Divergent Giveaway: Win a Copy of Divergent Signed by the Author and Cast!

Happy Divergent Release Day!

I hope you all are going to the theaters today (and ALL WEEKEND) to go see this movie. Remember guys: movie sequels are only made if the first one is successful so let’s go out, visit this see Divergent and get Insurgent made!

So I hope by now that you all have watched my vlog recap of my time at the Divergent Black Carpet Premiere in Los Angeles. It was an absolute blast and I had such a great time. I am so glad I was able to meet people like Theo and Miles and Ansel. SO much fun.

Check out my full collection of pictures from the premiere on Facebook here.

Check out my vlog about the premiere here.

Luckily for all you who were unable to attend, my friend Abby got an extra book signed and by a TON of the cast and it looks like its time for me to have a giveaway!

Make sure you read this whole post! Its VERY important!

Here is the Prize: 

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One Copy of Divergent Signed By: 

Author Veronica Roth
Kate Winslet (Jeanine Matthews)
Tony Goldwyn (Andrew Prior)
Ansel Elgort (Caleb Prior)
Theo James (Four)
Miles Teller (Peter)
Ashley Judd (Natalie Prior)
Zoe Kravitz (Christina)
Maggie Q (Tori)
Amy Newbold (Molly)
Christian Madsen (Al)

The Rules (Yes, there has to be Rules): 

The contest will run from today, March 21st to April 4th!

The winner will be contacted within 12 hours of contest end, and if the winner does NOT respond within 24 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

The contest IS International :)

Make sure to come back every day to tweet about the giveaway and earn extra entries!

Share with your friends!

This contest is in no way endorsed by Veronica Roth, Neil Burger, Lionsgate Company, Summit Entertainment, Katherine Tegen Books, etc. WhatANerdGirlSays is not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes.

The Catch (Yes, There’s a Catch)

Now, that’s a ridiculously amazing prize. Look up above at that list. That’s incredible and it took some hard work to get those signatures. Which means I expect some hard work to be done to earn this prize.

There are a TON of ways to enter, so enter a LOT. Do all of those entries! Show me that you want this. Every person who does every single thing on the rafflecopter list will be entered into a special secret giveaway. Please email a snapshot of your completed rafflecopter to whatanerdgirlsays at gmail dot com.

There are also options to show off your Divergence. Show me you are Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudite, Amity, and Candor. More details in the rafflecopter. Those who do those entries will also be entered in the secret giveaway!

Are you ready to enter already? Here you go!

Enter Now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Divergent Black Carpet Los Angeles Premiere Vlog Recap!

Hey guys! How’s it going? I hope you’re having a wonderful week and I hope that you’re planning on going out to see Divergent tomorrow. You all know how important that first weekend is for a movie, viagra in order to get a sequel so go out there and watch it guys!

As you guys might have seen on my Twitter and Instagram and Tumblr and Facebook, I went to the premiere on Monday. It was an absolute blast, and I just…I had so much fun.

Now instead of writing up a recap of the premiere, I decided to do a vlog instead. I know, right? I’m becoming more and more determined to do more vlogs.

So here we are, check it out on YouTube, my vlog of the Divergent premiere!

If you’d like to see all the pictures that I took from the premiere, you can check them out at this link on the official What A Nerd Girl Says facebook page. 

If you’re curious about the song that’s playing in the video, its a song called “Small Talk” by a band that I just discovered last week, Green Light Theory. You can check them out on Facebook. They are trying to get on Warped Tour so what little I can do, I’m trying to do!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to check out my epic Divergent giveaway! You’ll be sorry you missed it!

Thanks for watching guys! Happy Fangirling :)

Fictional Crush of the Week-Tobias ‘Four’ Eaton from the Divergent Series

Character Name:

Tobias “Four” Eaton

Though I call him Four. I can’t call him Tobias because it reminds me of Tobias Funke from Arrested Development and as much as I love David Cross…no…just, healing no.

