gravitypaint's bookcase

The ending. A bit of an unconvential place to start, but seeing as I have recently read the trilogy from beginning to end to me it is the part that stands out the most. Tris dies. This happens in a lot of books, the protagonist dies and I still haven't worked out if I like it or not. In some cases it is obvious that it is needed, in others it is obvious that is isn't.I can be a bit of a hopeless romantic sometimes so sue me if I want a happy ending, but I'm not all that convinced it was needed here. I suppose it brings the trilogy to a definite end, but Tris and Tobias had only just grown and matured into themselves properly.

On a side note - did anyone else notice how the POV under the chapter number stopped near the end?

I'll stop focusing on that one point. The book itself. I actually quite enjoyed it, I feel as though it wrapped up the ends of the story nicely without me being left wanting for more. Obviously more things are yet to happen in that world, but enough was revealed that it is not a major curiousity for me.

It was odd that the story was told from two different perspectives; I enjoyed it as we were able to get a fuller understanding of what was going on. Unlike the other books this is no longer about Tris and her journey, but the journey of others around her too. (Obviously the last couple of chapters would also have had to be omitted if Tris was the only charcters who we read through). The main problem I had with the two perspectives is that I read quite fast, and often forgot to look at who I was reading as. As a result of this I found myself occasionally having to turn back the pages to figure out who 'I' was in a certain situation. The differences in the two characters were too subtle for me to realise whom I was seeing events occur as.

As I said at the start, the concluding book in a trilogy is often either packed full of action or explanation. Until about half way through this book I was worried that I was going to get bored with the lack of action that was taking place. I am naturally curious and enjoy finding out what has happend, and why those things have happend, but it all seemed to be happening in slow motion. The scheming toward the end made the book feel much more alive than the first half, but wasn't so much that it turned it into another action packed story. The first two books had enough of that in my opinion and sometimes, no matter how much you like something, things have to change to make the overall better.

The fact that the community of Chicago are trapped inside their city, and seemingly do not care what goes out outside of that environment does not actually suprise me all that much. It actually amazes me that they have to beleive that the outside world is full of 'monsters' to justify that choice. It's like when you go on holiday - more so if you go camping with a group of people - everything that is not happening in your 'world' whilst you are away doesn't seem all that important. Why do you want to find out about the outside 'world' when you aren't yet done finding out about your own? Obviously the length of time is a major difference, and not everyone may think the same way as me, but that is my opnion on it. Along the same lines, however, I don't understand why Amity, or even more the Dauntless guards, never venture out seeing as they have access to beyond the fence. I know it mentioned somewhere about signs marked with X's but, is that all? I suppose it isn't all that important to the overall story but it is something that stuck with me.

New characters are always an interesting task when you are at this point of the story. Obviously the outsiders are all going to be new, but it makes sense that we didn't know about these before. Some of the others, however, felt a little forced to me. The two that spring to mind are Amar and Harrison. They seem to be pretty important in what they are doing, and referenced by such a small appearance elsewhere that it doesn't quite seem right. Other such as Fernando come in the story, play their part, but depart from it pretty quickly.

One thing that definitely surprised me was Tris' mother coming from outside of the city. I was not expecting that. Or the fact that they 'reset' people's memories just to continue the experiment. The whole idea is really interesting and I really like how the sotry has developed from being about one persons identity, to the identity of the city, out even further to the world as a whole. I am really glad that the world outside isn't perfect or completely destroyed as it seems to be in many dystopian novels.

It is written as though transcribed off of some cassette tapes with some information missing where the tapes run out before the speaker finishes what they are saying. Apart from the side notes saying 'this is where it ends, wonder what they were going to say next etc.' there is no other dialogue. The premise is really interesting - the human race needs upgrading and some people are missed out of this upgrade and can no longer interact with everyone else as they are 'analogue' whilst the rest have become 'digital' However the lack of any dialogue from the upgraded person who has found the tapes makes the story a bit lacking in substance; it is like reading a diary rather than a fictional story. The characters feel somewhat flat - possibly because it is simply dialogue about events that happen.

The book is very fast paced which makes it an interesting read, although sometimes it feels like there are details left out. I suppose, though, we are living the story through a character who is new to the island and therefore doesn't know everything there is to. The books ends with Alenna and Liam having found a safe place (well, safe in comparison to where they were before) and could easily finish there but, ever curious, I want to know what happens. There are so many questions left unanswered - what will happen if people find out about Minister Harka, will they be able to get their friends back, will they be able to 'shut down' the island - and so many more.

Skulduggery Pleasant follows Stephanie as she meets the aforementioned who just so happens to be a skeleton. She delves into a world of magic and deceit where her name is a very precious thing. She has to make the choice between forgetting about this new world and remaining in it with the danger that can come with it. Stephanie, up until this point, feels she has led a fairly normal and boring life and with her Uncle's death having mystery thrown upon it by this new world decides to continue learning about it. She picks her name - Valkyrie Cain - so that Stephanie can no longer be used against her and sets about helping those she has befriended.

Cassia, Xander and Ky are all in different places working undercover for the Rising. They all have tasks suited to their abilities - Xander is an official, Cassia sorts, and Ky pilots an airship alongside Indie. They are all working away slowly at society in their own ways. Xanders task is to immunize babies against the red tablet, and Cassia's is to deliberately sort incorrectly to rupture the sociteys hold a little more. As the plague breaks out Ky and Indie bring in cures from the Rising but the plague soon spirals into a mutation. The cure stops working on this mutation, but Xander is determined to keep trying. Cassia has become a reliable trader and gives people somewhere to express their creativity when they don't have anything to trade. It is arranged for her to be taken to join Ky, and Indie then takes them to see Xander on instruction of the Pilot. The three are taken out to the farthest stone village where a cure for the mutation is being worked on. It turns out the villagers are immune to the plague and the mutation but they haven't yet figured out how. Ky has contracted the mutation and has to be cared for as he becomes 'still' Xander uses his skills to help Oker, a 90 year old man, try to find the cure. Cassia helps the other sorters in the village to try and assist by finding patterns in the diet and environmental factors that may have made the villagers immune. The cure is eventually found, though not without hardship.