Coffee, Ginger & White

This book is so bad, I would discourage anyone from even starting the series.  It's so bad, I wish I could recover the hours I've lost reading it. It's so terrible, that it completely annihilated any desire for me to ever read anything written by Veronica Roth ever again.

Let's get down to it. Remember there are spoilers ahead!

Regarding the story...

Before reading Allegiant, I'd read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and the point of that book is that it's downright ridiculous but in a smart manner. Allegiant is just plain ridiculous without having a reason to be. There are plot holes that are so big, they're black holes and they'll just drag anything remotely sane into them. I mean, the story itself, from Book 1 is farfetched. We're talking about a dystopian society where people are divided into 5 factions according to the personality trait that defines them. I mean, come on.  It IS ridiculous, but you can put that aside and actually read the story because it's entertaining. In "Allegiant" you finally get an answer as to why society has  been divided like it has and it turns that Chicago is an experiment where the "people outside" are trying to "correct" the genes from the population. If you're going "wtf" or "eh" right now, that's exactly how I felt.

Bottomline: the people of Chicago have been an experiment for about 8 generations.  No one has ventured "outside" the fence because... why hasn't anyone done it? At the end of Book 2 it's revealed that they were all put there and that's what gives Tris and the others motivation to leave, but why hasn't anyone even attempted to do so before? There was no indication that they've been told not to leave the city or... anything. It's just ridiculous.

So then, these people are experiments. Right. The "Genetically Pure" people outside are trying to correct the genes God knows how, 'cause even after I was done with the book I was still wondering what the hell I was reading. I couldn't care less about Genetically Pure or Genetically Damaged or about the "Purity Wars" that apparently led people to create the experiments in the first place. There was a whole new twist to the story, but it was badly executed, and I didn't give a damn about any of it. I'm not even getting into the science of the whole thing. 

Genetically Pure? Genetically Damaged? REALLY? REALLY? Oh God. You mean mutations? What? WHAT? 

It doesn't make sense.

And if the plot is not enough to discourage you, let' move on to the characters.

Beatrice (Tris): Pretty cool character. Survives Divergent and Insurgent only to get herself shot and killed in Allegiant. Yes, Tris dies. And it's not even a death that makes sense or does her justice. This was a good character, strong and developed and she got pathetically killed. I mean, even Hedwig in Harry Potter got more attention than Tris in her death scene. It's okay if you kill your main character, but at least make it epic. At least make me feel like she died for something. All I felt was anger.

And I just got angrier as the book drew to an end.

Four/Tobias: This character is a lesson on how to ruin a good male lead. Make him awesome in Insurgent and Divergent and then make him whiny and pathetic in Allegiant. Seriously, Tobias is the best exemplification of what would happened if men suffered from PMS. I HATED him. Legit, HATED him in Allegiant.  I don't think I've disliked a character so much since Edward stepped into the sun in Twilight and sparkled (shine bright like a Diamond, Edward). Tobias went from +1000 in awesomeness to -100 'go to a corner and just disappear' (he could use one of those black-plot holes for that).

There was nothing I liked about this book. I kept reading it just because I wanted to finish and write this review.  I disliked the ending as it seemed rushed and I could not give a damn about the Epilogue and how they scattered Tris' ashes.  She wasn't even honored for what she did. Her sacrifice was for nothing. There is nothing beautiful about this ending. It's insulting to the reader.

I am pissed with this book and I will just forget that it exists. I think you should too.

I have finished one of my October books and I have to say the month is off to a very good start. "House of Hades" by Rick Riordan was delightful.

You can read my full review in my goodreads page, here:

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7223620-miriam-stern

Next up is the "Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy". 

With October here and November around the corner (NANOWRIMO!!), I've decided to organize my reading a bit.  This is currently my to-read, duly organized. I will try to stick to it with the utmost discipline:

1. House of Hades, by Rick Riordan (to be published 08/10/2013), 594 pages
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, 216 pages
3. Allegiant, by Veronica Roth (to be published 22/10/2013), 544 pages
4. The Sum of All Kisses, by Julian Quinn (to be published 29/10/2013), 384 pages
5. Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, 413 pages

So many exciting books are to be released soon enough! I can barely wait!

Keep in touch for reviews to come.

xx

M.

