The Tattooed Heart by Michael Grant

Series: Messenger of Fear (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal/Horror

Subjects: supernatural, good vs. evil, apprentices, games, death, fear, bullying

Setting: Various places, including Iowa and Nashville, TN

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: Mara

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 389 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Katherine Tegan

Summary/ product description: “Mara has already witnessed more evil as the Messenger’s apprentice than most people do in their lifetime, but the games continue.

The Messenger leads Mara to the funeral of a Muslim boy named Aimal, who died standing up for his people, and then to an abandoned store, where they discover Graciella, a girl battling addiction. The all-knowing Messenger recognizes that they are victims of heinous crimes. Mara and Messenger will find the wicked—those who act out of selfishness and greed, and others who become violent because of prejudice and hate.

But Mara and Messenger pay a price too. For every person who is offered justice, they will wear a tattoo that symbolizes the heart of the crime. And as Mara delves deeper into her harsh reality, she is suprirsed to realize that part of her is drawn to the sometimes compassionate Messenger. In spite of all the terror she and Messenger inflict, Mara will discover that caring in this world is the hardest part of all.

The second book in New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant’s Messenger of Fear series, The Tattooed Heart combines fantasy with real-world horror stories to create a satisfying conclusion.”

My Review:  The Tattooed Heart is the sequel to The Messenger of Fear. Mara is still the Messenger’s apprentice. She’s viewing people’s lives, finding the ones who are causing pain and punishing them. There’s a racist jerk that is mean to a Muslim girl and there’s people who screwed over a girl who writes country song and made her become a drug addict. The Messenger of Fear’s purpose is to punish those who spread hate and cause pain and get away with it.

This series has been quite unique. The Messenger is kind of like an angel or the Ghost of Christmas Past & Future in a way. He’s not the only Messenger. There’s a lot of them and they take on apprentices. He’s very mysterious and doesn’t talk about his past except the girl named Ariadne who he loved and hurt. Mara is attracted to him, but there isn’t much romance. They don’t fall in love because Ariadne had his heart.

I really enjoyed the country music drama part. It made me think of the show Nashville on ABC. Graciella is kind of like Scarlet O’Conner and gets screw over selling her songs to a singer named Nicolet, who’s like Juliet Barnes and her manager who’s like Jeff Fordam. Then Graciella ends up as a hooker and does drugs. That’s awful.

This series is really Grant’s way of trying to say that bullying and racism are bad. It’s got a great message and it’s also very dark and fantastical. This story was longer than the previous book and still felt like it was lacking some substance. I enjoyed it. It wasn’t hard or boring, but something felt missing and I guess that’s the romance. We did get to see some demons though. I’m excited for the final book. The description misled me to believe that this was the final book, but I’m glad it’s not. I want to see Mara become a Messenger herself.

Cover Art Review: Reminds me of the Grisha Trilogy cover, but different artist.

Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant

Series: Messenger of Fear (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Paranormal/Horror/Mystery

Subjects: supernatural, good vs. evil, apprentices, games, death, afterlife, fear, bullying

Setting: Carlsbad, California, and an alternate plan of existence

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Mara

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 260 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Katherine Tegan

Summary/ product description: “I remembered my name – Mara. But, standing in that ghostly place, faced with the solemn young man in the black coat with silver skulls for buttons, I could recall nothing else about myself.

And then the games began.

The Messenger sees the darkness in young hearts, and the damage it inflicts upon the world. If they go unpunished, he offers the wicked a game. Win, and they can go free. Lose, and they will live out their greatest fear.

But what does any of this have to do with Mara? She is about to find out…”

My Review:  I just speed through this book. Woah. Wow. I’m speechless. But one this I will say as that I so called that plot twist about Mara. Maybe you guys won’t see it coming, but I guessed it about 100 pages before we find out. I seem to be right about big plot twists all the time.

Anyways, what a cool book. It was so fast and different from Michael Grant’s other books. It’s about 200 pages less than all the other books I’ve read by him. I loved the Gone series because of its uniqueness and all the superpowers, but Messenger of Fear is written in 1^st person and has a completely different tone. It has a dark kind of feeling and deals with real world issues of bullying with a side of paranormal. It’s the kind of book that a discussion group might want to read and I’d definitely recommend it to high shcoolers that need book for a reading project, but want something quick and exciting.

The whole idea of a Messenger of Fear seems unique. I think that the named Michael picked for his main character was apt since Mara is technically derived from the mythological creatures known as Nightmares, or mara. If you’ve read The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett or the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent, then you’ve come across this creature in YA already. The Messenger of Fear is like a Reaper, angel, mara and judge all rolled into one. The Messenger was once human and Mara is his apprentice because of some deal she made. Mara has no memory of her life before she woke up in the mists. The Messenger slowly gives her back some memory.

The story unfolds by the Messenger showing Mara scenes from the life of the OCD girl named Samatha who commits suicide because of being bullied. The Messenger basically punishes bullies or those who cause death or pain and are aware of it yet don’t stop. There’s a lot more to the story. It such a short book, the plot manages to feel complete. I’m still glad that it’s a series. Can’t wait to see more of what happens.

One thing to add: I love that this book mentions the actual publisher HarperCollins and that the character was going to be published. That's so cool that Michael wrote that into the book. Only other book I know of that does that is Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld. 

