Book Review: INSURGENT by Veronica Roth (Consider me awed again)

Insurgent (Divergent #2)
Author: Veronica Roth
Publication Date: May 1st 2012
Publisher:
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian

Summary | Add to TBR

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.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

My Thoughts:

I'm attempting to write a review of a "book" which I won't be able to give justice to. Insurgent is a story at it's finest, a book at its best, awesome to the fullest. The extreme plot, complex characters and unexpected twists and turns of events that never fail to surprise and amaze the readers made this book a one huge awesome read. I can't tell you how much I love this series!

"We are all right, you know," he says. "You and me. Okay?"

My chest aches, and I nod.

"Nothing else is all right." His whisper tickles my cheek. "But we are."

Once again I was thrown into the world of Divergent, beautiful and terrifying at the same time. The story immediately picked up where the first book left off--Tris, Four, Caleb, Peter, and Marcus--in the train heading to the Amity compound. I'm glad that this time, Insurgent gave me a glimpse of what it is to live inside Amity, the faction dedicated to pursue peace. In the same way that the readers were given the opportunity to see how to live in Candor.

"I love Tris the Divergent, who makes decisions apart from faction loyalty... But the Tris who's trying as hard as she can to destroy herself... I can't love her."

There are so many things to love about Insurgent, and I won't be able to finish if I state them all. But what I loved the most is Four (*swoon). I love it because I get to know him more in this book. Though there are lots of readers who seemed to be so irritated by him, I think he remains strong and amazing. And though Tris annoyed me from time to time because of her recklessness, I'd say that she's the most effective heroine I've ever met. She's strong-willed and smart and absolutely kick-ass. She suffered a lot--the death of her parents, the destruction of Abnegation, and the guilt of killing his friend Will--but she remains strong all through out the story. I just hope that Tris learned to trust Four, and not be stupid to think that Four will just let her go and do whatever it is that she wanted even if she risk her life. I want to pin-point one thing that Tris must have been missing the whole time: Four will always come to the rescue no matter what. He ends up saving her all the time. And Four should have trusted Tris more. I see that both main characters have their own issues to deal with like trusting each other and learning how to communicate with each other better. I hope they will learn to work this out in the next book to spare the readers some heartache that may result from stabbing one another out of arguments whether who is most infuriating of the two! Believe me, I felt stabbed a million times now! *winks*lol*

The setting of the story is as great as ever. The pacing is perfect! No dull moment, no boring ones.   Most of the times I was expecting something to happen and then my heart throbs, my stomach flutters. But what's great is that they come when I'm least expecting them--always surprising, shocking even. Action-packed, full of suspense and lots of exciting moments. This book will leave you breathless. The characters are amazing. Friends and enemies aren't what they seem. You'll hate some of those you've loved, and love some of those you've hated. The turn of events will question what you believe, who to trust, and where to stand. The twists and the revelations will amaze you once again, something that Veronica Roth didn't fail to give her readers.

We both have war inside of us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.

I don't think my rating can ever give justice to it. I would give it a "10" if I could. I will definitely give this book the highest possible rating I can give. This book is what you call "the total page-turner". It did not disappoint, it will never disappoint. Undeniably and irrevocably, this book will take it's place beside Divergent -- there on top of the list of my most favorite books.

To Miss Veronica Roth, Once again, consider me awed.

My Rating:

Make sure you read DIVERGENT (Book 1)

Read my Review
Add to TBR

TBR Intervention Challenge (32)

TBR Intervention is a weekly challenge hosted by 

Dani@RefractedLight , Ayanami@Whatever you Can Still Betray

and April@Books4Juliet

Everyone is WELCOME to JOIN this meme. Just click the image TBR Intervention Button above to see the rules and read more about this feature.

MY LAST WEEK'S TBRIC:

  

Guess what? Come on. Guess. :) I finally finished Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead. My gosh. What an ending! I wanna thank all of you for your encouragements. I'm glad that I read this book and I'm looking forward to read the next in the series. It was a struggle at first but the last part made this book worthy of my time. It has a sad and beautiful ending. A total turning point for the characters especially to Rose and Dimitri. I really liked it.

So the not-so-good part of my last week's TBRIC is City of Lost Souls. Not that it isn't good, believe me, IT IS GOOD! I got sick last week and reading became unbearable when all I wanted was to sleep and rest. I was trying so hard to read the book and I made it halfway through even though my eyes were barely open. To make sure that I didn't miss a thing, I've decided to reread the book from the beginning. 

