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After coming down from the excitement of the The Hunger Games series, I was desperate to find a similar series of uprisings and factions. Of course, the best way to find new books is through friends, but after ransacking their book ideas for so long, they had nothing.  I was forced to resort to the next best thing. The inter-webs. Which led to Divergent by Veronica Roth. I  was thrilled!

Beatrice’s world is broken up into five Factions with each saying that the world would become better with each of their traits. Abnegation (selflessness), Erudite (education), Dauntless (bravery), Candor (truthful), and Amity (peaceful). Each formed with the idea that the world would not have destroyed itself beyond their gates if it they had only had their traits.

She is part of Abnegation; whom devote their lives trying to be truly selfless and humbled, though she finds it hard to be truly selfless like the rest of her family. However, at 16, each member of their society is given a simulation serum, which helps determine what factor they truly belong in. Beatrice’s results are outside the norm, making her a Divergent.

I was remarkably pleased with the writing style and the believability of the faction lives, the reasoning behind each. The plot kept twisting and turning, though we knew our heroine would end up above average as heroines always are. It was intriguing to see the turn of events, how Tris responded to each event and how it shaped her character.

I enjoyed the series! It stayed strong through most of the books (Divergent,  Insurgent, and Allegiant), and I will be the first to admit. I cried whole heartedly at the end of the series. It was truly a shocking ending, but realistic. Finally, a realistic ending in a Young Adult novel. Brava!

In a nutshell:

Pros-

-Great character development

-Unique storyline

-Suspenseful

-Romance

-Sacrifice

 

Cons-

-One character strength fall off, but quickly recovered in book ii

-Heart wrenching

 

Overall rating: 9/10

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The title alone made me pick up this book, not to mention the steampunk aesthetics. In fact, I didn’t read the premise of the book when I picked it up and started reading.

All growing up, I imagined being the daughter of a titled Lord and Lady of France or England. At some point, my mom told me about how a “proper lady” scoops her soup away from her body, and then up to her lips. Why that made eating (drinking?) soup proper, I’ll never know, but it did stem a passion for being a well-put together individual, which exuded in a quiet, fairly matured seeming bookworm.

The idea is simple, yet well played. This Steampunk novel, Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger, is about a young, rambunctious 14 year old girl, named Sophronia, whom can’t help but getting in trouble. Climbing dumbwaiters (and breaking them for their materials), taking mechanical clocks apart. Typical boy in girl’s garb, she sees no use or need in the art of being a woman when acting a boy is more fun and gratifying. Her mother, Mrs. Temminnick is desperate to reform her daughter, whom gets a scholarship of sorts into Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

There, she finds the Academy is more than what appearences may seem. They do learn the fine art of dance, dress, etiquette, but also learn to use their feminine wiles and quick wit to dish out death and espionage.

 To be honest, the book was a little disappointing. First things first, I hated the names of just about everyone in the book. The ideas were solid and the characters were fairly rounded, it held the same writing style as Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush, series. There were werewolves, vampires, and Picklemen, but, while entertaining, is certainly not a book to enthrall you. Seeing as this is part of a series, I will endeavor to finish and record the findings here. Once I start a storyline, my brain is wired to finish it. Otherwise, I begin to dream up all sorts of endings and scenarios. Sometimes, that works out wonderfully as the book ends up trumping my imagined endings, even surprising me! Other times, it’s a sad, sad moment, when the book continues on it’s same beaten path and the writing fails to improve.

Hopefully, this is one book that will rise out of it's slightly mundane writing style to support its great ideas.

In a Nutshell:
-Steampunk
-Finishing School
-Espionage and Murder training
-Vampires, Werewolves, and Picklemen
-Part of a Series

Overall Rating: 6.5/10

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Born of Illusion by Teri Brown is another lovely little find off of GoodReads “unique” book list. I had just finished the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick and was interested in finding a good historical fiction series that was well writ and with a better storyline. Now, I’ve always been intrigued with ghosts and magic, but the mastery of creating illusions is amazing.

Luckily, this book is about both.

Based in the 1920’s, Anna is a side act magician in her mother’s faux medium theatre performances and her partner in crime preforming séances; punishable by imprisonment. Popularity for their show improves as her mother, Marguerite Estella Van Housen, claims Anna is the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini.  Margueite is the headliner and makes sure every opportunity for Anna to shine on the stage is thwarted.

Unbeknownst to her mother, Anna is not a fraud and has to find a way to hide her gifts from her opportunistic mother. Along the line, Anna meets a strange young man named Cole and together they explore Anna’s rapidly growing powers and unearth things they’d never hoped to find.

Taking place in the beautiful and roaring ‘20’s, the plot involve scientists, mobsters, magic, and of course, love.

The refreshing writing style of Teri Brown comes as a breath of fresh air in the stagnant realm of Young Adult Fiction. The writing is elegant, the characters sharp and witty. I was excited to learn this book is part of a series!

All in all, a great read.

In A Nutshell:
-Illusionists
-Houdini’s illegitimate daughter.
-Cairvoyants, Mediums, and Mobsters
-1920’s

Overall Rating: 8/10

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

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I stumbled upon These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Book 1 of the Starbound Trilogy), after a long drought of utterly predictable and not very unique storylines. The book came from a random Bing search, looking for “unique books” one cold and dreary night. There, it lead me to GoodReads. Thus far, I’ve had good luck with their recommendations as it led me to Born of Illusions by Teri Brown, so I head dived into another book off their list.

It starts off set in the future aboard a luxury liner spacecraft, transporting thousands of wealthy and underclass citizens through the galaxy. Onboard is a decorated, underprivileged war hero, Tarver, as well as the most renowned and richest girl in the galaxy, Lilac. The two seem an unlikely pair with her cool, intelligent aloofness and his humble and awkward personality; they aren’t fond of each other for most of the book.

Now at this point, it seems pretty straight forward, however, lovelies, I assure you it is a voyage worth taking.  Catastrophe strikes the luxury liner and suddenly the two are stranded together on what appears to be a deserted, terraforming planet.

This book did not disappoint! It starts off as a typical tale of romance, but the writing style positively captivated me. It was descriptive and fluid; nothing choppy as most young adult fiction tend to be and without the cliché phrases of romance novels. The storyline was unique and while some parts were easily predictable, it managed to raise my adrenaline levels in moments of peril; for my eyes to get misty as it reached the end of the book.

It was written in a perspective switching format each chapter, from Tarver to Lilac, to experience it through their minds, and was ended in an interrogation room. That starts off as a little confusing at first and a little discouraging, but bear with it. It’s a worthy read. I am excited and elated to read the next of the series. Normally I'm not such a fan of the switching, but it worked well in this book.

In a nutshell:-Star Crossed Lovers
-Intergalactic Space Travel
-Captivatingly Written
-Unique Storyline

Overall rating: 9/10