Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

DIVERGENT  by Veronica Roth

Pub. Date: May 2011

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books

Format: Hardcover , 496pp

Age Range: Young Adult

Source: Publisher

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Be prepared to sit on the edge of your seats as this heart-pounding thriller hypnotizes you until the very last page. DIVERGENT is one of those books that you make time to read. Once I started this captivating page turner, all else was lost. Nothing else existed outside of this book - I didn't want to put it down.

Tris is one of those heroines that I love to read about. She's strong but yet vulnerable. During her choosing ceremony, she steps outside her comfort zone and does what she thinks is best for her. I don't think Trish imagined what was going to be in store for her after her ceremony. During her initiation process, she's tested every way imaginable. There were plenty of times where I found myself sitting up straighter because this book had one surprise right after another. DIVERGENT continued to capture my attention right down to the very last page.

This book could have gone in so many directions, but after shock after shock, I'm surprised that I could catch my breath after the book ended. This is one of those books that will have me counting down until the sequel is out. It's mind-boggling!

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

---

You can browse inside of DIVERGENT here.

Order DIVERGENT:

Win Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese!

**CONTEST CLOSED**

This is your chance to Win...

FUTURE IMPERFECT (HC) by K. Ryer Breese

Rules 1 Winner!

For your chances to win FILL OUT THIS FORM!

Additional Entries

Comment on my interview with K. Ryer Breese here

Contest ends @ 11:59pm (CST) May 12, 2011. U.S. & Canada Residents Only (Sorry!)

**If you are an international resident and have someone in the states that I could mail the prize to, then you can enter the contest**

Sensational 7 Q & A with K. Ryer Breese (Author of Future Imperfect)!

Have you ever wanted to know what it would be like to hang out with your favorite author(s)? In an attempt to get a better understanding of authors, my Sensational Seven Q & A takes a closer or more personal look at these authors to give you a glimpse of the personalities behind the writing of your favorite books.

“Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book; a personality which, by birth and quality, is pledged to the doctrines there set forth, and which exists to see and state things so, and not otherwise.” By Ralph Waldo Emerson

K. Ryer Breese lives in Denver and is a critic for American Movie Classics at Filmcritic.com.

FUTURE IMPERFECT hits shelves today!

If you were given a chance to travel back in time, what year or place would you go / Why?

Honestly, I'd probably go back about 10,000 years. Paleolithic, baby. How cool would that be? The world would be huge and undiscovered and wild. It'd be like stepping onto an alien planet. No doubt I'd either get some horrible, long extinct stomach bug or wind up stomped on by a mastodon, but for the few moments I was around it would be incredible.

Describe your novel in seven words or less?

Guy sees the future and it sucks.

Please share with us about your favorite book and fictional crush to date?

I've got too many. Honestly, it's hard. But this morning it was Brian Francis Slattery's "Spaceman Blues." Incredible book that's listed as sci fi but confounds all genres. It's post-apocalyptic, post-literary, brilliant. Fictional crush? Been a long, long time. I guess pocahontas from Matthew Sharpe's "Jamestown." What a killer voice she had!

If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be / Why?

I'm a total sucker for the fantasy novels of my youth and there is no greater badass than the albino prince Elric and his supernatural sword Stormbringer. While the guy was actually a total weakling -- kinda like me -- he more than made up for it with all manner of crazy spells, deals with demons and elder gods, and hot ladies. Need I say more?

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play thelead role as you/ Why?

Wouldn't be a very exciting movie, honestly. A lot of ups and downs but I've remained pretty stable. No trips to rehab. No (faked) arrests. No sordid adventures. I guess I'd want it to be a younger Gary Oldman. Just because he rocks. 

If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be – please explain?

Science is Fiction would be cool. I love science. Love fiction. I think that in many ways, they're interchangeable. And the title's already been used on a wonderful book about the French filmmaker Jean Painleve. His work is stupendously amazing -- like the Brothers Quay of documentary filmmakers -- and I want to plug it. 

