Divergent by Veronica Roth

Remember when I reviewed Ready Player One and said I was surprised that such a book could live up to its hype. I'm not going to say that about Divergent. Technically I didn't read Divergent, I listened to the audio-book. I'm still counting it as one of my 50 books this year, though.

The book starts out as any young adult book narrated by a 16 year old does, her describing the way she looks. Okay, you are very ordinary looking. There is nothing special about you. You are a goody two-shoes that doesn't seem to quite fit in. Let me guess, you fall in love with a bad boy that falls in love with you back? Let me hold that thought. Then, as any other dystopian book the narrator begins to describe the world she lives in. The thing about this world is that it is a dystopia disguised as a utopia, so there's that point for creativity, or possibly not because Brave New World.

Anyways, the whole world -or possibly just North America- are divided into five factions:
Abnegation: Selfless. Symbol: holding hand
Dauntless: Brave. Symbol: fire
Erudite: Intellectual. Symbol: eye
Amity: Peaceful. Symbol: tree
Candor: Honest. Symbol: scales

When a person becomes 16 they have a choice to make, to stay in the faction they were born into or transfer to a different faction and unless they choose Erudite they stop studying. Okay, education-hating society. Before the transfer ceremony the kids have to take a simulation test that shows which factions they are most suitable for. Although they don't have to choose that faction, if they choose another faction and fail in the initiation phase they will live forever faction-less; poor, jobless, and on the streets.

The simulation decides which faction suits the16 year old by elimination. So if you choose to take a course of action, say attack a dog, the amity option would be eliminated and so forth until there is only one option left. The people who realize they are in simulation and can control the outcome are those who can't be filed into a certain result of what faction suits them. Those people are known as Divergent. Can you guess who is divergent. Can you guess?
Also, the character ends many chapters with, "I'm dauntless." "I am divergent" "I am a complete idiot." Please let us come to the realization or the revelation ourselves. We do not want to be spoon-fed the


so-called character development.

If you don't mind predictable twists, cheesy bad tough guy/ good fragile girl romances, and dystopia then this is the book for you. If you are still unsure what this book is about it is basically A Beautiful Disaster in a dystopian world. If you are, however, a person who likes better books than that, then first don't read this books, second, welcome to my blog and can we be friends?

I can see how this book has a sequel, although I will not be reading it. The main story of the book other than the romance is a rebellion and a civil war that only started in the last three chapters of Divergent.

There will be a movie in 2014 starring some people I don't know, it does how ever feature KATE WINSLET as a government villain so yes, I will be watching. Zoe Kravitz is in it too, but I don't like her acting, so. I don't know why I thought Aaron Eckhart was in this. He isn't.

If I were you I'd just skip the book and see the movie if you are a Winslet fan, if not just steer clear.

final rating: 1/5

Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 2 Recap

So, the second episode of GoT aired last Sunday. I will not go into full rant about the lack of Stannis in this episode so a quick recap through points:

1-The whole Jojen & Meera introduction was the absolute worst thing since the Baelish/Sansa interaction in the first episode, idiotic and completely wrong. Meera would have never pointed a weapon at Osha, so just stop, HBO. Also, I can't believe the kid who plays Jojen is actually 23! Oh my God, talk about the fountain of youth.

2- Robb Stark continues to be a complete idiot. Talissa is a complete idiot. The only person who isn't an idiot in that camp is Roose Bolton. Probably Karstark, too.

3- Did ANYONE believe the story Catelyn told about Jon and the pox? Very VERY out of character.

4- Arya, Gendry, and Hot Pie being the little awkward children of nothingness they -now- are. I hated that we didn't meet Lem and the Winterfell stables-boy. I hated that the uncovering of Arya's true identity was by The Hound. They took so much away. They couldn't give us the simple pleasure of seeing joy in Arya's face when she sees the stables-boy. Screw you, HBO.

