The Enchanter Heir (The Heir Chronicles #4) by Cinda Williams Chima

I hate cliffhanger endings. It feels like the author didn't have enough time to write an ending so he or she stopped in the middle of action. On the whole this book was lazy from the plot to the characters. It is mostly nonstop action which is why I finished it; otherwise I would have abandoned it. There is little character development and most of the factual information comes in the form of music and guitars. If you are into Stratocaster electric guitars, Dragonfly guitars, and music then you might like that aspect of the book. I was mildly interested in this focus of the plot and liked the creativity of a person having magic with building guitars. But let me back up and give a summary.

Emma Greenwood has to flee Memphis when she finds her grandfather, a famous musician, dead. He warns her to contact a person and get out of town because her life might be in danger. She takes his advice. On the other hand, Jonah Kinlock, lived through a massacre of his city as a kid where the water was poisoned with magic leaving him, his brother, and other children who survived with one-of-a-kind magical abilities. A safe haven school was established for them run by a magician who takes care of them and has Jonah hunting zombies who are attacking humans and wizards. Jonah is an assassin because of his magical talent to kill. He is trying to uncover the truth about the massacre that happened when he was a child and figure out why the zombies are working together to kill wizards. The magical guilds are pointing fingers at each other and students at Jonah's school are accused of being responsible for the killings.

Gabriel runs the school and wants Jonah to take over but he doesn't really respect his opinions. This was one irritating plot element that came up over and over and seemed contradictory. If Gabriel respected Jonah then why would he shut him down every time he tried to discuss the motivations behind the killings? Gabriel duplicitous actions contradict him making Jonah his predecessor. When Jonah gets mixed up in the killings at Emma's house, her reactions were odd at the end. You'd think she'd realize that Jonah saved her life. I didn't get why he wouldn't tell someone about the occurrence beforehand either. The plot was forced too much and seemed to lose its focus on the zombies switching too much on the romance. It stalled on the romance and didn't give any answers. When the author forgets the overarching message and leaves a messy plot in its wake I tend to forget the book quickly.

The characters didn't really develop in an interesting way. The romantic subplot had everyone calling Jonah either "pretty" or "beautiful" with an incredible body. He's the tortured hunk who can't touch anyone because his touch is lethal. I mean that literally. Not what you call an interesting character description. She did try to show his loneliness through music and that did work to some degree. It was corny that people who died from his touch had "dreamy smiles" on their face. No kidding. I laughed at that description. At least it takes a bit of the violence out of the fact that this 17-year-old kills people for a living. A more detailed explanation of an Enchanter would have been helpful. I haven't read this series in years (I did read the first 3 books) and I couldn't remember how Enchanters manipulate people. A disappointing ending, but loaded with action. I do like action ; )

2 Smileys

Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth

Book 3 explains the world in which Tris lives and answers many of my questions from the previous two books, clearing up confusing parts. This story reminded me of Margaret Haddix plot for "Running Out of Time" with an unaware population being experimented on by an outside government and a significant shift from historical to realistic genre. Roth's book felt like the focus shifted from dystopia to romance, exploring the theme of sacrifice. While I liked that Tris and Tobias's relationship finally moved in a forward direction, many of the chapters end on them kissing versus some tense moment and the action slowed down. Loose ends were tied up, but I wasn't very satisfied with the ending with so many characters getting killed off and felt let down with the direction the novel took in this final installment. I understand why it went that way to flesh out the theme of love and sacrifice but I lost interest in it. The repetition of tyrants showing up in each ruling party just got old and lost its freshness. Roth does a nice job with internal character development which was enough to keep me flipping the pages. And there is action. Maybe not as much, but there's definitely fighting. I know many students will like the trilogy, but I don't think it rises too much above the average young adult books out there. Book one was my favorite and I kind of wish I had stopped there.

Tris, Tobias, Uriah, Christina, Tori, Peter, and Caleb follow Elizabeth Prior's advice and leave the city outside the fence. They discover the remains of the government and piece together information on why their city and factions were created after people destroyed each other throughout the world. While they have more freedom outside the fence, they soon discover that it really isn't much different than inside the fence. Tris decides to do something about it with her friends, but it is a dangerous and risky plan. 

