The Selection, by Kiera Cass (The Selection #1)

Synopsis:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

I've had this on drafts for quite some time now, and wanted to publish it as soon as possible. I had read about The Selection on many different sites, and also heard from a friend, and the opinions were so different... Some people hated it, some people loved it... So I decided to give it a try. 

The synopsis makes it sound like a typical romance love-triangle novel, but it kind of surprised me. The idea isn't that unique, but Kiera Cass develops it well, transforming a kind of simple plot into something nice and fairytale themed, a princess story. There's the girl, her poor boyfriend, and then there's the prince. At first sight, the easiest thing would be to thing that the prince is rich and all that but he's not a good person and that's all. That would be easy. But he's not. Prince Maxon is amazing. He's rich, handsome, smart, funny, a complete gentleman, a good friend, trustworthy... Absolutely perfect. And it doesn't take much for America to find out. About half into the book I decided I prefered Maxon way over Aspen, but it has nothing to do with being shallow. Maxon grows really close to America, but he doesn't love her as much as Aspen does, or that's what it seems. Aspen's love was epic. And now America has this huge problem. She makes friends with the Prince, and he promises to send her home when she's ready and wants to leave, but she doesn't seem to want that, not now that she's finally made some friends, even if they're from places far away from her hometown. 

I enjoyed life in the palace, and I really like the Queen. I want to know more about her. I love Maxon, but I don't think I know yet who's America going to choose (that's why it's a trilogy). I think the storyline is too simple and the characters aren't that deeply developed, but I enjoyed reading it and will go for The Elite and The One. 

An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green

Synopsis:

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.

This book was amazing. I was attracted to it since the moment I first heard about it, and it didn't disappoint me. After reading The Fault In Our Stars, I felt like reading more of John Green, and I've started to really admire him. I want to read Looking for Alaska next. 
So about the Katherines... the title itself was very intriguing, and the synopsis. There's Colin Singleton, and he only dates girls named Katherine, which is incredibly weird. And then you meet Colin and you grow fond of him and all... 
There aren't that many characters in this book. I mean, there's many people in the background, such as the Katherines (Katherine XIX is more important than the rest of them), but there's only a few characters that have importance in the book. There's Colin, and his best friend Hassan, and they both decide to go on this road trip that's supposed to help Colin move on from his last heartbreak, when Katherine XIX dumped him. And then the two guys from Chicago end up in this town Gutshot in Tennessee, in the middle of nowwhere, where the archduke Franz Ferdinand is supposed to be buried. There they meet Lindsey and her mother Hollis, and Lindsey's friends Katrina, Chase and Fulton and her boyfriend Colin. After they're offered a job there, Colin and Hassan decide to stay for a while, and that's where the story takes place, in Gutshot, TN. 
Okay, I kind of felt like Colin and Lindsey were going to end up together since the moment they met. She's a girl, Colin's single, and she's not a Katherine, which is why the story is different from the rest of Colin's life. I really ended up liking Katherine XIX, so I would like to have known more about her, but that's not her story. 
I enjoyed anagrams because it had been a while since I read a book that included them, and I didn't hate the fact that Colin was obsessed with his theorem and maths were used a lot to explain it. Some people that have read it the only thing they do is complain, about anagrams and about maths, but that's a huge part of what makes the story unique. 
I loved the plot. The idea was original and nice, and no one had thought of writing that before John Green did. The characters are developped in a way that reminds me of TFIOS, and I love the way John Green writes. It's beautiful. 
The book is addictive, with all these random facts that Colin knows about everything and this way Green has of making us love the characters. I really, really enjoyed reading it, and I hope to see more of John Green soon :)

Allegiant, by Veronica Roth (Divergent #3)

Synopsis:

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. 

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

I'm gonna write my general opinion, spoiler-free, and all that now, and then write my real reaction to the book, full of spoilers... I never do that, but I need to this time. I really, really need to. This initial rant is written assuming that all of you have read the first two books, and I'm aware that I may be one of the last people who haven't read Allegiant, but that's just a matter of where we leave, so... 

So I'm just going to say something about the book that you'll know if you just open the page. The book isn't from Tris's perspective like the other two are. I mean, it is, but it's also told from Tobias's perspective, depending on the chapter. I'll leave you to think about that... 

I loved the book. It was great. It's been a while since I read the previous two, so I don't remember them all that well, but it was enough. The plot in this book is really different from the other two, changing escenarios and introducing many new characters in the story. It first looked like Veronica Roth had to end the series someway and didn't know how, so she came up with a new plot for this one, kind of. But now I'm starting to think that this may have been thought in advance, maybe at the beginning of Insurgent, clearly not while writing the first book. 

I want to say that I loved Tobias in this final book. Maybe it is because of being able to see the world from his perspective, but I just grew more and more fond of him, fell in love with him all over again. It looks like he's grown as a character in this book, now that he and Tris really know each other and all that, but maybe it's my point of view because I don't remember the last two books that well, I don't know. 

I don't like the new characters in this book. They aren't well-developped and they aren't that deep. And I love deep characters... I just think they could've been better. 

There was a lot of happiness in this book, but also a lot of sadness. I think it was a great ending chapter to  an awesome trilogy. 

*spoilers start here*

Wow. I don't want to ruin anyone's excitement to read Allegiant if they haven't read it, so don't read this if you don't want to be spoiled, but that book ruined me. I'm permanently marked by it. Just like it happened with Clockwork Princess, I'm not going to recover. Clockwork Princess ripped my heart out leaving a permanent wound, and Allegiant just made it worse, making me feel the pain all over again... Books are ruining me. 

But let's talk about the ending book of the trilogy by Veronica Roth. I just think she went kind of crazy while writing this book and came out with all these GPs and GDs and all these genetical things that came out of nowhere. I don't really know how she invented those, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't her plan when she wrote Divergent. Not only she made the world inside the book worse, but she also decided to torture poor Tobias by making him a false divergent, making him genetically damaged. That's such a horrible word... I didn't like that in the book, the fact that the genes became such an important part of the plot... 

Let's see if I can write about the important thing in the book now. The heartbreaking event that changed me and that I haven't been able to say it out loud or written it yet, and I finished the book a couple of days ago. Tris dies. Omg I wrote it. Haven't said it. Will never be able to... It's such a huge thing that the main character dies!!! How can that even cross a young adult novels writer's mind? I mean, I think it is magnificent. It is so awesome that Veronica dared to do that! I hate her and admire her for that. It made me think of what would have happened if Katniss died in The Hunger Games. Can you imagine that?

Caleb is the character that I hated the most. He's not a good brother. No matter how much Tris loves him in her inside, Caleb is not a good person and I don't think he deserves what Tris did for him. Not only did he fail her in multiple ways, but he only intended to sacrifice because that was what everyone expected from him. I don't hate him completely, but I don't particularly like him. I like Peter better :)

As I said before, I loved Tobias in this book. Watching him find out he was genetically damaged and then reading and getting to know the way he sees Tris, the way he sees his parents and the rest of people... that was perfect. The way he suffers, the way he loves, the way he hates, the way he forgives... I love him for every single detail. And Tris was just as amazing as always, being the epic heroine she is and filling the book with her shining light.  

No matter how devastated am I after reading the book, Allegiant was an epic finale for the awesome trilogy. 

*spoilers end here*

Books that made my 2013

I've been wanting to do this since New Year's, so I'm finally doing it now. I just wanted to mention some books which made my 2013 special, but they don't have to be books that came out in 2013, and there are many that did come out that I haven't read yet (they haven't been out in my country, for example), like Allegiant. So this is my list. 

1. Clockwork Princess, by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices #3). That book marked my life. There's a before and an after in my life concerning that book. Reading it was painful, but I enjoyed every second of it, and I want to do it again. Even if crying for over 30 pages is not good for my health...

Read my review in: Clockwork Princess

2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. Read it quite early in the year, and I think I've read it more than three times since then. It's become one of my favourite books, and I love it for that. 

