BRT: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Title: Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins

Number of Pages: 390

Rating: 3/5 stars

Date Published: August 24, 2010

SUMMARY

My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plains--except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter what the personal cost. [Goodreads]

REVIEW [SPOILERS]

Mockingjay was a book with an indefinitely different feel to it than the first books had. Mockingjay felt dark and gloomy from the start, and understandably so—but there was one thing about this book that really irked me from page 1. Katniss is no longer the girl on fire... she’s the girl that fizzled out.

All of her earlier bravery seems to be malfunctioning, she’s more selfish than she is caring, and it’s even stated that she’s gone a bit...shall we say...loony? I can understand it. The Hunger Games alone are enough to drive someone insane—but it just didn’t sit well with me when Katniss’ thoughts didn’t feel fully coherent at times. Not to mention the love triangle—Katniss’ flip-flopping got irritating. Fast. This wasn’t good for my interest in the book.

There were also a bunch of characters just suddenly thrown in, and it’s not hard to guess who’s okay and who’s a corrupt jerk. Katniss doesn’t even mind even when it’s hinted she knows what’s going to happen at the end—she just goes with everything. Instead of taking charge like she did in the past two books, she did whatever she was told like a good little Mockingjay in this one. This was what the people in 13 wanted, but I highly doubt any readers did.

The deaths were all pointless—we got attached to these characters and then they were ripped away within a split second. Sure, realistic, but not something that people want to read. Suzanne Collins is commendable for her writing skill, but there is a line in which you have to be careful not to cross—the line between meaningful death and pointless death. She crossed that line far too many times in this story.

Honestly, I found Finnick’s death more traumatizing than Prim’s. Prim just felt like a placeholder in the story, a reason for Katniss to go even darker than she had been for the rest of the story. An excuse for her to finally go off the deep end. I didn’t like it. Finnick’s WAS meaningful, but at the same time, pointless. I can’t really put into words what went through me here.

I enjoyed reading about the war efforts. Watching Katniss journey with everyone else into the cities and districts in order to seize control was fun for me. I kind of got lost on how the streets near the Capitol resembled the Games but oh well. Watching the battles held a lot of interest, but at the same time, the pointless death from earlier.

I think that’s all I have to say. This book is a must-read for Hunger Games fans, but you shouldn’t spend your money on it. I’d borrow it from someone. Like I did. :3 It doesn’t seem like there was much I liked about this book, but there was a lot to like—good writing, good pacing. Katniss just messed some of it up.

BRT: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Title: Catching Fire

Author: Suzanne Collins

Number of Pages: 391

Rating: 4.5/5

Date Published: September 1, 2009

QUOTE

The smell of blood...it was on his breath. — Katniss

SUMMARY

Sparks are igniting, flames are spreading and the Capitol wants revenge.
Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn. (Goodreads)

REVIEW

FFFFFFFFFFF. I LOVED this book. LOVED it. BUT. There were a few issues. I’ll resolve those quickly before I get onto the good aspects of this book. This was another book I read a while back that had the potential to make me go “OH MY GOD WHAT?!” (In other words, it surprised me.)

1.       Katniss...you are meant to be a STRONG PROTAGONIST. Not a girl who’s constantly asking the reader “Which guy should I pick!?”

2.       The first part of the book was ridiculously boring. It took me around a month to get through it. After that I got more interested, but the first part made me seriously consider stopping.

3.       Too many characters mentioned in too short of a time (particularly the first part) and then two “important” characters who are only met once before they disappear forever.

4.       Back to number 1 on this one. Katniss, MAKE UP YOUR MIND. Stop flip-flopping between guys. You’re using them and it’s not very nice.

Okay, up until that point, I was severely disappointed in the book. Then Part 2 started up and I was like, “OMG, EPIC, EPIC!” And then we met SUPER-cool characters like Finnick ( <3 ) and Katniss/Peeta have more epicosity and they totally own at the interviews and just amazingness.

I make up a lot of words.

Anyway, one of my favorite parts of the book was at the interview. When Katniss is wearing her wedding dress and she talks about how it was so beautiful, and she twirls, and I shall withhold spoilers at that point. That was one of my favorite parts of the book.

After that, the tension is on. I can’t describe how hyper I felt when Katniss and the others reached the arena. And the puzzle of the arena (“tick, tock” — Wiress) just AMAZED me. BEAUTIFUL! Beautiful plotting, so cunning. Ahhhh words can’t describe it.

The final showdown confused me a little due to how fast it progressed; it was hard for me to tell who did what. Then Katniss fires that final arrow of fate, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve imagined the actors playing that part out. I CANNOT WAIT to see that part in the film. (Unless they ruin it, which they probably will.)

