BR: Dollanganger Series - V.C Andrews

 #1: Flowers in the Attic
#2: Petals on the Wind
#3: If There Be Thorns
#4: Seeds of Yesterday
#5: Garden of Shadows

Yeah, all the books have something to do with flowers. I never gave it a moment to figure out why.
I first read Flowers in the Attic in Year 7. I never understood it, my teacher told me never to touch this 'trash', and I soon forgot about it. Now, years later, I decided to pursue with the series. And omg, I don't even know what to say about it.
This series is like a massive horror story!! It is so eerie and creepy and haunting and ahhh!! I don't know whether I love it or hate it. It's been dubbed 'trash' and is banned everywhere it is possible to be banned. I can understand why, but at the same time..the story is terrific. It has something timeless about it, and it's such an ooooOOOOOOoooo story. LOL.

It's about this family, so beautiful and perfect with their blonde hair and blue eyes, that the neighbourhood dubs them 'Dresden Dolls'. One day, the father gets hit by a car. And then another car. And another car. Basically, he gets hit until he dies. The family is devastated and the mother comes to the realisation that she has lived too splendidly so now the Dollanganger family is in a massive debt. Desperate, she writes home to her parents, who disowned her decades ago due to an 'unforgiveable sin', begging for their forgiveness and to take her back into their large mansion. The mother tells her children of her intention of winning back her father's love, and inheriting his massive fortune (he is on his deathbed). One small sacrifice the children must make is to stay hidden from their grandfather, for he will see them as 'devil's spawn'.
At the Foxworth Hall (the mansion), the children must stay up in an attic, warned not to make a noise or any trouble until the day their grandfather dies and their mother can free them and they can live luxuriously together. With this promise, they do their best to remain optimistic in the gloomy attic. Their time in the attic is overseen by their evil grandmother; who brings them food every morning, asks them whether they have sinned, and locks the door behind her.
They quickly come to the realisation that they are seen as Devil's spawn because they are the offspring of their mother's marriage with her uncle. And the same outcome is expected to bloom between Catherine and Chris, the two eldest siblings. Still, they remain understanding and optimistic towards their mother, who initially visits them every moment she gets and showers them with her love.
Days pass, months, then years. Yet the children are still locked up in the attic, malnourished and deprived. The grandmother continues to punish them for their 'sins', their mother's visits get fewer and fewer. When she does bother to visit, all she does is shower them with gifts, hoping to convince them of a day when they will live happily together. Their faith in her dwindles and they decide to take things into their own hands. At the same time, Catherine and Chris reach the age of maturation and sexual awakening, making them question whether they really are sinners.

Etc.
That was Flowers in the Attic. Like, a summary of a summary of a summary of the book. It's complex. It was a disturbing book, but it was worth the read. With only one setting -the attic- you get to know the characters very well. Andrews writes such well developed, three dimensional and real characters that you end up following them throughout the entire series. They all have such distinct voices and they drive the story so well.
And I also think every character in this novel is psycho. They just don't see it. The time in the attic turns Catherine into a splitting image (inside and out) of her mother who locked them up. She gets so scary and you can see all the mental scarring from her time locked up.

The writing is also sooo unique. It's, I dunno, might be because it was written in a time before I was born. If it wasn't so effing creepy, it would probably be a classic. Not the Pride&Prejudice, The Importance of Being Ernest etc. kind of classic. But the themes explored will never get old. The series explores fate, religion, jealousy, family, incest, revenge and tragedy.
Fate seems to be the driving force for the tragedies that occur in this novel. And fate seems to be so cruel to the Dollangangers because of their sins. Religion is the excuse for all the punishment and the villians are all obsessed with punishing the Dollangangers for their sins. There's also lots of women-hate and blaming. Women are just seen as 'sluts'. The more beautiful the more deceiving they are. And Catherine happens to be the most beautiful woman of all time. It all gets really weird, but you don't stop reading because of these characters.

Garden of Shadows takes the story back to the very very start. Back to when Catherine's mother first fell for her uncle. And back to when the evil grandmother was not evil. So you basically get every side of the tale.

