Divergent Casting News: Four has been cast

For those of you who don't know, Divergent is the first book in an awesome dystopian trilogy. The third book is coming out this fall, but this book is all-systems-go to be made into a movie. The protagonist, Beatrice Prior, has already been cast, but Four's casting was made offical as of Friday the fifteenth. And here he is.

Theo James.

 

There goes my vision of Four. Theo James is not at all who I imagined Four to be or look like. I looked at him, IMDb-ed him, and now I'm just... no. Just... no. I can't I can't I can't

He isn't Four. At least, I can't imagine him as Four. But Veronica Roth said that she thinks he's perfect for the part, and the author knows best, right? I guess I can't really judge, though, considering I haven't seen him in anything. I guess I'll just have to wait until the movie comes out and see how he plays the part. But just looking at him... GIVE ME FOUR, NOT THEO JAMES! 

Well, those are my thoughts on the matter. Feel free to put yours - whether you're for or against - in the comments.

Book Haul (4)

This post could be alternately called In Which I Buy A Lot of Books.

Because this week, I ordered five books online. More books than I think I have ever bought in a single sitting.

So here's what I got:

 

 Okay, so three of these books I've already read, but I loved them so much I just had to buy them. Those are The Evolution of Mara Dyer, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and The DUFF. And here are the books I have yet to read:

Unravel Me, by Tahereh Mafi (Shatter Me #2)
Shatter Me is definitely on of the most interesting books I've read. It's a dystopian, but the unique, gripping style of writing shoots it above and beyond to a whole new level. I loved Shatter Me, and since I already owned it, I had to buy the sequel. (I have this thing where I have to own all the books in a series if I buy one of them.)

The Goddess Inheritance, by Aimee Carter (The Goddess Test #3)
I own the first two books of this series, and the second one, Goddess Interrupted, left off with such a cliffhanger! I've read mixed reviews on this, but I'm still excited to see what I think of it, and how Aimee Carter finishes off the series.

Well, that's what I got this week! Post a link to yours in the comments and I'll check it out!

Anastasia

Book Review: Through the Ever Night, by Veronica Rossi

Title: Through the Ever Night
Series/Sequel? Under the Never Sky #2
Author: Veronica Rossi
Genre(s): Dystopian, Romance
Age Level: YA
Page Count: 341
Perspective: 3rd Person (Alternating Male and Female)
Summary: It's been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the Tides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don't take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe's precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both.

Threatened by false friends, hidden enemies, and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?

In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and dystopian elements to create a captivating love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.

Review: I read the first book a few months ago when I was in a non-reviewing period, and I didn't really like it that much. This book is just .5 of a star better than Under the Never Sky.

I don't think that's necessarily because this book and it's predecessor are bad, because they really aren't. I think my main problem with this series is the lack of emotion in it. It's written in 3rd person, switching between Aria's and Perry's POVs, and while there are a few 3rd person books that I can actually feel in, this isn't one of them. As I was reading Through the Ever Night, I felt like an impartial bystander, an audience member at a movie or play - I knew that this book wasn't real, that the things these characters were going through were only imaginary. I didn't feel at all in this story, and that majorly detracted from my enjoyment of it.

That being said, this book does have some cool things about it: I liked the relationships being created in it, despite my hard time with the actual emotion of them. I thought the characters in themselves were better fleshed out and characterized in this book then the first one, and I felt myself beginning to actually know Roar, Aria, Perry, and the others.

Even in a genre that is quickly becoming oversaturated with originality hard to find, Veronica Rossi makes her world just as interesting as it was in the first book. The inside world of the pods isn't really grown much in Through the Ever Night, mainly because it takes place outside. The outside is expanded upon, and we get to learn more about the clans and their rituals, prejudices, and way of life. I thought that this was one of the more interesting parts of the story.

I think a lot of readers will still like this book, from the romance and drama to the action-y scenes and dystopia to the little bit of paranormal brought to the table with the outside peoples' heightened senses. If you're a fan of romance and dystopia, I would recommend this book. But if, like me, you read a book for the emotions, I'm not sure how much you'll like it.

Rating:

Delirium TV Show Castings!

For those of you that don't know, Lauren Oliver's Delirium Series is being turned into a TV series by Fox. Delirium is one of my favorites books ever, and so I just found out on one of the writing websites I'm part of that Fox has cast the two main characters: Lena and Alex, Lena's love interest, along with the main character come Pandemonium, Julian. 

According to my sources, Emma Roberts is playing Lena.

I'm not overly impressed. I don't know, maybe she can pull it off.... I'm skeptical though. Her face seems too... wide for Lena. She also doesn't really just look like Lena to me. We'll have to see.