Spoiler Alert*

Roth adds Tobias's point of view and uses first person narration. I really prefer third person point of view because there are so many "I's" with the first and the alternating voices can sound alike at times, especially in the scenes that involve Tris and Tobias's sexual attraction for each other. I understand that the structure of the novel needed Tobias's thoughts in the plot, especially for the ending, and I liked a different point of view. I did notice that Tris always seems right in these books and I prefer my characters flawed. She always knows when someone is lying or always makes the right decision. When she martyr's herself it should make me feel more sad that this wise and special person died, but I felt manipulated by the storyline more than empathetic with the character. It didn't make her as authentic as she could have been if she'd made some mistakes. I prefer the character that grows into a better person, not the character that seems perfect most of the time. I struggle daily with being a better person and find I connect more with those conflicted characters. This is my bias. 

The theme of labeling people and oppression is explored but again it felt like a rehashing of the faction oppressions and nothing new. People in power want to blame others for problems in society. One thing that was different was the exploration of how people not only blame others but accept the limits others place on them in society. This actually made me think of the Asian culture that doesn't really believe that you can't do something because you lack talent. Instead they believe that you are not working hard enough at the task at hand to improve. I was actually thinking of sports and how Westerners can say they have no "natural talent" at a sport and therefore are no good at it. They've placed limits on themselves without trying. I know I do that with learning a foreign language saying "I'm too old" or some other lame excuse when in reality I really have no interest learning it or putting the mega amount of time required to learn it. 

I think Caleb's point of view would have been interesting. Perhaps the sacrifice would have been explored more in depth rather than the romance. She does tie in love and limitations with Tris and Tobias having each of them believe more in the other. Tris believes more in Tobias's worth than he and Tobias believes more in her strength than she. The two bring out the best in each other and their love grows as a result. If you like tragic love stories and heroes who save the world, then you'll enjoy this series.

3 Smileys

Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

This picks up where book one left off but with more focus on Tobias and Tris romantically. They are lovey dovey in the beginning only to get into a fight because they keep secrets from one another. They reconcile, then go off and be secretive again. This happens a bit too much and became irritating at one point for me. I also prefer more action and less romance so it depends on you and your tastes. Tris struggles psychologically with killing people and it gives her character more authenticity. She's damaged by her violent actions to the point where she can't even shoot a gun anymore. Tobias realizes she's becoming self-destructive because of her reckless behavior and doesn't know how to deal with it except get so angry he leaves her. Ultimately Tris has to forgive herself and live with her actions embracing the good and bad.

Tobias, Tris, Caleb and a handful of Abnegation and Dauntless survivors flee to the peaceful Amity headquarters to see if they will help them fight the Euridites but discover they are unwilling to side with anyone. The group ends up under attack and runs to the Factionless and later Candor who are willing to fight the Euridites. The group mounts an attack while a subplot has Tris trying to find the truth that the Abnegation was hiding from everyone that is crucial to understanding Euridite's motives. She pursues Marcus in an effort to get it. I got tired of her behavior toward him. She seems to scream at him a lot. I know she's not supposed to be likable and tough but she seemed childish at the end yelling "I hate you." Actually she says that to him over and over throughout both books. Maybe its because I have heard too many little kids use that phrase. Seems like a 16-year-old would have more control over herself.

There's a few things Tris does that doesn't always make sense to me. I understand her not taking a gun when she sees Eric. She freezes with one in her hand, and grabs an alternate weapon. Later when she forgets the stun gun in the middle of a battle it was too unbelievable. The author had to have her unarmed in the final confrontation and she forced the plot to make it happen. The stun gun should have been lost in a more believable way such as fighting in the control rooms. Tris is in the middle of a war and no soldier would forget anything as important as their gun. This plot had a few too many incidents that out-of-character. There are some interesting twists that make it enjoyable but even those don't make always sense. What exactly is "outside the fence" or their factioned society isn't explained enough and the villain becomes one-dimensional at the end in that she only thirsts for power, knowledge, and control. I also thought something happened between Jeanine and Tris's dad that would explain her behavior but it doesn't. Peter gets an interesting part and I liked the twist on his character that shows more motivations as to why he is the way he is. A villain with motivations is more interesting to me than a stock villain. Perhaps Jeanine will be explained more in the final book.

This is full of action and tension but much of it comes from the romantic subplot that became repetitive by the end. Tobias and Tris keep hiding secrets from each other. It moves the plot forward but the actions are the same and out of character by the end when Tris goes off with a separate plan. They would have worked together at that point because the incident before had them trusting each other again. Plus, Tobias is reasonable and Divergent which means he's willing to see different approaches to problems. It didn't make sense that he would not listen to Tris and would blindly follow his mom, not to mention commit genocide in revenge. He was horrified over the annihilation of Abnegation and yet follows a plan that will kill Euridites. It goes against his character to kill innocent people.

