The Divergent Series: Sometimes life isn't fair....

The Divergent series, by Veronica Roth, has been compared in scope, theme and even success to the recently epic 'Hunger Games' Series.
Both feature a feisty, capable and conflicted young woman thrown into situations far beyond the pale of our 'real' society ideas of normal, fair or ethical.
Situations that require ruthless decision making and violent actions.

This is not where the similarities end, both series feature young people as the courageous catalysts for change in horribly corrupted worlds. Both also involve difficult romances and hard choices.

Unlike the Hunger Games however, the Divergent series has experienced both devotion and fervent backlash as the series moved towards conclusion.

Without being a 'spoiler' for anyone who has yet to read the books or (shudder) watch the movie (by the way, always read the book), the 'haters' take issue with the conclusion of book three (Allegient).

These unhappy folk have tweeted, facebooked and pinterested their disgust seemingly in their hundreds of thousands, and very nearly stopped me reading the books altogether.

Thankfully I ended up ignoring the many warnings and delved into the series for myself.

While I understand the disappointment of many readers in the concluding chapters, I say this in defence of this well written and intriguing series;

Sometimes life is not fair, in fiction and the real world alike.

That doesn't mean we should not enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Finally I would say, chill out, it's not real...... yet!

The complete series is available for purchase via the following link:

The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

Happy (or at the very least 'intense) reading :)

Divergent:

Finally I have given into the pressure (my own) and read 'Divergent'.
For those of you who have been living under a rock, Divergent is the first installment in an uber successful YA series, penned by Veronica Roth.

Personally I love a good Young Adult (YA) read; I mean who can look past the The Hunger Games trilogy or the magnificent Harry Potter series. Wonderful books all of them!

So it was not the YA aspect of this series that had me hesitating over the buy button, it was the reviews.
Scathing, upset, angry reviews! They had me running scared. I did not want to be sucked in to the series only to be left high, dry and cranky at the end of book three. Frankly it seemed a little masochistic for my taste.

With this in mind, I really cannot explain why I eventually read the book, perhaps I was just feeling left out?
Cutting to the chase, was it any good? Am I going to bite the bullet and read the rest of the series?

Answers as follows:

Yes and I already am.....

There is a good chance that I am more of a masochist that originally thought, however I did enjoy Divergent. I will admit, I did not LOVE it as much as, say, the aforementioned Hunger Games, but I did find it engaging and entertaining. More importantly I do want to know 'what next?'.

I will keep you posted when I get to the end of the series.

If you want to take the journey as well, the Divergent Series is available through Amazon.com via the following link:

The Divergent Series

Scary!

 I have just returned from sneaking into my bedroom to retrieve my Kindle from beside the sleeping form of my husband.
When my fingers found the shape of my Kindle in the dark I distinctly heard myself think the following words.

'My Precious'

Scary stuff!

The Great D 'e' bate: Books or e-books?

It was not until I started this blog that I became aware of the disdain that 'e' reading is held in across the bookish community.
Blissfully unaware, as I was, of the debate raging between traditionalists and technophiles regarding the best way to access reading matter, I had no qualms about calling my blog after my cheeky and troubling addiction to my own Kindle.

You see, I innocently assumed that reading was, well, reading, regardless of whether the words you read were printed in ink or pixels. 

Even with the veil lifted from my eyes and after seeing many pinterest and facebook quotes about the merits of a 'real' book over my humble Kindle, I remain firm in my conviction that it simply does not matter how you get your reading fix. The important thing is to get it.

The Profilers Daughter: A Criminally good Thriller

It is not too often that I give the cover of a book such a large pride of place at the beginning of my reviews, in this case however, I have made an exception.

Not because I think it is a particularly great cover either; I am honestly not really sure what is going on with the red nails and the fingerless glove, but I digress. I have given this cover priority for one reason only.....

If you see it.... I want you to buy it.

'The Profilers Daughter' by P.M Steffen, grabbed me by the brain and dragged me inside its pages within the first three pages of the book and sadly (for the rest of my life's responsibilities) did not let me go until I finished the last satisfying words. Then, three weeks later, I read it again!

If I had to characterise the 'what' that makes this such a great read (and given that I am writing book reviews, I probably do), I would say the following:

• Steffen has created a relative rarity in the crime thriller genre; a plot that is truly multi layered. The reader meets Sky Stone (the 'Profilers Daughter') and quickly finds themselves immersed in her life both past and present. Her deep personal losses, her frailties, romances, family and professional life. This is refreshing, we meet Sky outside of the context of the 'case at hand' and darn it if that does not make the reader 'care' about Miss Stone.
• The 'murderous' aspects of the plot rattle along at a fast pace; the sense of a pervading darkness and evil grows equally quickly and soon the reader and supporting characters alike become very concerned for the welfare of our (too) fearless heroine.
• Sky is wonderfully human, and her choices throughout the novel reflect this. She does some brave things, some silly things, hurtful things and wise things. I have to admit, I found her character to be relate-able and I love that in my crime fighting heroes!

Most importantly I would say I loved this book for the quality of the writing, I felt like I was reading a 'proper' book. A book I could proudly recommend to any book club, a book I could read and re read without its charm fading.

If you love a well written and sinister crime thriller, then please, please, read this one!

The Profilers Daughter is available for purchase through Amazon.com via the link shown below:

'The Profilers Daughter' by P.M Steffen,

Happy Reading