'Four: A Divergent Collection', Veronica Roth

Rating: 8/10 

Overall Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book, probably even more than 'Divergent', 'Insurgent' and 'Allegiant'.  Unlike Veronica Roth's previous novels, this story is written in Tobias Eaton's (Four) point of view.  This book follows Four's journey of how he left his previous Abnegation faction and found himself joining the Dauntless,  and of course, eventually meeting Beatrice Prior (Tris).

In the first three chapters of this book, readers are able to learn more about Four's Abnegation background and why he was so desperate to leave his previous faction behind.  We're able to experience his life in Dauntless, see his character development from a timid boy into a brave man, as well as understand why he decided to be a Dauntless instructor as opposed to a Dauntless leader.

Moreover, in this book, Four discovers how dangerous it is to be a divergent.  After learning that the Erudite are planning something dangerous and are working together with the Dauntless, he struggles to decide whether to betray his current faction (Dauntless), warn his previous faction (Abnegation), or join forces with his mother (the Factionless).

It was great being able to delve deeper into Four's perspective and catch a glimpse of his desire and feelings towards Tris in the final chapters of the book.  As a whole, this book ties the whole Divergent series together perfectly.  Definitely worth reading!

Favourite Quotes from 'Four: A Divergent Collection'

""You're the one who has to live with your choice," she says.  "Everyone else will get over it, move on, no matter what you decide.  But you never will.""

"... I learned something else from watching her too, which is that the free moments always have to end."

"It occurs to me that I did that, it was me, and fear creeps back in, a different kind of fear this time.  A fear of what I am, what I might be becoming."

"Dead people can be our heroes because they can't disappoint us later; they only improve over time, as we forget more and more about them."

"One thing I know: For helping me forget how awful the world is, I prefer her to alcohol."

'Treasure Island', Robert Louis Stevenson

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall Thoughts

I decided to purchase 'Treasure Island' after coming across so many great reviews and ratings about it.  Independent stated that this is a "book of a lifetime: a captivating story full of suspense".  Besides, I haven't read any classic novels in the past year so I thought that it was about time I read one.

Briefly, the story revolves around a boy named Jim Hawkins who embarks on a quest to an island in search of treasure after finding Billy Bones' treasure map.  During the voyage, Jim discovers that most of the crewmen (headed by Long John Silver) are actually pirates who are planning a mutiny and are going after the treasure themselves.  Despite having opportunities to escape torture and even death, Jim's honest, brave, and heroic attitude drives him to attempt to rescue his acquaintances - Dr Livesey, John Trelawney, Captain Smollett, Abraham Gray, and Ben Gunn - from the pirates.

Although this is deemed to be a children's book, I find that the language used made it difficult to understand the plot as the story progresses, mainly due to the metaphors and pirate slang used.  This definitely slowed down my reading a great deal; it took me longer than expected to finish this book.  Nevertheless, this adventurous classic novel is highly captivating, with interesting characters coupled with unpredictable excitements.

Favourite Quotes from 'Treasure Island'

"I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt altogether helpless; and yet, by an odd train of circumstances, it was indeed through me that safety came." 

"Mutiny, it was plain, hung over us like a thunder-cloud."

"My first impulse was one of despair, but my second was towards joy."

"You can kill the body, Mr. Hands, but not the spirit..."

"There's never a man looked me between the eyes and seen a good day a'terward."  

"They say cowardice is infectious; but then argument is, on the other hand, a great emboldener."  

'Me Before You' & 'After You', Jojo Moyes

               

                    'Me Before You': 7/10                            'After You': 5/10

Overall Thoughts

When I first came across the 'Me Before You' movie trailer, I instantly thought to myself that I had to get my hands on this book.  Even though I've read multiple sad love novels (mostly by Nicholas Sparks), 'Me Before You' is definitely a good read, albeit a heartbreaking one.  In many ways, reading this novel made me realize how short life is.
  
The story revolves around Louisa Clark, a charismatic young lady who has never fully lived her life, and Will Traynor, a man who was living the time of his life with a wonderful career, beautiful girlfriend, and going on crazy adventures, who unfortunately became quadriplegic after a horrible motorbike accident.  After losing her job, Lou ends up being Will's caretaker; and she tries her best to put up with his bad temper and bitter attitude.  As with all cliche love stories, Lou and Will grew close to one another, sharing their stories and opening up to each other, and Lou eventually finds herself falling for this young man.  When Lou discovers Will's intention to end his life, she struggled to change his mind and prove to him that their love for one another was a good enough reason for him to keep living.  

