Movie Review: Divergent

As I have mentioned - I knew I was going to have to go see the film version of the Divergent trilogy. One afternoon, after many phone calls to doctors, and hospitals, and basically everyone and their mom who wants money from me...I decided to treat myself to a matinee of Divergent.

Divergent:

Released: March 21st, 2014
Watched: April 16th, 2014
My Rating: 8/10 stars

Starring:
Shailene Woodley,  Theo James, Zoë Kravitz and Kate Winslet

Director:
Neil Burger


Firstly, I'd like to comment on the cast.  I thought that the choices made for each role were done brilliantly.  I didn't need to know who they were - I could already tell just by looking.  This doesn't always happen in a film adaptation of a book (remember Dudley from Harry Potter - that still makes me angry!!)

I thought that the adaptation of this book into a movie was done very well.  I am one who can admit that they can't possibly fit every single thing from a book into a movie.  The parts that they grazed over - were (in my opinion) grazable. Also - because I read all three books in succession - I can't be sure if the ending fit the ending of the first book - but it definitely ended perfectly set up for the second.

From a plot standpoint - this was a well rounded movie.  The action sequences were intense (and not vomit inducing!!) and the SFx were nicely done.  I don't feel as if you needed to read it to be able to completely understand the movie.  Nor, do I think you have to read it to see the movie.

Shailene handled her role as Tris with confidence (and timidness) that the character deserved.  And Theo James.  Hello, Good Sir!  Not only is he beautiful, but he sold the character of Four (Tobias) and his chemistry with Woodley was palpable.

I will have no problem going to see the next installment - especially if it means getting to continue the series AND seeing Theo James without a shirt on again.

Has anyone else seen the movie? What did you think?

Book Review: The Book Thief

The Book Thief

Written by:
Markus Zusak

Published: March 14th, 2006
I Completed: April 21st, 2014
My Rating: 5/5 stars

So I'm always looking for new books and movies to give a go.  I saw a preview last year for a new movie that was based on a book.  I was very intrigued as to the subject matter of the preview - and after some research decided that The Book Thief was going into my queue.

I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie because lets be honest, books tend to be better.  After I read a few other books this year, I finally decided to attack this book which was an entity of it's own. 552 pages is alot, especially compared to my normal size book which happens to be a little more than half of that.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I began the book, but as soon as I figured out the gist of it, I was completely enveloped.

The book is written in the perspective of death (grim reaper).  He's quite snarky (which I would expect of him) and his attention to detail is very specific.  Everything he mentions is important.  After all, he's entirely too busy releasing souls from bodies to discuss facts and details that are of no importance.

The story follows a little German girl named Liesel Meminger.   Death seems to be fascinated by this little girl, and her reactions to ongoings during World War II and the rise of Hitler.

In the very beginning - Liesel and her brother are on a train with their mother, on their way to a foster home.  The mother is unable to care for the children anymore and this was their only option.  Unfortunately - her brother gets sick and dies (very beginning of the story - I promise I'm not ruining anything!!).  They end up in a random German town to bury him.

After her brother is in the ground - one of the cemetery workers had accidentally left a book near his burial site.   Thus begins the illusive career of the Book Thief.

Liesel ends up with Hans and Rosa Huberman in Molching.  (Her foster parents, whom she calls Mama and Papa).  Here, she works with Hans on learning how to read and write.  The Gravediggers Handbook was the first of many stolen books.

The rest of the story follows her relationship with her foster parents, and the neighborhood kids.  And there also happens to be a Jew that hides in their basement at one point....

I don't want to give anything else away because I think that everyone should read it.   But following Liesel on her journey to learn to read, and use words is a beautiful story in and of itself - but the fact that she's growing up and maturing in Nazi Germany makes the story that much more poignant.  It's really a wonder to see the world through a child's innocent (or not) eyes.

The way the book was written - and split up - parts and chapters based on which book she had most recently stolen was extremely well done.  And I would definitely read another book written in the perspective of this particular grim reaper.

For those who want to know what happens without reading (cheaters!) you can read about it on the wiki page.

I'm pretty excited to see how the book translates into a movie - so stay tuned as I'm sure I'll let you know my thoughts about that too :)

Has anyone else read the book? What did you think? Have you seen the movie yet?