How would you describe yourself/life in seven words?

Reading watching listening exploring learning and regurgitating

Bonus:

**Is there any additional info you would like to share with your readers?

Only that the "Future Imperfect" sequel, "Past Continuous," will be out in November!

Thanks for stopping by!

For more information about K. Ryer Breese and his books, please visit his website here.

Monday Madness (75): Future Imperfect by K. Ryer Breese

What is Monday Madness?

It’s the phenomenon affecting all book lovers as we count down the hours in hopes of getting our hands on highly anticipated books on release day. So, come join me throughout the week where I will be featuring Author Interviews, Reviews, Guest Posts, and Contests for great books.

FUTURE IMPERFECT by K. Ryer Breese

Pub. Date: April 2011

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Format: Paperback , 320pp

Age Range: Young Adult

Ade Patience can see the future and it's destroying his life. When the seventeen-year-old Mantlo High School student knocks himself unconscious, he can see days and decades into his own future. Ade's the best of Denver's "divination" underground and eager to join the heralded Mantlo Diviners, a group of similarly enabled teens. Yet, unlike the Diviners, Ade Patience doesn't see the future out of curiosity or good will; Ade gives himself concussions because he's addicted to the high, the Buzz, he gets when he breaks the laws of physics. And while there have been visions he's wanted to change, Ade knows the Rule: You can't change the future, no matter how hard you try.

His memory is failing, his grades are in a death spiral, and both Ade's best friend and his shrink are begging him to stop before he kills himself. Ade knows he needs to straighten-out. Luckily, the stunning Vauxhall Rodolfo has just transferred to Mantlo and, as Ade has seen her in a vision two years previously, they're going to fall in love. It's just the motivation Ade needs to kick his habit. Only things are a bit more complicated. Vauxhall has an addiction of her own, and, after a a vision in which he sees Vauxhall's close friend, Jimmy, drown while he looks on seemingly too wasted to move, Ade realizes that he must break the one rule he's been told he can't

The pair must overcome their addictions and embrace their love for each other in order to do the impossible: change the future.

Read an excerpt here!

Want More?

Order FUTURE IMPERFECT @ Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BooksAMillion | Borders | IndieBound

---

Want More? Head over to The Book Butterfly on Tantalizing Tuesday for a special treat!

Inkpop Weekly Writing Challenge - Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

The latest inkpop Weekly Writing Challenge, which coincides with Josephine Angelini's Starcrossed was launched yesterday.

Starcrossed is a unique paranormal that leverages Greek Mythology to create a new story and world. Now it's your turn. Using folklore, greek mythology or some other historical text create a contemporary story or poem. You can turn King Arthur into a modern day football hero or Snow White can now be an independent feminist and seeker of justice. Use your imagination!

PRIZES FOR 4 WINNERS! Two writing winners and two commenters will be also be selected to win a copy of STARCROSSED as well as three additional books of their choice from the HarperTeen catalog. Winners will be announced here on inkpop Forums.

For more information on how to enter the contest, click here for more details!

---

More about the book!

STARCROSSED by Josephine Angelini

Pub. Date: May 2011

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Format: Hardcover , 496pp
Age Range: 12 and up

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

Win A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness!

**CONTEST CLOSED**

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness

Pub. Date: February 2011

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated

Format: Hardcover , 579pp

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

---

CONTEST

Win A Discovery of Witches and Buttons!

Rules 1 Winner!

For your chances to win FILL OUT THIS FORM!

Contest ends @ 11:59pm (CST) May 5, 2011. U.S. & Canada Residents Only (Sorry!)

**If you are an international resident and have someone in the states that I could mail the prize to, then you can enter the contest**

Be Back Soon!

I'm off this week enjoying some great books and spending time with the family.

I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

Blog Tour: The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge

Please welcome Caitlin today as she talks about the creation of Lovecraft from her current novel The Iron Thorn.