You get it. Catching Fire was written just as awesome as the first book...AFTER you get through Part 1. Part 1 is the reason this book only garnered 4/5 stars, due to how drawling it was, how unlikeable the characters were at that point, etc. Except Peeta and Haymitch because they’re always fun.

Hmm, anything else? I don’t think so...except the fact both male leads had a much smaller part. It seemed like they were only there for the convenience of Katniss having a hard time to choose between them. Peeta felt essential in book 1, but not so much in book 2. I’ve never felt like Gale was very...important, either.

Anyway, those are all the thoughts I have to share on this piece of the trilogy. (;

Writing World Wednesday: The Art of Outlining

(Disclaimer: This blog post had me EXCITED. So that’s why it’s gonna be full of pictures. :D)

Outlines. There is so much argument about them. When it comes to writing, some people can do so freely just going with whatever comes to mind. What I mean is that there are probably more people out there than not who sit down with their laptop/notebook and just start writing. But then there are people who can’t do that. I’m one of them.

“I don't outline because when I write I've got a very general idea. There's not enough to make an outline. I don't even know my characters’ names until I start writing. I don't know what the plot is, the conflict, the drive, none of it. I only know that I have a very general idea that I want to make into a story. It's impossible to turn that into an outline. So I just write and let my characters go where they want to go.” — Kela McClelland

Every now and then, if it’s a brand new sparkling idea, I can sit down and just start writing off the bat. It usually doesn’t last very long. Before I can really write, I have to have an outline. Outlines generally look something like something with a bunch of bullets and numbers and Roman Numerals. Mine don’t.

"I only outline if there's a timeline. Otherwise, even I don't know
what's going to happen next until I write the words." — Caterina Torres

Everyone outlines differently, and I’d just say now I would LOVE to know how you do it if you do it differently than the Roman Numerals/numbers/bullets/etc. My outlines have a bunch of bullets...but no Roman Numerals. But instead of looking like an outline, it’s like a very small forty/fifty page draft (with personal commentary, music intros and outros, quotes I want to use, lots of changes, and just very sloppy in general). My outlines are always handwritten, and the longest one I have is 94 pages.

There is a trilogy I’m writing. It has no outline. Oh, wait, it does. Here it is:

This is a special kind of outline. Instead of figuring out a plot from the get-go, I went through Youtube and picked out all of the songs I liked from the anime Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and put them together into a playlist. I mixed the videos around and then listened to them all, and put a plot together from that. I didn’t come up with any quotes or character outlines or anything, I only used the music.

Music is an obsessive thing to me. If I didn’t have music to write, I wouldn’t be able to do it. Even right now I’m listening to music.

I was going to put a picture of a close-up of an outline here, but it seems like they couldn’t go one page without spoilers. So I shall type it out, omitting spoilers so you get a general idea of how it progresses. Also, changing text color because my outlines are color-coded.

-          Group gathers together and gets ready to head out. Alex is just waiting for Troy to start chewing him out.

-          Finally just asks “Will you get it over with?”

-          Troy chews him out for everything that’s happened until now; it takes Alina, Midori, and Ryan to get him to calm down.

-          Arrive at Portland. “Like Cinderella to the ball.” – Ashley (later)

-          See sample I guess I wrote it down at some point or another

-          Sign in thanks to some tricks Alina uses, disperse and relax.

-          Alex watches Midori out on dance floor and when a waltz starts she spots him. “...Oh no.”

-          OST: Waltz of the Abandoned (Kyle Landry)

-          Midori drags him out & they start dancing.

-          Alex: I don’t know this song! | Midori: I don’t either, but it’s pretty. Go with it.

-          She sorta leads him until he gets the hang of it but he’s still insecure as hell, poor dude

-          Midori: Finale’s coming up.

And there you have it. My outlines aren’t organized, really, they’re just a train of thought as to how I feel the plot could progress. I keep the outline at my side while I type out the story and regularly start crossing things out on the outline, start drawing arrows, rearranging events, scribbling out quotes, putting down new song names, etc. It evolves with the story.

“I don’t outline. I don’t like it because if I do, I feel as if I’ve already written it. For me, the joy of writing is gone if I outline because I don’t truly get to discover what happens.” — Charlee Vale

That’s all I can really explain about my outlines. When I first started meeting other people who wrote, I was shocked to discover there were others who simply couldn’t outline. Some people actually hate the idea of outlines! But as I talked to them more and more I came to accept it, as we do all things. It depends on the kind of person you are whether you outline or not, and how you outline, everything. It’s an enormous list of variables.

I’m going to use a quote here from Charlee Vale’s Thursday TAG! on Kela’s blog, Teardrops on my Book.

