Divergent by Veronica Roth

‘There’s a difference between not being afraid and acting in spite of fear,’ Divergent, Ch12

Divergent by Veronica Roth is the first book of a trilogy. It is about a world where it is split into five factions: Erudite, Dauntless, Abnegation, Amity and Candor. Each year, 16 year olds have to choose only one of them to live in for the rest of their lives. Beatrice, one of these 16 year olds, struggles to make her decision, she can’t choose between family and where she feels like she truly belongs. In a world that’s supposed to be perfect, Beatrice sees the real truth. That nothing can stay perfect for long.

Divergent is a very well known book so that’s why I decided to read it. I was a little bit disappointed in the beginning of the book, because it didn’t capture my interest like I thought it would. There have been many positive comments on the book, so my expectations were very high.  The book didn’t get my interest right from the start, but after a few chapters it was definitely a page-turner.

The Dead of the Night by John Marsden

In The Dead of the Night, Ellie and her five friends decide to go back to Wirrawee to see if Corrie and Kevin are fine and try to get more information about the Showground. After sharing what they found out they decide to go to see what's on the other side of Hell and hopefully find  more people. 

This is the second book in the Tomorrow series. It's more violent and more adventurous than the first. They kill more soldiers and there are more attacks. Because of this, Ellie feels guilty and feels 'shadows' following her. 'I live in the light, but carry my dark with me' is how she describes what she is feeling. The group continuously change from young and naive teenagers to more experienced and strategic people. They are more careful and aware of the situation that they are in. They are already giving each other advise on how to keep calm when they are attacking and aren't as clueless as they were in the start of the first book. 'When you're scared you can either give in to the panic and let your mind fall apart, or you can take charge of your mind and think brave.'

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

"I didn't feel like a criminal, but I didn't feel like a hero either." Chapter 16 in Tomorrow, When the War Began.


Ellie, the protagonist, and her friends went camping in the bush for a few days. When they come back everything has changed.... A war has started and they are one of the only people in their city that aren't captured. Now they are struggling to stay alive without being captured but not everything turns out how they want it to...

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”  - From the novel, Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is Gothic genre book written in the 1818. Victor Frankenstein is an university student whose ambitions and passion for the science leads him to create something no one has ever deemed possible, he created life using dead humans' body parts. However, as soon as he finishes his project he realises the mistake.To him, the monster is vile and gruesome. The story is told through the letters of Captain Robert Walton, who found Frankenstein nearly at a state of emaciation. His letter not only incorporates Victor's story telling but Victor's own letter and even the monster's side of the story as he tells it to Victor who then tells it to Walton. 

How do I begin..

The novel was completely different to what I imagined and it gets me so frustrated that the movies are so different to the book. I don't think Mary Shelley would have been too happy with the movies made of Frankenstein  not only because they are so different but because they lose the themes and morals. There are various movies that came out on Frankenstein but most of them have the Creature as some sort of complete monster who can't talk at all other than grunts. In the book Frankenstein was so eloquent and always gave an explanation as to why he became the way he was. In one of the movies the Monster was bad tempered was because the brain used was a criminal's brain, however in the book the Monster killed people because of the injustice that he suffered because of his appearance. Also, they even changed the name of Victor Frankenstein to Henry and made the character lose the feeling of isolation. In one of the movies there are sequels (eg. Frankenstein's Bride) but in the book Frankenstein died... I mean, I know movies are usually a bit different to books so that it flows more and scenes are changed so that emotions and reasoning are depicted visually rather than worded out but this is just ridiculous.