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Fandom Friday-The Lynburn Legacy

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The Fandom Friday is a weekly feature, this site with each blog post written by a new contributor.

This is the weekly post where either myself, or a guest blogger, talks about a new fandom. See, I’ve had the experience in my life where I’ve been made fun or put down about my particular fandoms. And that has made me feel pretty crappy. But I’ve also put down other fandoms as well.

So I’ve decided to change that. I’m opening my world up to new fandoms, and the best way to do that is to bring people in to write about various fandoms. I’m very excited about this segment.

If you guys are interested in becoming a guest blogger for the Fandom Friday, feel free to email me at whatanerdgirlsays at gmail.com or contact me HERE

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The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan 

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What It Is: 

The Lynburn Legacy is a paranormal mystery series written by the immensely talented Sarah Rees Brennan.

The story follows the main character of Kami Glass, who lives in the tiny town of Sorry-in-the-Vale, where nothing happens, not since the mysterious Lynburns left town. Kami is an aspiring reporter, determined to get a story, and recruiting her friends to help her do it. Her best friend, though, is a boy named Jared, a boy who lives in her head, a boy who she doesn’t even know is real, until one day, she bumps into him on accident and she finds out he is part of a group of Lynburns that have returned to town. Now that the two are thrown together, their connection and bond and growing attraction to each other makes it incredibly awkward to be around each other. But there are more problems to contend with: brutally murdered animals are being found around town and when Kami starts investigating, she’s nearly killed as well. Plus there’s something a little…off about the Lynburn family that Kami is determined to find out about.

So far, there are two books in the series, Unspoken and Untold. Untold was released quite recently, in September, so it probably will be about a year, next fall, for the third book to release. This book is full of adventure and mystery, romance and magic. It reads like a murder mystery, wrapped up in magic, and humor.

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How I Found It 

I met Sarah Rees Brennan back in March, when she was on tour with Cassandra Clare on her Clockwork Princess tour, along with Maureen Johnson. I thought she was absolutely adorable and she made me laugh, and she had the BEST taste in clothes ever. Seriously, Sarah, I don’t know where you get your dresses, but we need to go shopping together soon.

But I knew immediately that I wanted to read some of her books, her and Maureen. I knew if they were endorsed by Cassie, they had to be good. And they were just so hilarious.

I read Sarah Rees Brennan’s Demon’s Lexicon trilogy and I liked it, but this series is really the one that brought me in. I had heard of it but had been no rush until my own contributor Christina Marie recently read Unspoken and loved it so much that she just had to share it with me. I immediately bought the first book, and read the second book just the next day.

My number one fictional crush has been Jace Wayland for a LONG time now, and probably won’t change at all, but Jared Lynburn is now an incredibly close second place.

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Why You Should be Reading It 

I feel like I need ridiculous gifs from Tumblr to explain why you should be reading this series because words are hard to use to describe this series.

It made me laugh out loud. It made me want to scream and cry, and it made me scared and excited. It made me feel so many different emotions all at the same time.

And it was so NEW too. I tend not read too much paranormal romance YA because it starts to get repetitive and frankly, kind of irritating. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to read this series to begin with. Maybe I had that idea that it would just be the same thing again.

But its not at all. Sarah tells this story like its a mystery and like the magical aspect of it is just an added bonus. It literally reads like a murder mystery to me. Its exciting and did I mention funny? Kami Glass is such a brave and fun character and she makes me laugh so much. She’s so stubborn and determined and its not a wonder that she drives Jared absolutely bonkers. I kind of want to BE Kami Glass. Sarah has created this character that is incredibly relatable and at the same time enviable. She’s incredibly smart and clever and super witty, she has a sharp sense of humor. I love that no matter what crazy situations she gets herself into, she just pushes forward. She’s brave, and she’s loyal to those that she loves.

I also absolutely adore the fact that Sarah represents the world the way it is: she has mixed race characters, and characters that have different sexual identities. She represents what we actually see when we go outside. Kami is half-Asian, and there are friends of hers who are questioning their sexual identities and there’s just so many differences in it, and I love it. It shouldn’t be a problem but it is, and the fact that she does it so beautifully and subtly makes this book so much better.

Plus there’s just the fact that she’s a great writer. Its a fun story, with just enough awesome elements to keep you speeding through the book. There’s humor and action and adventure and mystery and romance and fun and amazing.

Seriously, read these novels. You won’t regret one minute of reading these books.

An original fan artwork of Cassandra Jean. I was so happy when I discovered she did art for this series, as well as Cassandra Clare's series.

An original fan artwork of Cassandra Jean. I was so happy when I discovered she did art for this series, as well as Cassandra Clare’s series.

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I hope you all enjoyed this edition of the Fandom Friday. I realize there aren’t many hours left in the day of Friday but I made it! Yay me!