DIVERGENT

Book or Series They Appear In:

The Divergent Trilogy

Divergent, buy information pills Insurgent, store Allegiant

Author/Creator:

Veronica Roth

Played By: 

Theo James

Who They Are:

Tobias “Four” Eaton is the main character counterpart to the main character, Tris Prior, and also her love interest turned boyfriend. When Tris makes the switch from Abnegation to Dauntless, Four is the head of Dauntless training. He’s a mystery to her, but he’s a great teacher and she finds herself intrigued by him. As time goes on, we learn that Four is in fact a boy named Tobias Eaton, a transfer from Abnegation, the son of a well known leader named Marcus. He transfers to Dauntless to escape the emotional, mental and physical abuse that he endures every day. Eventually, he opens himself up to Tris, and shows her the reason behind his name (Four), showing her the four fears in his life. They eventually fall in love and become a couple, though their relationship is constantly going through turmoil as they break apart the world that surrounds them.

Why I Am Crushing On Them: 

There is something about Four that stands out right away. Its obvious that he is brave, strong and resilient and possibly dangerous too but there’s also a softness and a gentleness…a calmness to him. From the very beginning, you’re addicted to him, you’re drinking him in, trying to figure out what it is about him that makes you so drawn to him, just as Tris is drawn to him. He is so mysterious and I love that about him. Part of you keeps reading the book because you want to know more about him.

And when you begin to unfold the mysterious of Four? (Sorry I can’t call him Tobias. I just can’t. He’s Four). He’s just even more perfect. The thing is, the whole tortured, abused man with walls up? Not exactly new to literature. I mean, its the basis of so many romance novels, it starts to get boring. But Veronica Roth does it so flawlessly. She makes it subtle, and Tris breaking down the walls is so subtle that you don’t notice any of it unless you’re really paying attention to it. Four is abused by his father, and it changed him and he ran away to Dauntless, where he came into his own and learned about himself, and learned that he didn’t want to just be brave or selfless, but all of the others as well. And he works hard at it.

And okay, let’s be honest. Even from the book (not just Theo James), you know this guy is hot. He’s built, and fit, and he’s a great fighter, and he’s amazing with a gun, and he’s worked hard to become great in Dauntless. And he’s called Four, meaning that he only has four fears. That’s incredible. He’s a fighter but he’s emotional, and real and raw, and I don’t know any girl that read Divergent and was like “FOUR!” (Which weirdly has a golf connection thing going now…damn it…)

I think I like that there’s layers there with Four that makes him seem “Divergent” even if you later realize that he isn’t. But I think that’s the point in the end. Even though they have these labels for them, you can’t just go around labeling them. Even though Four is NOT divergent, he is. He’s selfless, and brave, and incredibly intelligent and he can be honest and truthful and he can have the peacefulness and friendliness of the amity as well. He’s divergent without being obviously so, without striving to be, and that’s what makes him the incredible character that he is. He’s funny and serious, and loving and sarcastic and an amazing character.

I can’t wait to see what Theo James does with him in Divergent. I can’t wait!

Notable Quotes:

“Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.”

(Okay, I know that I have a Divergent tattoo already, but I kind of like this quote. Okay, I really love this quote)

“I might be in love with you.” He smiles a little. “I’m waiting until I’m sure to tell you, though.”

“‘Well,’ he says, ‘I would only go if there was cake.” (Talking about Tris’ pseudo funeral)

“Fear doesn’t shut you down; it wakes you up. I’ve seen it. It’s fascinating.”

“I’ll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you.”

Look at that sexy walk. Pure sex. . Geez. Cold Shower. Now.

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October Book Wrap Up!

Books Pledged to Read in 2013: 200 Books

Read so Far: 173

On Track?: Yes! I’m actually 7 books ahead!

Total Books For October: 20

As always, more about if you click the title or cover, you’ll get the review!

The Extra by Kathryn Lasky

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Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

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The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

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Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

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Just One Year By Gayle Forman

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Goddess by Josephine Angelini

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City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (Re-Read)

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Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

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Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan

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Panic by Lauren Oliver (Review Will Come Closer to Book Release in March)

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Teardrop by Lauren Kate

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Allegiant by Veronica Roth

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Reality Boy by A.S. King

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Olivia Twisted by Vivi Barnes (Review Next Week!)

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Legend by Marie Lu (Re-Read)

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Crewel by Gennifer Albin

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The Fall of the Hotel Dumort by Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson

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52 Reasons to Hate my Father by Jessica Brody

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Prodigy by Marie Lu (Re-Read)

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Ten by Gretchen McNeil

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What were some of your favorite books that you read in the month of November? Share them in the comments!

 

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Allegiant-A Spoiler Filled Discussion

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Now that I’ve written my spoiler free review, website I’ve decided to jump into the books and discuss the moments that have been discussed all over the internet, doctor and discuss why I loved this book.

