Dark Days Tour - St. Louis

For this Saturday I wanted to do something a little different from Secondary Character Saturday, which I'll pick back up next week. About a week ago the Dark Days Tour finished up in Orlando, FL and luckily, incredibly, AMAZINGLY, St. Louis was one of the stops on the way! The tour featured YA authors S.J. Kincaid (Insignia), Aprilynne Pike (Destined), Dan Wells (Partials) and - wait for it - VERONICA ROTH!!! Yup, that's right. I am now the proud owner of signed copies of both Divergent and Insurgent. I know what you're thinking and the answer is yes, my life is complete.

Needless to say it was really great to listen to these four authors talk about their books and YA in general so I thought I'd share some of the cool stuff they talked about. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the event. I was just so super focused on what was going on that I didn't even think to whip out my camera. I was in the zone. Oops. :/

One question that got asked was: what is the best and worst thing about writing YA? This opened up a discussion/rant on YA lit being considered "childish" and "not good". Veronica Roth said that the one question she gets a lot is "When are you going to write novels for adults?" as if YA is just a stepping stone into the world of "real" authors, which is ridiculous. This prompted Dan Wells to add his frustration at the comment of "Your books are really good!...for kids" as if teens don't deserve good reading material, or something. It made me stop and think. There definitely is a lot of stigma surrounding the YA world even though I'd say it's experiencing a sort of "Boom". There's so much more out there than when I was a kid/teen. But even though I'm not a young adult anymore, it doesn't mean I've forgotten what it's like to be one. And it certainly doesn't mean I can't enjoy a story whose protagonist is a teenager...just like I can still identify with a character that's older than me if the author makes them relatable (is that a word?).

I know Hannah has tackled this subject on the blog before, and I'm sure you've all experience this type of criticism before as well...I know I have. I used to work at my school's library during the summer and a few of my coworkers would make snippy comments when I brought one of my YA books with me (summer=empty library=Caralyn has lots of reading time)...stuff like, "aren't you a little old to be reading that?" or "what kind of teenage fantasy are you reading today?" They weren't malicious comments, but I felt the need to defend myself, which I didn't like. I can't stand ignorant people.

Not to mention some of the most successful books/series out there happen to be YA. And where do people think some of the most successful movies of all time have come from?? YA!!! Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and even Twilight (sorry Hannah, I know we don't use the T-word around here, but I had to include it) - they're all YA phenoms whether you're a fan or not. They're out there and they are  ridiculously popular. Everyone and their mother has heard of these books. And somehow I doubt that only 12 year-olds are responsible for the $500 billion those franchises have made, or whatever the amount. My point is that YA hits a nerve with everyone. That's what's so special about it. I don't know what there is to be afraid of.

Anywho, what are your thoughts on YA being considered a sub-genre? And if any of you saw these or other authors on tour, please share your experience!!

Random fact: Veronica Roth is team Hufflepuff :)

Happy Reading!

May Top 5

I had another weird reading month. I didn't think it was that strange, but then I went to look at my list of books read this month and realized that there was definitely something off. A lot of it was good, but not epic good. I'd say this month was pretty mediocre when it came to reading. Except for these five pretties, that were definitely out of control amazing.

1. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Bitterblue was definitely worth the wait. This book is already long, but my only complaint was that it wasn't long enough. It's always hard to let Kristin Cashore's characters go. But at least you know that they are strong and destined for greatness. Read my review.

2. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

The second book in the Divergent series definitely lived up to my expectations. 

3. Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Definitely watch out for this fall release. Such a crazy but awesome book. The ending was mean, but still. These characters were so fascinating. 

4. Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

I love love love Such a Rush. Jennifer Echols never fails to write books that look like they'd have nothing to do with me, but seem to be taken directly from my own life.

5. Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

This book broke me down. It's powerful and haunting. I'm still thinking about it. Read my review.

What were your top reads this month?

Insurgent and Revolution in Literature

I don't want to give you all another review of Insurgent. It's a huge book right now, plenty of other people have already written great reviews. Here are my thoughts in a couple sentences:  I thought it was awesome, it made me cry, and it left me screaming for book three. I love Four and Tris, but I could also probably rant about their relationship for hours. But this was a stellar second book in the Divergent series. If you want to read other Insurgent reviews, I'd suggest checking these out:
Refracted Light Reviews ::: Book and a Latte ::: Good Choice Reading ::: YA Book Bridges ::: The Life of Fiction :: Sash and Em

What I do want to talk about here is revolution. I'm going to warn you now that if you haven't read Divergent, you should probably stop reading this post (because I'll probably spoil a few things) and go read the book instead.

I came to this topic because of my mother. She's currently editing her novel that is set during the Russian Revolution and she was reading passages to me that involve chaos and terror. My mom's a brilliant writer, so I was actually brought to tears, and it wasn't just because these characters were in the middle of something violent that they couldn't control but because those characters are representative of real people who actually had to endure such terror. We got to talking about revolution and she brought up her conflicted emotions when, last fall, she was writing these scenes and people were calling for revolution in the States. She questioned whether people really understand what revolution really is.

