The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and Renee Nault

 The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood and Renee Nault-240 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Synopsis: Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships. She serves in the household of the Commander and his wife, and under the new social order she has only one purpose: once a month, she must lie on her back and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if they are fertile. But Offred remembers the years before Gilead, when she was an independent woman who had a job, a family, and a name of her own. Now, her memories and her will to survive are acts of rebellion.

Provocative, startling, prophetic, The Handmaid's Tale has long been a global phenomenon. With this stunning graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood's modern classic, beautifully realized by artist Renee Nault, the terrifying reality of Gilead has been brought to vivid life like never before.

Thoughts: Provocative, startling, and prophetic are good adjectives for this book. I've heard so much about the series, especially with the HBO series of the same name. I saw this on the shelf at a local book store in New Orleans and was drawn to it. Having now read it (at least the graphic adaptation), I can see what all the talk is about. Honestly, shocking as the story is I don't think it's that outlandish. That's the thing about a lot of dystopian fiction. We may want to think something like it isn't possible, but I think it very well could be if we're not careful. This is a good, if heavy, read. 

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

 Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - 390 pages

My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.

Opinion: Loved this book, too, though it's the most devastating. Suzanne Collins is such a great writer with lots of interesting social commentary. I always love a good ending line that ties the story together or delivers a punch and the last line certainly does that.

Specials

 Specials by Scott Westerfeld 374 Pages

Summary:  Tally thought they were a rumor, but now she’s one of them. A Special. A super-amped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.

But maybe being perfectly programmed with strength and focus isn’t better than anything she’s ever known. Tally still has memories of something else.

Still, it’s easy to tune that out—until she’s offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she’s programmed to complete. Either way, Tally’s world will never be the same.

My Thoughts: And this is where the book series lost me. To me this book was essentially her turned into an alien. The description of how she should look was terrifying and I just hated it, at that point with so many physical and mental and emotional changes she is no longer a human. She is terrifying and not even beautiful. It took way to long for me to finish this book, I didn't want to, but I finally did and I have realized that this series that I enjoyed as a young adult, is no longer my cup of tea. If you like scifi/dystopian weirdness, this book is for you, but it got past the point of believable for me and it lost the magic that the first book had. 

Pretties

 Pretties by Scott Westerfeld 361 pages

Summary: Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she’s completely popular. It’s everything she’s ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun—the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom—is a nagging sense that something’s wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally’s ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what’s wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.

Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life—because the authorities don’t intend to let anyone with this information survive.

My Thoughts: By the time I got to the second book I was pretty annoyed with Tally. She became pretty so she could willingly take the cure when the time came, but she completely forgot about everything that happened and her first love. Yes, it's supposed to happen like that, but later in the books she's shown to be stronger than the altered brain and in this book she's acting like a dumb dumb. Her best friend Shay who was taken from the Smokies as well is AWFUL in this book and she's extremely horrid to Tally in every possible way. Yet again she escapes and yet again is taken back and she's changed EVEN more so. 

Uglies

 Uglies by Scott Westerfeld 448 pages

Summary: Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. In just a few weeks she’ll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty. And as a pretty, she’ll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.

But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally’s choice will change her world forever.

My Thoughts: Look I loved this book series as a teenager. However, reading it today, I did like the first book. the dystopian aspect was intriguing. The beauty standards and how everything affects the environment. I enjoyed reading the inner turmoil Tally faces because society has ingrained in her head that she is "ugly" and needs to be beautiful in order to matter. 

I love that she was strong enough to make the journey to find the Smokies in order to infiltrate and betray them. Her inner turmoil from that point on is should she betray these people or not. This book is about realizing right and wrong, standing up for what you believe in, and friendship. 

Sunrise on the Reaping (Hunger Games Prequel) by Suzanne Collins

 Sunrise on the Reaping (Hunger Games Prequel) by Suzanne Collins-382 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Haymitch Abernathy lives in District 12 of Panem with his mom and younger brother, Sid. It's his 16th Birthday and it's also Reaping day. He has 40 "tickets" in the drawing, but is hopeful his name (nor his girlfriend, Lenore Dove's name) is not drawn. All hell breaks loose at the District 12 Reaping after a boy whose name is called tries to run. Haymitch ends up as one of the two boy tributes from 12 and is separated from his family and girlfriend and must compete in the second Quarter Quell (50th Hunger Games). What awaits is absolutely heartbreaking and horrifying. 

Having read and watched the original trilogy of books/movies, I knew Haymitch would survive, but I didn't realize just how much he would endure during his own Reaping and Hunger Games. I can completely understand why he took to heavily drinking after reading his story in this book. That being said, this is a good book and on par with the original trilogy. 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) by Suzanne Collins

 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) by Suzanne Collins-517 pages

This is a prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy set some 60 years before those books. Coriolanus Snow (President of Panem in the events of the Hunger Games trilogy) is the main protagonist. The story mostly follows the 10th Hunger Games and Snow's assignment as a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, the District 12 girl tribute, while he attends the Capitol Academy. It also covers events that take place after the 10th Hunger Games. It's basically how Snow became President Snow by the time of The Hunger Games. It's a why behind the who. I found Snow's character arc in this book a bit lacking, however. It seems that because he was raised in the Capitol he believes he's better that the Districts and the Capitol is the only way to keep everyone safe and peaceful. He sort of pushes back against the Capitol a little during the Games, but then reverts to just going along with the Capitol afterwards. I will say it was boring at times and I wondered at times if this story was really necessary. I did find parts of the story interesting, especially during the 10th Hunger Games. A few things from the Hunger Games trilogy get some backstory, such as the origins of the "Hanging Tree" song. I don't really care too much about President Snow's origin story, though. I read this because the movie is set to release in theaters in November and I'm interested in watching it even so and I enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy. I liked this book (but didn't reaaalllly like it) and would give it 3 out of 5 stars. 

