Movie Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Hello! How's everyone doing? I'm so glad I have a free time today so I can upload my review of the last movie I've watched :)

I have been waiting for this movie to come out for so long because I am a fan of the book. if you want to read my book review, you can read it here. I also liked how the trailer showed how "dark" it is and that the producers & director didn't made it a PG 13 movie like what they did to Vampire Academy (that's so disappointing). I watched this with my fiance (who haven't read the book) and his sister (another fan of the book) on the 1st weekend airing. 

And I am so glad Veronica Roth is a co-producer because this movie really came out right off the book! Just like a live-action version :)

Synopsis:

"In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late." -IMDB

CASTS:

Shailene Woodley as Beatrice "Tris" Prior

Theo James as Four

Ashley Judd as Natalie Prior

Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews

To view all the cast click here.

MY REVIEW:

I'll make this review sweet & short. This movie is awesome! I can't believe how good it is, really. It's like how Hunger Games the movie is made, with the right emotions & "reality" that the story has in the book. It also contains majority of the important scenes to create the story and I think it's enough for those viewers who have not read the book itself. I asked my fiance if he enjoyed the movie & if he understood the story, and he said yes to both. Even my officemates (both gender) who watched it w/o any background of the book enjoyed it too! 

The side of me that is a fan of the book? I really had no problem with any of it. I hoped there are more scenes included but I understand that they can't fit everything in the movie. Hey, it's already over 2 hrs hehe I shouldn't be complaining anymore :) 

I also have no complaints with the casts. They really did a great job in hiring everyone because they did a fantastic job in putting life to the characters that I loved so much in the book. I especially love Theo as Four (he's such a total hunk hehe) & Shailene as Tris (doesn't she look like Kate Winslet on some angle?) because they have a believable on-screen chemistry and I love how their characters developed throughout the story. I'm excited to see more of them :)

Over-all Rating: 5/5

The best book to movie translation so far in my opinion. The acting is great, the fight scenes are awesome & the setting/props/production is superb! I can't wait for Insurgent next year and my then hubby already agreed to watch it with me again. This is really a must see movie so do watch it with your special someone or friends and I promise that you won't regret any minute of it :)

Thank you for dropping by!

Gale Reads: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Happy Monday! 

I have finished a book this weekend! Divergent by Veronica Roth has been with me since last year but I can't seem to start reading it even though there were a lot of people saying this is a good book. Luckily, I got some inspirations last Friday and read this overnight. 

TITLE: Divergent
AUTHOR: Veronica Roth
SERIES: Divergent Trilogy - 1st book
GENRE: Dystopian, Young Adult, Love Story
SYNOPSIS:
In the pre-apocalypse world, the society got divided into 5 factions to maintain order and prevent war from happening. Each faction lives in which core value they believe is needed to have peace...example, the abnegation believes that selfishness is the reason for trouble so they live by becoming selfless.

Once you reached 16, you will need to decide which faction you want to belong to for the rest of your life. Will you stay with your family and continue with the beliefs you grew up in or will you leave them and join another? That is the question that troubles Beatrice Prior's mind because this year is her 16th birthday and she needs to decide for her future.


FACTIONS SUMMARY: 

Abnegation -  the selfless
Amity - the peaceful
Candor - the honest
Dauntless - the brave
Erudite - the intelligent


COVER TALK:
I love the cover! It is actually almost the symbol for the faction Dauntless which is fire. I really liked the color combination and the artistic feel it gives. I'm glad the publisher decided to go with symbolic pictures as covers compared to the usual that uses models.

4/5 :)

MY THOUGHTS:

I want to start by saying, this book is awesome! I really enjoyed reading it and there are no dull moments. All the scenes are entertaining to read and I know that each of them is necessary in the story--no fillers just to make the book longer. They were actually essential to the development of the characters and the progress of the story. And the world building is really good because I can imagine everything clearly as if I was there living with them.

I also loved all the characters in the book because each one of them have a certain role to fulfill to make the story complete. I even liked the way the villains were portrayed. You can also see them mature after every event which is definitely a good thing because it wouldn't be believable if they stayed as naive 16 year olds after all the things they went through.

I want to give another point on how Roth created the love story. It was not rushed like the other YA books around wherein the female fell hopelessly in love with a handsome young man as soon as she saw him. I'm not really into the "love at first sight" books that much anymore and I now prefer stories where the 2 will grow affection with each other as time passes by because that's more realistic and believable. That is why I loved the fact that even though I know she will fall for him in the end and they will become a couple, I still enjoyed reading on how their feelings developed for each other. (*I almost slipped and gave a spoiler haha)

The only thing that I didn't quite get is the fact that there were no adults present in the Dauntless compound which is unbelievable. Everyone is below 20 years old, which I'm not sure if there's a story behind that and will be known in the next book or if it's really not part of the story. So I will get back to you about that once I've picked up the next installment which is Insurgent.

So yeah, those are my thought on the book Divergent. This is really popular just like the Hunger Games (which I still haven't read yet) and I can't believe I have just read it now especially because the last part of the trilogy is gonna come out this year already. Anyway, better late than never, right? Oh, and there's already a movie on the works which I am excited to see. I hope it comes out this year too :)


OVER-ALL RATING: 4.5/5

Super love this book. It is very entertaining and a real page turner. Veronica Roth is a good writer and I can't believe this is her first book because the way she writes is way better than other authors that I have read. I can't wait to read Insurgent to know what happens to Tris and the gang :)


Have you guys read this already? 


Thanks for dropping by!

Gale Reads: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I just finished another book, it's called Delirium. This is a much raved book and I got curious what is all the fuss about. My bf's sister kindly let me borrow her copy even if it is an autographed one (Lauren Oliver came to Manila not too long ago) because she also loves the story and she wants me to read it too. So I did. This book has been with me for a week now but I just started reading it a couple of days ago.

