Matched

Whew. I think this will be the last dystopian trilogy I'll start for a while. I've read a lot. And this one is just as good. Matched, by Ally Condie, is the first in the trilogy and is about a government who controls everything. From the food people eat (it's delivered via ports and is nutritionally engineered for individuals) to the things people do in their spare time to the people they marry. Hence the name, Matched.

Here's a teaser: every person carries with them 3 pills. A green one, a blue one, and a red one. The blue one is life sustaining for a few days in case there is no food or water around. The green one is basically an anti-anxiety pill and can be taken up to once a week without the government caring. The red one is a mystery. No one knows what it does (until they are told to take it close to the end of the book!).

This book is well worth the read and I think almost on par with Divergent. And here's a cool thing that I've just found: many books have trailers on youtube. I didn't know that. So if you're a visual person, go to youtube and see if there's a book trailer (there's one for Matched). And then go get the book from the library and read it.

Legend

This book (the first of a trilogy) is worth reading. Legend by Marie Lu is a well written captivating story. It's futuristic America where the flooded West Coast is in a war against the East Coast. One of the protagonists is a brilliant rich girl who is in the government and is tracking a brilliant poor boy who killed her brother.

This book is fantastic. It is full of subtle foreshadowing. Full of conspiracy. Full of suspense. And full of beauty. I can't wait to read the next in the trilogy, Prodigy, which comes out the end of January 2013.

This series is set up to be better than The Hunger Games, just as good as Delirium, but not quite as good as Divergent. It's worth the read if you have enjoyed any of the above.

Before I Fall

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver is a book I wouldn't recommend. Unless you're a secular teenage girl. I really liked Oliver's other books, Delirium and Pandemonium so I thought I'd give this one a try. Mistake. It's basically about a teenage girl who is a popular bitch. I don't think any of my friends will ever read this book, but just because I said I would give warning - here's a spoiler alert.

So, the teenager ends up dying in a car accident and has to relive her last day over and over and over again. For 6 or 7 days. Until she figures out how to fix what she needs to fix.

Basically, it's a dumb book. Written okay, but certainly not worth reading.

Under the Never Sky

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi is yet another dystopian, futuristic novel. It's a little different from what I've been reading in the sense that it's more Sci-Fi. Very similar in style to The Matrix in that it's virtual reality. But dystopian as well because the government engineers the realities including genetic make-up of the people.

This book is the first in a yup. You guessed it - a trilogy. I'm not exactly sure why trilogies are the hot thing. The Hunger Games. Divergent. Delirium. Legend. And the film industry is even turning the movie The Hobbit into a trilogy. Sheesh.

Anyway, back from my tangent. This movie was good enough to read if you're into this genre. There's good and bad. Love. Death. A crazy kid. And cannibals.  Sounds lovely, right? I think I've just discovered why I like this genre of book: redemption. I love stories that seem impossibly hopeless, but are redemptive in the end. And while Under the Never Sky is just the first installment, I'm guessing all will end well in the end. Otherwise, no one will make a movie out of it and the author doesn't become as rich.

This book is good enough to read if you like Sci-Fi, but if not, probably don't read it.

Delirium and Pandemonium

I am apparently on a dysopian/futuristic book kick; I've read the first two books in yet another trilogy that is dystopian. The Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver, which is along the same lines as The Hunger Games trilogy and the Divergent trilogy, has occupied my life the past week.

Delirium is about a society in which the government has declared love as a sickness. There's a cure for it, but that procedure can only be done when people turn 18. So, they separate boys and girls until then. And of course, there are some who do not want to be "cured". Enter the Resistance. And book 2 in the series, Pandemonium.

This book follows the lives of the Resistance and by the end of the book, the reader can sense the beginning of a revolution.

That's all I can say without giving away too much.

Here's what I think about this series:
* I'd recommend them, especially if you liked The Hunger Games.
* Out of the other dystopian trilogies (The Hunger Games, Divergent), this one is the weakest in the story line and the writing.
* These books start off a little more juvenile and soft, but end up better. So, if you start the book and don't love it, keep reading. It gets better. Especially by the end of book two.
* The last book in the trilogy, Requiem comes out in March 2013 and I. Can't. Wait.