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Allegiant by Veronica Roth - 526 pages
We start off the last book of the series with Tris arrested for treason after the take down of Erudite and the traitor dauntless.  It is clear pretty fast that with Evelyn in charge things have not really improved. Things might be different, but they are not necessarily better. Tris, along with her friends that are still alive, find out about a community outside of the fence and they escape to go see what it is and to find out answers. They find out what being divergent means and it is pretty shocking. Tris and Four have a hard time in their relationship through a good portion of this book. I was glad to see them work it out. I knew I didn't like it when Tris and Four separated to fight battles in different places. His was wrapped up a little too easy and I don't even want to get into how wrong Tris’s battle went. I really liked the first two books, but this one I had a hard time with. I had a difficult time with the end of the book. I enjoyed it up until the final battle. I can only recommend this book if you are ok with and ready for a surprisingly sad ending.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth - 525 pages
We start the second book off with Tris and Four on the run from Jeanine. They are running with several friends and Marcus, Four’s abusive dad. They try to get sanctuary from Candor first. Only, after both of them had to undergo truth serum to reveal several things they didn't want to reveal to everyone, did Tris and Four find out they cannot trust Candor enough to stay. They then ran to the peace-loving Amity. It was sad to see how Four went from a seemingly confident adult to an abused and scared child when his father was around. It was nice to see Tris open up to her brother some while they had downtime at the Amity compound. They are both grieving a great loss. The scene when Tris gets the peace serum injected was pretty funny. It put a small amount of humor into a depressing area of the book. After they are chased out of the Amity compound by Jeanine and the traitor Dauntless they run into some factionless.  The Group with Tris is taken to a building where they find out the factionless are not so unorganized. Tris is in for a big surprise at who the leader of the factionless is. She has a hard time working with her and planning the next step of the attack since she doesn't like the leader and is still messed up from the last attack and when she was taken, hostage. She delivered herself to Jeanine after some people were hurt, with the promise of more being hurt in the future if she didn't. She went through some horrible thing before she escaped. This part was hard to read.  I was glad when they finally got to attack Jeanine and the traitors. This book definitely had some dark moments but it was a good book. One I can recommend.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth - 487 pages
In this society, everyone is split up in 5 different factions. Each faction is dedicated to a particular virtue- Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day every year, all sixteen-year-olds must choose a faction and are considered an adult from that moment on. Tris is the character we follow from the day of her choosing ceremony. We watch her struggle with leaving her family or staying in the same faction with all of her friends and family. Usually, when you leave your childhood faction your old friends and family no longer speak to you, they treat it as a betrayal. They use advanced technology to find out what faction you are best suited for. Everyone is only supposed to be suited for one. Tris finds out that she is suited for more than one and then is told how dangerous this is. She leaves her faction of Abnegation for the Dauntless faction. We find out this is a very brutal and corrupt faction. She not only has to watch her back from the other new initiates when she finds out only ten new people get to stay in the faction and everyone else is made factionless, which is basically homeless. We watch her toughen up and make friends with some of the new initiates. She also starts having feelings for one of her instructors named Four. We watch her struggle when one of her friends gets jealous and tries to kill her and when her new faction tries to harm her old one. I really enjoyed this book.  It definitely had some very sad parts that are hard to get through, but no more than you would expect from a dystopian book. It looks like the factions can never be the same at the end of this first book.

THE GIVER BY LOIS LOWRY

The Giver by Lois Lowry - 225 Pages

The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Lois Lowry has written three companion novels to The Giver, including Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.

THE HUNGER GAMES BY SUZANNE COLLINS

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - 374 Pages

The hunger games is a novel that unfolds in Panem, an apocalyptic world. The story is centered on a 16-year-old girl, Katniss Everdeen and her struggle for survival in dystopia. Each year, as a punishment for the failed rebellion by District 13, the 12 Panem Districts are forced to pay tribute to the ruthless Capitol regime. The story begins on the day of reaping at District 12. A day that each district is required to offer two tributes, a boy and a girl aged 12 to 18 years to participate in the games. This was going to be the 74th hunger games.

In a twist of fate, Prim Katniss’ 12-year-old sister is selected as one of the tributes. Having lost their father at a young age, she isn’t going to let her mother lose her too as she swore always to protect them. She volunteers to take her sister’s place, and together with the baker’s son, Peeta Mellark they represent district 12. What follows is a series of events that will put Katniss in the spotlight both as a source of hope for the oppressed and as an enemy of the Capitol. Her feelings for Peeta will be exploited for the games, which are aired across all the districts.

She will make new friends, enemies, inspire and give hope to many people in Panem thanks to her performance in the games. What makes the hunger games a more thrilling story is the games win or die rule. Will Katniss have the heart to kill Peeta and vice versa, or will they both survive?