“Typically for me I have a core of an idea, and the story spirals from there. I’m patchwork writer, so I write all the scenes out of order, and then put them together when I’m finished. Though like I said, every book is different. For my latest WIP I actually did write a three page synopsis before I started writing, because the details were flooding into my head so quickly that I was afraid I would lose them all.” —Charlee Vale

There’s just an example of how someone who doesn’t outline does her thing. I think it’s awesome! To be able to write things piece by piece and put them together like a jigsaw puzzle? It’s not something I could do. It would drive me insane. But this tea-lover absolutely loves writing like this. When I first started talking to her, she told me she was writing a scene somewhere in the center of her book. The next day, pretty much, she said she was writing out the final battle of her book. I was like, “WHAT?!” And then I got an explanation.

There are so many different ways that we writers find to express ourselves and get our thoughts down onto paper or screen. We outline, we ramble, we listen, we talk, we type, we think, we do everything it takes. At the end of the road lies your complete project. Thing is, there are thousands upon thousands of diverging paths along that one road, and outlining is just one of them. These different paths all lead to the same goal (unless you give up halfway there. Don’t ever do it!), but which path you choose to take is up to you.

IWSG: School's (Almost) Out Forever!

Heh... Sorry I’m late on getting this post up. Four days late. That’s...probably what part of this post will be about, LOL.

School started up for me on August 20^th. Since then I’ve been hard-pressed to find time to write or do anything that relates to social media. It’s my senior year, the year I was disillusioned into thinking was the easiest year of all, but instead I’m swamped with stuff to do. I haven’t had time to tweet, check other blogs, my own blog, work with critique partners, or even deal with my e-mail. I’ve been using this weekend to prepare posts and I’m finally getting this one up.

The thing I hate most about not being able to contact others is that I just dread to think of how neglected or ignored they must feel. After I get out of school all I really want to do is go home and have some alone-time, but then I start guilt-tripping myself because I have other people who’ve been waiting for ages and ages and ages for me to get back to them. (This includes you, Danielle and Will. ): )

On the bright side of all this, one of my friends showed me a new writing program called Scrivener. Okay, it’s not new, but it is to me. And I waaaant iiiit. There are so many buttons and typing screens and windows... *Swoons*

Lately one of my friends has been trying to get into writing. She’s always been able to come up with ideas but she’s not the best at putting them down on paper. I’ve been telling her basic things—word counts she might try to aim for, ways to help the plot progress more smoothly. It makes me feel good to watch her write down ideas and ask me what I think. Of course I’m like “It doesn’t matter what I think!” but she seems to think it does. It’s a good feeling to help others.

Honestly, that’s about all I have to say. I’m sorry I’ve been so delayed in posting lately! I wish you all good luck in your writing and reading endeavors, and for those of you in school, I wish you happy school days. (:

P.S.: You should all come check on my blog on Wednesday. I'm putting up a post I've been planning for a while, and I'm super excited about it. WRITING WORLD WEDNESDAY: THE ART OF OUTLINING. Coming soon! (;

BRT: Passion by Lauren Kate

Title: Passion

Author: Lauren Kate

Number of Pages: 420

Rating: 2/5

Date Published: June 14, 2011

SUMMARY

Luce would die for Daniel.

And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn't need to be that way....

Luce is certain that something - or someone - in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime...going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel...and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history. Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames...forever.

Sweeping across centuries, PASSION is the third novel in the unforgettably epic FALLEN series.

REVIEW (FALLEN FANS: You're better off skipping this post. SERIOUSLY.)

“Unforgettably epic”... *Snorts*

I’ve had enough of pretending I’m interested in this saga. Honestly, when I finished Passion, I thought to myself, “...Hm. That wasn’t so bad...” But the more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became. This series is so annoying. Irritating. All synonyms to those words. The characters are so cheap, cookie-cutter characters and I don’t care about any of them. Except maybe Arianne.

I’ll try to put this into words why I don’t like this series...

Okay, almost everyone knows Twilight. Throw that into a mixer... then, do you know the series The Immortals by Alyson Noel? Throw that in there too...then take a few angels, pop them into the mix, spit them out onto the floor, and you’ve got the Fallen Saga.

Ugh... Nothing in these books ever changes except for new characters and the same events repeating over and over again, just in different ways. But they ALL have the same whiny bullshit that Luce goes on and on and on about for pages on end. Luce is just a generally unlikeable protagonist. I don’t like her voice. She seems, to me, very self-centered. She cares about people, but only because she worries what will happen to her if they’re gone.

There are just too many characters taken in and thrown away in this book. I don’t know how many times I got lost. And our new protagonist, Bill? Seriously? Just...SERIOUSLY? Oh my God. I can’t even... It’s been A LONG TIME since I read this and I’m still blinded by fury trying to get a review out about it. Oh yeah, predictable-percentage? 88%.

I don’t like Lauren Kate’s writing style either. She can write, but she writes about the wrong things. Luce’s whinefests, Luce’s worries, Daniel’s worries, ENOUGH!! Concentrate on ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THEM! And they actually published the Fallen in Love thing...waste of paper...smh.

