Feuds

Publication 9/2/2014

In this breathless story of impossible love, perfection comes at a deadly cost.

For Davis Morrow, perfection is a daily reality. Like all Priors, Davis has spent her whole life primed to be smarter, stronger, and more graceful than the lowly Imperfects, or "Imps." A fiercely ambitious ballerina, Davis is only a few weeks away from qualifying for the Olympiads and finally living up to her mother's legacy when she meets Cole, a mysterious boy who leaves her with more questions each time he disappears.

Davis has no idea that Cole has his own agenda, or that he's a rising star in the FEUDS, an underground fighting ring where Priors gamble on Imps. Cole has every reason to hate Davis-her father's campaign hinges on total segregation of the Imps and Priors-but despite his best efforts, Cole finds himself as drawn to Davis as she is to him.

Then Narxis, a deadly virus, takes its hold--and Davis's friends start dying. When the Priors refuse to acknowledge the epidemic, Davis has no one to turn to but Cole. Falling in love was never part of their plan, but their love may be the only thing that can save her world...in Avery Hastings's Feuds.

Beth says 3.5 Stars...
The cover of this made me super happy, primarily because the background has a nice set of what appear to be chemical structures and I'm a giant science nerd. The initial concept is interesting, if a bit done, with the class difference defined by genetic engineering or a lack thereof. The biggest issue I had was in the world building. I know this is the start to a series (or at least the ending implies another book is on the way) and so I'm sure Hastings feels that she'll have ample time to explore the world of Feuds. However, so much was left undefined and only vaguely mentioned. Why are the Olympiads so important and what actually happens to the winners? Are the Imps prohibited from the genetic engineering by cost or other regulations and was it always that way? I felt that the book raised more questions than it answered, and not in a good way. The actual plot was fine, if a bit scattered and slow to get to the point. I couldn't have guessed a fair bit of the final direction from the way it began.

I quite liked Davis, for all that she inhabited a bubble of perfect privilege. Her passion for ballet immediately provided a slightly different side of her than expected of a dystopian heroine. Her willingness to just pretend that everything was just fine mirrored that of the Priors as a whole and was mildly annoying. At least the introduction of Cole into her world made her face some of the harsher realities. I quite liked Cole, who very definitely falls into the category of hot and broody. Again, though, the romance went too intense too quickly for my liking. They met a couple of times and all of a sudden are incapable of living without one another. I wish that we'd been able to see more of the secondary characters, but with Cole and Davis's lives having basically no overlap, all of the minor characters' appearances were quite brief.

If you're super into dystopian then this has the potential to get better. There were some revelations at the end that set up a next installment pretty nicely. Personally, I'm still a bit on the fence about whether to read a second book.
ebook from Netgalley

Allegiant

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.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.
from goodreads.com

Beth says 4 Stars...
If you're unaware of this series at this point then I'm actually rather impressed.  I know this came out a little while ago, but I was waiting until I could check it out from the library instead of buying it.  Although that might seem odd, I knew the reactions from fans were super mixed and I didn't want to purchase something I thought I'd have a substantial chance of disliking.  Luckily for me I quite enjoyed the book, although I do see what made people upset.  Roth was extremely bold in this novel because she made some significant alterations to the overarching plot of the series and moved in unexpected directions.  Going into the book there's no way I would have guessed the ending or even most of the middle and I really appreciated the surprise.  Yes, there are some plot holes and everything doesn't make perfect sense.  However, the whole series requires a certain suspension of disbelief and Allegiant didn't take it too much farther.  The book was compulsively readable and totally sucked me in.  I found the experience worth it solely for the pure escapism of the story.  The alternating perspectives in the chapters worked well and added another layer of complexity.

There were definitely issues with character development, or a lack thereof, during the course of the novel.  Neither Tris nor Four grew significantly or revealed a new side of their personality.  I don't really hold it against the book because the main focus was definitely the plot.  Of course, some new characters enter into the mix, but none of them were particularly remarkable.  The major novelty was the introduction of another society that encompassed the previous world.  I'm a sucker for world within a world stories, so this hit right in a sweet spot for me. 

Although I understand the anger and disappointment of many fans, I think that Roth made interesting choices that took the book away from predictability.  I'm attempting to do this without major spoilers, which is proving quite difficult.  Suffice it to say that the book will go somewhere different from the rest of the series and whether or not that's a good thing is up to you to decide.
book from library

Shade's Children

On your 14th birthday, you're dead meat! Chilling SF adventure from international bestselling author Garth Nix. In a futuristic urban wasteland, evil Overlords have decreed that no child shall live a day past his fourteenth birthday. On that Sad Birthday, the child is the object of an obscene harvest resulting in the construction of a machinelike creature whose sole purpose is to kill. The mysterious Shade -- once a man, but now more like the machines he fights -- recruits the few children fortunate enough to escape. With luck, cunning, and skill, four of Shade's children come closer than any to discovering the source of the Overlords' power -- and the key to their downfall. But the closer the children get, the more ruthless Shade seems to become!

from borders.com

Nathan says 4.99 stars...
Garth Nix=genius. That's really all there is to say, but I've never really known when to stop, so I guess I should tell you why. Shade's Children is set in a dystopian future. Everyone's life stops at their fourteenth birthday and the only chance for a free society is a basically a human computer. That's just the first few chapters. Plot twists abound and nothing is exactly as it seems. In short, the plot is excellent. The characters are well developed, but their general outlines seem a bit stock. Gold-Eye and the rest of the crew are pretty fascinating. Nix's skill at character interaction subtlety is almost unmatched in YA lit today. The only reason I haven't given Nix that last .01 point is because I know he can do better. This doesn't quite reach the heights that inspired fanboy moments in me during the Sabriel trilogy. It's still a fantastic read, but not Mr. Nix's best.

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