Allegiant by Veronica Roth ★★★★½

Reviewed by Katelyn (aged 13) Meet Katelyn.

    Ever since Tris found out that there is something outside the fence, and the only world she has ever known, she has been confused and worried.  

    With the world she knows in chaos and her brother sentenced to death under the new leadership regime, Tris meets the Allegiant, a group of people resistant to the new ways in which the city is heading and she is offered a chance to explore outside the fence. Tris accepts the offer as it is a new beginning, a way to get away from all the bad memories and make new ones. But when she and her companions find themselves outside they are amazed and shocked by what they find. Everything they have taken as truth is actually a lie. 

    Tobias has a lot of power now that his mother is now running the city and he is not adverse to using his newly found power to get his mother to agree to what he wants. He too, jumps at the offer from the Allegiant and joins Tris in her escape to outside, not only to be with Tris but also to escape from his abusive father and the mother that left him. Like Tris, he to finds that all he knew was a lie and not everyone can be trusted.

    Allegiant is an amazing book. At the start it can seem a bit slow and boring and doesn’t really make sense, however once you get used to the changes in the story telling perspective, you are in awe and will find yourself bawling your eyes out. There are major plot twists in this book which have you wondering what is going to happen next and leave you wanting more. This is a must read book!

    Thank you to the kind people at Harper Collins Australia for our review copy.

RELEASE Date:         Available now

MORE information:     CLICK HERE  

AUTHOR’s Website:   http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com.au/

THE AUTHOR

    Veronica Roth is only 24, so her bio will be short. She’s from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT, her YA dystopian thriller while she was supposed to be doing homework. This was a decidedly good choice that will unfortunately make it difficult for her to someday lecture her future children on how important it is to get your homework done.

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau ★★★ ½

SURVIVAL IS NOW A UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENT

Reviewed by Katelyn (aged 13). Meet Katelyn

After the seven stages of war, Earth is a mess. Most food is inedible, the water undrinkable and the animals mutated until they are unrecognisable. Life is a continuous struggle to survive for all inhabitants. This is the world where Cia Vale lives with her family in the isolated and desolate Five Lakes Colony.

Cia has always longed to be chosen to for the Testing and then, hopefully, University like her father did, but to be Chosen you have to be the best of the best. On her Graduation Day, Cia desperately hopes to be Chosen but sadly she is not, until the day after Graduation when a representative from the University arrives.

Cia is so happy she is one of the Chosen, until her father warns her about what he can vaguely recall of the Testing after his compulsory memory wipe. Cia is then thrown into the Testing where no one can be trusted and a wrong answer can have seriously fatal consequences.

This book is an interesting dystopian book which I quite enjoyed. It is very similar to many of the latest release YA dystopian novels in that we have a lead female character who is placed in a situation of life and death in a bleak, futuristic Earth setting. The character of Cia is one which young teenage girls could easily idolise as she displays leadership qualities and compassion even while she is fighting for her very survival. The story itself is interesting and flows quickly, however the plot is one that you shouldn’t over analyse. I would recommend it for 12 to 17 year olds.

Thank you to the kind people at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for our preview copy of The Testing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joelle has always loved telling stories and bringing them to life on the stage. Joelle graduated from Milikin University with a Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance and then continued onto DePaul University to complete her Masters Degree in Opera Performance. From there she went onto perform across the Chicagoland area in a variety of Operas, Operettas and Musicals. She also started teached acting classes and private voice lessons to pass her passion along to the next generation.

Joelle had never planned on writing a novel until one day she had an idea and started to write. She found her passion for creating characters lived on the page as well as the stage.

Visit Joelle's website here

PIVOT POINT by Kasie West ★★★★½

Reviewed by Rhiannan (Aged 11)  Meet Rhiannan

Imagine looking into the mountain range, but the mountains aren’t really mountains. Instead, the mountain is a secret world known as “The Compound”, where people have special powers.

Addie is a part of this very secret world. One day, she comes home from school to see her parents both sitting down on the couch. They tell her they are getting a divorce, which means Addie has to choose who to live with. She has to decide whether she goes with her dad, who is leaving the place that Addie grew up in or stay with her mum, who is remaining in The Compound.

Addie has to make a big decision that will affect the rest of her life. Addie’s best friend, Laila, offers to help Addie find the best choice for her.

Addie is a Searcher, which means that when faced with a choice she can look into the future and see what the outcome of her decisions will be. Instead of crying, Addie goes into her room and uses her secret powers to search the future of both her choices. Addie searches for six weeks, living both lives and trying to work out which life she can’t live without.

I think Pivot Point is a great book for ten to eighteen year olds and it is now one of my favourite books.  I would definitely recommend this to everyone!

The reason I liked this this book is that some of the stuff is true and I think the author went through this when she was at high school. Pivot Point is a little bit of fantasy, mystery and adventure.

Our review copy of Pivot Point thanks to the fantastic people at Harper Collins Australia

To buy or learn more visit PIVOT POINT Page at Harper Collins

eBook is also available here eBook

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

http://www.kasiewest.com/

Kasie West is a mother of four-three daughters and one son.  She lives in Central California where the summers try to kill her with their 115 degree heat waves.

Kasie loves to water ski. Kasie’s skill level on a wakeboard does not match her passion for the sport. Kasie would claim that maybe she could get better at it, but she’s too chicken!