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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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
Insurgent (Divergent, #2)
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 
 Past Perfect
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
 Delirium (Delirium, #1)
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
 Shut Out
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.

8 comments:

  1. This is a good idea! I've read a lot of books lately and just haven't been reviewing them (the same thing happened last year). I definitely recommend continuing Delirium though! I enjoyed really enjoyed the entire series =)

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  2. It's probably a good thing that you waited on Delirium. The endings were really rough if you had to wait a year to find out what happened next. My friend pushed me to read the first one so she could talk out her feels. I beat her to finishing the second and third books and needled her into hurrying so we could discuss them. You will have all the feels!

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  3. Past Perfect is sitting on my shelf waiting for e to read it before I have to take it back to the library! Glad to see that you liked it!

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  4. Delirium does pick up, and the second book, Pandemonium, has a quicker pace!

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  5. Confession: I haven't read INSURGENT yet even though I own it. I must get to it soon!

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  6. Confession: I hated Divergent. Also, I like when Tris is being punched in the face.

    Agreed about Past Perfect. I have been uniformly disappointed by books set in colonial reenactment villages. It seems like an excellent chance for history and such things, but the heroines are always vapid and hate history, even when they pretend to like it. SIGH.

    LAUREN OLIVER'S WRITING.

    I must admit that I'm less bothered by preachy books when I approve the message. Haha.

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  7. I love the Divergent series. I read it in my early blogging days and just fell hard for it! Can't wait to get a copy of Allegiant in my hands ;)

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  8. I read so much that there are a TON of books that I just don't review. I can't take the time otherwise I wouldn't be able to read as much. But giving a few thoughts is a great idea. I absolutely loved Insurgent. Cannot wait for Allegiant!

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