Movie Review: Muppets Most Wanted

 Muppets Most Wanted

Released: March 21, 2014
Watched: April 18th, 2014
My Rating: 7/10 stars

Starring:
Tina Fey, Ty Burrell and Ricky Gervais

Director:
James Bobin

Now, it's no secret that I didn't grow up watching the Muppets.  I knew who they were, but never really watched them or Sesame Street growing up.  I did, however, watch Fraggle Rock.  So I'm familiar with the puppetry.

When the new Muppets movie came out in 2011, I joined two of my favorite people to watch it in the theatre.  They both grew up watching, and loved everything Muppets.

All I knew is that I would be entertained, and soon meet my favorite Muppet.

It's also no secret that I love a good pun.  Therefore, my favorite Muppet (everyone has a favorite) was destined to be Fozzie Bear. 

I fell in love with the characters and storylines after watching the rebooted franchise, and proceeded to immerse myself into everything Muppet and become a fan (better late than never!).

When the sequel came out, my friend (HI TIM!) and I knew we would have to go see it.  Unfortunately I was in NC much longer than originally anticipated, so we had to wait a few weeks until we actually saw it.

This past Friday, we actually got our act together, and finally got to go see it.

Underwhelmed.

Tina Fey was great - Ty Burrell was great - Rickey Gervais was okay....

But the story line was meh.  There were definitely parts that we laughed at and ended up repeating, but as a whole - I think we were both expecting more.  The songs weren't as catchy - and we never really got to see a Muppet Show.

Not to mention - near the end of the movie, and guy opened up the theatre door and yelled "Suck my dick, Bitch!" so at one point I thought I was going to die while watching a not so great sequel.

I'll definitely watch it again when it's released, but I think the last movie was so well thought out and so well done, that I didn't realize how high my expectations were set.  Originally I was going to rate the movie a 6, but just didn't have the heart.

Side note, I decided while watching the movie that I'm pretty sure I need a stuffed Fozzie...so if anyone is feeling generous...hahahaha ;)

Best line (which, please correct me if I'm wrong) - "You've waka-ed your last waka!"

Has anyone else seen it? Do you want to?

TV Review: True Dectective

So I know I'm seriously late with this post, but I felt the need to share my thoughts on this show.

True Detective 

Starring:
Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Michelle Monaghan

Created By:
Nic Pizzolatto

Premiered:
Season 1 - January 12, 2014

My Rating:
Season 1 - 10 out of 10 stars!


When I first saw the promos for this show I thought to myself, you are going to have to watch this...McConaughey and Harrelson, uhm yes please!

I didn't really know what to expect other than some type of a cop drama.

When I went down to my parents they were completely caught up (I was six episodes behind - AKA hadn't started it yet).  My dad doesn't tend to love love love any show. He enjoys a good drama, but rarely finds a show he has to watch as soon as it comes out.

He gave me a goal for a week - which was to watch one episode a day so we could all watch the last two together.

Well, it took me about a day and a half to catch up.

The show follows two Louisiana Detectives, Marty Hart (Harrelson) and Rust Cohle (McConaughey), on their 17 year search for a serial killer.

This show, was so unbelievably well-done.  The acting was superb, the story line was compelling and kept you guessing.  The sub plots didn't take away from the main story line.  And I'm pretty sure everyone needed something along the lines of a Xanax during the finale.

So to back up just a bit from the finale...another aspect of this show that I completely loved was that it was short, sweet, and to the point.  There were only 8 episodes in the series, and they aired in 8 consecutive weeks! (I personally like it like that, no waiting!)

They could have drawn it out a few more episodes, but why? It was perfect! Every episode ended with you wanting to see the next.  And it was wrapped up as neatly as Rust and Marty could have possibly done.

I also enjoyed to inclusion of the "Yellow King".  It brought a literary aspect into the series.  The myth and legends that can be incorporated into a serial killers reasoning fascinate me, and this particular legend is extremely interesting. 

This has been the year of McConaughey - and he was (at least in my opinion) the true detective - as well as the top actor.  I will be surprised if he doesn't take home an Emmy for his portrayal of  one of TVs most complicated characters.

The "True Detective" Wiki page doesn't seem to be quite finished - but I'm sure there will be a plethra of information that one may have missed the first time around.  This seems to be one of those shows that, the more you watch, the more you see.

So if you haven't seen it yet (I didn't want to really give anything away in the post just in case...), I highly recommend it.

As for having a second season - I don't think they should.  It should be a mini-series that ends as well as it began.  If they did a second season - who would it follow? Thoughts??

Anyone else love it? Anyone hate it? If you hated it, I need specific reasons as to why....

I may have to rewatch the season.  Just thinking about it makes me want to.....