I must say, I did get tired of everyone constantly wanting to punish each other for their sins and what not. But by the time I finish rolling my eye balls, something creepy happens and I'm creeped out again LOL. Each book just gets more and more disturbing. So read it! It will touch your soul, then sit there until you die.

I also found Lana Del Rey's songs fit in really well with the book. Espppp Carmen, This is what makes us girls, and Million Dollar Man.

My opinion

I'm going to be a hypocrite here and judge people's judgement.
It's about the 'robsten' 'scandal'. So its not well hidden that Kristen got busted cheating on her long term bf Robert for a 41ish year old director. As soon as it happened, tabloids, fans and haters everywhere bashed the sh******************************t out of Kristen. 'Whore', 'homewrecker', 'tramp', all the fireworks came out. We were all just sitting here, (ready!) to watch and scrutinize the demise of a successful girl with 'no talent' (supposedly).
I think its because I look up to her individuality so much and that I'm such a massive fan of her that I completely resent all the hate that centers around her. Who are you to look down so much on a very young adult who made a mistake? I'm not saying cheating is ok, but what I am saying is if you're going to use that to form your judgement of Kristen, take a good hard look at yourself. Would it not be the worst if everyone turned away from you because of a past lapse of judgement? We've all had those before.
What's to say she even started it? He is a grown man with a family who decided to gift Kristen Stewart lavishly. And then fondle the crap out of her. Where is his share of the brunt?

Anyways, after two months of deliberation and separation, Robert has finally decided to take Kristen back, because he loves her.
The overwhelming response is 'OMFG, it was all fake. It was fake publicity for Breaking Dawn..."
Make up your minds. So is she a cheater, or is she a liar? Did you really think Kristen decided to seduce her director then tell Robert to fake dump her and then fake get back together? Or maybe it really did happen, and then Robert, through all his emotional turmoil, decided to go "hey lets pretend to get back together for Twilight? Because that movie runs my life and its profit is all I think about in times of heartbreak."
If anything, Kristen's cheating took away from Breaking Dawn's appeal. People look at her and go 'urgh homewrecker'. That's not good publicity. Besides, Breaking Dawn doesn't really need any publicity...the Twilight franchise is huge as it is.
And what frustrates me is that people think its fake simply because Robert forgave her. Would you feel better if they remained apart? Would it make things seem more real to you?
I really do not believe it was fake. People are only saying that because they both happen to be the stars of Twilight. But more than that, they are human beings, going through relationship troubles that has made its way to the tabloids.

But if you are going to keep judging, don't be afraid to go all out. Hey! Maybe Rupert Sanders was in on it too! He gets free publicity! His wife and children get free publicity!
Oh, and its totally ok for him to cheat on his family! He's far too immature and unwise to have been at any fault. Damn Kristen, that seductive vixen! Damn her and her low morals! She should've known better, I mean, she's old enough to act so why can't she be mature enough to be perfect!?

Anyways, apparently Robert decided to try and move on from her mistake because of this. It was her first official public appearance after the break-up/mourn phase and that necklace she's wearing was a gift from him. It's a locket with a picture of them both inside and a Latin saying carved in: Even if you can't see me, my love for you is always here.
How cute and relevant to their situation? But yeah, violins played and they fell into each other's arms. Not literally.
I'll be happy for them if they can work things out. Admittedly, I probably wouldn't forgive someone who cheated on me, but to each their own. At the end of the day, it is her talent that should really matter to the world. The rest is none of our beeswax.

BR: The Forsaken - Lisa M Stasse

I'm in a darn bad mood. This book did not help.

It's a dystopian, adventure YA novel about a girl, Alenna, who is different from all the mindless drones around her. The society she lives in is basically a carbon copy of 1984. That is basically all I can say about the world because THATS ALL THE AUTHOR ACTUALLY TELLS YOU ABOUT THEM. They force people to hear things, they brainwash everyone and they watch everything. We've all seen it beforeeeee. Originality: 0.
Anyway, every year, all 16 year old teenagers undertake a test to see if they have any anomalies eluding to psychopathy, terrorism or harmful behavior. Those who fail the test/seen as a danger to society are sent away to this isolated island where they are left to die. People on this island are said to generally die at the age of 18, due to the dangers of living with a bunch of potential criminals etc. If you have read Divergent, you will know what I mean when I say the test is exactly like that of Divergent's. The author even goes on to describe those who fail the test as Divergent. Originality down to -1.

As predicted, Alenna fails the test and is sent to the island. There, she stops feeling down about living in a brainwashed world and proceeds to beg for them to take her back. And then she undergoes a 180 degree personality makeover, and somehow becomes this brave courageous young woman etc. in a matter of seconds. It's like a whooole new book. On the island, she becomes aware that there are two tribes who run the island, all competing to own the most 'sectors' of the island. Oh yeah, the island is divided into factions, reminiscent of the ones in Hunger Games. Originality descends down to -2.

She is taken up by the less atrocious tribe, but her fellow test flunker, David, is taken up by the more atrocious clan. And they tottle off into the new society. Alenna learns and adapts to her new society, whilst having boys make moves on her and her new friend going 'omg you're so pretty, all these guys are gonna hit on you!'. What a treat to read. Anyway, she falls for the leader of the hunters (at least she has standards) and somehow, he does too. And then they all randomly decide to go on a mission to find a way to leave the island. Meanwhile, David keeps running back to her and trying to save her life, because he's got the case of die-for-everyone-I-don't-know.

There was one cute scene. Alenna was a musical girl, so the guy she falls for, Liam, makes her a guitar out of wood and some random string. She tweaks if a few times then hides it in leaves. End scene.

The story progresses as she and fellow hunters try to make their way into this segment of the island where planes have been seen. They see it as their escape route etc. Along the way, they get hunted by 'feelers', these giant hovers with tentacles that come down and grab at them. If you're having trouble envisioning this, they're the crafts that grab people from the ground in the Hunger Games. Yeee, I'm gonna put originality down to -3.

Sometime during the novel, in a MASSSSIVE 'TWIST', she finds out the 'aptitude' test all the 16 year olds take isn't to detect criminal behavior, but to pick out the people who show resistance to government brainwash drugs. It was so predictable. And it was funny because that's exactly what Divergent's test does too.

As you can see, I failed to find creativity in this book. What also frustrates me is that at the back of the book, there's this droplet of blood kind of thing with the words 'If you love HUNGER GAMES, read this!'. Urgh. (Yes, I fell for it.) It was not like the Hunger Games at all - spare the similarity in mechanics. Hunger Games is like, up there. And Forsaken cannot even be measured on the same scale.

Alenna had no character growth or development. She is the same contradictory girl throughout the entire novel. At the start, she's all 'omg I don't belong here, the government is an asshole', and then when she becomes 'Forsaken' she's all 'How could the government do this to me?!'. She is deemed 'brave' by her fellow savages simply for helping them clean their campsite after it is totally trashed. Don't you just hate that? When a character or someone gets praised simply for not being a spoilt pussy. Alenna also keeps saying the same things about Liam. We get like, one description of his appearance when he first appears, but after that, its all 'I felt so strangely attracted to him', 'There was something about him' 'My heart literally skipped a beat!' , 'I could not tell what is was about him that drew me to him' etc. Please, spare me the grotesquely intricate details.

The dystopia in this novel isn't anything we haven't seen before. The government is predictably greedy, the civillians are predictably dumb, the Forsaken are predictably sooooooo effing cool and strong. When you look at other successful dystopian novels, you can see that although they deal with the same central issue, they're all different. Their governments rule differently, the 'Prole' rebellion is different, they put something new on the plate to create a page turner. This book just inserted the template of your typical run down society and then rushes to put in the action sequences and adventures.
In fact, I don't even know this tyranny well enough to even feel distaste towards them. Nothing is explained or delved into. I just know that apparently, they're big and they're bad. We are given short, succinct statements and assumed to have accepted it all whole-heartedly. The author needs to make us see and feel for ourselves instead of just saying 'The government is mean. THEY'RE THE BAD GUYS!'

Alenna says on the last page: 'This is only the beginning.' There's going to be a sequel. Spare me!

