This is the second book in the Divergent series. If you haven't read the first one, I would recommend skipping this review for fear of spoilers. 

Synopsis:
Tris does a whole lot of playing with life and death. Tobias is always around to bail Tris out. There is way too much kissing. There are arguments, and all is made well in the end. 

The factions have pretty much collapsed, Dauntless has split, and Erudite is trying to take over everything. The Factionless have quite a few Divergent in their midst. Amity tries not to get involved. Abnegation doesn't know what to do with themselves. Marcus is obviously should not belong to the faction he is in for mere selfishness. Candor gets attacked and end up victims of a simulation because they were blackmailed into an alliance with Erudite. It's all just one big mess. 

Review:
As a person, I prize honesty tempered with kindness above most things. Honesty to be cruel is never helpful. I guess that would make me some Candor/Amity type Divergent. Who knows? Anyway, Tris and Tobias lie to each other all the time and it makes me absolutely furious. This is not something that people should be promoting or looking up to. Their entire relationship is based on lies. If they would just sit down and have an honest conversation with each other and not hide things, they would be a much happier couple. Instead, Tris lies and goes and does something that could kill her. Tobias saves her. So she does it again. Meanwhile, he is lying to her as well. What have we learned from this? That lying obviously accomplishes nothing. Whenever the truth comes out, what does the other person say? "I wish you would have just told me what was on your mind." Telling the truth is not as hard as people think. Their whole relationship kinda makes me furious. 

As for the book, there is a lot of drama, way too much kissing, a lot of lying, a whole lot of really stupid choices, and then some fighting. I was unimpressed. Do you remember The Goblet of Fire? It's the book where Harry Potter turns into a jerk. He whines a lot that no one understands his burden and that even his friends aren't there for him. This is, of course, not true, he's just being overdramatic. Tris was just like that in this book, and I hated it. I want to read the third book in hopes that things get better, but right now... I'm just angry at this book and the amount of people who read things like this and think that acting this way is totally acceptable. 

/rant

I read an article about the new movie, "Divergent" and I appreciated the article so much that I wanted to see the movie. I convinced my husband to go see it with me and I wasn't disappointed. I mean, the movie isn't amazing, but there were some things I really liked about it. I would probably go see it again. 

Well, I was so interested in the movie that I decided to read the book. I was looking for an easy read that I could just tear through, and it seemed like a good choice. 

Synopsis:
The story takes place in post war Chicago (future, post apocalyptic Chicago). To "cure" what had caused the war, the people have split into 5 factions: Erudite (intelligence), Abnegation (selflessness), Candor (Honesty), Dauntless (Bravery/strength), and Amity (kindness). The story is told from the first person perspective of a girl who was raised in Abnegation. At the age of 16, people take an aptitude test to find out what faction they are most suited for. After the test, they have the option to choose any faction. After you choose, you have to go through an initiation phase for your chosen faction. So, Beatrice, the Abnegation girl telling the story, joins a different faction, Dauntless. So, she as to go through initiation and all that jazz. The problem is with Beatrice (now Tris) is that during her aptitude test her results were inconclusive. This means that she is Divergent. She doesn't know why, but it is really dangerous to be Divergent. I won't go into much more detail for fear of spoilers, and there are two other books in the series. 

Review:
I was right, this book was a nice, easy read that kept my interest. I will say that the things I really liked about the movie are not in the book. I was a little disappointed in that, but I think I will continue reading the series. Three books shouldn't be that difficult. So, if you are looking for a fun and easy read, this would be a fun one. I personally really like the idea of studying a factioned society. Maybe that makes me an Erudite, but I rather think I would be in Candor. I don't think I would like Candor all that much. I guess I would be Divergent. Who knows? I definitely wouldn't be Dauntless. Anyway, I liked the idea in The Hunger Games, but they didn't spend much time talking about the split society. So, that's that. I'll be reading the rest of the series. 

I grew up knowing who Anne of Green Gables was. I watched the movies when I was younger (and let me tell you, I hated Anne). Recently, I was helping a friend pack up her apartment (and by "helping" I mean I was there for moral support) and she relinquished her Anne books to me. It's been many years since I have had anything to do with Anne, and after so many people had told me to read these books, I finally caved and did it. 

Synopsis
The Cuthberts (Matthew and Marilla, brother and sister) decide that they need help on the farm. They adopt a small boy from Nova Scotia. When Matthew gets to the station to pick up the boy, all he finds is a thin, red headed, eleven year-old girl wearing a wincey dress. He is completely baffled by the mix-up and decides he can't leave the girl at the train station for days while this gets worked out. He takes her home to Marilla. Turns out that Anne is an extremely imaginative, verbose, and talkative girl, and she quickly wins her way into Matthew's heart. Marilla takes a little more winning over, but eventually Anne is allowed to stay at Green Gables in Prince Edward Island. The rest of the book is about Anne's shenanigans at school, having friends over for tea, dyeing her hair, getting stranded in a boat, and pursuing higher education. 

Review:
As I mentioned earlier, I hated Anne. I hated her temper and her stubbornness. I have a hard time getting over that. For the first 3/4 of the book, nothing exciting really happens, but somewhere along that line you discover something. You discover that you are starting to like Anne. I was a lot like Marilla. I didn't want to admit it. I really started to like Anne. I really like that she always learned from her mistakes, and I loved that people were just naturally drawn to her. I hate to admit it, but I really enjoyed the book at the end there. I am looking forward to reading the next books. I'm also looking forward to rewatching the movies with a different understanding of the character.