Breaking Free (52 Weeks of Books Week Ten)

Double digits - super cool, yeah?

Yeah, I thought the same thing.

Reached (Matched #3)

Ally Condie, 2012, Speak

Summary:
Reached (Matched #3) is the third and final book in the Matched series, a series of young adult dystopian novels written by Ally Condie. It has the three central characters to the series - Cassia, Ky, and Xander - in completely separate parts of the world, but each working in some way for the Rising. The Rising's goal is rebellion and an overthrow of the Society through biological warfare (in this case, a virus that only they can cure). While all seems to go well initially, things get complicated when the virus mutates. Suddenly the cure The Rising thought they had is no longer effective, and finding a new one becomes a race against time that both The Rising and one member of the trio may not have.

Why I Read It:
I was on a young adult dystopian fiction reading kick (ala The Hunger Games and Divergent series). My youngest sister had the first book in the Matched series sitting on her bookshelf. Combine that with the sight of my niece's copies of books in the series lying around the house when I went to visit, and suddenly I needed to read the series. I got through Matched and Crossed fairly quickly, but this one got set to the side after a chapter or two because of its slower pace.

Opinion:
I'm glad I did set this one to the side and come back to it. Unlike Mockingjay and Allegiant, Reached took us through the potential outcomes when biological warfare comes into play. Therefore, it didn't seem to move as quickly. I was okay with the slower build, especially because of the tendency I've noticed in series work like this towards longer and more dense final novels. Reached has all the layers, but the slower pace gave me time to absorb and understand better what was going as I was reading it. I also thought coming at the angle of a quieter uprising by using a virus to get the people's attention was an interesting idea to explore, versus civil war (or the potential for it).

Maybe it was just young adult dystopian fatigue, but I had a harder time connecting to the main characters in Reached, though. I could completely connect with Katniss and her grief over the loss of Prim after everything she'd done to keep Prim safe. And Tris's fate had me throwing Allegiant at the wall because it hurt so much at the same time as it was so in-character for her. I can't say I had the same level of investment in Cassia and what happened to her, Xander, or Ky.

But, like I said, that might be fatigue with the genre.

Conclusion:
The Matched series is one of a number of dystopian young adult series that have come out in recent years. Reached is a slower pace overall than others, but it (and the series as a whole) are well worth a read. The genre asks questions that we as individuals and society as a whole need to be able to answer. Is this a road we really are going down? What are we doing that makes this a possibility? Is the short term benefit of [thing we are doing] really worth what will most likely come down the line?

I don't really have any answers, but I do think we need to carefully consider.

52 Weeks of Books Challenge? What is that? What book is Cat reviewing next week?

Read up here! Link: http://www.catpollockwrites.com/p/blog-page_30.html

Metaphors: Candles

I've recently fallen in love with candles. Since coming home from the World Race , I've bought at least one a month. My favorite candles are the ones that come in glass jars - because when they burn out, I can clean the remaining wax out and put the jars to other uses. Right now, that means they get cleaned out and packed away in anticipation of my move to Flagstaff. But as I was lighting one tonight (vanilla spice... Thanksgiving smells? Yes, please!), I saw a metaphor for writing flickering away in the flame licking at the wick and melting the wax. I suppose it could be a metaphor for life in general, but since the theme of this blog is writing... Well, you do the math.

Book Review: The Excalibur Alternative

Happy Thursday, everyone. Here is July's book review for general consumption. Since the book I am reviewing is the third in a series, a potential SPOILER WARNING is in effect if you have not read the Ranks of Bronze series. The Excalibur Alternative (Ranks of Bronze #3) David Weber, 2002, Baen Books Summary: It's just another day at war for Sir George Wincaster and the group of 14th-century English soldiers he leads until they are abducted by aliens who are part of the Galactic Federation. Stuck in outer space and used as mercenaries to conquer the populations of low-tech planets, they wonder if they will ever make their way home. An unexpected opportunity comes their way when a member of another alien race, who is also being subjugated by the Galactic Federation, approaches Sir George with a proposition to take over the ship and win back their freedom. Will he take them up on it, and what will the consequences be? Opinion: I confess, I did i...

[Five Minute Friday] Purpose

Fiber bars, strewn along the side of the road. There had to be at least a dozen of them, still in their wrappers and completely unopened. No box in sight. Really? That's about the reaction my younger sister and I had when we stumbled on them on our early morning run. Really? along with disgusted sighs about the wastefulness of it. These were the expensive ones, not a generic store brand that kind of tastes and kind of looks the same sometimes. So, when we weren't keeping an eye out for their box, we speculated about what had happened. And wondered how many more we were going to see before the end of our run. "Maybe they took one bite and thought they were gross," my sister said. "So they threw them out because they didn't want them anymore." I let out one of those disgusted sighs and nodded along with her theory. "Yeah, or they got in a huge fight, and threw them out in a fit of rage." "That's a possibility." And...

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