Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Divergent... Oh. My. Glob!
After what took like a whole year to getting around of finishing a painfully dull book (Fifty Shades Free aka last book in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy aka Nyquil) I FINALLY got to pick up the Divergent series I bought at Target last summer! AND OH MY GLOB if it's not the only thing I ever talk about at the moment!
I could go deep into describing the story, but I won't cuz knowing me I'll reveal too much and spoil it for ya'll, so I'll try to be brief.
It takes place in the nearish future, dystopian Chicago, where everything is split into factions with people who live by the rules of their specific factions. When I say rules, I mean like values... There are those who value bravery, those who thirst for knowledge, those hippies with an abundance of kindness, those who put honesty before all else, and the selfless ones, which is where our heroine resides.
When children come of age, they can take a personality test to find out what faction they naturally belong in. They then have the option of switching factions, which also means they are forced to leave and forget their families. Faction over blood is a big thing here. Then they gotta go through crazy initiation tests (depending on the faction) in order to make it in or else they'll be banished to the factionless aka the bums in the streets.
Long story short, Tris finds out she's divergent and doesn't belong in one specific faction like everyone else, she then picks to switch to the daredevil faction that leaps off moving trains and buildings because why not, meets new friends and has a sexy instructor with a dark past who mayyybe might be interested in her. (Ok, yes, duh, he's like crazy about her, and I'm crazy about him. But I won't get too into that.)
THEN you start realizing there's more behind this simple way of life... Like what's outside of Chicago, huh? HUH?! Why is the government trying to kill the divergent? Why is Four so angry?! It gets deep, man. Friends and family become enemies and vice versa... You dunno who to trust! Ahhhh so good I wish I could spill more!!
I first heard about this series by friends who compared it to The Hunger Games. Some even call it a rip-off . Umm does anyone remember how everyone called THG a rip-off of Battle Royale? Does that make Divergent a copy of BR? NO!! Get your heads outta your butts, fools!
I gotta admit though, I went in counting all the similarities - there are quite a few... But it's to be expected in any novel involving dystopian societies. I mean Tris and Katniss are both badass chicks, but they handle situations way differently. I think Katniss takes things a lot harder than Tris. To be fair though, Tris has been trained to handle the pressure. Not gonna get too into it but just trust me, they're different.
And Four!!! Oh my stars, he's my most favorite male love interest in any novel I've ever read!!! (At the moment of course...) Their love for each other is just right: not too obsessive like Edward and Bella (or Christian and Anastasia *BARF*,) not too frigid like Katniss and Peeta or oblivious like Ron and Hermione... They're the definition of ride or die love. It was beautiful. BEAUTIFUL! No third guy or girl trying to tear them apart... No jealousies that lasts volumes to resolve.... There are definitely some tender quotes Four has said to Tris without it sounding clingy.
Ok, Insurgent Tris was definitely annoying, what with her lying every other volume and suffering the consequences of her poor decisions in between. Lucky for her she's got that man candy with a never-ending fountain of chastising, forgiveness and love for her. I woulda dumped her crazy ass if I was him. Overall I think she's a tough cookie and definitely not a Mary Sue. *COUGH COUGH* Bella!
Mad props to Veronica Roth and her style of writing, she did not lose my interest at any point. Each chapter made me wanna keep reading even after saying "last chapter," then reading the first sentence of the next chapter... finally realizing it was almost 4 AM and I had read way more than I had planned and I had work in a few hours. Lost sleep over this book and it was worth it!
There's a movie coming out next year in March, wasn't looking forward to it until I read the books and now I'm ecstatic! The abundance of movie pics courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, btw. So yeah. Give it a try. Oprah approves, it's on her book club list.
It is, I'm sure.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Things I Love: Doctor Who
My love of this British sci-fi show began as a kid, when my brother insisted I watched his VHS recordings of some PBS show he thought was pretty cool. I have always thought everything my brother liked was pretty epic, so I gave it a shot...and I fell in love. A time and space traveling alien with an unknown name (he goes by the Doctor; it's been said that his name cannot be pronounced) who regenerates, attempts to solve the problems of different races and usually saves the day (with a some losses here and there...there isn't one episode that doesn't have somebody dying.) And he always has at least one companion who is supposed to be an assistant of sorts...pfft some were more of a hindrance than others..not naming names...
In the beginning, the first actor to play the Doctor had to be recast because he was an older man with some troubles remembering his lines because he was suffering from early stages of arteriosclerosis...so the writers came up with the idea that the Doctor regenerated to different forms when his older form was worn out or seriously hurt. That alone is what I think made the show last for sooooo many years. It was always freshening up...new companions, new adventures and each actor brought their own personalities to the table. And it helps that there was action and mystery in every episode. Almost every episode. It's campy, I'll admit. But that's where most of its charm resides.
With the cancellation of the series, it would leave my wild imagination open to all of the possibilities of who this alien was, and the story would always continue in the fan fiction of my misadventures with my Doctor. And then my last year of high school came 'round, and when I realized that my favorite sci-fi show from my childhood would be returning to the small screen I could not believe it. I was concerned with how well it would do; I don't think I could bear it if they ripped it away from me again because it was too obscure to gain ratings. Could an old, campy, family-oriented sci-fi show generate enough fans become a hit again? Fast forward to today and the answer is most certainly yes. And not even just in Europe, but it's become a hit here in America. It was like getting an old friend back.
That leaves two different sets of the fans: the old school die hard ones and the 2005 newbs...I embrace both. Even the annoying Tennant fans who love to troll polls/forums. I could not be any happier that there is even a bandwagon for this show...as far as I'm concerned there's more than enough room for everyone. I'll never understand why there are the hipster fans who're so set on hating on the new fans...you people should be so glad that your favorite show is doing well and getting the attention it deserves! Get over yourselves! *climbs down soap box*
Anyways...this show is awesome. It makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you really wanna know more about the Doctor and just what the fuck his actual name is. I'm not going to go into deep details, that's your guys' homework. This wikipedia page gives a nice run through on the history of Who. I would recommend starting from the new series of 2005 and work your way up to Matt Smith (is it me or are these actors just getting dreamier and dreamier?) If you start with the old ones, I'm afraid you might get discouraged, what with our generation's current high standards of HD 3D Blu-Ray blah blah blah and all. If you're still skeptical, I'd suggest giving the episode Blink a try first, that one is a favorite of mine.