On the other hand, 'After You', in my personal opinion, was not a good follow up.  This book focuses on Lou trying to move on from what happened to Will.  Instead of fulfilling Will's request to live her life, she ends up with a crappy job at an airport pub with a horrible boss.  She joined the Moving on Circle, hoping that it would help her deal with grief.  Upon an unforeseen accident - falling off her balcony and breaking her hip - Lou soon finds herself being caught in a complicated situation after her encounter with an unexpected visitor (no spoilers!).  Lou struggles to balance between her responsibilities towards this "visitor", and her opportunity at a promising job in New York and a chance at falling in love again.  Should she put her happiness on hold for someone she cares about?

Note: Prepare tons of tissue before reading these novels!

Favourite Quotes from 'Me Before You'

"I will never, ever regret the things I've done. Because most days, all you have are places in your memory that you can go to."

"I thought, briefly, that I would never feel as intensely connected to the world, to another human being, as I did at that moment."\

"You make me happy, even when you're awful, I would rather be with you - even the you that you seem to think is diminished - than with anyone else in the world."

"... I told him a story of two people.  Two people who shouldn't have met, and who didn't like each other much when they did, but found they were the only two people in the world who could possibly have understood each other."

"I placed my face so close to his that his features became indistinct, and I began to lose myself in them."

"I held him close and said nothing, all the while telling him silently that he was loved.  Oh, but he was loved."

Favourite Quotes from 'After You'

"I was tainted.  The world around me knew it.  Worse, I had started to know it too."

"How could she understand that losing him was like having a hole shot straight through me, a painful, constant reminder, an absence I could never fill?"

"I want him but I'm frightened to want him.  I don't want my happiness to be entirely dependent on somebody else's, to be a hostage to fortunes I cannot control."  

"Sometimes I look at the lives of the people around me and I wonder if we aren't all destined to leave a trail of damage."

'1Q84', Haruki Murakami

Rating: 7.5/10  

Overall Thoughts

This is my first Murakami novel, and as a whole, I was deeply intrigued by his storytelling skills which kept me at the edge of my seat most of the time.  The story surrounds two main characters, Tengo, who is a math teacher at a cram school who aspires to be a great novelist, and Aomame, a sports club instructor who commits carefully planned murders against high-profiled men who have physically abused women.  

I definitely had mixed feelings about this novel in the beginning, particularly when it wasn't clear how Tengo and Aomame were linked to each other.  Nevertheless, as the story gradually progresses, I was drawn in by the magnetic events which surround the characters, particularly the somewhat dangerous circumstances they both unknowingly gotten themselves into.  In a world that Aomame calls '1Q84' and Tengo refers to as 'cat town', they both found themselves strangely connected to one another, even though they have not spoken to one another for twenty years.

Murakami definitely has a way with words, and this is evident in 1Q84.  Mind-blowing reading experience.  

Favourite Quotes from '1Q84'

"Don't let appearances fool you.  There's always only one reality."

"I've got nothing left.  Anything of value I ever possessed has disappeared, one thing after another.  Everything is gone ..."

"If you can't understand it without an explanation, you can't understand it with an explanation."

"As long as I'm alive, I can think what I want, when I want, any way I want, as much as I want, and nobody can tell me any different."

"We were not able to speak to or touch each other.  But in that short interval, he transformed many things inside me.  He literally stirred my mind and body the way a spoon stirs a cup of cocoa, down to the depths of my internal organs and my womb."

"A realization struck her.  This is what it means to live on."

"Even if I left this world, I doubt anyone would notice.  I would shout out from the dark, but no one would hear me. "

"Once you get your hopes up, your mind starts acting on its own.  And when your hopes are dashed you get disappointed, and  disappointment leads to a feeling of helplessness.  You get careless and let your guard down."  

"If you look at it the other way around, that's the only reason why this world is inside of me.  Maybe it's a paradox, like an image reflected to infinity in a pair of facing mirrors.  I am part of this world, and this world is a part of me."  

"From now on, things will be different.  Nobody else's will is going to control me anymore.  From now on, I'm going to do things based on one principle alone: my own will."