I hope you all are able to check out this book series, you will NOT be disappointed.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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.

Book of the Week-Allegiant

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I wanted to write this as soon as I finished the book but it was nearly impossible to do so. I felt the same as I did when I read City of Glass and Deathly Hallows and The Crimson Crown and The Last Olympian, thumb that sort of knocked out feeling you get when you read the last book of a beautiful and addicting and heartbreaking series.

I was having a hard time last night recovering from the things that Veronica Roth did to my emotions. Now I’m finally ready to share my review with you.

Of course, this entire review is spoiler free. I would never want to ruin a book that has just recently released. So I apologize if this review is incredibly vague but I wanted to highlight the things I loved and disliked about this book, but in a way that doesn’t ruin your own reading experience of the book.

I might, in the next few days, post a spoiler review for those of you who have read the book. If you’d like to discuss the book with me, which includes spoilers, then come on over to the official blog forums, and I’d be happy to talk about the book, and other books with you!

For now, enjoy the review!

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

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GoodReads / Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository 

Genre:

young adult, dystopian, romance

Part of a Series?:

The final book of the Divergent trilogy

You May Like if You Liked:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Legend by Marie Lu, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Age Recommendation:

Keep in mind this is MY personal recommendation and it varies on the maturity of the reader. 

14+

Plot Summary:

From GoodReads:

One choice will define you. 

What if your whole world was a lie? What if a single revelation-like a single choice-changed everything? What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected? 

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature-and of herself-while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love. 

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author, Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

The Bad:

The pacing of the novel is really weird. Sometimes it seems like its going really slow, and that you’re learning a lot about what is going on, but nothing is really happening. Then all of a sudden, things seriously sped up and ended. So the pacing of the novel was incredibly awkward. I thought maybe the book could have been longer, or that the slower parts could be shorter and the action part longer. It seemed sort of weirdly balanced. Once the action started, it was so easy to finish the book, but the build up took a very long time.

The Good:

That all being said though, I really loved this book. I don’t want to spoil anything because the book just came out a few days ago, and I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. I want to tell everyone what I think without ruining it for those who have not been able to read it yet, or who are catching up on the other books.

I loved the direction that Veronica Roth took it in. The end of Insurgent leaves hanging with the idea of an outside world, that needs the Divergent. Which is so different than the city that Tris lives in, where the Divergent are hunted down. But when we finally see the outside world, its so different than what I had ever expected. What we learn and find out is incredible. Confusing, but incredible and it really explains so many plot holes that exist in the previous two books.

I really liked the back and forth between Tris and Four. I feel like, its kind of become a habit for authors to do this dual point of view thing, especially for final books. It would normally kind of make me mad because of the repetitiveness but I really liked it. The only thing we’ve gotten of Four in the previous books is Tris’s own vision of him. Getting into his head, seeing his motives, his love for Tris, his fears, his hopes, all of that, really helps to carry the story. They clash all the time, and they both have such different fears and different backgrounds and it motivates their actions in different ways, and its also the way they come together.

Some people had an issue with the end, and what happens there, and I’m going to try and say my thing without spoiling anything. I was immensely heartbroken by what happened at the end. It was incredibly unexpected and it ripped me to pieces. I spent a lot of time crying, which clouded up my glasses quite nicely. I think it makes the most sense, and that the way in which the events unfold seem so likely to me. In fact, before they unfolded, I was surprised at the direction that Veronica was taking the characters in. When things changed, and ended the way they did, it just made sense to me. The decisions that were made by the different characters just seemed to fit for each of them, and the ending was a full circle for the story. I think that Veronica took leaps and risks that some authors don’t do but I think it played out nicely for her.

I’ve also not cried this hard with a book since I read the epilogue of Clockwork Princess.

I don’t want to spoil much, because there is too much in this book to spoil for anyone but I loved it. I didn’t think it was perfect, because the pacing is just so weird, but I thought it was a beautiful, unexpected ending. People die, lives change, and I cried like crazy. Somehow my favorite character (I hope I never told you who that is…) survives but other characters that I love die. I think that there’s so much to learn and to still contemplate about their world and what could and will happen to everything and everyone. Its a beautiful book and I think Veronica leaves us with the same sort of bittersweet ending that JK Rowling leaves us with in Deathly Hallows.

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

Recommended or Not?:

Definitely, if you’ve read the rest of the series and you’ve loved it the way I have, it is necessary to read this one. You won’t be able to live with yourself with that Insurgent cliffhanger without finishing this novel.

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I hope you all are able to enjoy Allegiant, whether you already have or are currently working at it, or patiently waiting for your book to come in the mail.

Please, remember, not everyone reads fast, or has the ability to get the book right away. No spoilers posted in the comments. They’ll just be deleted.