This is your last warning! I will be discussing spoilers from this point on, search so if you haven’t read it yet, I’d suggest you stop reading this and go over to my spoiler FREE review here. 

All right. Moving on.

There has been a TON of hate and extremely negative reviews for Veronica Roth’s last installment of her Divergent Trilogy.

And her’s the thing: I was insanely surprised at the ending that she presents to us. She kills Tris Prior. Tris Prior who is the MAIN character of her novel. That’s almost unheard of. Almost.

This caused tears galore for me. I couldn’t stop crying, some of it was shock and some of it was just pure heartbreak at the thought of this character that I’ve grown to love and admire as dead. It was incredible. I never thought that she would do that but I honestly felt like it was the most logical solution to the situation that was happening in the book.

So I expected people to be surprised, upset, heartbroken. I thought that there would be a little anger but this outpouring of heartbreak and that all the Divergent fans would come swooping together to mourn together.

Yeah, that’s not what happened. People are PISSED, they are angry. They are saying its the worst ending to a series ever, they’re threatening Veronica on Twitter and Instagram. The reviews all over the interwebs are just awful, AND people are going up to Veronica at her Allegiant events, and telling her straight to her face, how much they disliked the book.

And I think so much of it boils down to the fact that she killed off Tris Prior.

I understand. I do. I almost wanted to throw the book when it happened too. I was in so much shock. There’s a small chunk of book left after her death, so there’s some processing time. I knew I liked the book immediately, but in the aftermath and recovery process of the book, I discovered more and more why I liked the book and why I agree with the choices that Veronica makes.

She kills off four characters that have been with us since the very first book: Edward, Tori, Uriah and Tris. And each of their deaths were hard to bear, the last two especially for me. But I think that Veronica recognizes what other authors have recognized: that in a war, a rebellion, a battle, a fight…people die. You can’t be picky and choosy on who dies in something like that. I think she took a page out of JKR’s strategy and definitely George R.R. Martin’s strategy, and realized that important people were going to die.

I mean, have read Game of Thrones? The main character dies in the VERY FIRST BOOK. Yeah. All these people insulting this book and Veronica Roth? Don’t read the first Game of Thrones book…or any of them really.

Tris’s death, to me, makes a lot of sense. The way it plays out is a bit awkward but I don’t think her actual death is unexpected. I mean it is because she’s the main character and I don’t think people expect the main character to die. But Tris, as a character, sacrificing herself for her friends and her family, the people that she loves? That is incredibly expected of her. When everyone accepts that Caleb will be the one to die, to sacrifice himself for the good of everyone else, I was surprised. I wasn’t surprised that Christina or Matthew or Peter or Four or anyone else would be okay with that, but I was incredibly surprised that Tris was okay with that. Despite his betrayal, Tris loves her brother, unconditionally, and she’s the reason they saved him from his execution at the hands of Evelyn. I couldn’t imagine her letting Caleb die, I just couldn’t.

So it made sense to me that Tris decided to task the risk and she died, in the hopes that the people she loved would be safe. She offers herself up in Insurgent to die to keep others safe, why would it be such a surprise that she does it in this novel? It was a VERY Tris-like action, and I think that her dying is more plausible than Four, who I think a lot of people believed would die.

Besides, we need to look at Veronica Roth as an author and as a person. She’s a Christian and a born-again Christian and she has some strong religious views that we do see peeking out of her story at times. She has not hesitated to thank God in every single one of her novels. I think that she used the sort of allusion as a sacrificing Christ figure in her book, and it honestly makes sense. Sure, Tris doesn’t resurrect like Jesus does but I think that Veronica was going with the more realistic approach, and I think its beautiful. Its a beautiful sacrifice. It reminds me of the sacrifice that Harry Potter makes in going into his death. Again, Harry lives but I think Veronica took more of a risk and I personally thought it was absolutely beautiful.

I think also we need to think of Veronica herself. She is my age, only 25, and even though she’s incredibly popular and has been reviewed so highly, she is still a person with feelings and emotions. She has expressed her concern over things like this, and has sought out help due to anxiety and stress. Whether or not you agree with the ending, to attack an author, and to say the things that have been said to her…its just ridiculous and absolutely immature. A book is an author’s baby, the same way a painting is to an artist or a song is to a musician. Whether you like a book or not, you should never attack it or the author.

