News Round Up! 28th September

 

News Round Up!

Every week I recap some of my favourite news stories surrounding YA books. If you want to check out a wide range of news stories about all your favourite books and fandoms then be sure to checkout FangirlDaily.com!

Marissa Meyer has revealed her latest book deal. Heartless is an Alice in Wonderland prequel which tells the story of the Queen of Hearts. It will be published in Autumn 2015. Read more on Marissa Meyer's website.

Publisher Walker has announced the launch of a new entertainment imprint which will focus on books from celebrities and TV and film tie-ins. Read more over on The Bookseller.

The cover for Shadowplay by Laura Lam, the sequel to Pantomime, was unveiled this week. See the cover below and read the full post on the author's website.

Veronica Roth has spoken out about the Allegiant leak. A Canadian bookstore shipped copies of Allegiant one month early to some readers. Roth urged those readers to wait until the pub date to read the book or at least keep spoilers to themselves. Read her Tumblr post about it at this link.

Two new posters for Divergent have been released. The posters featuring Four and Tris and their tattoos can be seen over on Hypable.com.

More artists have been revealed for the Catching Fire soundtrack, including Christina Aguilera. You can read more about her involvement over on FangirlDaily.

New releases: 
Model Misfit by Holly Smale
Amazon|Goodreads|My Review

Zom-B Baby by Darren Shan
Amazon|Goodreads

Requiem by Lauren Oliver (paperback)
Amazon|Goodreads

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Amazon|Goodreads

A Radiant Sky by Jocelyn Davies
Amazon|Goodreads

The Paradox of Vertical Flight by Emil Ostrovski
Amazon|Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday (#13): Allegiant by Veronica Roth

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted over at Breaking the Spine and gives bloggers a chance to highlight upcoming releases we're excited about.

 

 

 

Allegiant (Divergent, #3) by Veronica Roth

Published: 22nd October (HarperCollins)

Amazon|Goodreads

 

Because who isn't waiting for Allegiant? I'll admit parts of Insurgent didn't quite live up to my expectations, but I adored Divergent and overall I've loved the series so far. I'm hoping Allegiant is saving the best til last. The cliffhanger ending of book two certainly has me desperate to read this one!

What are you waiting on this week? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Insurgent (Divergent, #2) by Veronica Roth

Spoiler warning! This is the second book in the Divergent trilogy and so this review will contain spoilers for the first book. You can read my review of that here. You have been warned!

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Author: Veronica Roth
Published: 1 May 2012 (Harper Collins Children's Books)
Pages: 525
Buy: Amazon, Kindle, Waterstone's

Plot Summary: (from Goodreads)
War looms in sixteen-year-old Tris’s dark dystopian world as disputes between the factions grow. Tris must now fight against all odds to discover the truth that can save her and the people she loves. Sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge – and the choices she makes will have devastating and unexpected consequences.

My Review:
I don't know where to start reviewing this book, so many mixed thoughts/feelings! This story picks up where Divergent left off, as Tris struggles to deal with the losses she's suffered and learns to deal with the consequences of her actions.

A lot of the book focusses on her internal struggle, as the world she has come to know falls apart. What's great about this story is that we get to see more of the other factions - Amity, Candor and more Erudite. It's fascinating to get a better look at the people and headquarters, which was something I wanted from Divergent.

The action scenes in this book are exciting and tense, but sometimes I felt they were a bit pointless. There were an awful lot of fight scenes I felt could have been cut to help the pacing of the story. You still get the feeling that the book is building towards something, and when you get there it completely blows you away. So, overall I think it's another thrilling read but maybe not quite as good as Divergent (in my opinion).

Rating: 4*
What to read next: Matched by Ally Condie, the 1st book in the Matched trilogy.
Books like this: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.

Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Author: Veronica Roth. Website, Twitter

Published: 3 May 2011 (Harper Collins Children's Books)

Pages: 496

Buy: Amazon, Kindle, Waterstone's

Plot Summary: (from Goodreads)
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.

My Review:

I first started to seek out more dystopian young adult fiction after reading The Hunger Games (like many others I suspect) and this was a title I kept seeing crop up, so I decided to check it out. The book tells the story of Beatrice (known later as Tris) who is approaching the time of her life in which she will have to choose which "faction" (sections of society based on specific traits) she will choose to live with, and whether or not to isolate herself from her family.

These teen dystopian books can start to feel a little formulaic once you've read a few, but I still found this story/concept to be gripping and exciting which says a lot when taking into account the huge competition. The book focuses on a great group of characters which helps keep the story interesting, and the undercurrent of suspense and knowing that something has to give makes you keep reading.

The idea of factions was something I loved. They're sort of extreme Hogwarts Houses (based on personal characteristics and strengths) but with added choice, and a much more difficult initiation!

I thought the descriptions of Tris' world really brought it to life and there's some intense action, and enough romantic subplot to keep you really invested in the characters (no teen novel is complete without one!) A must read if you loved THG.

Rating: 5*
What to read next: Insurgent by Veronica Roth, the sequel to Divergent.
Books like this: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.