jane_kelsey's reviews
1348 reviews

I remember the first time I found out about „Divergent” was just as I was exiting the cinema and this big, bad-ass poster caught my attention and I was immediately interested so I looked up for the book. I am a sucker for Dystopian novels and I looked forward to get home and get my hand on the book. The story had an interesting premise: in this futuristic world, sometime after “a Great War”, the people were separated into factions, according to their personalities, with strict rules: Abnegation, Erudites, Candor, Dauntless and Amity. They have to choose who they shall be according to their personality and fall in one of the categories.

The world as they know it (which is just a city, really!) is enclosed in a high security fence guarded by the Dauntless to keep them safe (and of course they don’t wonder of what they have to be kept safe of). But 16 old Beatrice, born in an Abnegation faction discovers she is different, that she is what they call a Divergent, someone different that has to be eliminated by the system, a threat. She transfers to Dauntless where she reborn as Tris… or she should do so if not for her constant whining and lack of action.

Tris is so boring, that most of the times I wanted to shove her over the railing and be done with! She is now a Dauntless, but besides having that super cool self-control, cannot act in any direction and she’s quite dumb. She is supposed to question the system, find what’s happening and become a fighter and a leader, instead of waiting for things to happen. She disappointed me immensely. When I bought Veronica’s Roth book I was looking for something gripping, enticing and new. I've read The hunger games and it’s impossible not to compare them, but I must say, that even if The hunger games wasn't great, at least I was gripped into a story filled with action, not bored to death by a girl whose only interest is jump off trains and moan that she misses Abnegation and proves herself by getting another tattoo. Plus that, Katniss had a kick-ass skill with that bow that even I find it hot!

The side characters are doomed from the beginning and there is no real evil character in this setting. We cannot count Eric just because he looks weirdly tattooed and pierced and has a smart, evil mouth. The other competitors in the “arena” are so boring and predictable that makes me poke my eyes out with a fork. I really tried to like Divergent, but I was halfway through the book and she was still wondering why she felt so weirdly hot around Four (Ha!), their mentor and awesomely-hot and rarely talking leader. Four, is her love interest, but there’s little love and even less interest as far as I was concerned. I’ve been shown more kissing and pillow talking in The hunger games than here.

And of course that he is hot and drolly and if I wouldn't know better, I’d say British too, but he’s not, because using too many clichés would make any reader puke their guts out. Instead, Veronica made him aloof, mysterious and he also does the Stare Game, just like in Twilight.


*I swear to God, these people are falling in love only by staring at each other? *

The story took way too much to develop into something that would hold my interest and finish reading the book, instead of abandoning it at 80% and watching the movie instead. It’s a pity because it could've been great, but it failed miserably. I know it’s YA, but that’s not an excuse for poor writing and miserable characters.

Kendra Larkin is out heroine and the story starts while she was on the operating table after falling off a cliff. She hears everything that's happening, but cannot move or see, and then she dies, but to out astonishment and hers, two guardian angels, hers and doctor's Adam Chamberlain offer her a deal: in order for her to live again, she has 7 days to make Dr Adam believe in God, she agrees and from here our story goes on.

Until here I was intrigued and I liked the premise. After this interesting start, things go downhill for me, as a reader. One of the things that I didn't understand, is why so much trouble just for a soul? We never figure it out why the soul of that doctor is so important as you sacrifice another soul, Kendra's soul.

Then the author explains too much of our character from the beginning and treats us like we're idiots who don't know what a friend with benefits, sex buddy and/or no strings attached means and feels compelled to explain to us. And what's up with the questions towards the reader? WTF?

Then she recovers oh so miraculously and finds out Adam is her soul mate, but meanwhile she has the hots for Mason, a nurse in the hospital, while she wants to get in the pants of her really hot guardian angel? Wait.. slow down, what? Oh, there's more! Mason is a demon and tried to kill her and she truly falls in love with Adam while her fuck buddy tries to tell Kendra he loves her, but she almost ends up having sex with the guardian angel?