Much ado about nothing

I'm exhausted. The stress of 30 hours placement and 10 hours of part time work spread over a week followed by more work, two challenging tests, a prac, good ol' hand in homework and a bunch of birthdays later, I've found myself sick. The busy life I brought onto myself should be ending Tuesday night thank goddd.  I like peace.
I'm also worsening my sore throat by eating garlic bread. But what gives, I've never been known to resist temptation.

I've also finished watching suits. Mike and Harvey, they're so camera-genic. And awesome. Their couple name should be win-win! I wish I had Mike's photographic memory. All he needs is to look at something/understand something and viola, in his head for life.  And is it just me or do all the females in the character seem so useless.
You have Jessica - who although CEO, needs Harvey, and kind of bends to Harvey's wishes. 'Oh whats this Harvey? You want to completely take over my case and for me to completely butt out of it? Okay.'
You have Jenny 'Oh Mike, you kissed me then changed your mind and completely embarrassed me. Now you want me back again? Ok.'
You have Rachel 'Oh stop flirting with me. I know I'm hot and you're not getting a piece of this. But ok, I'll like you and kiss you'
You have Tess 'I'm married but since you called me over to your place, allow me to have sex with you PLEASE'
But everything is okay because it's Mike and Harvey. And also because of Donna. I LOVEEE Donna, she's so snarky and cute. My fave character.
Louis I love and hate. I love him out of sympathy for his pathetic position and his lack of goal achievement. I hate him because I feel that at any moment now he's gonna crack and his new goal would be to destroy Harvey.
Finally, I do not understand any of the references to other films/texts in the show :( I only understood the Mrs Robinson joke. There may have been a Batman.

BR: Beautiful Disaster - Jamie McGuire

I uploaded both the covers cause they both kind of look cool. This book has recently been bought byyy Warner Bros. to make a movie. I struggle to see how they can get anything from it.
This will be yet another cynical review. Because omg.

It's about this girl - I can't remember her name again. Something Abernathy. Oh. It's Abby Abernathy. Her name is Abby Abernathy. Anyway, she is a college student attending Eastern University. She's a good girl, who studies and does not drink. One day, she's persuaded to attend an underground boxing 'event' where she meets Travis 'Mad Dog' Maddox (don't worry, I laughed too). He becomes drawn to her innocence and radiating...whatever it is, and the novel focuses on their relationship and growth.
It is your classic good girl meets bad boy fanfiction. Fanfiction. I see fanfiction as a read you enjoy, but can not praise. That's what this novel was. You get the guilty pleasure of reading about a guy get completely enamored by a girl who has much higher resistance. Like bam, you lose, Travis. But the downside is that it is indeed a shit book.

This book has one theme - co-dependency. Is that even a theme? Anyway, this Mad Dog Maddox completely falls in love with Abby in the most unhealthy way. His entire existence starts to center around her. It's cruel, but whatever, indulge in it anyway muahaha. This novel's Travis, is everything you do not want in a guy; he fights, has anger issues, is clingy, is dependant, is a slut, he overeacts, he tattoos your name and he's spastic. Yet every reader falls in love with him. At first I was like 'aw adorable' too, but my gosh, spastically spastic spectacle. What kind of guy, trashes his entireeee apartment and smashes his phone into one million pieces and cries, just because he wakes up and doesn't know where you are? What kind of guy, stops in the middle of a boxing fight, just because he can't see you? Like what? Yeah, Travis' 'part time' is as an underground boxer. He gets money by winning, and after meeting Abby, he's all 'yo I cannot win if I don't see your face while I'm fighting'. Urgh.

Anyway, moving on. Abby Abernathy is the worst character ever. Slight exaggeration, she's not as bad as the Hush Hush chick. But Abby is horrible. I can't even begin to tell you how horrible. Just trust me on this. Basic reasoning escapes her. She accepts emotional abuse from Travis. She wouldn't be able to see abuse even if it hits her (get it? hahahaHAHA).