If you wish to discuss the book, I’ve created a discussion on the forums, and would be happy to discuss all the spoilers with you there! Just follow this link!

Happy Reading everyone!

Reality Boy Book Review

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Reality Boy by A.S. King

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This review is based on an advanced reader’s e-copy, physician acquired through NetGalley. This in no way, doctor shape or form had any effect on my honest review. Thank you Little, Brown for granting me access to this novel. 


You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Author Website

GoodReads Summary:

Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.

Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.

My Review:

This book was brought to my attention by Andrew Smith, the author of Winger. He kept talking about A.S. King, who I admit I had not heard of before this, and her brand new book, Reality Boy, which was just released yesterday. As soon as I saw it on NetGalley, I immediately bid for it and was excited when I got it. I already read Lauren Kate’s new book, Teardrop, and I went tearing through Allegiant yesterday. After taking some time to recover from Allegiant (which I still haven’t QUITE recovered yet), I was bored and needed to keep moving through my ever-growing list of book. I remembered that this released yesterday, and I sped through this book yesterday too. I was on a ROLL.

I had read the synopsis for this book but I don’t think I was quite prepared for the sort of story that King was going to tell. I was still reeling from Allegiant and my emotions were still going haywire and I went face first into this book, unaware of how this book was going to effect me.

This book was such an eye opener in two different ways. One, it really makes you think about the effect a camera can have on a child, whether its reality TV or just as a child actor. For Gerald, its reality TV, and it scars him big time. Every single thing he did as a child, all that bad, has been broadcast all over TV, and then with the spread of the internet, all over YouTube and all that. That is scarring, and its incredibly thought provoking to think of the effect of having a child’s life broadcast on television before they can even understand what is going on, before they even get to school. Can you imagine going into school and kids already know who you are, and have seen all your bad and embarrassing moments? They can judge you before you’ve even met them, and that’s exactly what happens with Gerald and its absolutely horrifying to watch.

But for me, its even more horrifying because of the way Gerald is treated by his mother and his sister. At first you think, its just a normal teenager, who has anger issues and has a passive mother and a cruel sister, but the story goes so much farther than that. As the story goes on, you learn of the mental, physical and emotional abuse that Gerald goes through at the hands of his seriously crazy and incredibly cruel sister, and the ways in which his mother ignores it. It sickens me. Every single time that something happens (or doesn’t happen) with Tasha or his mother, I just feel so sick to my stomach, and you keep turning the pages, hoping so badly that it gets better for Gerald, that someone does something, that people stop being so incredibly passive.

And I think when Heather, the girl who works with him, comes into his life, with her own set of familial problems, she is able to make him feel worthwhile and full of love, and she makes him feel happy, when he hardly ever feels happy. I think they both kind of embrace that idea that we can’t always excuse the things our families do to us simply because they are family. The whole idea of blood is thicker than water is not always true. I love that it shows we can’t always just deal with what our family dishes out because they are our blood and we are stuck with them for life, and they are the only family you have. Sometimes you have to speak up against the harm being done, and sometimes you have to fight that. I like that the two of them come together, and go on an adventure of friendship and love and self-discovery and escape and freedom.

This book is beautiful and I was so happy to be able to experience and I really have to give thanks to Andrew Smith for that, for promoting this book and this author so much. Its a heartbreaking but eye opening story of the effects that a camera and a neglecting family can have on a child, especially as that child grows up. Its a story of self-discovery and a story of escape from the childhood traumas that can hold us back. Watching Gerald, both as a child and as a burgeoning adult, grow into himself and gain some confidence, set goals and become determined for his freedom and his escape. Such a beautiful novel, and I definitely recommend it. Its a fairly quick read, I read it in about a couple of hours, and I was so glad that I did.

Rating:

5 out of 5 stars

Exclusive Interview with Teardrop author, Lauren Kate!

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Just a few days ago, dosage I posted a review for Lauren Kate‘s brand new book, Teardrop. Teardrop is the first of a new series for Lauren, who is most known for her Fallen series, which tells the story of Luce and her epic love story with the fallen angel, Daniel.

I’ve read the Fallen series and adored it, and I was eager to jump into Lauren’s new series. I luckily acquired an ARC of the novel, and quickly devoured it this weekend. You can check out the spoiler free review here.

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The story is of Eureka, who was told at a very young age, that she should never ever cry. She takes this to heart, and as she grows up, becomes a very distant and sort of hardened person, but she is still loving and funny and kind to her best friends and her younger siblings. After her mother dies in a freak natural accident, Eureka inherits some strange gifts from her mother, which leads her to this secret story of Atlantis, and a mysterious boy named Ander, who will do anything to protect her, and the strange powers that her tears have.

Now I am SO happy and excited to share this short, but amazing interview I was able to do with Lauren a few weeks ago, just in time for the release of Teardrop. She has some amazing answers and insight to share with you guys, so I hope you enjoy!