THIS WEEK'S TBRIC:

Hopefully I could finish CoLS early so I can start a new book. I'm not sure if I would still be interested to read another paranormal/fantasy book after CoLS, or I might take a break and read some contemporaries. So maybe, hopefully, one of the books below will be knocked off by the end of the week. Let's see...

    

How many books did you knock off last week?

Book Review: IF I DIE by Rachel Vincent

If I Die (Soul Screamers #5)

Author: Rachel Vincent

Publication Date: September 27th 2011

Publisher: Harlequin

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

Summary | Add to TBR

The entire school's talking about the gorgeous new math teacher, Mr. Beck. Everyone except Kaylee Cavanaugh. After all, Kaylee's no ordinary high-school junior. She's a banshee—she screams when someone dies. 

But the next scream might be for Kaylee. 

Yeah—it's a shock to her, too. So to distract herself, Kaylee's going to save every girl in school. Because that hot new teacher is really an incubus who feeds on the desire of unsuspecting students. The only girls immune to his lure are Kaylee and Sabine, her boyfriend's needy ex-girlfriend. Now the unlikely allies have to get rid of Mr. Beck…before he discovers they aren't quite human, either. 

But Kaylee's borrowed lifeline is nearing its end. And those who care about her will do anything to save her life. 

Anything.

My Thoughts:

Wow. All the unhealthy emotions I had in the first couple of books totally pay off. It was a total page-turner. I loved it! This is my most favorite among all the Soul Screamers books so far.

For the first time, love became real for Kaylee. What had been missing from her relationship with Nash, she feels now with Tod. Though I loved Nash from the beginning, I always looked for something special, something extraordinary, something deeper and true. Now I understand, it wasn't Nash after all but Tod. 

"You just say the word, and I'll make the rest of the world go away. I'll take you someplace safe, where no one else can reach us."

"I'm here because I couldn't stay away from you. I'll spend the next three hundred years trying to make this up to Nash, if that's what it takes..."

-Tod

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book. From the beginning up to the end, I was nailed in my seat. I couldn't put it down! I got so angry with Sabine that I wanted to smack her beautiful face and throw her out in the milky way! Thank goodness there's Tod, and he was so freaking adorable and swoon-worthy. Beware of the banshee brothers. Kaylee certainly knew that by now. I was heartbroken because of Nash, I really liked him though he made a mess in his life. He made poor choices. Very stupid choices. And because of that, Kaylee is slipping away from him... towards Tod. Okay, so that wasn't a surprise to me anymore since I got hints before, but the rest of the events were shocking to me. Kaylee is dying and Tod will do everything to help her. And as usual, Kaylee is back in saving everyone from everything, even though she's running out of time and death is on her way now. She's still a bit irritating to me but I began to like her now and can't wait to see how she'll cope up with her new life in the next book.

You want some complication? Well, these four characters certainly take the word "complicated" to the next level. Sabine needs Nash. Nash needs Sabine. And Nash also needs Kaylee but Kaylee doesn't need Nash because Kaylee needs Tod. Reading about them was heartbreaking yet enjoyable and I had mixed emotions that I never want to end. The feeling was overwhelming--knowing that in the end,  you'll get what you want, what you need, and you'll be satisfied. I didn't expect anything like that. I can't even explain it. I was just amazed by how Rachel Vincent pulled off everything to make it this good. I'm telling you, when you see other reviews that says, it's a roller-coaster ride and the best among the series, then believe them! It was. And it still is!

"I don't expect you to understand... I can't justify what I did and I can't explain what I feel for him, and I honestly don't know where it would go, if I were to be here past tomorrow. All I know is how good I feel when I'm with him, and how I want to be with him when he's gone, and how, when he looks at me, I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I'm falling, but I can't remember jumping, and I don't think I'll ever hit the ground." - Kaylee 

I am now so excited for the next book, too bad it won't be available until June. I am so glad that I read it and you'll surely don't want to miss it!

My Rating:

Take a look at the next Soul Screamers book:

Before I Wake (Soul Screamers #6)

by Rachel Vincent

June 16th 2012

Summary | Add to TBR

I died on a Thursday-killed by a monster intent on stealing my soul. The good news? He didn't get it. The bad news? Turns out not even death will get you out of high school... Covering up her own murder was one thing, but faking life is much harder than Kaylee Cavanaugh expected. After weeks spent "recovering," she's back in school, fighting to stay visible to the human world, struggling to fit in with her friends and planning time alone with her new reaper boyfriend. But to earn her keep in the human world, Kaylee must reclaim stolen souls, and when her first assignment brings her face-to-face with an old foe, she knows the game has changed. Her immortal status won't keep her safe. And this time Kaylee isn't just gambling with her own life....