Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Please Ignore Vera Dietz was recommended to me by someone at Chapters and it has been sitting on my self since the summer. It is an interesting read- for more mature students- I would be hesitant to leave it in a Grade 7 or 8 class. I think I will give it to a high school friend and see what she thinks. The main character in this book is Vera- she is 18 and has spent her whole life trying to stay invisible, just the way here parents have taught her. She wants to experience things, but she is also very aware of her father's expectations of her. She appears to be a mature, responsible, hard working young lady, but she has many secrets. The story opens with the funeral of Vera's best friend Charlie and the rest of the book deals with flashbacks of what led to his death and Vera's role in it. I did enjoy the story, it was an easy read, although it was hard knowing some of the things that Vera was involved in. She is a very mixed up young lady. There were also some hints at what a dark life Charlie led, and while nothing was every explicitly stated, the hints were enough to make you so sad for this young man. Like I said, this book has some very mature themes, so I would be very careful with who I gave this book to.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Allegiant is the third book in the Divergent Trilogy. If you haven't read the first two, you might want to stop reading this and go back and check out the first two books, Divergent and Insurgent. I always find when I read sequels to books, I have a hard time remembering characters and minor details. It is almost worth it to go back and reread the series when the final book is published. I didn't find Allegiant as hard to get into as Insurgent, I seemed to remember more details for this one. In Allegiant, Tris and Four are now living in a factionless society. Their lives with the rules and clothing choices and attitudes that were always predetermined, has changed now that Chicago is faction free. When Tris and Four are offered a chance to have a life outside of Chicago, they take the offer pretty quickly. But of course, nothing is easy. What Tris and Four soon realize is that power corrupts people. Everyone wants what is best for them, and Tris and Four are left to navigate a new world with only their instincts and trust in each other to guide them. As with all books in this trilogy, there is action, excitement and violence. Tris and Four are challenged in their relationship with each other and in knowing who to trust and what to believe. This book took me quite a while to get through, although I did enjoy reading it. It was a nice conclusions to a great trilogy. I don't think you can ever feel comfortable when finishing a trilogy. The end is always so final and it is hard to know you aren't going to hear anymore of characters you have come to know. With this one though, the ending was satisfying.