All the amateur mistakes in the novel are what really pisses me off about Beautiful Disaster. It had the potential to be a book about a twisted, dark love that somehow works out, but no. It could have been a beautiful disaster, but no. Tis fanfiction.
- College is the American equivalent of university is it not? So why are these people eating in cafeterias together during 'lunchtime'? Why do they have high school subject classes? Why are there high school cliques? Why are there people doing polar opposite courses taking all the same classes? I can only thank the fact that there weren't any lockers involved (that I can recall).
- The romantic spotlight lies in the nickname Travis has for Abby. It's Pigeon. He calls her Pigeon. He then proceeds to tattoo Pigeon to his wrist. I then proceed to die a little inside. Pigeon droppings are my worst nightmare. My most well acquainted nightmare too, glad to see it romantically practiced.
Abby's momentary boyfriend also has a cute nickname for her. It's Abs. Can this get any more romantic? I'm puking from the corniness. Please, contain yourselves. Get a room lovebirds.
- The genre is self-picked by Ms McGuire herself as contemporary romance. The last time I checked, the contemporary romance is nothing like this. Your contemporary stalker criminal, on the other hand, is. She chucked a fit when it got commonly referred to as YA considering the 'mature' content. This novel should be used in some anti-bullying campaign. I can see it now 'WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN BULLIED'.
- Abby's past life is so out of her character that when it comes up, it seems so fake. The effect her past abusive life does not even seem to have affected who she is as a person, her mental scarring seems to only be conveyed by her words of 'I don't want this anymore!' or something. Which explains why she sticks with Travis ==. The point is, she claims to be so affected by her past that her roots are shaped and changed forever or some shit. But you can't really say you understand that, because you can't see it. You just see a girl going 'Omg my past was really bad! *woe* Fyi, I'm a hustler'. It just seems..so 2D that you cannot sympathise with her. She comes off as just so fake.
- Abby's character doesn't drink and she's a good girl. Yet, when its her birthday, she drinks like..10 shots to win a bet and Travis falls in love with her strong alcohol tolerance.
- Travis beats up every single guy who so much as touches Abby's arm, or makes a dirty joke that Abby is within ear shot of. How long will it take before he beats her up too?
- The ONE SOLE character in the novel that seems to have a stable head on her, is portrayed as a massive bitch with a pole up her ass. If I recall correctly, her name is Kara. She has next to no value in this book, simply put there as a little someone for Abby to go 'urgh' at. She has like, one scene in the book where she gets to say like, a paragraph. And it is in this one paragraph that you see the voice of reason. But of course, Abby goes 'urgh'.
IN FACT, NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, EVERY GIRL IN THE NOVEL WAS SEEN AS A WHORE. Only ones who were anything above was Abby and her bestfriend America. What an A team (get it? hahahHHAHA). All the other girls were seen as skimpy sluts all wanting a piece of Travis. Like seriously, I can picture it now. If I were to materialise into this world and trip over my shoelace, it would probably be written as 'The girl unsuccessfully tried to pull Maddox's pants down.'
- There is a scene where Abby is at another one of Trevor's boxing matches, and shit goes down. She starts getting all emotional seeing children and families who could be affected by the shit that went down. I ask: why are there families at an underground illegal boxing matches all of a sudden? It ain't no family friendly event. The boxing matches are supposed to only exist 30 mins before a match starts too. The matches are created on a whim, the host quickly calls the boxers, like Mad Dog Maddox, and then he invites his mates/bros/homies and they all rock up to bet and watch. So how the hell did children get their way in? Lol. 'Yo mumma, pappa, shit goin' on in the underground crib tonight, grab ma diapers lesgo'
- There is a scene where Travis starts randomly singing in the cafeteria - High school musical style. He full starts belting out a charming song and footballers start singing and dancing along and before you know it, the entire canteen is singing and clapping and Abby is falling head over heels. Please Travis, tone down your charm. I cannot handle it when you start seducing me like this. *masssive eyeroll*


That all being said, I can see the appeal of the novel. Its annoying when you can see the flaws, but I guess what calls out to the gals is having a massive player, king-swagger or whatnot fall down over himself for you. And then turn into a nut of a monster. If Jamie McGuire wanted contemporary romance as opposed to YA, she should've maybe explored the co-dependent, obsessive relationship a bit more and showed the character development and growth as the novel progressed etc. Like 50 shades. And I guess you're thinking 'If you're so sure, Uyen, why don't you go write your own book and see how much success that garners pft.', but this is just my opinion. And I happen to believe my opinion is right. Otherwise I wouldn't think it.
Beautiful Disaster was a funny read. I'm reading it again. I wonder how the movie will turn out. I don't even know why its becoming a movie. Nothing happens. SOMEONE COME WATCH WITH MEEE.

