Divergent by Veronica Roth (CBR-IV #7)

Cannonball Read IV: Book #7/52
Published: 2008
Pages: 388 
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian


Divergent is yet another dystopian YA novel. In this one, society is divided up into five factions which correspond with that factions core values: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peace), and Erudite (intelligence). Beatrice was born into the Abnegation sector, but on their 16th birthday, everyone gets to choose either to stay in their present faction or join a different one. It's rare to switch factions, but Beatrice decides to leave Abnegation and join Dauntless. She also finds out during her placement test (which tells them what faction they'd be best suited to, although can choose whichever they want) that she is actually Divergent. Divergent is a rare person who exhibits strong traits from more than one faction. It's also dangerous, so Beatrice is told to keep quiet about it.

I'm a little mixed on this novel though. I think it was well written and had strong characters. It also might be one of the few YA novels I've read lately that doesn't involve a love triangle. There is a romance subplot, but it's well done and doesn't replace an actual plot. It also wasn't very predictable, which is hard to come by in YA too. I was definitely caught off guard thinking that certain things were going to happen and was totally wrong. 

The reason I'm mixed though is that I didn't really get into this book as much as I wanted to. I can't think of anything glaringly horrible to write about, but after I finished I just had zero interest in reading the next book in the series. I think it suffered from mediocrity. It had good characters - but not great. It had an interesting dystopian society - but it was never explained enough to quite make it plausible. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good enough to make me want more either.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (CBR-IV #6)

Cannonball Read IV: Book #6/52
Published: 2008
Pages: 388 
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian


I first read this book back when it was first released and loved it. I was already a fan of the Japanese novel Battle Royale (which I need to read again) and this was a similar plot, although a little watered down for the teens. I decided to reread it before I see the movie in March.

Katniss (ohhh how I loathe her name) lives in District Twelve in the dystopian society known as Panem. Each year, every district has to draw the names of a boy and a girl teenager to participate in The Hunger Games. In the Games, they all will fight and kill each other until only one person is left alive. Supposedly this is a way to keep the districts in order, but I still don't really get how that works. I figure they'd just be MORE likely to form an uprising if you keep killing their kids. Oh well, we can overlook that since there'd be no story otherwise.

This year Katniss's little sister is drawn to go into the games, so Katniss volunteers to go in her place. The boy whose name is drawn is Peeta, the town baker's son. There's a slightly annoying teen love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Katniss's childhood friend Gale. Fortunately, Collins succeeded in creating possibly the least nauseating love triangle in YA history. Gale and Peeta are actually fully formed, likable characters and Katniss is a strong female who doesn't rely on the men in her life to get her though problems. In fact, Katniss ends up saving Peeta half the time. 

Overall, I love this series. The book is just as good when reading it again. I think just about everyone on earth has read these books by now. I've seen everyone from kids to senior citizens reading the series. It really is one of the few YA book that fully succeeds in crossing the barrier between teen and adult books. Maybe the first series that's done that since Harry Potter. 

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (CBR-IV #5)

Cannonball Read IV: Book #5/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 500 
Genre: Fiction


I have really mixed feelings about this book. I remember wanting to read it when it came out last year, but forgot about it until the movie version was just released. I prefer to read the book before I see the movie, so I decided to finally pick this one up.


We Need to Talk About Kevin is written from his mother, Eva's, point of view. She is writing letters to her estranged husband recounting a horrible event that their son Kevin was responsible for that she initially only refers to as Thursday (in italics). Slowly, the events are unfolded until we have the full scope of horrors that unfolded at Kevin's school on Thursday. 

And I do mean S.L.O.W.L.Y. Eva starts alllll the way back to her pregnancy with Kevin and recounts his entire life. This book drags and drags and drags for the first 300-400 pages. I almost put it down because it seemed to be going nowhere. However, if you can stick it out, I think it's highly worth finishing. The last part of the book was absolutely horrifying. I can't give away much without completely ruining the book for you, but I can tell you that this isn't a typical school shooting story that we've all heard over and over since Columbine. 

For one, Kevin is one of those kids that is terrifying. I don't have children, but I've heard stories (although rare) of people who have or adopt kids who are just pure sociopaths. They torture their siblings, they set their house on fire, etc. and have zero remorse. He's not the goth kid who writes heavy metal lyrics in his notebook at school. He's the silent, smart type who has almost NO distinct personality and no connection to anyone. The ones you should really be scared of. 

If you want to read a slow burning, chilling book, try this one. The ending is worth is and will stick with you for days.