Which brings me to this point: who are you to say that you know better than the author, the creator of the world and the characters? My friend Paulina said something, like, people get confused on the differences between a bad book and a book that simply does not end the way you wish it to. I think that happened a lot with this. People expected it to end a certain way…they wanted to be surprised, shocked, they knew it would break their hearts, but I’m sure everyone expected Fourtris (Four and Tris, for those not in the know) to live together happily ever after. Don’t they always? But they don’t, and I think a lot of anger comes from that.

Look, these are Veronica’s characters and she can tell the story, and treat them as she sees fit. And you don’t have to agree with that. One of my contributors is not a fan of the ending, but the way in which she handled her disappointment and dislike was done in an incredibly mature way. You may not like what Veronica has done with her characters and that’s okay! I’m not saying you’re wrong. I disagree with that, but we are allowed to disagree.

What I do disagree with is the disrespect being shown to Veronica Roth and her books, the amount of hate mail she is getting, the threats and the all around immaturity that I’m seeing from readers. I have seen one person on Twitter, tweeting Veronica incessantly, offering payment for a better ending to the book. That’s just ridiculous. Handle this like a mature adult, accept that this is the ending of the series whether you enjoy it or not, and move on.

I could go on and on about this. Its not necessarily my job to convince you that I’m right and that the ending is a good one, even though it is in my own opinion. I was heartbroken, I cried, and I definitely will be reading the book again, eventually, after I get through my insane stack of books waiting for me to read.

My job is to convince you that we all need to be respectful when in regards to someone else’s work. We may not always like what we see or what we read or what we hear but this is someone’s hard work. Someone poured their soul and hard work and their heart into something like this and we cannot sit here and presume to know better than them. Veronica Roth wrote the book that she set out to write, and she obviously took the time to make sure that it was the right book and the right story, because quite a bit of time has passed since the release of Insurgent.

And here’s my last thing: if you don’t like the ending of Allegiant, write yourself some fan fiction and move on.

Tuesday Top Ten-Favorite Divergent Moments

Today is the day, information pills my friends. It is 9:45 here, viagra dosage in California but most other places, its midnight and Allegiant has released. Which means, its released for me too! Which means its already downloaded to my Kindle RIGHT NOW.

Do you know how hard it is to write this post when all I want to do is dive into this book?

But alas, I will finish this post in a timely manner and then you guys will basically lose me until I finish this book :)

So in order to celebrate the release of the final book in the Divergent trilogy, I have decided to count down my top Ten moments in the Divergent trilogy…so far. I hope you enjoy them!

P.S. There will DEFINITELY be spoilers for Divergent and Insurgent in this post. You have been warned.

10. The Raven Tattoos

I love when Tris gets her tattoos, the three ravens on her collarbone. I think its a real turning point for her. She still has loyalties to her family and to the faction of Abnegation but she realizes she has to sway her loyalties toward the Dauntless in order to become one, and not a factionless. I think this moment shows her accepting that she can have both, in different ways. The Dauntless mostly all have tattoos and by getting this tattoo, she is stepping into their world. But because she gets three tattoos for her mother, father and brother, it shows she will always love them, no matter what factions they are in. I think its incredibly sweet and amazing. I plan on getting the exact same tattoo soon, so I can’t wait to be part of that with her.

9. Tris’ First Simulation

When Tris goes under the simulation, in order to determine which faction that she fits the best with, I don’t know what any of us expected. This is so soon in the book, it happens so fast before we even really know Tris or the society that she lives in. But this right here shows so much about her. It shows her strength, her intelligence, her courage and bravery and her ability to think quickly and her ability to lie as well. Its amazing how quickly you can become acquainted with, and fall in love with, Tris, in this one scene. Its also when we find out that she’s Divergent, which is SO pivotal to the entirety of the series.

8. Amity and Tris

When Tris goes to Amity, after the disaster events that happen in Divergent, and she is injected with the peace serum, and she just acts ridiculous? I just love it. Because I feel like we’ve gotten two different versions of her. We get the silent, selfless, “stiff” Beatrice of Abnegation and then we get the strong, brave Tris of Dauntless, and seeing this silly and carefree Tris, where she’s acting free and open. She’s saying all these things that she’s never said before and its just fantastic. Amidst all the chaos that is going on in their society, the fact that we are able to laugh for this scene is fantastic. I’m sure not sure how many humorous moments that we are going to have in Allegiant so this was a nice moment.