 

Excuse my absence as of late....

So, as you've noticed (or not) I've been absent from the blogosphere for past month and a half-ish.  I recently made my way down to my parents place in Burnsville, NC.  I attempted to go down there in between my infusions (6 weeks apart).  My goal for this trip was to find myself some new doctors in order to relocate down to my parents and get a "fresh start" as they say.  If nothing makes sense below - I do apologize. A lot of stuff happened over a few weeks period of time...

Unfortunately, while I was there, I was sicker than I have been in a long time.  Of course this is relatively speaking, since I'm pretty much sick every day.  But let me back track a bit...

My mom found the best GI doctor in the area by leaps and bounds.  This guy is good. He was a no-BS kind of guy.  I met with him - basically to see if I liked him, and he wanted to take me on as a patient.  I believe he said that my case is very "interesting".  He didn't want to keep giving me the same tests that I have had over and over again - which is good, since I basically glow in the dark as it is.  There was, however, one test that he ran on me that hadn't been run on me due to potential issues.

Whelp! Issues were found.  So - there is a test called a "Capsule Endoscopy".  Basically, you swallow a camera and it films your insides.  The reason that this hasn't been run on me, is due to the fear of needing emergency surgery due to the capsule getting stuck.  (Malrotation is really a bitch - though not as bitchy as Crohn's).  Well this new Doc told me about a Patency Capsule.  Basically a dummy pill.  So - you swallow this pill (way bigger than a horse pill - like it was HUGE!) and then 24 hours later you get an X-ray to see if it's still there.  After about 30 hours it begins to disolve. No harm - no foul...

Not so much with me.  X-ray showed that the capsule got stuck mid-intestine. I was told if there was nausea, vomiting or pain that lasted more than 4-8 hours to go to the ER.  Well - I took the pill on a Thursday, X-Ray that Friday, ER that Saturday - then they sent me home in the same general health I was in when I got there.  The X-ray showed no issues and they didn't want to keep me (even though I wanted to stay, which I never want to stay). Went home, went easy on eating - switched to my lovely array of jellos and gatorades. By Tuesday - I couldn't even tolerate water or ice, then I started to throw up. I never throw up - this was serious...

My father proceeded to take me to Asheville - about an hour away from my parents house.  After finally getting my new doctor on the phone he was able to tell the ER docs what test to run. 

They ran a CT Enterography with and without contrast.  Basically I had to drink three delightfully grotesque bottles of Barium - think Grape flavored Glue like substance.  Then they take me in for a scan, then give me IV contrast (makes you feel like you've wet yourself - which I did NOT) and then we waited for the results.

Results came back - and for the first time in a long time - they actually showed something.  I had a partial bowel obstruction AND a section of inflamed Crohn's in the center of my intestines.  They then had me admitted (they couldn't fit me in the hospital I was already in so they transported me via Ambulance to the sister hospital).

The next few days are kind of a blur.  Nothing to eat or drink - just ice chips which I didn't even want.  I was in an immense amount of pain and had no idea what the plan of action was.

Now - before all of this had happened, I was supposed to return to PA for my next Remicade infusion.  Since I was admitted to the hospital there was no way I would make it home in time to get my infusion - so the doctors set out to get my my infusion while I was an inpatient. 

Well this turned into a whole ordeal.  Basically - since I was an inpatient, the hospital didn't want to give me my infusion until I was discharged so they could bill my insurance. That's right! Don't give the girl who is in severe pain something she needs to you can make all of your money.  Cause bottom line - money is really all that matters.

Luckily the on call GI doctor (who worked with my new doctor) said she needs this, give it to her!  So that Friday, I got my Remicade infusion.  **Fun fact - I actually brought up my blog post from my "Follow Me" Remicade treatment so the nurses would know how to do the infusion.  (They never do it in patient so my previous anal notes actually helped me!)

At this point - they started me on IV steroids (THE WORST!!) in order to get the inflammation to recede. But nothing else was done - no other tests, no other treatments - didn't even speak to a surgeon regarding the blockage...this to me was seriously strange.

Then Saturday came.  First of all, weekends in hospitals suck.  No one is there and you basically just have to push through and hope for Monday to come without any issues. Second of all - the doctors switch up on Saturdays.  So the general Doc I had been working with (who cared about the amount of pain I was in) and the GI doctor who was my proxy to my new doctor were all replaced with the following weeks on call docs. 

