Hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Diana is a witch but she doesn’t want to be. She has suppressed her abilities and dedicated herself to the study of the history of alchemy and the historical period when science overtook magical thinking. She is studying in Oxford when she sees a manuscript that is obviously enchanted. Repulsed, she sends it back. Suddenly, she is surrounded and threatened by all types of magical creatures who want to know what was in the manuscript and are willing to harm her to find out.

This is a reread for me. It was on sale in the Kindle store for $2.99 and the sequel is coming out in July. I liked this book more this time through. The first time I was trying to figure out where it is going and now I could just read for detail. It starts slow. The first 1/3 takes place while waiting for a book in a library. The action picks up after that. The author has created an interesting world where supernatural creatures that you know from other stories exist with some new twists.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In a far future Chicago there are 5 factions of people – the super-smart Erudite, the painfully honest Candor, the fearless Dauntless, the peaceful Amity, and the selfless Abnegation. Beatrice is 16 and is going to have to choose if she is going to stay in Abnegation or leave her family for another faction. Her aptitude tests are confusing. They say that she could fit into multiple factions and that shouldn’t happen. The term that is whispered about people like that is “Divergent.”

This series has been all over the book blogs getting rave reviews. This is the first book in the series and it was just ok for me. It is an interesting premise. This first book is about her choosing a faction and learning what it takes to be a member of the group. Then there is conflict between factions and she learns that not everything in her society is as peaceful as she was taught.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

The battles between the factions continue and Tris finds out that the lies that their society is built on go deeper than she expected.

I liked this book better than Divergent. There is more of a mystery about what is going on. However, the whole YA love story was getting on my nerves. They kept going on and on about how each one of the characters was keeping secrets and how that is so horrible and I thought he loved me but if he really did he did he’d tell me every thought as soon as it crossed his mind and we’d share a perfect mind meld and all other sort of nonsense. Whenever it would get off that it was pretty good.

Currently listening to:

I have a problem with this book that is making me avoid listening to it. I totally hate a main character. It is the mother in the story. From the moment she was introduced I hated her guts. She is written as a good person who everyone loves. I hate her. Visceral hate. I never feel this way about characters so I’m not quite sure what set me off. Here’s my question – has anyone ever had this happen to them in a book?

What should I do?

1. Keep going since there are hints that bad things happen to her and that made me perk up?

2. Exchange the audio for the book so I can read it faster and get her parts over with quickly?

3. Give up the book even though I like the parts without her because I dread the parts with her in them?