5- Brienne's and Jamie's scenes were a bit of a let-down. I mean, after all the anticipation. The fighting scene was great, though, and the location of the fight and the nature of it. GOD. I'm still expecting better scenes this week, though, and keeping my hopes high.

6- Jon, as usual, was a badass even when he isn't supposed to be one. I loved the Mance/Jon conversation about the wildling tribes and the whole Worg scene. The worg scene was cool beans. Yes, I just said cool beans, it's 1:30 AM, get over it.

7- Sansa and Loras Tyrell = heart break
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT. She sees in him the days of the Hand's tournament, when her dad was still alive and the world was her oyster. She sees her old bubbly little girl self in his eyes. Oh, Sansa.

Tears were shed with/for hers.

8- Sansa/Margery/Lady Olana = OH MY GOD.
The Queen of Thorns is literally the best. Her attitude, her sweet-talking Sansa to reveal the dirt on Joffrey. Freaking Joffrey.

"Get me my cheese!"

9- The whole Margery seducing the king with perverted talk about killing animals with a cross-bow. Kinky. It gives me the creeps.

10- Show us Riverrun already!!

11- Freaking Theon Greyjoy. You know, in the books, he disappears in the third one. I wanted that to translate into the TV series. You don't always get what you want.

12- The kid from Misfits is apparently sent by Asha or whatever her name turned out to be on the show which WHAT IS THAT?! I don't recall this happening in the book, but okay, I like him.

overall rating of the episode: 3/5
overall rating of Sophie Turner as Sansa in this episode: 5/5 





 

Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 1 Recap

This is not really a recap. I mean it is. Mostly it is just an elaborate rant of why I'm very disappointed in the premiere of season three. If you don't want to be spoiled this is a warning, if you want to be spoiled this is an invitation.

Season three starts where season two left, with Sam Tarly beyond the wall. I though that was a good enough start, I mean, the prequels in the books tend to be quite ominous and this seemed extremely suitable. What I didn't like was the fact that in season two they threw off the entire white walkers attack on the rangers in the fist of the first men and how the whole raven sending dilemma came about. I guess, for TV factors, they needed to make Sam a big fat fool. Also for TV points, the sentence, "You had only one job". We get it , Weiss, now stop.

CUE NEW THEME SONG.
I personally loved the new theme song. Out of the entire episode my favorite part was the theme song, and that should tell you something. The addition of new locations was just perfect, and is exactly what the audience need due to the oh so many new settings in the story. Also, ASTAPOR.

Bricks and blood built Astapor, brick and blood her people.

 North of the wall, and deep into the wildlings camp, Jon Snow sees his first giant. I loved the giant. How normal it was for the wildlings for a giant  to live amongst them and do some of their work. The camera time of the giant was slightly on the unnecessary longer side but all in all it was well.

I also starred in Les Miserable as Jan Valjan

Rattle-shirt and Ygritte take Jon into Mance's tent. Mance basically tells them both to leave, which they do, albeit Ygritte looked a bit unwilling to go. Mance then goes on to ask Jon why he wants to join him. Jon gives him a half-assed answer about how Lord Commander Mormont knew about Craster sacrificing his sons and how he did nothing about it. Which is total bull crap. In the book, Jon gives a genuine well-thought-of answers to Mance's question. In the novel, Mance knows what Jon looks like because he sneaked into Winterfell to the banquet that was thrown in the honor of king Robert Baratheon coming to the north at the beginning of the series. Jon answers Mance's question about the reason he abandoned the watch by telling him, "All my brothers and sisters were seated at the main table. Did you see where the bastard was sitting?" 

he only got away with his crappy answer because he gave mance this look

Then we get to see Bronn -who is now a ser- frolicking in a brothel because someone has to get some action in this show, doesn't matter who, anyone will be fine. I don't know why but Bronn has been getting on my nerves for the last few episodes of season 2, and anything he does in this season will just make me hate him.
Something Bronn said to Tyrion really caught my attention, when asked by Tyrion if they were friends, he answered, "We are. But I'm a sellsword, I sell my sword, I don't loan it to friends." I think this is as good an indication as any of a future parting of ways.