Read my review in: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

3. The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green. Read it not many months ago, that book was epic. And there's a movie coming up this year! Not the typical cancer book, I enjoyed reading it as much as I cried because of it. Absolutely magnificent. 

Read my review in: The Fault In Our Stars

4. Divergent, by Veronica Roth (Divergent #1). I thought it was going to be just another Hunger Games. And it is, more or less, even though the author's perspective and idea is unique. I loved it, and ran to buy Insurgent and to do the countdown for Allegiant. Now that I'm reading the third one and waiting for the movie on March, I'm happy to have listened to the critics and read another dystopia. 

Read my review in: Divergent

5. Game of Thrones, by George RR Martin (A Song of Fire and Ice #1). I have this friend who insisted on me reading George RR Martin's masterpiece, and reading the first book made me want more, so I think I'll be fine for a while :)

Read my review in: Game of Thrones

6. Splendor, by Anna Godbersen (The Luxe #4). I had been waiting for over four years for that book, and when I found it, my world was completed. But the ending... it broke me down. After years of waiting excitedly for it, I think it disappointed me so much and it made me so sad that I won't be able to recover. 

Read my review in: Splendor

7. Legend, by Marie Lu (Legend #1). A new discovery I made in 2013! Read it and its sequel, Prodigy, as fast as I could, and now waiting for Champion to get to my country so I can finish this awesome dystopian trilogy. 

Read my review in: Legend

So what books made your 2013 special? 

Warm Bodies, by Isaac Marion

Synopsis:

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...

It took me months to read this book. I had been really looking forward to reading it because I had read so many good things about it, so many blogs said it was one of the best books of the year and all that... So I bought it in April and started it. I abandoned in May, a couple of weeks later, with almost half the book read. That wasn't something I wanted to waste my time on reading. And moved by the feeling of not being able to have a book without finishing it, I read it in November, after months of having it on my bedside table and ignoring it with a second glance. It didn't get much better. 

Don't get me wrong, I do not hate the book. I just think there are many other things which are a lot more interesting than it. I thought it was going to be a real Romeo and Juliet story but with zombies. But that zombie thing made it bad. It was the first thing I've ever read about zombies, and I did not like it. Not much. I haven't seen the movie yet. I'm just not ready to live that again, not yet. The idea Isaac Marion had was great, really different. I love how he makes his characters unique, I really like R. But his relationship with Julie... That's quite weak. The characters are great by themselves, but the relations between them are weak, not good. I particularly enjoyed reading about R being in Perry's memories, even if that made the book quite confusing sometimes. 

Overall, it's not a bad book, it's just something I didn't particularly enjoy. But there are multiple opinions about one topic, maybe you'll love it. Never say no to reading. 

The Fault In Our Stars movie trailer!

So the TFIOS trailer came out this week!! Have you all seen it? I personally think it's great and that I cannot wait to see the movie! What do you think?
Hazel Grace Lancaster. Shailene Woodley. I must say Shailene's great, and that we're going to be seeing a lot of her in the next years. We will see her as Tris in Divergent in March, and then in TFIOS. Perfect. We're also seeing Ansel Elgort, our Augustus, in both Divergent (he's Caleb) and TFIOS. So they're both excelent choices. I can't really judge a movie by its trailer, but I definitely think this one is going to be great. I'm really looking forward to June 6th so it comes out. Other actors in the movie are Nat Wolff (Isaac), Willem Dafoe (Peter Van Houten), Lotte Verbeek (Lidewij) and Sam Trammell and Laura Dern as Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster, Hazel's parents. 

The trailer looks great, similar to the book (which is what I always want), and interesting enough so that I would be looking forward to seeing it even if I hadn't read the book. I would probably want to read it after seeing the trailer. Because it's a nice trailer, and an awesome book. 

So my advice is: everyone go read the book so we can all watch the movie this summer and see if it's as wonderful as I expect it to be. I'm quite sure it will. Okay? Okay. 

You can find the trailer in: The Fault In Our Stars trailer

VA movie is out!!

Just coming to say that the Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters movie came out on Friday in some countries (not in mine, btw), and that I've heard plenty of things about it. This is only raising my expectations even more... I need to see it soon, please... 