The themes focus on conflicts in relationships and forgiveness tied with guilt. The end seemed somewhat of a simple explanation for the society developing into factions. Perhaps book 3 will elaborate more on the world Tris lives in. Tris spends most of the book dealing with grief, guilt, and forgiveness. Her attempts to work through it psychologically were well done for the most part. I did like the simulation where Tris has to fight herself. She'd been fighting with guilt internally through the entire book so when she physically fought herself it forced her to face her guilt and relive the moment that traumatized her. It helped her to see the incident differently and move forward a step in starting to forgive herself. An entertaining read.

3 Smileys

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

A common fantasy writing convention is the child or teenager that goes through a ceremony of some sort before being absorbed by the community with a specific role. In "The Giver" it was the Ceremony of Twelve where eleven-year-olds left their parents and were given jobs in a tightly run community. In "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" there was the sorting hat that decided what dorm the students would be placed in. The dorms had names with certain character traits represented in the mascots and students. In "Hunger Games" a boy and girl are chosen in a lottery to fight in reality-like game show where they fight to the death. In Veronica Roth's novel, 16-year-olds have a Choosing Day where they take an aptitude test that determines which of the five factions they will live in. Once in the faction, they must go through an initiation and pass tests before the faction will accept them. If they don't pass the initiation they will be thrown outside the community to live like a homeless person.

The future city of Chicago is controlled by five factions that represent virtues in people: Abnegation is selflessness, Dauntless is courage, Amity is peace, Erudite is knowledge, and Candor is honesty. Beatrice is going through Choosing Day with her brother, Caleb. Teenagers take an aptitude text and learn their faction but some have multitude aptitudes and can choose more than one faction. Beatrice is rare in that she can choose between three factions. She chooses Dauntless and discovers that the pursuit of courage and bravery means winning at all costs even if it involves seriously hurting another person. Life is not precious for the Dauntless and deaths are not shocking nor sad. It is a brutal and cruel faction with members who protect the society. Beatrice likes the challenge and freedom from living a life of complete selflessness in Abnegation. She wants to have fun. Feel the adrenaline rush of jumping off a train. Take risks and be selfish. Ironically she discovers that she is most brave when she acts selflessly for another person. When war breaks out between two factions Beatrice learns that it is good to carry all the factions or virtues within oneself, rather than put more emphasis on one. 

The training that Beatrice goes through and the friends she makes reminds me of college and high school when we would do crazy things either because we were bored or hooked on the adrenaline high. Beatrice and her friends ride a zip line from the top of the Hancock building to the ground. Getting into the faction means jumping off a 7 story building into a net. Training to be Dauntless means learning to fight where the teenagers beat each other to a pulp. You'd think that was the hard part but the hardest is doing the simulations that force each member to face his or her fears. 

The author captures Beatrice's internal struggles with feeling like she can't fit in with her Abnegation family. She thinks that something is wrong with her because it is really hard for her to put others before herself. What is interesting is that she thinks selflessness should come naturally and that it isn't something that needs to be worked at. Her personality works against the faction that works so hard to be quiet, plain-looking, meek, and complacent. Children don't run around and play tag and people don't hurt each other's feelings. There is so much restraint it is easy to see why she doesn't like it.

Themes consist not only of Beatrice learning to be independent and finding her own way in life, but the ugly side to competitiveness. The other initiates in Beatrice's Dauntless faction are so brutally competitive that they go too far. One boy fights Beatrice and beats her insensible. Beatrice beats another girl insensibly out of rage. Another boy is so jealous of the boy that is number one that he stabs him in the eye with a butter knife. When Beatrice does well in the mental side of the competition several boys try to kill her. Teamwork and having each others backs don't exist in their faction. Beatrice is learning to be a killer. "Ender's Game" explores this idea of turning kids into military fighters and how they struggle psychologically with taking another life. This story doesn't go into the same depth as "Ender's Game" because of the page time given to Beatrice's budding romance and the war doesn't happen until the end when Dauntless are killing others, but it does explore the notion to a certain point. While Beatrice is not being taught bravery through selfless acts by one instructor she does learn it from another teacher. The initiation process is off kilter and it becomes apparent why by the end of the story. 

While I really loved the character development and details of the world building, the plot is not very original and follows typical conventions making it predictable in parts. The serum was easy to figure out, along with the romance, and the fact Beatrice would pick a different faction to name a few. This is the only reason I didn't give the story 5 stars. I highly recommend it and found it enjoyable with interesting themes. I also think it is a clever comment on how our society puts so much weight on testing. In this society test results determine your future and is pushed to an extreme. Our society has shifted toward more testing as well. The freedom to choose you own destiny and what it means to lose this choice in a rigid society makes for good discussion. Make sure you have plenty of time to read this book, because it is hard to put down. 

