Highlights from the Los Angeles Times Book Festival 2014

Allegiant + Pretty Little Liars: Unbelievable | The End of Act #1

I can't even begin to describe this book. It was definitely my favorite book in the series and the most eye opening. All the questions we have are answered and the end of book 2 set up book 3 perfectly. In book 3 we find out why Tris and her gang live the way they live, we find out about Tris' mother, and who is stronger between Tris and Four. I like that we got to find more out about Natalie Prior. I felt like the other books were spent finding out about Tobias' family but this book was all about Tris' family.

Honestly, Natalie was way to smart and cunning in book 1 to be just a regular abnegation

citizen. My favorite thing about this book was seeing the personal progression of Tris and Four. Not their progression as a couple but as their individual selves. In Book 3 Tris becomes herself. During books 1 and 2, Tris is struggling to fit in but in book 3 she has finally come into her own, able to trust herself and has clearly learned from her mistakes. I almost felt like in book 3 I was seeing a completely different person than in book 1 or 2. Four on the other hand seems like he is unraveling. In the beginning we meet Four as this strong man who has made his place in the world despite his violent childhood, but by book 3 it's clear that he never really let any of his past go and he is still haunted by his demons. He is unable to handle any kind of emotion or face any kind of confrontation. He runs away like a scared little boy and trusts the wrong people. I began to really not like Four in this last novel but I can appreciate the mental breakdown that he is experiencing. 

Lastly, the death heard around the world. I had heard rumors that Tris dies in the last book but I tried to push it out of my mind as much as possible while reading. I didn't really believe that she had died until the last couple of pages. When each ending chapter was only narrated by Four, I knew it had to be true. I could barely read on after that. Killing off a main character at the end of a book like that takes balls! Usually it's the strong manly man who dies to save his peers but in this it was a strong female character who dies in order to save the ones she loves and I can respect that. This was by far my favorite book in the series.  

This is the fourth installment in the Pretty Little Liars series and some say it's the end of Act 1. This novel rounds out and ties up all the loose ends from books 1-3. Any questions you might've had get answered in this book....or so you think. I actually really liked this book. Hanna survives the hit and run only to be faced with not remembering anything that happened that night. The two biggest shockers for me include Jenna and Ali being in cahoots about the fireworks incident and Mona being A. I still don't necessarily believe the story about Jenna and Ali setting that whole thing up because as we all know nothing is ever what it seems in this series. I'd also heard rumors that Mona was A and that she dies in this series. The show also makes Mona the first A so I was already pretty keen to that fact. Her dying was a bit sad but it had to happen. To round out the book and tie up loose ends you had to kill Mona off. I can't even image how the show comes up with story lines since most things are different.With Toby gone and now Mona, I can't even fathom who could be the next A. It's weird though because it took the show four years to get to Spencer "remembering" what happened between her and Ali the night she went missing but only about two years to bring in the whole Ian murder stuff. Interesting. And is it just me or is Wilden way too nice in these books? He actually seems like a nice cop instead of a creepy guy looking for a story. I also kind of like the whole Lucas and Hanna thing. TV Lucas always seemed a bit creepy but book Lucas doesn't seem so bad granted I guess that means no book Caleb. hmmm..questions questions. I feel like now that the first act is over the books are going to take a drastic turn from the show or visa versa. I've even heard rumors about twins. This could get very interesting!

S.

Insurgent + Perfect + March Round Up

I feel like I read this book to long ago to even remember anything exciting about it. All I remember was Tris and Four fighting in almost every other chapter. They kept way too many secrets from each other and I really didn't know if they were going to make it. This is the book where Tris and Four are kind of on the same reckless path and they can either learn from their mistakes or keep making them. In book three we find out who actually learned anything and who didn't. I find that the second book in a series doesn't grab my interest or isn't as memorable as I would like it to be. Second books kind of answer the question "okay..now what?" Sadly, this was my least favorite book in the series. 

This is the 3rd book in the Pretty Little Liars series and I have to read a summary of the book to even remember what happened....okay just read a summary and I still know nothing. This one wasn't one of my favorites. Each time I read one of these books I compare it to the TV show to see how much they left in or took out. Obviously with Toby being gone things change drastically but a lot of things are surprisingly the same. The biggest shocker that happened in this book that is the same in the show is at the end when Hanna gets hit by the car. That part made me want to read onto the 4th book (which was by far better than this one). I'll have way more comments on the 4th one.

March

Flawless

Insurgent

Perfect

What I learned in March:

• March was my lazy month. I only read three books which put be way behind. After finishing today's book I am officially 13 books behind 

February Round Up!

Fifty Shades Freed

Divergent

World War Z

Labor Day

Pretty Little Liars

What did I learn this month?

• I (again) need to pick up the pace. I only read 5 books this month (again)
• I can get through about two books a week if I really set my mind to it. 
• About 6 books behind on my book challenge :[

S.

Oh You Pretty Little Liars...

I've been a loyal viewer of the Pretty Little Liars television series ever since it first aired back in 2010. After watching it for four years I'm more confused than ever. I'm not sure who to believe A is. It went from Toby to Ian to Mona to Ezra and now to Mrs. Dilaurentes herself. I figured it was time to read the books thinking they would shed some light on this crazy show. I heard rumors that the books are completely different than the actual series which could be completely awesome or completely annoying. Either way the books are turning out to be quite interesting. This first book chronicles Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily after their BFF Alison goes missing and turns up dead. This first book is pretty well translated in the first season of PLL. I feel like I'm reliving all of A's crazy shenanigans over again, but I like it. This book gives subtle hints at Mona being A which is pretty clever and I'm happy the show at least stuck to that aspect. There are some pretty big differences in the way the characters are portrayed and the tone of the book in general though. Emily and Spencer are portrayed just like their characters on screen but in the books Hanna is much more slutty and Aria is much more of bitch. The tone of the books is much more adult. The fact that Hanna is slutty, they talk about thongs and blatantly about sex. They smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. Even the sexual stuff between Jenna and Toby is watered down in the show. In the show I just remember Toby and Jenna "kissing" but in the book Toby "molests" Jenna. It's very different but I like the more adult tone of the book and I'm looking forward to the rest of the books.