Cover Art Review: I love that the cover is metallic and blue. The smoke and lightning looks awesome.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: mind-control, action, bravery, choices, fear, futuristic, love, utopias, wars

Setting: Dystopian futuristic Chicago, IL

POV/Tense: 1^st person, present tense, rotating between Tris and Four/Tobias

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 526 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Katherine Tegan

Summary/ product description: “The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.”

My Review: I don’t know how I feel about this book. People kept on saying that they didn’t like it, but I think it still deserves five stars. It gave me a lot of feels. It was well written and full of exciting discoveries about the outside world. No matter how sad it ended, I’ll still love this series.

Tobias’s mother has eradicated the faction system and it forcing people to not be in factions and to wear clothes from multiple factions. The dress code thing is kind of dumb, but she’s got the factionless enforcing it like a law. There’s a group called the Allegiant who want the faction system back. They plan on causing an uprising and over throwing Evelyn. Tobias helped his mother get rid of the factions with, but regrets it. Tris, Tobias, Christina, Caleb, Cara, Peter, Uriah and a few others go outside the fence to see what’s going on outside the city.

They drive though the ruin and end up at a compound. This is where they find out that the city they were living in was called Chicago. The compound is at O’Hare Airport. Chicago was part of an experiment and nothing was what it seemed. This is the first time Chicago is actually mentioned in the series. I have no problem imagining their trip down I-90 (the Kennedy expressway) to O’Hare Airport. I’m familiar with the area because my grandma lives in Norridge and we always pass O’Hare when we go there. I’ve never actually been inside the airport though, but there’s plenty of picture online that you can use as reference to imagine the story. The ruins are kind of eerie because they would be buildings that I have driven pass.

On the compound they learn what it means to be Divergent and what happened to create the faction system. It was really interesting. I wonder if Veronica planned this, or only came up with the ideas while writing Allegiant. All this stuff about genes and personality traits seems well researched. There’s also new characters introduced. A few scientist and people who work there. The people are separated in a way different from the faction system, but not everyone is equal. We also get to hear about other cities. I like the part when Tris gets to ride a plane and see how big the world really is.

The book did have action and twists and all the awesome stuff you’d expect from this series. There was romance and kissing. There’s one really steamy part between Tobias and Tris. They also argue with each other, but are able to work it out. No love triangle, but maybe a little jealousy. There was also a few sad parts. Parts that will make you cry and grab a tissue box. The ending is bitter sweet, full of sacrifice and sadness, and new beginnings. It wasn’t the ending I expected. I wanted a happy ending. One with triumph and joy and kissing. This ending was more realistic. Life isn’t about being happy all the time. Sacrifices must be made, and here you see that.

If you haven’t read Divergent, then you should. The movie is coming out on March 21, 2014 and you’re missing out if you don’t read the books first.

Cover Art Review: The red-orange-yellow sky background reminds me of Amity’s colors. The water could be for erudite. That’s O’Hare Airport on the bottom. It’s not close to the city the way the photo shows. I pass it all the time when I got to my grandma’s house.

3-D Google Earth image of O'Hare

My Photos of O'Hare

My Chicago Photos

The Blue-Line Train Station

Sears/Willis Tower

Millenium Park

Near UIC

Driving on the express way

Chicago River

Lincoln Park Zoo

Near Grant Park (You can see Navy Pier and the Ferris Wheel in the background)

Train Tracks

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: mind-control, action, bravery, choices, fear, futuristic, love, utopias, wars

Setting: Dystopian futuristic Chicago, IL

POV/Tense: 1^st person, present tense: Tris

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 525 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Katherine Tegan

Summary/ product description: “Fighting for survival in a shattered world… the truth is her only hope.

The thrillingly dark sequel to No. 1 New York Times bestseller, DIVERGENT.

I have done bad things. I can’t take them back, and they are part of who I am.

Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future.

Yet if Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever… because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead.”

My Review: I waited way too long to read this sequel. Wayyyyy too long. The movie comes out soon, so I just wanted to finish the series before I saw it. Insurgent was an interesting sequel. I liked Divergent better still. In this book we get to see what’s going on in other factions. It starts in Amity. Amity is many miles away from the downtown area. I’m not sure if it’s even in Cook County. We also get to see inside Candor, and Erudite. This book definitely goes more in-depth with the world building. I enjoyed the setting especially since in live in the suburbs of Chicago. It’s always great to read about my city, even if it’s about a dystopian future.

Tris is really growing as a character. She learns to accept all parts of her Divergent status. She can be selfless, brave and smart. She’s good at analyzing things. She’s very perceptive. She’s also a bit self-destructive and self-sacrificing to the point of stupidity. She was a bit depressed though since her parents died. I feel like Tobias was a little mean in the book. He and Tris fought a lot. I hate when sequel decide they have to test the relationship either with break-ups, arguments, or love triangles. Thankfully no love-triangle. I like Four and wish he’d be a little less moody. But he was kind of funny and he definitely cares about Tris’s safety. We got to see a lot more of Caleb, Tris’s brother. And Christina, Uriah, Peter and so many other characters too.

Insurgent was full of action, twists and turns. Loyalties are tested. Truth serum is used. So people turn out to be less bad that we thought they were. Some people betray others. Deals and compromises are made, but not everything works out the way they planned. Insurgent is exciting. Honestly, the book is kind of long with 525 pages of it, but it’s not difficult. It’s well written. Clear and fast narration. If you have not read either Divergent or Insurgent, then hurry up because the Divergent movie comes out on March 21^st.

Cover Art Review: I love the green and the warped tree. And of course the Chicago skyline. Chi-city is my city!