It's had good critics from most people, but what I really wanted to know is what fans of the books thought about it. The general opinion is that it was a great movie and that there were only a few differences with the book. I read this article a few months ago that the director wrote mentioning the main differences between the book and the movie so we fans were ready for it, so I know what to expect. Or at least I think I know. 

People who haven't read the books are a bit confused about it. Just like in TMI, the movie doesn't explain everything in detail like the books do, so some things may be confusing if you haven't read it. But most people are happy with it and waiting for a sequel already. One of the things I've heard is that Zoey Deutch's performance as Rose was perfect, and that it surprised many people. I guess I'll have to wait and decide for myself. 

So I haven't watched it yet, and probably won't for some time, because it will be out in my country on May 9th, which is incredibly far away from now... I hope I can see it somewhere sooner than that, mainly because I've read the books in English and there is no way I wanna go see Rose and Dimitri fall in love in Spanish... I want to hear their original voices and Danila Kolovsky's amazing Russian accent! 

If you haven't seen it yet, go read the book, and then go watch it. 

The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green

Synopsis:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

It was a masterpiece. There was a sudden fever worldwide that made everyone want to read The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green. Everyone talked about it, a movie was going to be made... So, of course, I had to read it and see what all this fuss was about. And then there was no going back. My life changed after that. When I read the plot, I was sure that it was going to be just like every other cancer story, where everything tries to be happy but fails completely, causing it to be a sad book with an even sadder ending. That's how cancer books end, with the death of the main character. So I was sure that Hazel was going to die before even opening the book. But the book (in general) wasn't a sad cancer book. I think that the feeling that John Green was trying to make us feel is happiness, the joy of being alive. 

I'll say that when I read it I didn't have the physical book, because I thought it wouldn't be necessary, but when I finished it I looked for it until I found it. Now I have the physical book that I haven't opened, but it's just perfect to look at it with wonder and mixed feelings. 

So about the book... I loved the characters. Hazel is a shy, kind of lonely person who discovers her true happy self when she meets Augustus. And Gus is such an awesome character! I love how he speaks, how he acts. He's got this special way of filling a room with his personality, he expresses himself in a really unique way, and I love him for that. 

I really liked all the plot revolving about Hazel and Augustus's relationship in a deeper and subtler level than most stories usually do. Love isn't easy, love isn't all rainbows and colours, and that's what they're trying to demonstrate. And the best thing about it is that it is done in a subtle way, focusing the plot in other things, like An Imperial Affliction, the book by Peter van Houten that causes Hazel's wish of going to Amsterdam and other main actions. The book is really deep, expressing the complexity of being a teenager, the complexity of love, the complexity of being one of those kids with cancer that people think are too sick to be normal. But Hazel and Augustus, despite their cancer, are very normal teenagers. And the way John Green has of dealing with that is awesome. 

The title was the first thing that caught my attention in the book. The Fault In Our Stars. That's a weird title. But then I read the book, and then the Julius Caesar quote appeared: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ but in ourselves that we are underlings." That quote means that it isn't fate that makes us underlings, but ourselves. I really like that quote. That being a Shakespeare quote makes it perfect :)

And a movie is being made of The Fault In Our Stars, with Shailene Woodsley as Hazel and Ansel Elgort as Augustus. The weird thing about them is that they're siblings in their movie Divergent, so it's going to be weird to see who I'll see as Tris and Caleb to be Hazel and Augustus. But I think they're fine as them, I like them. 

So to end this, I have only one thing left to say: you must read the book. Okay? Okay. 

The Physician movie

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately, but the holidays were my time of the year far from everything, not only school, so now I'm back and I've read some good books in the meantime. Btw, happy New Year to everyone! Hope 2014 is even better than 2013 was. 

It's been two years since I read the book by Noah Gordon and fell in love with it. So that's one of the reasons why I don't remember every single detail about it and can't really say everything I would like to if I remembered... I'm going to start by saying that I liked the movie. It was a great movie, and I could feel like it was me living in the 11th century. The characters were nicely portraited, and I love that. I loved the fact that it made me want to be a doctor all over again, even if it was less than what I felt with the book, obviously. If I end up choosing Medicine to study at university, The Physician will become more than just one of my two favourite books. I just worship it. 

