a tiny cliffhanger here which tells us that there will be more books about Rose, her family and the Bliss - bakery. It will not surprise me if these books become a great success. The book is also great for being made into a movie.
But before you do read Bliss, I need to give you a little warning: You may feel a deep craving after cookies and muffins whilst you are reading.

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