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Divergent is the story of Beatrice Prior, a sixteen year old teenage girl living in a futuristic Chicago. Roth's dystopian vision features an even more polarized society than we are living in now (hard to imagine, I know), which has resulted in the creation of five factions, each centered around one particular virtue: Candor which focuses on strict honesty, Abnegation which is selfless at all costs, Dauntless the always brave, Amity the peaceful, and the Erudite who value education and intelligence above all else.

Annually, a ceremony is held in which all sixteen year olds must choose the faction to which they will dedicate their lives. After their choice, they are forced to undergo an initiation, which if they fail leaves them as cast offs of society. Beatrice, our plucky yet conflicted heroin, has been raised with the teachings of her abnegation family, but feels herself not truly selfless enough to remain in the faction of her birth for the rest of her life. I won't tell you what choice she makes, but honestly, I think you'll be able to guess within the first few pages. The remainder of the novel follows Beatrice, now known as Tris, as she struggles to survive initiation and become a member of her chosen faction.

Divergent is a fun and fast read. I did find the concept of the five factions a bit hard to swallow, which I think made it hard for me to get really invested in this read. However, if I am honest the most challenging aspect of this book for me was that it wasn't the Hunger Games, which is what I was really yearning for. Still, I am excited that Divergent is only the first on a planned trilogy, and I am planning on continuing on with Tris in the next installment. Is it wrong for me to hope that Veronica Roth spends some serious time with Susan Collins while writing the sequels?

Genre: Dystopian Fiction, Young Adult

Reading Format: Audiobook read by Luke Daniels

Reading Challenges: 5 for 100+ in 2010, 1 of 20 for the Twenty in Ten Reading Challenge

It's been a few weeks since I finished this book, but I just can't stop thinking about it. This is a book that forces you to think hard about some serious issues, yet it is also pretty much a non-stop thrill ride.

Unwind takes place in a future which has been shaped by a single issue, abortion. America has experienced a second civil war, known as the Heartland War. To end the war, a compromise was reached that ended all abortion. Instead, parents now have the right to elect to "unwind" their children, anytime between the ages of 13 and 18. In the unwinding process, virtually 100% of the child's body parts are harvested for future use. This harvesting of young bodies has virtually erased disease. There is now really no need for scientists to pursue cures to disease as there are plenty of donors available. Unwinding is considered an acceptable practice, and is not viewed by this future society as death, but instead as a transition to another type of existence.

In the novel, the lives of three teenagers on their way to harvest camps intersect, and suddenly they have a chance for survival. If Connor, Risa, and Lev can avoid the authorities until they turn 18, they will be safe, as the law prohibits unwinding after the age of 18. But surviving that long seems more unlikely every day.

What I found especially interesting about this novel, is that Shusterman really doesn't seem to be pleading for either side of the abortion debate. He leaves it to the reader to draw their own conclusions. I have my own firm convictions about abortion, so this book didn't change my viewpoint, but it did give me a better perspective on some of the complexities surrounding the issue. I found the book to be exceedingly well-written, and the characters to be nicely complex. This is a book that will get you both thinking and turning pages quickly.

Genre: Dystopian Fiction, Young Adult

Reading Format: Audiobook narrated by Carolyn McCormick

Reading Challenges: 3 for 100+ in 2010

I could write a one word review for this book: Amazing. It might seem strange for me to be saying this the first week of January, but I can already tell the this will be one of the best books I will read this year, and I'm adding it to my list of favorites. Someone asked me a while ago why I read Young Adult novels. The answer is that there are books out there like this one. If all you know of the Young Adult genre is the Twilight novels, then you haven't even scratched the surface.

The Hunger Games takes place in an unpleasant and somewhat bleak future. The country of Panem is situated in North America, and consists of a decadent capitol surrounded by twelve poorer districts that are strictly controlled by the government. At one point, there was an uprising against the government which was put down, and in retaliation the government instituted the Hunger Games. Each year a boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen by lottery from each district. These "tributes," as they are called, are transported to the capitol and placed into a massive arena that is controlled by the game makers. Once in this arena, the tributes must fight to the death, until one remains. The Hunger Games are nationally televised, and the entire populace of each district is forced to observe the life and death struggle of these children for the entertainment of the degenerate capitol citizens. The lottery is stacked against the children of the poorer districts, as they are often forced to trade additional entries into the lottery for food and supplies.

Katniss, the main character, is a 16 year old girl who lives in district twelve. From the age of 11, after the death of her father, she has provided for her mother and younger sister, Prim. Against all odds, 12 year old Prim is selected to enter the Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers to take her place. Katniss soon finds herself transported to the capitol, in the company of Peeta, a boy whom she only vaguely knows but to whom she feels she owes a debt. She knows that the only way she can keep her promise to return to Prim is to kill without mercy or hesitation. Now if she can only forget that she is now hunting people instead of the rabbits and squirrels that have sustained her and her family for so long.

This book literally grabbed me from the first few lines. I devoured it. In fact, enjoyed it so much that even after listening to the audio book I purchased a copy for my permanent library. The action is almost continual, but there is also plenty to ponder in this novel. I can't recommend it highly enough. I only suggest that you have the second book handy when you finish! I don't know how I am going to wait until book 3 comes out.