Ok, I just did some reading on the movie productions of it. It is being phrased 'The Lite-YA Friendly version of 50 Shades of Grey'. The only similarity I see is that both Grey and Maddox are clingy and perceived to be desirable. Which is not defending either books, I'm insulting them both.

BR: Divergent + Insurgent - Veronica Roth

Book 1: Divergent

I loved this book. It's a dystopian/action/adventure novel with a touch of romance. It's set in a world where the people are divided into five factions, each with one personality. There's the Abnegation, who are selfless; Candor, who are always honest; Amity, who always hold peace and unity; Erudite, who are intelligent and constantly thirsty for knowledge; then there is Dauntless, who are courageous. There is a girl, Beatrice Prior, who has grown up in the Abnegation society. At the turning of 16, she gets to choose which faction she would spend the rest of her life in. Although she loves her Abnegation parents, she finds herself too selfish to lead a life of complete selflessness, so she chooses to become a member of the Dauntless - the brave. From there, the story kicks off. She grows into a brave girl, meets new people, meets Four, and fights her way into becoming a respected Dauntless member. (that was a very very very simplified version of the book)

I love the plot. The tone reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games. The book is like...if Tomorrow When the War Began and Hunger Games had a less extraordinary baby.

The writing was okay. Its straight forward. There's not much to say about it.

The characters were good too. LOL my praises seem so muffled because the second book just ruined everything for me. In this book, the characters are great, some are likable and some of them you just loathe cuase they're a massve a-hole. Oh Four <3 .="." p="p">
The downside is that I felt the author was trying to push the story too much. When I felt the story had ended, and that it was a fantastic read and yay I cant wait to read the second book, there were an additional and unnecessary 100 pages that added a new drama. Like, she should have ended it at the perfectly good ending and let the reader feel some peace and contentment before presenting YET ANOTHER issue into the story. It;s like you know in the Forest Gump movie, how after he marries Mary or whatever and they live happily and its all good until BAM she dies? Its like that. I'm not saying someone died in Divergent, I'm just saying a new drama randomly popped up when it should have been saved for hte second book. It's a good book, people are going to read the sequel, there is no need to have an open ending. It was as if she's written the prologue of the sequel into the first book. It felt so weak as an ending. I didn't have time to breathe and adjust to anything. Tris/Beatrice didn't either.

Book 2: Insurgent

*huff*. Wtf. I feel extremely tired after finishing this book. As if I've just watched an entire drama in a sitting.
The characters are destroyed in this novel by the overwhelming plotline. They are completely drowned by the scenery, the storyline, the complications, the action, everything. I am so disappointed. I feel like I've jsut watched someone spend months painting this beautiful portrait only to slash the canvas. I loved Tris, I loved Four, Will, Christina, even Peter and his predictable douchbaggery. But it all gets messsed up. Big time.
I can't even begin to explain what happens in this novel, becuase too much happens. And everything that happens is pretty big and epic but becuase they all happen in a linear sequence one after the other, it all just seems like a massive mesh of random shit. I can't tell you a beginning, I can't tell you a middle, there is no end. (another open ending woo!!)

What I did not like:

1. Roth seems to be trying toooooooo hard in this novel to present an underlying message relevant to all humans today. And its one of those gay, lame, soppy messages every fucking saint is trying to get across in today's world. It's basically 'we humans are destructive and we kill each other and we should all work together to heal this Earth and live in peace'. It's one of those really obvious messages that no one really tries to fix. It does not resonate in me, or make me see the light, or move me at all. I don't think Roth's target audience is really into the whole 'Be brave! Be honest! Be selfless, be inquisitive and be peaceful!'.