Caitlin Kittredge is the author of the Nocturne City series, as well as several short stories. She is the proud owner of an English degree, two cats, a morbid imagination, a taste for black clothing, punk rock, and comic books. She's lucky enough to write full time and watches far too many trashy horror movies. Visit her website at www.caitlinkittredge.com to learn more.

Creating Lovecraft

Lovecraft, a city in my novel The Iron Thorn, was not the first fictional city I created. (It also, I found out later, shares a name with the small town in Joe Hill's fantastic graphic novel series Locke & Key. Sorry, Joe!)(And if you like my books, you'll love the series, and should go pick it up.)(Okay, Shameless Plug App. deactivated.)

I'd created a city before, for my very first novel, and I learned a few things the hard way—keep track of what goes where. Make a map so you don't have any crazy geography screwups. But in a deeper sense, and more importantly, you have to understand how cities evolve, how neighborhoods come to be. You have to know your history, and when you create a city out of whole cloth—all of that history comes from you.

Scary proposition. So when it came time to create Lovecraft, I knew I needed some touchstones with the real world, both so my readers could connect with this creepy, dark, steam-driven metropolis and so that I had a baseline for how my city had evolved.

There are so many fantastic cities in the real world, full of secrets and wonders hidden from the everyday eye. Portland, Oregon sports a network of Shanghai tunnels unchanged since the 1880s. My home town of Boston used to house its city morgue in a building modeled after an Egyptian tomb (supposedly haunted, of course), with tunnels to nearby hospitals so that the cadavers would never come in view of the public. Everyone knows about New York's abandoned subway stops, populated by an undergound of off-the-grid subterranean dwellers. London has buried entire rivers as it grows and grows, and you may well dig into your back garden in some older parts of the city and find a plague pit or a forgotten cemetery. Glasgow, Scotland is home to an enormous cemetery, a necropolis buried inside a hill which is surrounded on all sides by a river. For a speculative fiction author, it's not hard to imagine what kind of paranormal path any of those tidbits could lead.

My other city had been based on my then-home of Seattle, with overtones of San Francisco. Lots of hills, trees, pocket neighborhoods, and fog—a very noir kind of city, for a very noir kind of story. Lovecraft, I knew, had to be different. It had to be dark, the kind of place where monsters could come out of the darkness, the kind of place with a network of underground tunnels, the sort of place where you could rub elbows with air pirates as easily as genius professors and their magic-powered machines. I went back to my roots, picking a colonial city on the East Coast for my footprint—anyone who looks at the map of Lovecraft in the front of The Iron Thorn will recognize the shadow of Boston. I took my history back to the inciting events of the novel, which occurred some 70-80 years before the start of the novel. I decided where the bad parts of town were, where you could find entrances to an underground city populated by ghouls, where the steam-driven engine that powers the entire city would reside. I decided what bits of real history I could crib to use in the alternate history that The Iron Thorn is built around. I drew a lot of maps. A lot of maps.

So how do you create a city? Spend a lot of time on the details. Get everything right. But more than drawing maps on graph paper (which delights the former D&D nerd who still lives inside me) and deciding on the timeline of your history, you have to make your city alive. You must be able to imagine the smells, the sounds, the feel of brick under your feet and the fog on your face. If your city isn't alive, you story set there will suffer. Don't be afraid to spend time in your city—ie, write material that won't make it into the book, but will help you achieve that spark, that life, that helps make unreal cities seem the realest of all.

What are some of your favorite fictional cities or towns, either wholly made up or fictional versions of places such as London, New York or Los Angeles?

---

THE IRON THORN by Caitlin Kittredge
Pub. Date: February 2011
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Format: Hardcover , 512pp
Age Range: Young Adult Series: Iron Codex Series

In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grinding any resistance to their order to dust. The necrovirus is blamed for Lovecraft's epidemic of madness, for the strange and eldritch creatures that roam the streets after dark, and for everything that the city leaders deem Heretical—born of the belief in magic and witchcraft. And for Aoife Grayson, her time is growing shorter by the day.