There were huge things missing in the movie, though. Can someone tell me where's Mary??? And who's Rebecca? That was the weirdest thing ever... They replaced the main character's love interest! That's horrible! Mary Cullen was a huge part of Rob, a very important character. And instead of the Christian Scottish red-head, there's a Jewish married woman that's interested in Rob. I hated that. 

Almost just as bad was the Shah's relationship with Rob. In the book, they develop this unique friendship that I loved... In the book, they were the symbol of uniting religions, of friendship and diversity. Playing chess, having interesting conversations... the movie just ruined all that and portraited the Shah as a shallow, selfish person, not meaning to start a real friendship with Rob like he does in the book. That's something I would have loved to see. There are other things missing, just as Barber's death, because that's part of what triggers Rob's trip to Isfahan, and I loved Rob's trips with the Shah in the book. 
Overall, the story was more or less the same. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching the movie. I understand some changes have to be made to make a movie, but I wanted the Shah and Mary as I remembered them. The strangest thing is that I read somewhere that it was Noah Gordon and his daughter who wrote the screenplay for the movie. Then why is Mary missing? She's such a huge character... And all that adultery story they made up for the movie, falling in love with a Jewish married women and all that... not right. At least he kept almost everything in the story, not like Cassie Clare did with City of Bones, even if she didn't write the script. There are other scenes I would have liked to see, and other characters I would've liked to see developed. Ibn Sina was a deeper character in the book, and his relationship with Rob was more... special. I kept feeling like there was something missing everywhere I looked. 

Prodigy, by Marie Lu (Legend #2)

Synopsis:

Injured and on the run, it has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Day is believed dead having lost his own brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic's most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they turn to the Patriots - a vigilante rebel group sworn to bring down the Republic. But can they trust them or have they unwittingly become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?

After reading Legend, I instantly knew I had to read Prodigy soon, that I needed to read it as soon as possible. So I did. I think I read it in a couple of days, back in the beginning of November, and I couldn’t stop for a second. It was the week after Champion had been released, so I started to freak out thinking on how long it would take it to be translated to Spanish and to get here. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to wait. I think I’ll just try to find it in English. 

Prodigy was as good as Legend in every aspect, or even better. I know that there’s a popular opinion that first books are always the best ones. But it is not true, at least not in this case (and I can imagine many more). The relationship between Day and June, which is what I loved the most in Legend has continued developing in Prodigy and that’s one of the reasons I love it so much. The other one is Anden. I’m just so in love with him… My friend got mad at me because I suggested I could see June with Anden instead of Day, but I’ve been thinking about it lately and saw that both Anden and Day are different parts of June’s life. They represent different parts of her that she may or not like. So don't think I prefer Anden to Day. And then putting also Tess into this love triangle, now a square… I thought that was a bit rushed, and it made me dislike Tess more and more as pages went by. I don’t think I like her at all, but it’s not because it’s a possibility for Day’s love life, because Anden is also there competing with Day and I still love him, maybe even more now. And then there’s Thomas, who I started disliking on the very first page of Legend he appeared in, and now it’s just getting worse. There’s something I don’t like about this series, and it’s that most things are expected. Metias’s killer, who’s giving money to Razor and the Patriots, Tess’s crush… So, because of that, my favourite part in Prodigy, even if it’s also the one that made me sadder (I honestly cried), is the ending, since Day’s discovery about what’s happening to him, because that was just so shocking… I think it may have been too surprising. It looks like it had just occurred to Marie Lu about a page before, so she just wrote it down. But the last three pages were so heartbreaking… 

To sum up, I really liked the book, and I think the storyline is quite good, even though Day’s discovery about himself at the end was rushed, but that was another reason for Champion to exist, so I won’t criticize it. I’m really enjoying this trilogy, and it’s definitely one of my favourite books of 2013. Thank you, Marie Lu.