The new general doctor was unbelievably horrible.  He was a squirrelly little man who didn't discuss decisions with you.  He came in and met me and left.  Next thing I know he advanced my diet and lowered my pain and nausea meds.  (NO SENSE!) Then the new GI doc came in and he said they were going to start me on a new drug called Imuran (autoimmune drug).  Imuran takes anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months to actually do anything.  It also has some scary side effects (lymphoma, skin cancer etc...) which is why my doctor in PA hadn't put me on it yet. 

I was hoping since I hadn't eaten in days I would be able to move up the "food chain" (clear liquids -> full liquids -> low residue diet) within a day or so and get out of the hospital.

Well - I couldn't tolerate the full liquids (pudding and cream of chicken soup).  I got seriously sick again - and didn't have anything to help rid me of the symptoms. 

Sunday comes around - and I had cried the previous evening to my nurses because I was so upset and uncomfortable.  I had no doctors to talk to, and I was extremely alone and depressed.  I ended up writing a list (like full page, front and back) of issues that I had.  My mom joined me to meet with the doctors on Sunday - and basically she felt like (and I did too) that the doctors weren't doing anything actively to help me.  They cared about getting me off of pain killers and out of the hospital.  Not actually treating the obstruction or imflammation.  I asked them to removed me from full liquids and what else we could do.

NO ONE would answer me.  I couldn't get a hold of my new doctor, and the replacement doctors were no good.

Well - my dear Deddy came to the hospital Monday morning.  And boy, I've never seen John John talk to people the way he did.  He stood up for me and questioned the doctors.  The doctor was basically talking in circles.  His primary concern was me being on pain killers.  My dad said - okay so what does she do about the pain.  He said the Imuran would help (again not for 6 weeks to 3 months).  My dad asked what I am supposed to do in the meantime.  The doc said I can't be on pain killers.  My dad asked again what am I supposed to do (meanwhile I understand where the doctor is coming from - but he refused to be questioned or to see my point of view).  My dad asked why I had not consulted with a surgeon - and the GI doctor said - I'm not a surgeon.  I kid you not.  RIDICULOUS! I asked to be treated like I was an out of state patient going back to PA to continue treatment and asked to be discharged. 

Trying to explain to someone what it feels like to be in constant pain - every single day - is difficult - and even more difficult to do without getting emotional (add steroids and you've got a party!). I felt like the doctors were judging me, and had no want to help me get better.  I've never felt like that "patient" before.  I'm usually the quiet one who waits patiently and doesn't make a fuss.  This hospital stay was just the pits.

Fast-forward to the next day - and I met with the afformentioned new doctor.  He basically said that he thinks I'm immune to medicinal therapies and that I need to get in to see a surgeon sooner rather than later.  So currently - I'm scheduled to visit with a GI doc at the Cleveland Clinic in June.  I'm also trying to get in to re meet with the new head of Colorectal surgery at Temple.  Now that I have test results showing where things aren't working, I'm hoping someone will be able to help correct my issues and make me feel better.

So as shitty of an experience that I had, I'm extremely happy to at least have things to work with now. 

As for the move to North Carolina - well lets just say it's on hold for the moment. I need to get better before I do anything. 

Thanks for listening to my rant!! If you have questions...I'm an open book (but you probably already knew that already.

Next subjects will be much more fun! True Detective, Divergent, Mud....you know entertainment stuff ;)

bright side of NC happened to be these faces...and some others!

O-S-C-A-R-S 2014

Obviously I love movies! This is the first year that I actually watched all of the nominees for best picture (before the awards, and down to the wire) as well as performances for the top acting awards.  This was a much harder task than it would have been a few years ago since now they nominate between 9 and 10 awards each year (used to be 5, which is a much more reasonable watching goal!)

The one problem that I already have with this years nominations, is the fact that Lee Daniels' The Butler was not nominated for anything!! I thought that movie was one of the best movies I had ever seen.  Every human emotion you can have, I had while watching the movie.

With that being said - here are my predictions:

Best Picture: 

I'm going to have a few "I can't choose" throughout this post.  For best picture, I can't decide between 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle.  I'm leaning towards American Hustle because I was so into the movie while I was watching it.  However, I thought that both were outstanding movies.  They a both based on true stories (which I think makes them better!), but for entertaining purposes, I think American Hustle just edges out 12 Years by a smidgen.  I wouldn't be surprised if either wins.  