7. Peter Saving Tris

I didn’t expect this in the slightest. You think Tris is going to die, or be tortured, and you feel absolutely completely hopeless. I mean, I can’t even imagine how much hopeless I could have felt in that moment with Jeanine. So when Peter saves Tris, SAVES her, I was in shock, but I don’t know. I kind of felt for Peter in that moment. You hate him so much, he’s just an enemy but you can’t help but like him at least a little bit in that moment. He risks his life, does everything he can, and saves Tris. I kind of have hope for Peter now. I don’t know whats going to happen to him in the future, but you just never know.

6. The End of Insurgent

Come on! That cliffhanger, where they watch the video, and you see Edith Prior and then things go to chaos and then the book just ends! I remember thinking, this can’t be happening. I read Insurgent when it came out nearly a year and a half ago, and I thought, there is no way that I have to wait that long to figure out what happens next. I seriously think its one of Veronica Roth’s best moments because she knows exactly how to create a huge drama, and then just leave you hanging, panting, dying for the next thing to happen. Its intense and insane.

5. Knife Throwing Scene

Okay, so Four decides, hmmm, I’m gonna throw knives at Tris to teach her a lesson or something and he nicks her ear on purpose and makes her bleed. He’s a total jerk in that scene. But for some reason, every single girl who has read that book loves that scene and we totally fall even more in love with Four than we already were. We’re all mentally thinking, I wish a boy would throw knives at my head in a desperate attempt to tell me how much he is in love with me. It literally makes no sense whatsoever, but it just is one of those scenes that sticks with you. That’s why it was the VERY first still that was released from the filming. And even though its kind of crazy, I think it also shows the strength and fear in both of them, testing each other strengths and fears in that moment. Its a bonding moment for them, though they don’t even know it.

4. Four’s Fear Landscape

I like this scene because this is the moment that you realize there’s so much more to Four than just that tough guy, stoic attitude. He has fears, not a lot of them, but they’re all so real and full. I think showing Tris really is his way of telling her how much she means to someone. The fear landscapes open us up to a person, our souls, and you sort of lay yourself bare to a person when you show them  that. By taking Tris into his landscape, and even letting her discover his true identity, he is opening himself up to Tris, completely. Its a beautiful scene. For the first time, you sort of believe that Tris is just as strong, if not stronger, than Four

3. The Ferris Wheel

There are two ways in which I love this scene. First off, you get the fact that Tris is incredibly intelligent in the scene and that she shouldn’t be underestimated. Ever. While everyone is bickering on how to handle the Capture the Flag situation, she decides, I’m going to climb this ridiculously huge Ferris Wheel in order to see what the other team is up to. And she does it, she shows the bravery to do it as well. But I like it as well, because I think that this is the turning point for Four when it comes to Tris. I think he had always noticed her, she was another Abnegation transfer, but this moment where she just shows her ultimate bravery and she’s so calm, it stands out to him. It also helps that climbing this far up, being high up, is a fear for him, and to see her tackle it is huge. Its a scene that I’m dying to see in the movie. I can’t wait for this.

2. Four’s First “I Love You”

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This really speaks it all. Its the most absolute perfect way for it to happen. It reminds me so much of my own first “I love you” with my boyfriend. It was absolutely perfect. Its not the way you picture it or imagine it. Its not beautiful or over-the-top, but its amazing. Its amazing just exactly the way it is. So I can’t say much more than that. Its beautiful. It shows the perfection of them as a couple.

1. Tris’ First Jump

I think I knew I loved Tris as a character when you see the way she is in her simulation but when she decides to switch to Dauntless and she is the first one to jump into that chasm, where she just has to have faith that there will be something down there to catch her…its the moment that Tris becomes one of my absolute favorite characters. Tris is the only transfer from Abnegation and everyone is making fun of her, and they’re already underestimating her before she can even do anything and the fact that she undresses herself a bit and throws it at Peter, and then takes that first jump. Its beautiful and I love that scene. Its also the scene where she and Four meet for the first time, and where she changes her name from Beatrice to Tris, so I just love it. Its the one scene where I’ll probably tear up and jump up and down in my seat for in the movie. Of course.

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I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Tuesday Top Ten. Now I must go to my bed, curl up with my Kindle and dive into this book.

If you don’t see me for a few hours, that’s where I am!

Share your own Divergent and Insurgent moments in the comments below! NO spoilers for Allegiant!