...Yeah. Uh... I’ll just leave it at that. I don’t think I’m going to get anything good out about this book. Well, okay, here’s something. The writing is good. The events, despite how confusing they got, were pretty good. Even if Luce was a blonde through the entire story. The climax was actually climactic, so I HAVE to read the final book now. But I’m not writing a review on it unless it’s so shockingly amazing I fall out of my chair. Sorry, Lauren Kate. These books just probably aren’t for me, but I’ve started, and so I shall finish.

BRT: Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Fever

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Number of Pages: 341

Rating: 4/5

Date Published: July 26, 2011

SUMMARY

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever. (Goodreads)

REVIEW

When I read the first book of this trilogy, WITHER, I really didn’t like it. After a while I gave the book a second chance and liked it more than I did the first time, so I went ahead and bought the second book. I’m glad to report I wasn’t disappointed with my choice.

This was my big gripe in the first book: Rhine is more worried about her love life than about her life withering away in general (or so it seemed), and there was also the fact I was trapped with her in one place through the entire story. I like stories that MOVE around.

Fever helped alleviate those old furies of mine. Especially since it makes Rhine realize that, “Wow, the outside world is possibly even more dangerous than my old life. But that doesn’t matter, because this is the best chance we have.” I LOVE that cramped up feeling, where you’re on the edge no matter what direction you turn. LOVE. IT.

This book was one book that thoroughly surprised me. For that, I take my hat off to Lauren DeStefano. A book hasn’t been able to do that for me in ages. For those who want to know what the surprise was, get your (hardback) book out and flip to page... 282. (;

Lauren DeStefano’s dystopian and doomed world is driven by lust and science and I love how she’s managed to stick to that; but it’s also balanced by Rhine’s faith that she’ll find her brother. I break this book up into about three parts. The first part takes place at the carnival (the origination for the cover). This part of the book is focused more on the lust, and understandably so. We also pick up a new protagonist here. A strange one, but one nonetheless. (:

Part 2 is compromised mostly of wandering, and focuses more on the scientific and nostalgic aspects of Rhine’s life. It feels like the book covers everything it needs to cover, and I love it. We meet more characters that I hope return later, and I love how the main love interest has become a main character. (That was another peeve in the last book.)

The final piece of the book is a blast from the past of book 1 and I can’t really say much about it for fear of spoilers, so I’ll just say it’s mostly science-based and horror-based. This part of the book truly was horrifying. Finally some old characters come back and help Rhine out, and we reach a very sudden ending.

That’s fine with me. This is the preparation for book 3.

This sequel was amazing. XD

BRT: Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Title: Supernaturally

Author: Kiersten White

Number of Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5

Date Published: July 26, 2011

SUMMARY

Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be...kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal. (Goodreads)

REVIEW

I am so glad to announce that I tried as hard as I could to think of something to give this a 4.5/5, and I couldn’t think of anything. SO GLAD. This sequel was fantastic, and I’m also glad to say it was able to surpass the first book with flying colors. I don’t see that often, and I’m happy this book could do it (especially since I love Evie.)

Actually, I did think of something to rate this 4.5/5, but oh well. I’m leaving it as it is. :P

So this new installation starts out with Evie being underwhelmed with everything in a normal life. And because of it, when she’s attacked by a paranormal and then offered a job from the IPCA, she takes it. The chapter names, Evie’s comments/rewording/bleeps, and the characters are all as much fun as in the last installment.

Except for two small things (What WOULD rate it down but I’m not going to do so).

1.       Evie, why did you get so whiny in a few parts of the book? I’m giving you leeway because a lot of it had to do with your new-normal lifestyle, and I got you were afraid it was the end of the world you weren’t accepted into college, but you didn’t need to spend 3 pages crying and moping about it.

2.       What happened with your relationship with Lend?! Lend is so boring in this book and you keep screwing things up with him because you think you’re not good enough. Oh my God stop MOPING and enjoy it!

That’s really the only few things that irked me throughout the book. Otherwise I loved it. Jack was... Okay, I’m going to quote Madeleine Rex on this one: he was like Peter Pan on steroids. I LOVED IT. He was hilarious, but this is another one of those books that didn’t completely shock me when I found out he wasn’t all he cracked up to be.

Watching Evie struggle with her faerie powers and learning about her origins was a fun thrill ride for me. A lot of people have mentioned this book wasn’t quite as fun as Paranormalcy, and I agree. Compared to Paranormalcy, this book happens to be a bit more forgettable. However, this is the in-between book of a trilogy. It’s the buildup to the final book. I can forgive it because of that.

There’s not much else to say. Reth comes back, YAY! I love Reth, and I think it was so cool Evie got to travel into Faeryland. (Or whatever this book calls it, LOL). I’m waiting eagerly for the chance to buy the next book. (: