Insurgent (Veronica Roth)

I finally got around to reading Insurgent, the second in the Divergent trilogy, which came out in May. I loved it. I love that the main character is flawed and that her decisions aren't - and can't be - black and white. I don't want to say anymore out of fear of spoiling people, but suffice it to say: if you enjoy dystopian fiction and fast-paced plots, you should get your hands on this trilogy now. 

(The third is yet-to-be-published, but I think it will be worth the wait.)

The Fault in Our Stars (John Green)

I hadn't read any John Green before FioS, but had always heard amazing things about his writing. This book lived up to his reputation, and it absolutely wrecked me. It's about a teen girl battling cancer and her relationship with a fellow cancer survivor. It's incredibly poignant and beautiful and damn if it didn't make me appreciate all the small (and large) blessings I have in my life.

It was a very triggering story for me, as my dad is battling cancer right now. I sobbed the entire way to book club. I sobbed after book club. I was wreck the entire day I finished this book. But I wouldn't trade that catharsis for anything. It's almost too personal to write about here, but Green expresses some truths about life and death that  really resonated for me.

I'm looking forward to reading his other work, and I can't recommend The Fault in Our Stars enough. Even if you think you don't like YA, trust me: you will like this book.

In other news, I haven't gotten much reading done, but I'm hoping to get into Insurgent this weekend. Also, I impulse-purchased The Secret Circle trilogy for my Kindle. My special man friend and I were watching the show, and I couldn't remember much from reading the series, oh, 20 years ago. But I remember loving it, so I bought the books to re-read. So cheesy, so fun.

A Correction and The Selection

A correction to my last post: George R. R. Martin’s epic series is called A Song of Ice and Fire, and the first book is Game of Thrones. A Song of Ice and Fire sounds more like a Johnny Weir skate show, but I digress.

I read The Selection by Kiera Cass, yet another entry into the YA dystopia trilogy market. A young girl is picked by lottery to compete for the prince’s heart, and the competition is filmed and played for the nation. It’s definitely more for romance readers; there are only a few hints as to what makes the society dystopic, and they weren’t explored enough to hold my interest. I recommend Selection for teens who love romance mixed with reality TV. I prefer my dystopias grittier with much higher stakes.

The Graceling Series

A coworker introduced me to this YA fantasy series, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them. There are two out so far: Graceling and Fire. The third book in the series, Bitterblue, is due out in May. (They had copies at our national sales meeting, but alas, they were for display only!) 

I am not a huge straight-up fantasy fan. I like my fantasy with a dose of reality, snark, or dark humor. But The Graceling series sucked me in regardless. It took me awhile to get into the world Cashore had built, but once I was immersed in the ins and outs of her mythology, I couldn’t put the books down.

Graceling is about a young woman, Katsa, whose “grace” (i.e., a supernatural skill or gift) is to kill people with her bare hands. She is used as the king’s bully, until she meets someone whose grace matches her own, and she ends up on a journey to stop a madness spreading through the seven kingdoms. 

What I loved about this book was the character of Katsa and the journey she goes on to discover who she truly is. She has to fight (literally and figuratively) to strip off the lies people have told her about herself. She realizes who she is truly meant to be and learns to live from her true self, and it’s a pretty amazing transformation.

Fire is a companion book to the series. It takes place a few decades before Graceling, and tells the story of Fire, a monster girl who can read minds. She ends up entangled in the burgeoning war within The Dells, and, as with Katsa, she discovers who she really is in comparison to whom society demands that she be. She realizes she does not have to follow in the footsteps of her parents – she is, in fact, an individual, separate and whole from her father (a monster who lived up to that name).

Both young women are fantastic role models for teen girls today. They show that it is more than okay to own who you truly are, celebrate your strengths, and not to change just to be accepted by others. Both books are worthy additions to any YA library.

So with that being said, I deem both Katsa and Fire as Girls on Fire! Woo!