Coincidentally, the protagonists for both books are being played by the same actress in their movie adaptations: Shailene Woodley, who will also be appearing alongside the same actor Ansel Elgort in both films.
I find it very ambitious for these two young, up-and-coming actors to be starring major roles in two movies being released in the same year ... plus, Ansel will be playing Shailene's brother in 'Divergent', and boyfriend in 'The Fault in Our Stars', making me wonder how they could change motivations in-between filming both roles. Should be interesting to watch once the movies are released!
But more on the movies later, this is a book-review post ...
More under the cut ...
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I read this in bits and pieces whenever I could find the spare time (in between work, Facebooking binges, and movie marathons), kind of like 'snacking'. I think it would have been more enjoyable if I read it in big sittings instead, like having proper meals, because the writing is just so rich and full of great thoughts that would have been more satisfying to read and digest in big gulps.
The summary kind of put me off at first -- on the surface, the story could be dismissed as just another plain, tragic-romance: A girl meets the guy-of-her-dreams who sweeps her off her feet, and tragedy strikes through the fact that they both suffer from life-threatening cancer. Seems like a formula recycled for soap operas and bad fanfic.
But because Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters are such fascinating protagonists, and John Green writes them with so much heart and conviction, the story becomes one-of-a-kind and special. Even though the characters are just teenagers, their life-threatening illness makes them experience life tinted with a mature, bitter dark humour, which makes their perspective fascinating to read.
John Green has very quotable and poetic writing that makes me want to read the sentences over and over, and it's obvious he did his research. The characters are well-rounded and convincing -- I effortlessly felt love, sadness, hate and suffering as the characters do, and it takes a good author to put the reader into the shoes of their characters.
Side note: It's interesting that John Green has a YouTube channel he shares with his brother, and I feel like I should check it out to see how someone can transition from successful YouTuber to successful author. OwO
Just a few scattered thoughts, to summarize: Hazel Grace is an amazing protagonist I really want to root for, and though it took me some time to warm up to the romantic-interest Augustus Waters, he really grew on me. But Peter van Houten was my favourite by far (seriously, why do I have a thing for douchebag characters?? =_=;;), and I loved that little character-revelation at towards the end. It really makes me wish that An Imperial Affliction was an actual book I could read. :)
Divergent by Veronica Roth
'Divergent' was a bit harder for me to warm up to. :P
At first, I honestly really liked the post-apocalyptic setting, and the fact that society was rigidly divided into five distinct (and awesomely-named!) 'Factions': Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, Erudite and Candor. It was a rich, fascinating world to explore and play in, and had so much promising fuel for epic storylines and plot, not to mention raising discussions on human personality, politics and power, etc.
However, I felt that the promising setting was just a bit wasted on shallow characters that I didn't find very likeable or relatable. It might just be my own personal tastes, and I know it's different for everyone, but I found Tris a very difficult heroine to empathize with. She made all the decisions that I wouldn't, which made it hard for me to care about what happened to her. =__= Not a good thing when she's the main character.
I liked that the plot picked up its pacing towards the end of the story, and I appreciate that Veronica Roth made an effort to create suspense when revealing major plot points, but overall the story felt like it lacked structure. I found myself annoyed whenever Tris launched into another long description of her growing romance with Four -- it was like reading Bella Swan all over again (and to be honest, I wasn't as annoyed at Bella Swan heh~ :P). Can we please have more politics and storyline and character-development?
'Divergent' gets compared to 'The Hunger Games' trilogy a lot, and I can see why -- post-apocalyptic setting, strong female protagonists, written in present-tense and in first-person perspective. I don't mind those similarities.
But I found Katniss a far more likeable heroine, who seemed more level-headed and relatable. Even when she was being bitchy and annoying, I still cared about what happened to Katniss, and I liked that the story was told through her perspective. However, I wish I could hear the story of 'Divergent' told through a different POV than Tris'.
It's weird, but the 'Bonus Material' at the end of the book (which includes an interview with Roth, quotes that inspired the characters, and the manifestos that represent each Faction) were far more interesting to read than the actual story. Maybe because they explored the world of 'Divergent' in greater detail and made it feel more 'real' than what is told through Tris' voice. :\
/sigh On a plus side, the movie trailer looks good~!
In summary ...
I just had a random, retrospective moment comparing the two books I've just finished: On one hand, we have The Fault in Our Stars: a simple plot, but driven by and made-amazing by interesting characters. Then we have Divergent: such a promising plot with potential for an amazing, complex story, but slightly damaged by cardboard-characters. :P
I might just finish the 'Divergent' series just to have a solid conclusion to the story ... and maybe watching the movie might just give me a better opinion on the characters. :) /thinkpositive
For more info:
'Divergent' on GoodReads
'The Fault in Our Stars' on GoodReads
I read both of these -- well I stopped reading Divergent about I don't know, 5 chapters or whatever in. After she met Four, pretty much. I couldn't take anymore. It was just so vapid to me. The part where the Dauntless have to jump onto a train and building, I just couldn't find the logic there. It was like being reckless just to be reckless, not being brave at all, just stupid. It felt like the author was trying too hard. The Fault in Our Stars was more interesting though the Van Houton character was maddening a bit and that "okay? okay" thing or whatever it was got annoying pretty fast. It was sad, but still.
ReplyDeleteHave you read The Knife of Never letting Go yet?
haha yupp, the narration for 'Divergent' felt very shallow, and yes, Tris' interactions with Four were just a bit annoying. :P I wasn't very involved in the story, and finished the book for the sake of finishing it, but tried to see the virtues of the story where they were. I renamed Dauntless as 'Club YOLO' in my head because of all the reckless things they did, haha~ It didn't make sense to me either!
DeleteAnd yup, I felt The Fault in our Stars did have its faults sometimes, but I felt more involved with that story than 'Divergent' ... I really felt for Hazel's parents the most, more than the protagonists.
I've never heard of The Knife of Letting Go~ Is it good? :)