Aoife Grayson's family is unique, in the worst way—every one of them, including her mother and her elder brother Conrad, has gone mad on their 16th birthday. And now, a ward of the state, and one of the only female students at the School of Engines, she is trying to pretend that her fate can be different. 

The next stop on THE IRON THORN Blog Tour is Confessions of a Bookaholic—Saturday, April 16th
http://www.totalbookaholic.com/

Review: Enclave by Ann Aguirre

ENCLAVE by Ann Aguirre

Pub. Date: April 2011

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Format: Hardcover , 272pp

Age Range: Young Adult

Source: Publisher (ARC)

New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20's. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy. When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters—or Freaks—who seem to be growing more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings. And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight, in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs. As the two are guided by Fade’s long-ago memories, they face dangers, and feelings, unlike any they’ve ever known.

In the Enclave, where the only thing that matters is what role you perform-no questions asked, the time has come for Deuce to fulfill her duties as Huntress. In a time when human lives only span forty years, rapid spread of disease and invasions of hideous freaks are taking a toll on the enclaves. This action-packed thriller is tough as nails. Once it sinks it claws in, it never lets up.

ENCLAVE delivers the goods when it comes down to what I like in any dystopian book. Here we have a kick-ass heroine, barren lands-where the odds of survival are slim to none, then throw in terrifying creatures, and it's a hit in my eyes. Plus, the unlikely romance between Deuce and Fade (fierce and skilled in his own right) adds even more flames to this gripping novel. These two make a great duo and when their exile to topside throws them smack into danger; they have to depend on each other even more.

ENCLAVE, a first in a series is an apocalyptic novel that's much welcomed. I can only imagine what the next book has in store for these survivors. Located in a deadly setting such as Razorland, where one mistake could be your last...only time will tell.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

---

Read the first two chapters here!

Check out the book trailer!

Happy Release Day! Enclave by Ann Aguirre

ENCLAVE by Ann Aguirre

Pub. Date: April 2011

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Format: Hardcover , 272pp

Age Range: Young Adult

New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20's. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy. When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters—or Freaks—who seem to be growing more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings. And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight, in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs. As the two are guided by Fade’s long-ago memories, they face dangers, and feelings, unlike any they’ve ever known.

Read the first two chapters here!

---

Check out the book trailer!

Review: The Gathering by Kelly Armstrong

THE GATHERING by Kelly Armstrong

Pub. Date: April 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Format: Hardcover , 368pp
Age Range: 12

Series: Darkness Rising Series

Source: Publisher (ARC)

Strange things are happening in Maya's tiny Vancouver Island town. First, her friend Serena, the captain of the swim team, drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Then, one year later, mountain lions are spotted rather frequently around Maya's home—and her reactions to them are somewhat . . . unexpected. Her best friend, Daniel, has also been experiencing unexplainable premonitions about certain people and situations.

It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret, and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy—her paw-print birthmark.

The Queen of the Otherworld is back with this exciting new series as Maya tries to uncover the mysteries surrounding her heritage along with the death of a friend. Armstrong introduces us to a new cast of characters and a small town setting on the edge of nowhere, where a medical research facility sets the stage for tons of mystery.

I have to say that I am really fond of the characters in this book. Maya is that girl next door, who you can't help but love. I love her personality and her interactions with her dad, no matter how small, were some of my favorite moments in this book. Rafe, the new resident bad boy made this read all the more tantalizing with his charm and heated scenes with Maya. I also enjoyed getting to know these two as they searched for answers involving the medical facility.

The myths and stories behind the Native's beliefs on supernatural beings were quite intriguing. It's different and seeing Maya's love for animals and nature was a real treat. Some familiar names are mentioned from The Darkest Powers Trilogy, which only increased my anticipation to solve how everyone's tied together. THE GATHERING is a fantastic start to a series that I have a feeling is going to be just as great as The Darkest Powers Trilogy.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

---

Read the Prologue & First chapter here!

