Summer Reading: "Paris in Love" + "Divergent" series

Summer reading recap: I set goals for this summer to re-read an old favorite, read a sci-fi/fantasy adventure, a nonfiction memoir, several short stories or poems, the first in a new series and a spiritual growth devotional. Here are my first two installments: a memoir and the first of a new series.

Nonfiction: Paris in Love: A Memoir by Eloisa James

I received a copy of this memoir for my birthday and found it to be a light, quick read. In 2009 James and her family went on sabbatical to spend a year in Paris soaking up the culture, enjoying the food, and experiencing everyday, non-tourist life in a foreign country.

The book is written in short bursts, nearly all the text taken from the Facebook page and blog that James kept during the year abroad. She shares brief glimpses into her children's struggles and triumphs at a foreign school, her experiences shopping and cooking, their family nights out with friends and rainy days spent in watching familiar movies dubbed with unfamiliar voices. It was an enjoyable read but not particularly meaningful or memorable. I didn't realize that James's other books are romance novels, so some of her thoughts/observations veered a bit too close to the sensual side for my liking, but overall it was a pleasant read. A sweet recording of a year in a beautiful city and the chance to grow closer to family while enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

First in a New Series: Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Distopian fiction is all the rage right now thanks to The Hunger Games, and the Divergent series leapt to the top of bestseller lists last year. My sister picked up a copy earlier this year and wasn't impressed, but then passed it along to my mom, who quite enjoyed it. A friend of mine told me that she disliked the main character but wanted to know what I thought about it, so I finally picked it up and read the first two installments (last book won't be out until October of this year).

The series takes place in a not-too-distant American society where everyone is divided into factions based on their personalities and skills. Factions are chosen when students turn 16, and each faction is based around a virtue that shapes and controls the members' behavior and occupation. The 5 factions are Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).

Our heroine, Beatrice, is an Abnegation who chooses to become Dauntless after her faction selection results are inconclusive. Most of the first book follows the Dauntless initiation process as Beatrice (who changes her name to the cooler, edgier "Tris") and a group of other teenagers leap off of buildings, fist-fight with each other, and experiment with tattoos and alcohol. Ok, so Tris doesn't drink, but every other teenager does. I think that's what bothers me the most about this book: the "brave and fearless" group spends most of their times getting tattoos, bullying each other, getting drunk and wearing see-through clothing. True bravery is protecting each other at all cost, laying down your own life, giving up what means the most to you. To me this faction really should have been called Reckless, not Dauntless. Later in the book we do realize that there has been corruption, and that the motives and actions of Dauntless used to be purer, but it still seems to be a society mostly based around cheap thrills.

The other thing that got on my nerves was all the kissing. I have nothing against a good love story, bu seriously, people. I know this is Young Adult Fiction, and teenagers like to be all gooey, but this got a little ridiculous. Once Tris and her true love finally admit they like each other, it's non-stop kissing. "Our lips met," "our lips touched," "our lips brushed," "our lips collided" (ouch!). Let's save the kissing until after the world is saved, kids.

The story really got started once our heroes move on from training into the main plot of "Things are not as they should be! We must save the world!" The entire second book deals with Tris and her friends fighting off the evil overlords and bonding together with members of other factions.

A recurring theme in both books is the use of "fear landscapes" by trainers and enemies to make characters face their worst fears in a virtual reality generator. This really got under my skin, but not in a badly written/implausible plot device way. It bothered me because I started thinking about what my landscape would consist of, and that's not a pleasant thought at all. Praise to Roth for very effective writing there, even though it's something I'd prefer not to consider in reality.

I definitely felt that the story improved as it progressed. There are interesting twists to the story, compelling characters and well-written action scenes. Being the second book in a trilogy it obviously ends on a cliffhanger, and I'll most likely read the third when it arrives in October.*






*The movie version of this book is already in progress, and IMDB reports that Shailene Woodley had been cast as Tris. Having only seen her as a whiny teenager in The Secret Life of the American Teenager and the George Clooney movie The Descendents, I am not that optimistic.