 

As for the other nominees....I thought "her" was absolutely dreadful.  I couldn't even finish it. I ended up reading a synopsis for it online, and did not regret my decision to stop watching it.  I know you need to be able to suspend your disbelief for movies - but maybe I'm getting old, because I thought this was ludicrous! However, I think Nebraska could be a dark horse in this competition.  It was a great movie...the cast was superb in their own roles and the story line seemed to be a fresh take on "crazy old dad". 

 

Dallas Buyers Club, Captain Phillips, and Philomena were all good movies (and all based on true stories!!), but they would not get my vote for best picture. 

 

The Wolf of Wall Street (boats - based on a true story), was an okay movie, but I'm not quite sure why it was nominated for BP. I guess since I watched it after the nominations were released that I was expecting more from it, which ended up leaving me underwhelmed. Lastly, Gravity was a stunningly beautiful movie, pushing the limits of special effects, but I wouldn't volunteer to watch it again. 

Best Actor:
Christian Bale (American Hustle)
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

I think everyone but Leo could take this award.  I'd say it's going to be a close race between Ejiofor and McConaughey. If I had to pick (which I'm making myself) I'm going with McConaughey.

Best Actress:
Amy Adams (American Hustle)
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

I'm going to bump this down between two again.  Blanchett and Streep both played extremely complex roles and sold them perfectly.  Again - wouldn't be surprised if Adams or Dench take it. (Bullock didn't really impress me). My choice to win is Meryl.  It will most likely always be Meryl.

Best Supporting Actor:
Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Salve)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

All of these rolls were played well.  Abdi was convincing (and a newcomer!), Cooper played crazy like Cooper does - well.  Hill was a sleazy stockbroker and one of the best roles I've seen him in. Fassbender took on an extremely difficult role, and did a fantastical job at it.  But in my mind, Leto wins.  Even if he doesn't win, he wins.  Leto's first role in 6+ years, and it was a brilliant performance.

Best Supporting Actress:

Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)

Julia Roberts (August: Osage County

Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)

Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)

June Squibb (Nebraska)

This is another hard category. Each of the roles was done extremely well.  I would not be surprised if any of the nominees takes Oscar home, but my vote goes to Nyong'o. She poured her heart and soul into this role, and in my mind, was an extremely intricate part to the movie.  I'm excited to see future roles that she takes on!

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)

Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)

David O. Russell (American Hustle)

Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Alexander Payne (Nebraska)

How does one choose best director? I'd say that it's about who takes a screenplay and makes the most out of the movie. I'm stuck between McQueen, Russell, and Payne.  All three movies were captivating, and something I would watch again.  My vote would have to go to McQueen.  He took an extremely hard subject, and kept it that way: hard and real. 

The rest, I'll just give you my choices, some of which will be based on names since I'm not sure how to judge them. 

Best Screenplay made directly for Screen:

Nebraska - Bob Nelson

Best Screenplay based on previously written material:

12 Years a Slave - John Ridley

Best Animated Feature:

Frozen

Best Foreign Language Film:

The Great Beauty - Italy (like the title)

Cinematography:

Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki

Editing:

12 Years a Slave - Joe Walker

Production Design:

12 Years a Slave - Adam Sockhausen & Alice Baker

Costume Design:

American Hustle - Michael Wilkinson

Makeup and Hairstyling:

Dallas Buyers Club - Adruitha Lee & Robin Matthews

Original Score:

Philomena - Alexandre Desplat

Original Song:

Frozen - Let It Go - Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez

Sound Mixing:

Inside Llewyn Davis - Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff & Peter F. Kurland

Sound Editing:

Lone Survivor - Wylie Stateman

Visual Effects:

Gravity - Timothy Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk & Neil Corbould

Documentary: Feature:

Cutie and the Boxer - Zachary Heinzerling & Lydia Dean Pilcher

Documentary: Short Subject:

Facing Fear - Jason Cohen

Short Film: Animated:

Feral - Daniel Sousa & Dan Golden

Short Film: Live Action:

Just Before Losing Everything - Xavier Legrand

So there's my obscenely long post about who I think (or more like who I would vote for) will win an Oscar this evening.   No matter what, I'm excited for Ellen to host. 

For a complete list of nominees visit here!!!!!!

So do you agree with any of my predictions, or vehemently disagree with any?? Let me know your thoughts :)

Book Review: Divergent Trilogy

On my question to read at least 24 books this year, I have officially added 3.  I completed the Divergent Trilogy I read one right after the other without composing my thoughts, so if it seems off I do apologize.

Veronica Roth created a post-apocolyptic type society following the main characters of Beatrice (Tris) Prior and Tobias (Four) Eaton. 

