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.

Solace & Grief by Foz Meadows

Solace and Grief follows the story of a 17 year old girl called Solace. She was raised in a foster care, but when she finds out she is a vampire she is compelled to run away. Soon, she finds herself within a group of other strange young adults. They are part of ‘the Rare’ and each one of them has a ‘Trick’, which is a superpower or a supernatural ability. For example, Jess is a psychic reader, and Solace is a vampire. But soon things start to get a little weird... A Faceless man is stalking her and Professor Lukin is a bit too interested in their ‘Trick’...

This is the first book of a series called The Rare. It is set in Sydney, Australia and I found it interesting that Foz Meadows has used real places in the city but added twists to make them supernatural. At the beginning of the book, the story seemed to be droning on to nowhere. However, some things that seemed irrelevant at the start actually ended up being important towards the end. I didn’t like how Solace and her friends went to the Gadfly and got drunk, then stayed home all day. This seemed to happen several times, and I think it stalled the story a bit. Nevertheless I continued reading, and I’m glad I did.

I loved the variety of characters in the book. They all have different ‘Tricks’ and personalities. I found it a bit hard to remember who was who at the start, because a lot of characters are introduced all at the same time.

The Return of History and the End of Dreams by Robert Kagan

“When individuals have the power not just to dream, but to realize their dreams, they will demand a greater say.” – Bill Clinton

The Return of History and the End of Dreams by Robert Kagan is a long ‘essay’ on the study of geopolitics/economy of the ‘great powers’ after the Cold War. Kagan explores the main foreign policies and aims of the United States, Russia, China, Europe, Japan, India and Iran. According to Kagan, “Autocracy is making a comeback.” And, as the world goes back to ‘normal’ the hopes of the modern democratic world that, “wanted to believe that the end of the Cold War did not just end one strategic and ideological conflict but all strategic and ideological conflict” are diminished.

Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed this book. I say surprisingly because I have never read any book of this style. I had a sort of prejudice in my head before reading that I would find this all very dry and difficult to understand, this prejudice all went away when I started reading, and I found I am really interested in the field of geopolitics.

Paladin by Dave Luckett

“Good if they were good, but they weren't always good... Power goes to most people’s head, you know.” (p. 27)

Paladin by Dave Luckett is the exploration of truth and justice by placing the protagonists into fantasy second dimension/world. Sam and Finny live as outcasts in their city, until they find out that they belong to another world. Both Sam and Finny have magical talents that are needed in to fight evil in another land.

Firstly, the novel was a pleasant short read but it wasn't a great book. Paladin isn't bad but it isn't very good either, it’s just mediocre. While, I enjoyed the hour or two it took me to read I wouldn't recommend this book, simply because there are other fantasy novels that are better. The main reasons for this were that it was very brief and unoriginal. However, there were some nice themes investigated.

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens

“You will profit by failure, and will avoid it another time. I have done a similar thing myself, in construction, often. Every failure teaches a man something, if he will learn.”

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens is the tale of the intertwining lives of 19^th Century British families, from different social and economic statuses. Little Dorrit was born and raised in the Marshalsea debtors’ prison. She meets Mr. Clennam, who had just returned from his travels abroad, after his father died and left a mysterious watch for Mrs. Clennam. After seeing his mother being unusually nice to Little Dorrit he begins to suspect that his mother, the watch and Little Dorrit are all connected. He also suspects that his mother had taken some part in the financial state of the Dorrits. Mr. Clennam, with the help of friends and high powered connections investigate this case. What we find out in the end is a bigger twist to the story than Mr. Clennam ever suspected when he began to investigate.

Like many 19^th Century, English classics, Little Dorrit is a humongous text that explores the unfair working of society, the gap in the upper and lower classes and especially, the obsession people have with money. I found this book was sometimes very confusing and at other times very intriguing. The start was very long and it only became to be interesting only a third of the way in, mostly because it was when I started to understand the story – others more proficient in classic literature may completely disagree with me. What I found the hardest to follow were all the jumps from each family every few chapters. However, I didn’t worry about this too much because I had already learnt from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, which followed the same style. And as expected, the confusion all pays off when all the characters come together to form part of just one story.

Warning: This is a somewhat lengthy review  of the ideas on the book and it contains  some spoilers.

O Meu Primeiro Blog: De Volta aos Quinze por Bruna Vieira

“Dizem por aí, e eu concordo plenamente; a melhor maneira de ser feliz com alguém é aprender a ser feliz sozinho. Daí a companhia será questão de escola, e não de necessidade”

O livro, De Volta aos Quinzes por Bruna Vieira é o primeiro da triologia do Meu Primeiro Blog. A história é sobre uma mulher - chamada Anita - de 30 anos que estava muito infeliz com a vida, sobretudo estava infeliz com o trabalho, falta de relacionamentos e acima de tudo com as escolhas dela. A amiga de Anita manda o link para o velho blog de Anita, e desde esse momento a vida da Anita se transforma. Quando ela abriu o site, ela é transportada para o passado, de volta aos quinze, e tem a oportunidade de mudar e recomeçar a vida. Mas, as consequências das escolhas não são como ela esperava e acabam deixando a vida dela muito mais complicada.

Vou começar dizendo que eu amei este livro! Eu li o livro inteirinho em apenas um dia e meio. O que me deixou mais impressionada foi o quanto Bruna já conseguiu com só 19 anos. Saber isso, me deixou inspirada para seguir os meus próprios sonhos. Voltando ao livro, eu sempre adoro livros que lidam com a idéia  de trocar de corpo ou, come neste caso, trocar de idade. Histórias assim sempre são muito engraçadas, são um jeito interessante de escrever críticas da sociedade e ensinar bons valores para o leitor. Fazer a Anita voltar aos 15 anos várias vezes, mesmo depois de ter aprendindo uma lição foi um jeito muito bom de botar uma novidade em uma idéa velha.

Zoé et la sorcière du quatrième

« Vous aimez votre fille. Seulement, ça ne suffit pas. Il faut prendre le temps de le lui dire, à cette petite biquette. Aujourd’hui, et puis demain, et puis toujours… »

Zoé et la sorcière du 4^e par Thierry Lenain et Colonel Moutarde est une livre sur une petite fille, qui s’appelle Zoé. Elle est toujours seule parce que ses parents travaillent beaucoup. Zoé a pleine d’imagination et  elle croit que sa voisine du dessus, Mme Mizu, est une sorcière.