Which is where I want to go with this. What is revolution? Its goal is to overthrow a system or government or a radical change in social structure (adapted from dictionary.com). These things don't just happen and rarely do they happen peacefully. But the idea of it, I think, has become an ideal. Something that we hold as a possibility. Something that we all hold on to. Other people have been able to rise up and change things in the past, so if we need to, we could do it again. Through history and literature, the notion has become a romantic and hopeful possibility. But I think it's important that revolution is also coupled with this chaos and terror that is so often glossed over. For every man who dies an honorable death, there are, at least, handful of people left to mourn him. A handful of people who have to adjust to devastation and loss.

As much as we all hope for it, peace on Earth isn't likely. We all have different ideas and values, which doesn't always lend itself to sharing and hugs. But we can't wage war over every disagreement. So where do you draw the line between just being unhappy with the current structure and instigating an overthrow of that structure? When is revolution called for?

So coming back to Insurgent, I can't help but wonder if revolution was the answer here. Maybe Tris and Four aren't exactly leading a revolution, since they were victims of the first overthrow of power, but they act like revolutionaries. They spend the book finding refuge where they can and planning ways to change the order of power. There were a lot of hard decisions everyone had to make. After Erudite kind of takes control everyone is sort of suspended in inaction. The Dauntless faction reached a point where they had to do something and I really can't imagine what else they'd do. But when it culminates in assembling troops and rebelling with violence, I felt very uncomfortable. Because here's the other thing - people wind up on different sides for different reasons - and sometimes an individual may not be getting all the information. Their choice in alliance can be innocent, uninformed, or maybe even passive. Yet, when it comes to revolution, everyone is exposed to violence. I'm sorry if this is slightly spoilery, but I promise it won't completely alter the book if you haven't read it yet - but the moment a minor character who's allowed a few quips and lines, enough to make him a real person, is killed and they barely bat an eyelash, I became angry with the characters in the book.

I'm bordering on rambling here, so I'm going to wrap this up - but what I want to say is Insurgent really got me thinking about the way revolution is portrayed in literature. We read this story through Tris, who was trained in Dauntless, who believes in action and so in some ways there are violent actions that are glorified. In other ways, it is depicted as tragic. But when that minor character dies and it barely registers in the story line, I have to wonder if it's a desensitization to the tragedy and chaos that accompanies revolution. His death is glossed over, chalked up to the cost of revolution, and somehow that cost is deemed worth the outcome.

So the system wasn't working, and their aren't a lot of options. I really don't know what other choices there are to make in situations like this - but I think it's important to keep in mind that even in fictional representations of revolution, those people still represent others who have actually lived through such horror. It's not glamorous. It's not always worth the cost.

These are just a few thoughts I thought I'd put out there. What do you think about the way revolution is portrayed? I'd really like to know your thoughts.

Secondary Character Saturday (8)

I've started a new weekly meme here and I'd love for you to join me. Saturdays are now dedicated to honor the characters that don't always get their voices heard, who support (or work to destroy) our beloved protagonists. This is for the third wheel in the love triangle (can you have wheels on a triangle?), for the BFFs, the family members, or even just the kind and loving (or deceitful and creepy) stranger who shows up and changes the game. We all know these stories wouldn't hold up without support so I'd like to take the time to highlight the best secondary characters I come across. This is an opportunity to talk about what makes these characters special, maybe to speculate what their world would be like without them, or maybe cast them in their own primary roles. If you'd like to create a SCS post leave your link in the comments and I'll check it out!

So today it's all about:

Johanna from Insurgent


There weren't too many new characters in the follow up to Divergent, but I found the leader Amity was a great addition to this world. Don't get me wrong, half of the book she drove me up a wall - but I think she's supposed to. She's a more passive person and the story is narrated by Tris, and "passive" is not in her vocabulary. Mostly, I think I like her because she's created as a representative of the Amity faction, a faction that only makes a very brief appearance in Divergent. During the whole blogger challenge in the lead up to Insurgent's release, I was definitely Team Amity. It's kind of a hippie faction - peace loving, tree hugging and all. So between their absence in the first book and my own allegiance to the faction, I was so curious about their role in Insurgent.

So that's were Johanna comes in. She is the spokesperson for Amity. All of Amity makes their decisions together and Johanna relays those decisions. She's also the one who brings things to the faction to be discussed. Of course, no faction is perfect, so we also find out through her what those imperfections are. But the real reason I think Johanna is so important in this book is in her polar opposition to Tris. Even though we don't really know too much about Johanna, I'm willing to bet that the things she and Tris have in common could be counted on a hand. Yet, when it comes down to the wire, they are on the same side working for the same thing. Both are characters you can root for, they just take different approaches to solve a problem.

I can imagine that Johanna has a really great story and knowing she has a story - a past that's shaped her into who she is and where she is headed - is what makes her a great secondary character worth talking about.