A to Z April - Letter D: Dystopia

 

For the letter D, I've chosen a genre (not sure if that's the correct term for that) of literature that is currently very popular, and is one that is one of my favorites.  I will share five of my favorite dystopian series today.

1.  The Giver Series by Lois Lowry

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I had read all of them, and then got an ARC of the 4th book, Son, when I went to BEA 2 years ago.  I'm sorry to say I have yet to read it though.  I saw that they are doing a movie, and I'm excited, although from the preview I saw, it doesn't match what I saw in my head when I read The Giver.  Looks like I'll be doing a re-read of that in the near future.

2.  The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins:

I first learned of this book when I read it for the state library association book award list.  I loved The Hunger Games so much that I began teaching it in a class we had every day that was for enrichment.  Now, I think because I did that, the first movie was a big disappointment to me. So much left out.  However since I hadn't read the second book, Catching Fire, more than 2 or 3 times, and it had been a while, I was able to enjoy the 2nd movie more.

3.  Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth:

This is a series that I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of the first book.  But then, I didn't get one of the 2nd book, and didn't get it until two months after it was published.  So while I got a bit behind between one and two, when number three came out, I bought it on the publishing date (which happened to be my birthday last year), and read it right away!  Also, LOVED the first movie, I think they did a really good job compared to how some movies from books have been done lately.

4.  Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie:

This is a book that I also got an ARC of the first in the series, but then had to wait till the books were published to read on.  I LOVED the first one, the 2nd one was okay, and the third was maybe a bit long for me.

5.  The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix:

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I can't remember for sure when I read this series, and yes, it is a bit younger than the others, but it is a really good series, and Margaret Peterson Haddix is one of my favorite authors.  I have the picture on the left showing all the books, and then the one on the right is one I found when searching for images to use for this post.  I like the cover of it a bit better, I think it would be more appealing to kids today, maybe make them not see it as such a young book and give it a chance.

Are you a dystopia fan?  I haven't listed here all the ones I've read, just chose the top five, and the top five that all of the books in the series are out and I have read, well except for the The Giver series I mean. 

And hey, while you're here, go enter my giveaway on the Fool for Books Giveaway Hop.

Crossed by Ally Condie

Crossed by Ally Condie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


First let me say that I need to take a cue from something I saw The Story Siren say, that she doesn't read other reviews. Because in the case of this book, I wonder how much of my dissatisfaction is because I read other reviews of people that were not completely pleased with this book. I also wonder how much is because it is the "sophomore" book in the series, which often aren't as good as the first. Let me be clear, it wasn't bad, it was a good story, but it just didn't live up to how much I loved the first book in the series,Matched. After thinking about it, here is why I think that is. I liked the whole society part of the first book, the 100 books, movies, songs, etc. I liked being a part of all that. This book took our characters out of that society and put them out in the wilderness basically. And while I do enjoy books like that, it just didn't keep up with where the first story went. It reminds me of my displeasure with Mockingjay, the 3rd in the Hunger Games trilogy. I think I didn't enjoy the 3rd book because there was no "hunger games" in it. It sounds as if the 3rd book in the Matched series may get back to the setting that pulled me in to the series in the first place. And I did like learning more about Ky, as well as about the people who weren't in the society, and why things became the society like that. All in all I believe it furthered the story, told us what we needed to know, but I'm ready to read on and hopefully get back into the society.



View all my reviews

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The 3rd and final installment of the Hunger Games Trilogy that I have been waiting on pins and needles for since last spring. Let's just say it was very intense. Didn't like it quite as much as the first two. Probably because what was so unique about the first two was the actual Hunger Games themselves. In this book, the rebels are at war with the Capitol. We've found out that District 13 wasn't destroyed in the original war as the Capitol led everyone to believe, they just moved underground. The Capitol left them there on their own because this was where the nuclear weapons had been made back then, and so they had their own way to fight back. Katniss has been rescued and brought back to District 13, along with as many people from District 12 that they could rescue before or after the Capitol bombed it and destroyed it. Peeta was not rescued, the Capitol is holding him, and we can only assume torturing him and using him to try to lure Katniss out so that she won't be the "Mockingjay" or face of the rebels. Katniss's mother and sister, as well as her friend Gale have all been rescued.

There have been Team Gale vs. Team Peeta factions since the last book. We really get into that whole thing in this book. In fact, there is even one scene very reminiscent of the tent scene between Edward and Jacob in Eclipse. Maybe it only was that way to me because I know the Twilight series inside and out, but still. How much influence does Twilight truly have on the YA authors of the future? I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just remarking on it.

I think I like the way it ended, not sure. I as usual was reading as quick as possible to find out what happened. I will have to go back and read again just to make sure. And I'm sure I will. I already need to go back and read Catching Fire again, because since I've only read it one time all the way through, there is stuff I forgot that I need to revisit, and maybe that will help me make sense, enjoy more, this final book.

So, I recommend it to all who have read the series for it's closure, but if this had been the first book in the series, it wouldn't probably be as popular as it is.