Unfortunately, she tries to get us to realise this through Tris, thus ruining Tris as a character. Tris becomes a very sad little girl. Given her circumstances, its understandable, but the way she learns to heal the Earth or whatever seems so forced and contrived. It's like Roth forced the thoughts into her head, it just seems so out of character. Tris' voice should come through however Tris wants it too.
When John Marsden wrote Tomorrow When the War Began, he was first inspired by nothing but Ellie's voice, speaking to him inside his head. And from there he let her tell her story and feel her feelings and htink her thoughts.
TRIS SEEMS SO SMOTHERED IN THIS. Roth completely drowned her.

2. Tris is all broken up to me in this book. She is bipolar, self-pitying and the depths of her despair isn't readable. I did not understand wtf she was on about during her monologues. And people keep saying how brave hse is? I could not see her prior fiesty, fiery spirit anywhere.
Four also seems a bit weird too. Especially in the second half, involving the Factionless.
The relationship between Tris and Four was tested in this book, which is fine. But it was stretched out and complicated so much that I personally became detached from them. I stopped caring that the two of them weren't getting along like two peas in a pod. But that might just be becuase of me.
Also, common sense was nowhere found in this book.
The side characters were very much so in this book. In Divergent, they weren't and you could actually know them as people. Peter is especially confusing in this book. and Edward. (LOL EDWARD :D)

3. The plot sequence was utter crap. If you want to enjoy this book, I suggest you only read 2 chapters every sitting. Because every two chapters, a drama is 'solved' and a new one begins. It is unrelenting and it just all becomes a dull drone.
Don't get me wrong, its an epic journey where Tris finds herself having to spend time at each Faction (where she learns life lessons, puke) and fighting against evil. But everything was just too epic..if that makes sense? Like, it felt like Roth was trying to get all her major plot points down into one book. what she had in this book..I feel it would've been better if she split the book into two, and focused on lengthening the time spent on each plot point.
Like, there was this major point in the novel, which I personally felt was the climax of the novel, where Tris' life is at its end and she stops being depressed and realises her reason for defending the people she loves. I was bawling my eyes out going 'omg Tris!', until it ended in like..two pages. Then a new issue arose. I was so confused. Like, it was that part inthe book where you just get so sucked in. Its that kind of scene in a movie where the main character finally comes face to face witht he person thats been trying to murder them or whatever and theres a massive action sequence. It's like that! But cut short, and smothered by other issues. And Tris becomes a plain Jane again, and Roth starts 'subtly' teaching us that humans destroy each other, again. I;m so frustrated. the book could have ended there, instead of adding another 200 pages of yet ANOTHER massive drama which ends in that 200 pages too. the issue that arose straight after that climax was good enough material to be a book on its own. Instead, its all rushed and smooooshed into this book. And the book is far too short to have so much shit happening. It's 500 pages. Of big handwriting.

4. The writing. I don't know if its just me, but I found it really hard to understand the descriptions. I had to reread a lot of this book twice, especially the ending, cause I got so confused by the point Roth was trying ot raise. At one point, she was describing a bridge and I had so much trouble udnerstanding wtf Tris was on about so I had to give up and go with the flow. They were hiding in a bridge and I had no idea how the shit that was working. And the ending! My gosh. Because okay, there was this massive piece of information that Tris was trying to obtain to save humankind and when we FINALLY find out what it is. It was like..the most  unsecret secret in the world. LOL. I had to read that massive secret like 10 times becuase I kept thinking I missed something. But no, the massively secret secret that has been kept from all civilians for all existence was really nothing that massive of a secret. It was a message so blatantly obvious that a child could pick up on it. Which is also my next point.

5. I felt a lot of the major points in this book was exaggerated. I really did not see a big deal in a lot of what was a big deal in Insurgent.  1. I have no idea wtf Divergent really means. 2. The Erudite don't really seem that intelligent...they just seem to state the obvious a lot because no one in the novel seems to be able to grasp whats right in front of them == 3. All the emotions felt by the characters in this novel seem to be overstated and random feelings and thoughts were just scattered throughout 4. What's the deal with Evelyn?

6. Everything was just so melodramatic. I just wanted the book to be over. (How melodramatic of me)

urgh i'm so sad I feel this way. I'm waiting for the third book to come out in hopes that it will not disappoint. this series waslike, YA book of the year in 2011.