My next book is almost surely "House of Hades" by Rick Riordan.  Its official release date is next Tuesday and I simply can't wait, though I inevitably have to.  As a way to pass time, I entertain myself with thoughts of delicious Carrot Cake and Tea. Wouldn't that be wonderful?  Of course, add a book to the mix and you'll get something very much like a dream.

The above picture was taken in G&W and I promise you their Carrot Cake is absolutely delicious.  Ah. I miss those days, I miss hanging there with my friends.  Such sweet nostalgia.  While I think about it, I use my imagination, close my eyes and find myself there. <3

Now, see here...

The book is rather entertaining and the plot holds much promise.  It's a bit silly to take in, but once you accept that it's an implausible situation in real life, you start enjoying the book.

Basically, he NEEDS to get married to get his money.  She NEEDS a way to get out of her house.  In a moment of rather severe lack of judgment (like really, he was drunk), Charles asks Ellie to marry him.  After discovering that she's desperate enough, with her father's impending nuptials to a horrible woman, Eleanor accepts.

The banter between the couple is pretty witty and hilarious (Julia Quinn has some amazing talent with dialogue).  Nonetheless, it eventually gets a bit tiring. There's an interesting conflict, which I think should have grown to be the main conflict of the book.  That's why I was surprised when it was resolved rather too soon before the ending.  This made me think "what else is she going to add?"  Hence came my main problem. At around the ending, Quinn introduces another conflict, which was apparently there all along, but I just thought it was boring and too much.  The book should have just been shorter, in any case.

It's good, but I did find that it wasn't as enjoyable as other Quinn books.

Final rating 3.5/5

Ohhhh!

This was a lovely read! I really liked it! There were a few moments where I wanted to hang Victoria from a ceiling, but altogether it was a very good story, full of Quinn's quirky comments and humor.

Plot: Two lovers who have plans to elope have their dreams shattered by parents that think they were acting for the benefit of their children. Seven years later, they meet up in explosive circumstances and how does the song go? But they're love is just too strong? Well, it's not. Their feelings are certainly sufficiently intense to have them fighting and bickering and it eventually finds a very happy ending.

In that order, I loved the ending. It gave me a really good feel. It's an easy enough read, and you don't have to take it too seriously. Open your mind and let yourself be drawn away by Quinn's magically funny writing style.

First and foremost, I am very pleased to be using booklikes along with goodreads.  I think the combination between both will be quite amazing.  Goodreads is easy to use and so organized that it's probably one of my favorite social media interfaces. Booklikes, on the other hand, is a blog with all the book reviews included in an easy to read manner.  That's why I'm delighted with how well both can work hand in hand.

Anyways, I'd like to take a small portion of this post to explain my blog's name.  See here, I lived in London for a year and it was the best year of my life.  Among the many astounding and extraordinary experiences, was the discovery of a small coffee shop in Hampstead called "Ginger & White".  It was probably one of the most delightful places I encountered during my UK adventures and I am not exaggerating when I tell you that my friends and I dropped by nearly every day. I invite you all to the G&W experience through their webpage, found here: http://www.gingerandwhite.com/#/home/4534559027

In any case, the wonderful sensations inspired by G&W are still in my memory and I would like to bring them forward every time I relate to one of the many books I read.  It's nice to imagine myself still there, having some coffee, and enjoying one of their delicious cupcakes.  Ergo, my booklikes page is a tribute to both, reading and G&W. 

Hope you enjoy! 

Love,

M.

~LE SIGH~

Okay, the book was going along marvelously. Like, I swear, it was a really good, fun, and light read. I was going to squeal with delight during various moments.

At about 77% it all starts going downhill.

Worst? You see it coming and yet you cannot do anything about it.

In particular, the main female lead ruins it. Like, single-handedly, she manages to become the most annoying, stupid, overbearing, and pathetic character. There is insecurity and then there is plain dumb! And she's plain dumb. And she was pretty nice and likeable... until the 77% of the book. I'd give it 3 stars but I REALLY liked it all the way until she ruins it all and then when everything gets better again, then I continued really liking it.

But no.

Alas, external conflict can sometimes be bad, but when its internal character and the character manages to create this whole mess on her own and some make-believe scenario in her head... it's the worst.

I would actually recommend you all, dear readers, that when you see the "conflict" rearing its ugly head, you skip that part of the book entirely.