Sara: Can you tell us a little more about Teardrop, and how it is different from books you’ve written in the past? 

Lauren: The main difference is in the voice, which is what always distinguishes novels for me. Eureka is a thrilling heroine to write–she’s strong, funny, sensitive, and she has a beautiful, strange imagination that she only shares with the reader. Her love story is very different from Lucinda’s–far darker–but it still has the epic grandness that I love to write about.

The Fallen novels were my first experience with series writing. Before that my projects were always stand-alone stories, so their narratives had clean(er) lines. Fallen was an unwieldy beast whose tail I couldn’t see the end of until I wrote it. I had to school myself in story mechanics with each new book. I stopped fighting “plot” and began to embrace outlining. Sometimes I’d still prefer to flit wherever inspiration wafts me–but Fallen taught me the importance of giving your story a skeleton around which to graft the tissue.

It also taught me to stay in a kissing scene for longer than it took me to get embarrassed–just beyond my blush seems to be the sweet spot.

Sara: Which book is easier to write: the first book or the second?

Lauren: The writing doesn’t get any easier. I still worry that every idea I have will be my last. Every time I start to plot a book, i fear the book will rebel and hatch a plot against me.

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Sara: Where do you get your ideas or inspiration from? 

Lauren: I began–as I think most writers begin-by sitting down to write only when I was on fire with inspiration. I never had writer’s block and was immensely proud of every scene I wrote. Writing was joyous! The only drawbacks were my stories had no plots, it took me five years to finish anything, and I had a shoebox full of rejection letters. When I finally decided to take an interest in story mechanics (i.e. outlining before I began to write), it was an adjustment to my method because there was less of that magical discovery every day. I already knew where my characters were going in every scene; I didn’t get to stumble upon that like one stumbles upon an arrowhead in a park. But the flip side was because I knew where my characters were going, I had no more excuses not to write every day. And in doing that I learned the most valuable lesson: that I could actively generate inspiration instead of passively waiting for it to strike.

Teardrop specifically was inspired from my time in rural northern California, where the nearby lake was a flooded valley that one had been the site of a small village. Imagined ghosts of this underwater town haunted me, leading to an obsession with flood narratives, from Noah’s Ark to Plato’s Atlantis to Mesopotamia’s Gilgamesh.

I was especially drawn to the legend of Atlantis: a glorious and advanced ancient civilization that disappeared so completely under the ocean, it slipped into the realm of myth. For several years I knew I wanted to write about Atlantis, but I didn’t know whose voice would tell this story–and isn’t that always the most important question?

Inspiration struck one day when I was crying. My husband was listening to my sob story, never mind what it was about. He couldn’t reach me; I was trapped under the flood of my emotions, as tear-shedders often are. But then, he extended his hand, touched the corner of my eye with his finger, and captured the tear welling up. I watched as he brought my tear to his face, as he blinked it into his own eye. Suddenly we were bound by this tear. Suddenly I wasn’t alone. And suddenly I had the first scene between my hero and the boy she loved.

The tear unlocked the story. Instead of an angry god, generating the deluge, a single tear incites Teardrop’s apocalypse. And in the tale I wanted to tell, I knew that a tear capable of flooding the world could only be shed over a mighty heart broken.

Sara: What advice do you give to aspiring novelists? 

Lauren: Read–but you already know that.

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Never push ideas away. Give them space and time to grow up into stories. Live curiously, ask questions, understand that writers can find even boredom fascinating. Hold onto your mystery. Make writing friends. Keep the good ones. Finish your stories. Finish your stories. Finish your stories.

Sara: What are some of your favorite activities outside of writing?

Lauren: I have dreams of working in a restaurant kitchen someday, so when I’m not writing, I’m often cooking, browsing through recipes, or planning my next dinner party. I love food blogs.

I also love to run and hike the canyons around my house in L.A. There’s a secret trail behind my neighborhood that is almost always empty. Every morning before I write, I take my dog–and now, my daughter–up for a hike in the hills. It requires some trespassing but that’s half the fun, and on a clear day, you can see snow in the mountains to the east and a shimmering ocean to the west. It’s LA at its finest.

Sara; Who is your fictional crush? 

Lauren: Rhett Butler!

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I hope you all enjoyed learning a little more about Lauren, her writing and her stories. She had such beautiful answers to the questions I posed to her and I was so eager and happy to share them with you all!

Lauren’s book, Teardrop, is in bookstores now, so make sure to head out and buy a copy and learn more about Eureka and her adventures.

She is also on the road quite a bit in the next couple months, in celebration and in promotion for this new book, so click this link to see if she’s coming near you!

Happy Reading!

Tuesday Top Ten-Favorite Divergent Moments

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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!