*Give me a gun, I wanna shoot the twat in her boobs at this point!*

The plot is absolutely hilarious, the sex scenes feel like Sandra Brown reborn and how much of a possibility is that 4 Very Attractive Men drool over her? Gimme a break! How could anyone believe in God while your angel can fuck you? No offense but that's just bloody weird.

The characters have no depth, no insight, no spine, they bend as the author wants them to, they have to fit the story, to make happen this fantasy of the author!

And since when just doing some mundane things the same way means that you found your soul-mate? I'm a bit confused of how the number of spoons of sugar in a coffee means you found The One?

I did love one thing: the cover! The cover is absolutely brilliant! Pity that the book doesn't deliver.

Found this book and I mostly bought it because of the title - I liked it that much! The book itself deserves like 3.4 stars, I read it very fast because I had a lot of time to kill, but I can't say that it impressed me.

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it wasn't bad either. The characters were interesting and colorful and I really like the cops, while Grace was kind of annoying for my taste, but well..The story was interesting enough to kept me going even after I kinda figured who the killer was, I just couldn't put a name on it.

I actually enjoyed this book, but I'm not gonna read another Monkeewrench book.

As I promised, I would read random books that people would request for me to review and this is the first in a series to follow. I picked this book from a huge pile of emails and I was instantly curious as I read the blurb and when I am curious that’s always a good thing. But things got better for me…

I would say that it is really the story of Pat Shane (Patches), a genius with a killer theory that the aliens that NASA discovered on Europa, Jupiter’s moon, are currently living among us and planning to take us down. The spies are among us, surveying us, spying on us for the most effective way of destroying us. Patches though, he wants to show them that we can fight back, that we are a force to be reckoned with and make them go away with each blood that’s shed to eradicate them for the good of humanity.

Or I could say it’s the story of Chris Summer, the newly promoted FBE agent (Federal Bureau of Eugenics) who’s role is to stop a highly delusional patient who killed his psychiatrist after escaping a secure facility. And he will stop at nothing to have Patches dead. Summers knows that the only way to stop him is to kill him, that there’s no way around it, for the sake of humanity.

But it’s not their story. Is the story of person next door and how can each of them deal with the consequences, ethics and problems of a silent alien extinction, when everybody could be one of them and faith of the whole planet is on each of them shoulders.

What I love about the book is that it’s not a story about them (aliens), it’s a story about us and the conflicts of a new world. A world who faces dangers coming from far away, from a far better prepared civilization. It’s the dilemma of the man put face to face with a situation which he has no exit but to act, one way or another. It’s the blood, tears and sweat of those willing to die or kill for their country and a passion for survival. The Harbinger Break exposes the fears, beliefs and primal instincts of the human.

I also loved slow-minded Sam who proved to be such a driven charter, even if he had to cross paths with Shane in order to realise that he had the power to inflict change and be a hero. And then it’s the incredibly sexy Claire who has the most important men at her feet and others ready to kill for her. Claire who shared a track record with Sam and Patches at GenDec (Genetic Decontamination Centre) proves to be much more than meets the eye and this trio of forces is fatal since their existence is conditioned by the death of the other one in order to maintain the equilibrium of their lives.

I said it before and I will say it again: jumping from story to story and different point of views are not my thing since I don’t feel the story as I should. The Harbinger Break changed that one for me. The writing is so well executed that I was constantly torn in my allegiance. Such a breathtaking story that I promise you that you’ll never forget. Zachary Adams is a master of the craft and I am honestly surprised to find such a gem.

I LOVED THE STORY! I loved it that much that I had to bloody use capital letters to write a sentence. Great story, amazing, vivid characters, good writing and tons of talent and a promising new writing coming into the scene to sweep me off my feet. I will keep my eyes on Zachary and hunt for his future books which I urge him to write with the same passion and dedication.

PS: you can read my other reviews on: http://janekelsey.wordpress.com/