Books I Read But Never Reviewed

OOPS. For various BEA-related reasons (and lazy-related reasons, and busy-related reasons, and just plain old... reasons), I've read a whole bunch of books this year that I never ended up reviewing. So I'm going to do it now
quick and dirty.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Goodreads

Release date: May 1st, 2012

Publisher: HarperTeen

I was a bit late to the Divergent train (TRAIN, GET IT? Oh my God, I need coffee). I read it for the first time this year, and while I think reading it after it had been so mega-hyped meant that I was never going to be the #1 Divergent superfan, I definitely enjoyed it. The same goes for Insurgent. It's a trickier read, being REALLY, REALLY LONG and with some pacing issues, and Tris is very difficult, but I kind of like when Tris is difficult. And of course there's lots of action and people shooting things and betrayal and whatnot. So I definitely enjoyed it. In some ways, it's a better book than Divergent--the writing and character development get a lot better, and the climax is downright thrilling.

Past Perfect by Leila Sales 
 
Goodreads
Release date: October 4th, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse

This is one of those books that I love and find seriously flawed at the same time. This book is absolutely hilarious, and is set in a colonial reenactment village (think Colonial Williamsburg). That was by far my favorite part-- all the humor relating to the hilarity of dressing up in petticoats for tourists every day. What I didn't like was how much of the book focused on a) the MC's obsession with her obviously worthless ex-boyfriend and b) the "war" between the Colonials and the Civil War reenectment right next door. It gave cause for a lot of humor, but was kind of silly, detracted from the part I loved (cute boy! Colonial reenactment!), and ultimately ended in a way that left a bad taste in my mouth. But I still find this book hilarious and adorable.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
 
Goodreads
Release date: February 1st, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins

This one is a bit unfair, considering I haven't actually finished this book, and one day, far in the future, I'll get to it. I think the writing is sublime and the concept fascinating, but the pace was slow and quite literally nothing was happening, and I had like ten other review books and this one just fell by the wayside. But I intend to pick up again, because Lauren Oliver's writing is so beautiful it's almost heartbreaking.

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger
 
Goodreads
Release date: September 5th, 2011
Publisher: Poppy (Little, Brown and Company)

I completely loved The Duff, enjoyed A Midsummer's Nightmare, and giggled through the companion novella, Secrets & Lies. Technically I read Shut Out long before I started blogging, but I might as well put up a mini review for it. Shut Out has an awesome (and very progressive, which I like) concept and message, even if it gets a bit heavyhanded  with it at times. I one hundred percent endorse everything she's saying, though, so in the end I didn't mind. It's a lot of fun and has a totally swoony love interest, plus Keplinger's trademark wit and snark.