Divergent
Published: February 28th, 2012
I Completed: February 14th, 2014
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This book follows Tris in a society where the community is divided into five factions.  Abnegation (selfless), Amity (peaceful), Candor (honest), Dauntless (brave) and Erudite (intelligent). These factions represent different qualities that their congress should represent.  The book begins on "Choosing Day".  Basically, a test is run (very sci-fi!) to determine which faction you belong to.  Tris happens to be Divergent - meaning the test did not determine not just one faction.  The special-ness of Tris is that she not only tested well for two, but for three Abnegation (where she came from), Erudite and Dauntless. She is told by her test instructor to hide the fact that she is Divergent - which she comes to find out is not something you want anyone to know.

The book then follows her during her initiation into the faction of her choosing (Dauntless) where not every initiate becomes a member of Dauntless.  If you fail to get through initiation (this goes for all of the factions) you then become faction less - the faction less is not a desirable position in their community.  They provide the city with the jobs that no one wants and basically are either forgotten about or detested. Tris's brother: Caleb switch from Abnegation to Erudite, which came to the entire family as quite a shock.

She proceeds to make friends and enemies - as well as push herself to the limits.  Dauntless do crazy things such as jump off moving trains, and off of buildings, they fight (to be graded on) absolute insanity! It really tests who a person is.

Without ruining the book for you - it is filled with action and tests.  Tris is a very relatable character. She uses her abilities to think and be selfless (the other factions she tested into) and the book takes you (via Tris) through the initiation process as well as her getting to know her instructor: Four. ;)

There is a movie coming out in the next few weeks, and I happen to be extremely excited about it.

Don't continue if you want to read the books....spoilers are inevitable. 

Faction Symbols from L to R
Dauntless, Erudite, Candor, Abnegation and Amity

Insurgent
Published: May 1st, 2012
I Completed: February 22, 2014
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This book begins directly after book Divergent ends.  Following the Dauntless attack (forced by Erudite) on Abnegation. Tris tries to deal with what she did during the attack (she killed her best friend's boyfriend and watched both of her parents die).

Four finds out that his mom (Evelyn) is not dead, and she has been living with the faction less.

Erudite then begins to become a force of nature through Jeanine Matthews (she wants to kill all Divergent) and attempts to collect a secret that Four's father (Marcus - leader of Abnegation) holds in order to destroy it. No one knows what the secret is, but they know it shouldn't be destroyed. Four doesn't believe in his father (due to abuse as a child), but Tris does.  Four starts working with his mother and her faction less troops.  When they set out to overtake Jeanine (and Erudite with it) (oh btw - Caleb is working with Jeanine), Tris works with Marcus to attempt to release what information is hidden.

A bunch of other stuff happens - but at the end, a video is released explaining what they are there for and why. Basically, the world went to hell in a hand basket and they reset a whole bunch of people's memories and set them up in this city.  Built the idea of factions to eventually begin to create evolved beings - the Divergent.


Allegiant
Published: October 22nd, 2013
I Completed: March 1st, 2014
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Again - this book begins after the previous installment (Insurgent).  Without giving too much away (felt like I had to give some stuff away in the previous two), Tris, Four and others flee the city to go beyond the fence - not knowing what is there.

They proceed to find out that they are a surveillance community and they are a "test" city.

The battle of what is right and wrong - who to believe and who not to is a constant struggle throughout the series - but particularly in this one. Basically, everything these "refugees" have known has been a lie and they have to determine if they let it continue or not.


My Final Thoughts: 
Lots of deaths throughout the series - like a few in each book.  I was prepared to hate the final book because everyone else said it sucked.  I completely see their point of view - but I guess I was so prepared to hate it, that it wasn't as bad in my mind as I thought it could have been.

I liked the world that Roth created- as well as her writing style.  Though the third book was written in either Tris or Tobais' (Four) POV which was a difference to get used to. I think if she wants to, she could even continue the story - not in anyone in particular's POV but just as a "History of the Experiment" type thing.  And the best thing this book did, was pull me through the emotions of the characters.  It was very Hunger Games-esque, but went a very different route - more so science fiction - set further in the future.

I know I wrapped these up pretty quickly, but I did not want to over-share (I know, me, right?!?) and ruin it for anyone who does want to read them all.  However, you can check out the Divergent Wiki site if you want to know details and skip the reading part - but I know I'm excited for them to turn the books into movies!!

I know some of you disagree with some of my thoughts, but would you care to share them? Have you read them or want to?