4 Smileys

Resist (Breathe #2) by Sarah Crossan

I thought the first book had potential but lacked character development. This book stills lacks character development but the plot is absurd. Not enough is explained, the action doesn't flow well from one scene to the other, and some parts don't make sense. I had way too many questions at the end. The story starts where Breathe (book 1) left off with Quinn, Bea, and Alina being tossed out of the pod and looking for Sequoia, another oasis to get oxygen. Or is it? Jazz, Bea, and Quinn are fleeing when Jazz falls down a manhole breaking her leg so badly the bone goes through the skin. Quinn is forced to leave them and get help. Alina is with another group that is headed for Sequoia and they get there first finding out that things are not all that they seem.

Spoiler alert*
Ronan, a minor character in the first book, gets his own point of view in the chapters. He is just like Quinn. Rich boy who rejects his upbringing and never acts selfishly. He's willing to give up his wealth because he doesn't agree with the government's inequality. His motivation to change is because his father is cruel and he's traumatized from burning down the Grove and killing innocent people. The mom and sister love their lifestyle. Because the characters lack depth and are shown one-dimensionally, I am not convinced that Ronan would completely turn his back on his lifestyle. It seems more like the author is telling the reader how to act toward injustices in authoritarian governments rather than showing a complex personality in a character. Because of that, Ronan lacked authenticity for me. The point of views are all written in first person narration and if you don't read the book nonstop it can be confusing who is speaking when setting it down and picking it up in the middle of the chapter.

Vanya is just like Petra who is her sister, but more maniacal. She is not explained at all. We don't know why she gave up her kid or why she has started a breeding program or why she and her sister had such a severe falling out with each other. One of my favorite dystopia books, "The Handmaid's Tale," by Margaret Atwood explores the concept of women used for breeding. If you want to see this idea explored in a psychological, creepy way I highly recommend it. Alina is paired with the villain, Maks, and the way he is presented you would expect him to rape her, but he doesn't after the Pairing Ceremony. The women seem to be at the mercy of men physically. Bea has a rape scene too. It's supposed to show her being naive and then turning into someone with a reason to kill another human being, but if was more manipulative than in-depth character change. Many times it felt like the author was dropping in some big event and eventually so many got plunked into the plot it began to feel absurd. I realize that dystopia and fantasy push the boundaries of believability but this seemed like too much from pushing a bone back into place to escaping with a bunch of babies. When Alina dies at the end I didn't even feel sad.

I had so many questions at the ending that felt rushed. What happened to Jazz and Vanya? Why did she give up her daughter? Why did she experiment on people to breed kids who could survive on less air when she already had a process that worked with adults? Why didn't Vanya give the adults any freedom? Why would the adults agree to it? Why did Abel like Sequoia? Why didn't the author have Maude reuniting with Bea? What happened to Quinn's mom? What happened to Nimh? Don't bother with this book.

2 Smileys

Breathe (Breathe #1) by Sarah Crossan

I've been struggling with bronchitis so you can see why I was lured to this title in my pile of to-read-for-christmas-break-books. This dystopia story has people paying for air. They showed on the news last year a man selling bottled air in Beijing. People would peel off the aluminum top, tip the can upside down and inhale deeply. That's the thing with dystopia novels, they push societal truths to an extreme in creative and thought-provoking ways. Societies all over the world are ruining the Earth's air. I have been to so many polluted cities. Even here in Taipei, Taiwan where they've "cleaned up the air" I find myself gagging on exhaust fumes daily that are trapped between the concrete buildings. Six million people are crammed between these mountains. How can the air not be polluted? Crossan explores this notion of destroying our earth's air in an action-packed thriller that sometimes suffers from character development but does not suffer in tense action scenes. Not only does she weave an environmental theme throughout the story but she explores the notion of extremist actions where even the "good guys" go too far in their zealousness and the "bad guys" are not one-dimensional.

Most of the population has died because oxygen levels have dropped too low. People now live in domes and must buy air and use portable air tanks to breath. Quinn's dad is a part of the establishment and helps protect society maintaining the status quo of humans purchasing manufactured air to live. Alina wants to be free to live outside the dome and help trees grow back on Earth to help bring oxygen levels up to a level that will sustain life free of air tanks. Bea is an Auxillary or person who must buy air and tries to survive day-to-day buying air that has many restrictions and drawbacks for the average person. The ruling elite take the best for themselves leaving a caste system that has the majority poor, unhappy, and short of air. When the three young adults cross paths, they uncover a plot that shows the ruling elite are not working to improve the environment but are working to maintain their own positions of power. The three unwittingly start a war and in the process learn the cost of being free.