 I was looking forward to my favorite character's screen time, and I got about 2 minutes of it. I was also very disappointed, but the creators gave me a consolation scene which is fine. Sansa's scene with Shae, Rose, and Peter Baelish. How do I begin talking bout this scene. Okay, first of all let us talk about Sansa and Shae and their little "game". Even though this scene didn't happen in the books, and the whole Shae/Sansa relationship is completely for tv only, I liked it and like the relationship very much. What I don't like is Peter Baelish replacing Dontos in the role of Sansa's escape helper. No. When Sansa learns in the books that Peter is trying to get her out of King's Landing she is instantaneously fearful and cautious, unlike her behavior in this scene.  Sansa is also the only character -aside from Joffery and Danaerys- who got a new plot in the beginning of this season, everyone else just sort of continued old plot lines and stories. She still remains my favorite character in terms of character development. She is growing up, not as fast and dramatic as her sister and brother, but maybe in that aspect she's closer to her most distant brother, Jon Snow.

Queen Margery is finally being portrayed as she is in the books, alongside Ser Loras, who are both getting a lot of screen time this season.  As for Cersei, Tyrion, and Tywin, there is not much change on that front, all are behaving as befits their personalities. Joffery is still an idiot prick, but at least he's getting some development in this episode.

House words: Curly Locks.

Robb & Catelyn continued being their boring selves. I mean, God, grow a bit. You've practically started this whole war, Robb, and you've learned nothing to show for it. Roose Bolton said 2 or 3 badass comments about being the strongest or the best or something and that was it for the North. Oh, but wait, they are in Harrenhal. HARRENHAL. I mean come on, HBO. They were supposed to be in Riverrun from the start, and it has been constantly delayed for nothing. Nothing, I tell you. We also meet Qybrin, who I've learned I've been pronouncing the name of wring this whole time.

essentially, the reversed Snape.

Davos's and Stannis's scenes were much shorter than I expected, but still satisfactory and true to the novels. I think this is probably the only storyline left not meddled with by the tv adaptation.

Dany's Khalsaar's trip on a ship in the poison water was cut shorter than their trip across the red waste. Thank God for that. If I had to sit through more episodes of Dothraki following Dany to eternal ruin I'd probably stop watching altogether.We get a small glimpse of Astapor and the Unsullied. Missandi translates to Dany a language she already speaks, and we don't get the subtitles of the slave-lord and Missandi's conversation. Dany sees a little dirty girl playing with a wooden ball and being her maternal self follows the child into the city, the child throws the ball at her and tells her to open it, Dany falls with the ball as a hooded figure tries to jump on her only to be stopped by Jorah. The ball opens in two halves to reveal a sort of scorpion creature which the hooded figure soon kills. The child bares her teeth to the the figure, her teeth and gums are a dark night shade of blue, she jumps into the water and then reappears on the wall behind them. "the warlocks!" exclaims Dany to inform the dim witted viewers who still hadn't caught on. The hooded figure then reveals himself to be SER BARRISTAN SELMEY woah what you may think. Well, I'm pissed off by this. First of all this scenes was jumped up about 4 other event in Dany's chapters, it should have been revealed to her as a form of treachery by a new acquaintance. Second of all, I hope the ser Jorah vs Selmey plot line is still in action because otherwise this has taken a great turn for the worst.

this, like that slave's chest, is pointless.

Overall, this episode was just setting the characters back into place and reminding the audience where everything was left off, something -I don't think- the show can afford, time-wise. I'm looking forward to next week's episode but I'm keeping my hopes and expectations at bay. I was -and still am- disappointed with the premiere, but I hope the show will take off after this episode. I was disappointed for the lack of Jaime Lannister screen time, as he is almost but not quite the center of the third book.


Also, check out the web-series School of Thrones on Youtube. It is awesome.

Overall rating of the episode: 1/5