Winner of Limniscate by Jennifer Murgia!

The Winner is...

LEMNISCATE (ARC) by Jennifer Murgia

Karen

Thanks to everyone for participating!

Winner of Entwined by Heather Dixon!

The Winner is...

ENTWINED (Signed) by Heather Dixon

Swag: Beaded dancing princess bookmark & an Entwined cover pendant necklace

Tandra

Thanks to everyone for participating!

Inkpop Weekly Writing Challenge - Something Deadly This Way Comes

The latest inkpop Weekly Writing Challenge, which coincides with Kim Harrison's Something Deadly This Way Comes was launched yesterday.

Write a poem, short story or personal essay about betrayal. What if a person you thought you could trust betrayed you to the core? What did they do? How does it feel and what are consequences?

PRIZES FOR 4 WINNERS!
Two writing winners and two commenters will be also be selected to win a copy of SOMETHING DEADLY THIS WAY COMES as well as three additional books of their choice from the HarperTeen catalog. Winners will be announced here on inkpop Forums.


For more information on how to enter the contest, click here for more details!

---

More about the book!

SOMETHING DEADLY THIS WAY COMES by Kim Harrison

Pub. Date: May 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Format: Hardcover , 256pp
Age Range: 12 and up

I'm Madison Avery, in charge of heaven's hit squad . . . and fighting it all the way.

When Madison died the night of her prom, she knew her life would never be the same. Now she has a powerful amulet, a team of rogue angels by her side, and the ability to flash forward into the future to see the shape of destiny. And of course, now she's finally with Josh—a perfect boyfriend who doesn't even mind that she's dead.

But being dead has its disadvantages, too. Madison feels caught between the light and the dark, and between her real life and her timekeeper status. When Madison has the opportunity to get her body back—to be alive again—she faces her most difficult decision yet. If she claims it, she could return to being a normal girl—and have a chance at a real relationship with Josh. But would having the one thing she wants most in the world also mean giving up everything she's worked so hard for?

Review: Stay by Deb Caletti

STAY by Deb Caletti
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Format: Hardcover , 320pp
Age Range: Young Adult
Source: Publisher (ARC)

Clara’s relationship with Christian is intense from the start, and like nothing she’s ever experienced before. But what starts as devotion quickly becomes obsession, and it’s almost too late before Clara realizes how far gone Christian is—and what he’s willing to do to make her stay.

Now Clara has left the city—and Christian—behind. No one back home has any idea where she is, but she still struggles to shake off her fear. She knows Christian won’t let her go that easily, and that no matter how far she runs, it may not be far enough....

Once I started reading this book, I was swept up in the whirlwind of Clara's life, and I did not want to put this book down. Love, Betrayal, and Grief are some of the emotions that were wrapped tightly around Clara. Clara's and Christian's relationship was intense and all consuming. Caletti had me believing every moment and struggle these two went through. I was simply surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel.

I loved the relationship that Clara had with her father. She could always count on him and they had this ease with each other where nothing was awkward. There were a couple of times when I had some tears sprout up at unexpected moments, which only shows how invested I was with these characters. I also loved how Caletti pulled me into Clara's story by alternating between the past and present.

This was my first Caletti novel and it won't be my last. I read this book in one sitting, that's how deeply immersed I was into Clara's life. This is one of those books that I would recommend in a heartbeat.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

---

You can read an excerpt of STAY here!

Win Kat, Incorrigible!

*CONTEST CLOSED*

This is your chance to Win...

KAT, INCORRIGIBLE (HC) by Stephanie Burgis
Swag: Signed Bookplate

Rules 1 Winner!

For your chances to win FILL OUT THIS FORM!

Additional Entries

Comment on my interview with Stephanie Burgis here

Contest ends @ 11:59pm (CST) April 21, 2011. U.S. & Canada Residents Only (Sorry!)

**If you are an international resident and have someone in the states that I could mail the prize to, then you can enter the contest**