TITLE: Delirium

AUTHOR: Lauren Oliver

GENRE: Dystopian, Love story, Young Adult

PART OF A SERIES? Yes -- a Trilogy 

SYNOPSIS: (from http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/delirium.php)

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing.

They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

MY REVIEW:

How can I say this, I didn't totally hate it but I am not totally thrilled about it either. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any problem with the author. I actually love her writing style and I have not encountered any grammatical problems inside. The setting is also great. It takes a creative mind to be able to conjure up a world like the Portland in Delirium. The way she described the place made me feel like I traveled into the future to the era when this set-up is happening. I can really imagine every scenario very easily.

My problem is the main character....The first 2/3 of the book was so hard for me to read...I can usually finish a book in a day but this book took me 3 or 4 days to finish because I hated Lena. She's so whiny, has a low self-esteem and such a scaredy-cat. I also am not a fan of the "all I can think of is him" attitude because it made me bored, in all honesty. I guess it's my fault. I should have expected it since this is a YA book and it is about a girl who felt love for the first time. But still, I got bored and a little irritated just by being inside Lena's head. I guess I didn't get to love her character as much as a reader should to appreciate the whole story.

I prefer stronger willed female characters. I wanted someone who can fight for what she wants and stick with it. Someone who is not always a damsel-in-distress. If she can fight physically, then that's a very big plus for me but it is not a requirement...haha it sounds like a job advertisement. In summary, I just hate a whiny person who always think she's never understood and that she's not pretty enough and she keeps on repeating those statements over and over and over again. It can make me so irritated that I wanted to kill her haha :)

On the positive note, I like Alex and Hana a lot. They are strong and smart and a lot more exciting. I also enjoyed the unusual ending. The last 1/3 of the book is actually entertaining and very unexpected. It made me want to read book 2 which Pandemonium just to see what happened to Alex and Lena's story. So I guess I'll be reading that soon just to appease my curiosity :)

OVER-ALL RATING: 2.5/5

WILL I RECOMMEND IT? If you liked Matched by Allie Condie and other related dystopian books, then you will love this. Lauren Oliver is a great author, I think I'm just getting old for these kinds of characters  hehe. SO if you're on you teens or are young at heart and love to read stories like these, then this book is for you ^_^

What about you guys? Have you read this series already? What do you think about it? Please share them with me on the comment section below ^_^

Until next time, bye!

Gale Reads: Matched by Ally Condie

Hello! I will be doing a lot of book reviews this week since I have finished reading a lot already and I am still unable to post my thoughts on them so I will do it one or two books every day.

I will start with this popular Young Adult book called Matched by Ally Condie. This book received great reviews from other bloggers so it was included on my To-Read-List (TBL) but since my bf's sister also suggested this to me I have decided to bumped it up on my list.

SYNOPSIS (from matched-book.com)

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:

GENRE: Dystopian / Young Adult

COVER TALK: 5/5 - I love the cover of this book. The apple green color is soothing and the girl inside a glass ball really signifies the life of Cassia and everyone in the society. I think having her hands on the walls of the ball created a great symbolism about the whole story because it shows her struggle and feeling of suffocation and fear with the society rules.

I have quite a high expectation for this book because of the great reviews it received. I was also excited to read another dystopian novel wherein the author created a new world where everything is controlled by the government: your work, your life span, who you will marry (match), what songs and books to read and even how many portion and what kind of food you eat. The society Ally Condie created in this book is really interesting and made me appreciate the freedom we are experiencing in our world. I can't imagine having a life that I don't have any control whatsoever.

And that's the only interesting thing in the story. I just like the plot and the idea but not the characters. I had a hard time finishing this book because it was quite boring for me. I was looking for a more exciting love-triangle-Romeo-and-Juliet-love-affair kind of thing but I was really disappointed. I did not feel any conflict whatsoever between Cassia, Xander and Ky. I already knew who Cassia will end up loving on the first part of the book because there's not enough emotional conflict that happened when she was "choosing" between her best friend Xander who she was Matched with by the society and will mean safety and Ky who is an Aberration and is forbidden. I think Condie really failed to create the love triangle she wanted to show and promoting the book for.

Another sad part is that, even though I know that the world she created in the story is supposed to be bland (muted earthly toned clothes, etc) and serene (no crimes, no kids running and playing on the streets, prepacked meals, etc), I can't help but feel bored to death. If that's what I'm supposed to feel in the first place and was her intention for the readers to feel in order to know how Cassia feel, then I will give her 5 stars for that. BUT if that is so, then it just made me want to stop reading halfway through the book. I just finished it because I was hoping it would redeem itself and will have an amazing ending...and again, I was disappointed. Even during the separation that happened ala Romeo and Juliet, it still seems bland.

The story has a lot of of potential to become a great book but I guess they just fell short to capture my feelings.

OVER-ALL RATING: 2/5 - I'm giving it points for the originality of the story and the cover. That's it. I don't know what's the hype is all about. I'm just happy I didn't bought it and just read it in ebook form.

WILL YOU READ THE SEQUEL? Hell no! If I can't get myself to like the first book of this trilogy, why would I go and read the next 2 books? I'll probably get bored again from lack of action :(

WHO WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THIS TO? I think this is perfect for young teenagers aged 15 and younger. The pacing is not so fast and there's no inappropriate scenes and language in the book so parents won't need to worry. It also gives a nice lesson to the kids to appreciate what they have and not take advantage of the freedom of choice they experience.

What about you? Have you read this book already? What's your opinion about it? Did you like it?