Daren Kagasoff is playing Alex.

He, on the other hand, looks almost exactly how I imagined Alex. His facial structure is just perfect for the part!

Julian is to be played by Gregg Sulkin.

He is probably my least favorite casting. I'm just really not liking this casting. Just... ugh. Sometimes I wonder what they're thinking when they cast these things...

So, my favorite to least-favorites:

1. Daren Kagasoff as Alex.
2. Emma Roberts as Lena.
3. Gregg Sulkin as Julian.

So, those are my thoughts. I'd love to hear your opinions below!

Here's the link to where I got the info. The links in the actors' names go to IMDb.

Anastasia

Waiting on Wednesday (3)

Release Date: March 19th, 2013 (according to Goodreads)

Title: Emblaze
Series/Sequel? Violet Eden Chapters #3
Author: Jessica Shirvington
Genre(s): Paranormal Romance
Summary: Once again Violet Eden faces an impossible choice ... and the consequences are unimaginable.

Violet has come to terms with the fact that being part angel, part human, means her life will never be as it was.

Now Violet has something Phoenix - the exiled angel who betrayed her - will do anything for, and she has no intention of letting it fall into his hands. The only problem is that he has something she needs too.

Not afraid to raise the stakes, Phoenix seemingly holds all the power, always one step ahead. And when he puts the final pieces of the prophecy together, it doesn't take him long to realise exactly who he needs in order to open the gates of Hell.

With the help of surprising new allies, ancient prophecies are deciphered, a destination set and, after a shattering confrontation with her father, Violet leaves for the islands of Greece without knowing if she will have a home to return to..

My Thoughts:  I found the first two books, Embrace and Entice, new and interesting takes on angel mythology. The writing and the love triangle were both decent as well, so I'm excited to see where Emblaze takes the Violet next! Though I must say, the cover doesn't really sit well with me... Embrace's cover was gorgeous, but both Entice and now Emblaze leave something to be desired...

Leave your WoW in the comments and I'll check it out!

Anastasia

Book Review: Altered, by Jennifer Rush

Title: Altered
Series/Sequel? Altered #1
Author: Jennifer Rush
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Action/Adventure
Age Level: YA
Page Count: 323 (Hardcover)
Perspective: First Person (Female)
Summary: Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, Cas, Trev . . . and Sam, who’s stolen Anna’s heart. When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape, killing the agents sent to retrieve them.

Anna is torn between following Sam or staying behind in the safety of her everyday life. But her father pushes her to flee, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs. There’s just one problem. Sam and the boys don’t remember anything before living in the lab—not even their true identities.

Now on the run, Anna soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

Review: Everything about this book - from the cover to the summary - led me to think this wasn't going to be anything special; just another typical science fiction-romance book. So imagine my surprise when it turned out to be so much better than that.

For one, this book is extremely fast and extremely addicting. It kept me reading hours past my bedtime, until my dad came in and turned out the light on me.

Altered was also extremely uncliche. The plot twists and surprises, which I typically guess correctly on within the first 50 pages were actual plot twists that actually surprised me. Maybe that was because my brain was half asleep due to how late I was reading it, but then again, maybe not. This book was more interesting than I ever would have thought, and I'm extremely excited for the second book.

The one thing that I disliked about this book was the romance. The romance was predictable and cliche, and I didn't feel their relationship at all. I found myself wanting to skip past the romantic parts to the much more interesting fight scenes and such - which there were a good amount of, by the way. Anna and the boys can't seem to stay out of trouble no matter where they are, and the fight scenes were awesome, even without the swords, daggers, and magical abilities I typically prefer. But, anyway, (I love this book so much, I'm going off on a tangent!) the romance was the worst part of the book, and I'm kind of cringing imagining this author trying to hype up Sam's and Anna's relationship in the next book.

Besides that little hiccup, this is a great action/adventure and scifi book I would recommend to just about any YA reader!

Rating:

Quick Blog Update

Hey! I just wanted to tell you about the amount of books I've been plowing through, and why there aren't reviews to them all.

Reason #1: As much as I love reviewing, I can be lazy. Being off of school this week, I haven't felt like doing much of anything besides reading, playing Fruit Ninja (it's addicting!), and doing my homework.

Reason #2: Instead of taking the time to do big reviews for every single book I read in this huge batch I got, I'm going to be doing a series of Mini Reviews! Each mini review post will have three-five books reviewed on it. Because they aren't full reviews and are grouped together by date, they will also be getting their own page right next to "Reviews" up on the navigation bar underneath the blog image. I'll either be posting the first one today or tomorrow.

Off to finish writing up reviews!

Anastasia