The point of view switches between Bea, Quinn, and Alina. They are written in first person narration and I'm not sure why the author did this because it is awkward, not to mention I'd forget whose head I was in once I set the book down and came back to it hours later. The other flaw with this approach is the characters sound too much alike, especially by the end. Alina tries to be cold, hard and unfeeling so she is easier to distinguish at the beginning and Quinn is a guy so he was usually easy to figure out, but Alina and Bea sound alike by the end especially since Alina has allowed herself to feel emotions. I'm not sure why the author didn't use third person. Maude has a distinct voice but it is uneducated which doesn't make sense for an educated woman with a nursing degree who worked for the Ministry.

The characters change with Bea learning to stand up for herself, Quinn seeing his world and its manipulativeness, and Alina tapping into her humanity. They are too busy trying to stay alive for there to be much romance and depth. The plot sets up for a sequel and doesn't answer many of my questions. I'm hoping Abel will be explained in the next book. I wasn't sure if he was for or against the Resistance. I didn't really buy that Quinn would want to topple his government. He's such a part of the status quo, would he really go that far because he didn't think his parents loved him? His motivation seemed a bit weak to go to the extremes that he does on national TV. Usually in this type of story the character has nothing to lose. They are already on the bottom of the caste system and their life is meaningless. Quinn's is not, so it was harder to buy. The killing of certain people at the end also seemed manipulative of plot elements.  Or perhaps the ending was just too rushed. I'm not sure. Either way, it didn't sit quite right with me.

The theme of extreme behavior even when representing a good cause is shown with the Resistance. While they are justified in their actions, are they justified in treating others who follow the existing government to the point of killing them? Petra seems to represent someone who has lost the point of what the Resistance stands for because she is putting trees above human life. She has lost touch with her humanness to the point that she will kill people to protect her sanctuary. She's no better than the government who kills people who represents the Resistance. When it comes to radicalism, people justify killing and the subplot of Maude explores this theme even again among the three young people who find her. They have not lost touch with their human side and do not cross the line of taking another human life. This exploration of extremist behaviors is ripe for discussion in terms of authoritarian governments and more moderate behaviors of citizens.

Some of my favorite dytopia novels are: The Giver, Brave New World, Shipbreaker, and Hunger Games. In these stories you have a better balance between character development and action. While I enjoyed this novel and found it very entertaining, I think it falls short on character development. It is a quick read. Here's the article on the man who sold fresh air to Chinese people in Beijing. He sold 10 million cans for 80 cents each in 10 days. The truth is stranger than fiction.

3 Smileys

The Short Seller by Elissa Brent Weissman

Lindy gets mono and is stuck at home for a month. When her dad asks her to buy some stock for him online because the website is blocked at his work, Lindy becomes interested in how the stock market works. She's struggling with math and when a tutor comes to help her his background as a stockbroker makes her even more interested in the topic. When mono causes her parents to cancel her ice-skating lessons her dad gives her $100 dollars to invest in the stock market. As she makes money on her money the temptation to dip into her parents savings is too great. When the market goes down and she starts to lose money she hatches a plan to get it back. The only problem is the plan is illegal.

Lindy is dealing with changing friendships at school and back-stabbing by other girls. She moves on to other friends accepting the changes and the author captures the fickleness of middle school quite well. Lindy and her sister fight and are best friends. The two are loyal to each other when it counts and bicker over dumb things just like siblings do all the time. Already the story seems a bit outdated with the electronic equipment and TV show names. The librarian teaching the kids about what a mouse was on a computer was dumb. We haven't done that in years and the libraries have turned to mobile technology. That derogatory poke irked me but that's just because I'm a librarian.

I'm not a big fan of math or the stock market but the author did a nice job mixing the facts up with the drama of Lindy's friendships. When I started to glaze she usually shifted gears to a different topic. Enough information was given to understand what was illegal with short selling stocks without overwhelming the reader with stockbroker jargon. The courtroom drama was well-painted and a nice link between Lindy having to stand up for her friends and herself at the end of the story.

This book reminds me a little of "Cardturner" by Louis Sachar with its unique topic. While this isn't about bridge, I can't say I've ever read a book about the stock market. This doesn't go into great depth on stocks and for that I am grateful, but some might find the topic somewhat slow. I thought she mixed the facts and friendships enough to keep the pace moving along and I think I can find some of my math-loving students who would find it a fun read.

3 Smileys