After reading the first book in this series I had to see what was going to happen next. Flawless is the next installment in the Pretty Little Liars series. This is where I believe the book and television show start going in different directions. There are a couple things that stay the same but most are different. I personally don't remember Sean and Aria dating in the show and I don't remember Hanna being so crazy when it came to Sean, but I do remember Toby and Emily going to a dance. These are minor changes that make a big difference. The craziest thing about this book that will effect the rest of the series is the fact that Toby dies in the last part of the book. Can we say #mindblown!? I did not see that coming at all. Getting back into this series has made me want to go back and re-watch the entire series to see what they changed and didn't change. I also fell like the books are all running together like I'll forget if something happened in the first or second book. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing. Either way the series is turning out to be pleasantly awesome. I picked up the third book today so look out for the review about that soon!

S.

World War Z & Labor Day

I heard rumors that this book was completely different than the movie that came out starring Brad Pitt, and it turns out the rumors were really true. It's as if the movie just took the title of the book and decided to make a hollywood zombie movie out of it. I have to say the book wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. I think the idea of stories chronicling the "Zombie War" is a cool idea but when I actually read the stories, I wasn't that interested. I'd say about 75% of the book was filled with military stories. Granted, I do love the military and stores about it, but these just didn't hold my interest. The two stories I liked the most were told by actual civilians who had made it through the "Zombie War". There was one military story I liked that it encompassed actual action and not just special tactics used in the war. The story was about a woman names Christina who's plane had gone down, all her other plane mates had died. Christina was able to get a radio signal and she had the help of this anonymous woman whose job it was to help military officials. After Christina was rescued, we find out her radio had gone out before her plane even crashed and there was no person who actually existed on the other end of the radio. I'm not sure if it was by the hand of God or just her hallucinating but that was an amazing/trippy story. Another story was about an Asian man who was so wrapped up in his computer that he never realized that his parents were gone. He spent three days climbing down from his nineteenth floor apartment with sheets. To this day he still does not know what happened to his parents. Besides these two stories I felt like there was something missing. It's like the when the punchline of a joke is missing. The reviews said this novel was supposed to be chilling but there was something missing from the eye witness accounts. Even though this book is obviously a work of fiction, I was amazed at how someone could write an entire HISTORICAL novel without any real facts. The way Brooks wrote about each instance with such depth was pretty amazing. I'm not sure if i could ever do that. 

(Okay, this is going to be a really short review). I must say, this might be the first time I liked a movie more than its original book. I read this book because I recently saw the movie version of it starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. I cried three times. I am not a movie crier but this one really got to me. The entire movie was beautiful from beginning to end. Both the book and movie are about the love, the loss of love, and making a home where you'd least expect it. This book is filled with beautiful quotes and the movie took those quotes and put them on screen. The fact last I loved the movie so much is making it hard for me to talk about the book. The book was forgettable, the movie will stay in my heart for a long time. 

S.

Divergent

"One Choice Can Transform You"

At first I wasn't sure if this book/ series would interest me which is why I only have the first book in my collection. I know there is a big following for this series and I kept hearing that this book is just like Hunger Games which kind of turned me away because I wasn't the biggest fan of that series. After reading this first book, I don't think this book is anything like The Hunger Games series. I actually enjoyed this first book a lot more than Hunger Games. I might need to read Hunger Games again but at this point I definitely like Divergent better. This book is all about the struggle to fit in. Not only fitting in but feeling like you belong. It's one thing to fit in but to actually feel like you belong and are a part of something, that is a different and uplifting feeling. Today's world is all about following the latest trends to fit in with the "in crowd". You can struggle all you're life to "fit in" but sometimes you will never feel like you actually belong. Sometimes you might feel the most comfortable with a group that isn't the most popular but that's okay if you personally feel like you belong there. In Divergent, Tris "fit in" in Abnegation but she never felt like she belonged until she made the choice to become Dauntless. As dangerous as this choice was, she knew it was the right one and I respect that. 

I also respect the sexiness level of the book. Tris is a 16 year old girl and she is dealing with 16 year old feelings, especially when it comes to Four. I thought the way their relationship blossomed was actually very realistic. Starting out with subtle flirtations and transitioning into something more. Granted the boyfriend/ girlfriend title seemed to come a little quick but sometimes when you know it's right there shouldn't be any holding back. I am actually very excited to see where this relationship goes. 

The only similarity I can see between Hunger Games and Divergent  is the barbarity of it all. I thought all the teenage killing in Hunger Games  was pretty gruesome. Also, I hadn't been exposed to anything like that before. Granted there wasn't too much killing in Divergent but all the fighting and kids getting beat up was a bit overwhelming. I know it's just a book but I am  a softy when it comes to physical fighting. I mean I could barley watch Shia get beat up in Lawless  or an MMA fight on the television at Buffalo Wild Wings the other day, but that's besides the point.

Overall, I thought this book was very entertaining. I was quite surprised that I liked it so much and I honestly cannot wait to see the movie now. I'll read the other books a little later in the challenge so look for those reviews coming soon. 

S.