RTW: October Book of the Month
This week’s Road Trip Wednesday question at YA Highway (follow the link if you want to know what RTW is, and perhaps participate) question is: What was the best book you read in October?
I didn’t read a lot of fiction this month, but I did read some good fiction. When a literary agent you respect raves about a book series or author, it behooves the budding writer to take a look. This I did with regard to Janet Reid and her love of Jack Reacher, star of Lee Child’s series of novels. This month, I purchased and read his first, KILLING FLOOR. Up until last night, that was my pick of the month. But then I finished reading a novel that totally sucked me in and left me anticipating the next in the series. I’m talking about…
Yes, DIVERGENT by YA Highway’s very own Veronica Roth. First, the concept is interesting: a society divided into factions based on personality traits. Each faction would then use its particular trait for the good of the whole society. It sounds good in theory, but it seems the founders didn’t consider that we’re talking about people, and people don’t always behave as they should. That’s the overarching premise, but the story really focuses on the journey of 16-year-old Beatrice (“Tris”) Prior, whose choice of faction, and the things she learns through her training and initiation, teach her things about herself, and some rather unpleasant things about her world. There’s fighting, tension, guns, betrayal and romance: everything you expect from a page-turner. And believe me, Ms. Roth delivers!
For the above alone, DIVERGENT would be my pick of the month. But there’s icing and a cherry on this cake. Amidst the trend for edgy YA to push the boundaries of salty language and sex, it would have been easy for Veronica to follow the trend. There’s enough tension and high emotion in this novel to slip in some harsh words and steamy bedroom scenes without it seeming out-of-place. But she doesn’t go there. She doesn’t need to. The prose does all the work of showing us the mood that she can keep the dialog “clean” and not lose anything. Yes, there are some “romantic” scenes that might raise an eyebrow, but (sorry-spoilers!) they don’t go there. In fact, I would describe them more as “intimate” rather than sexual. And they are played just right for the characters.
This is not to say I can’t read or even enjoy YA that is on the edgy side, whose characters have sailor-like tongues, and adult-like libidos. I know this is true-to-life. But it’s nice to see when YA writers understand they don’t have to do this to write great, nail-biting stories with believable (and likeable) characters. So far, from what I’ve read of Scott Westerfeld’s UGLIES series, he manages to do the same. I can’t finish this without noting that I smiled at Veronica’s first “Acknowledgement.” Something about the story, and a phrase written on one of the character’s apartment walls, made me expect–and hope–that such an acknowledgement would be there. OK, I fist-pumped. 🙂
I’m looking forward eagerly to INSURGENT which is coming out… next month? Next week? Tomorrow? Not soon enough!!
What was the best book you read this month? Comment here, or join in with Road Trip Wednesday at YA Highway!
I couldn’t put Divergent down, either. As a woman with a French husband (and all that implies), I always find it somewhat amusing when Christians find violence in their entertainment less disturbing than sex. : ) I’m speaking from a long and wide family line of Bible Belt Christians. I really liked Divergent, too, but I literally read several parts with squinty eyes, as though I were watching a violent movie. (Which I never do anymore.) I’m such a wimp with violence and savagery. Roth writes savagery well. Colin, you’re an intelligent and engaging person, and I like reading your posts. Why do you think parents aren’t aghast at the violence in books in movies the way they are about sexual content in books and movies (and I’m speaking about consensual sex, not violent abuse).
A note: You probably know this, but I am not a supporter of censorship.
I agree, there is some pretty brutal violence in Divergent. But I don’t think it goes beyond what you might expect for the plot. In other words, I don’t think it was gratuitous. And I think a lot of the time that’s what parents object to.
To the broader question of violence vs. sexual content, I think it’s hard to generalize; a lot depends on the parenting philosophy–even among Christians. Some are very strict in censoring what is read in the house, some are not so strict. But I think you’re right that there is a greater sensitivity to sexual content than violent content. From a broad perspective (i.e., not necessarily Christian), I think there is a sense that sex is still seen by most people as something that is special, intimate, and private. We get uncomfortable when we see public displays of sexual intimacy (either in movies or in real life) because deep down we feel this is not for public display. Violence, on the other hand, is very often out in the open. We may not like it, but war doesn’t happen behind closed doors, and even fist fights usually have a public context. We may not want to see fighting and bloodshed, but I think we are less likely to censor it because it’s part of public life, and it’s hard to censor what happens in front of you. I could be wrong, but that’s my impression.
When you narrow the perspective, and think in terms of a Christian/biblical worldview, of course you are now dealing with the sanctity of the marriage bed, and the high premium placed on virginity, versus the high availability of sexual images and messages in all sectors of society. I think there is the belief among Christians (and you may or may not agree) that people–young people especially–are far more visually sensitive to sex than to violence. And Christians see as great, if not a greater, threat from the abundance of sex than violence. I know many would suggest that violence harms far more people than sex does, but I believe the Christian response would be to point to kids losing their innocence too soon, unwanted pregnancies, unhealthy emotional attachments, all this on top of the spiritual issues involved with regard to one’s relationship to God and the church. I know I have seen far more trouble in the church over issues of sex than of violence. In fact, consider the number of cases of adultery among church leaders that have made the news compared to cases of violent assault by church leaders. I think that’s one reason why Christians are particularly sensitive to sex.
Those are my thoughts, at least right now off the top of my head. Thanks for your kind and thoughtful words, Lori Ann, and I hope you continue to enjoy my posts!
Ah, I knew you would have a thoughtful reply, Colin. Thank you. I think we would a agree that the objectification of women in the media also contributes to the sexualization of youth. Often, the objectification is accompanied by implied or overt violence, which makes all of us uncomfortable. I’ve enjoyed my selection of YA books because the ones I’ve read are challenging the media portrayal and the stereotypes of teen girls. Divergent was one of the most engaging books I’ve read all year.
Woop woop! I loved Divergent and I can’t wait for Insurgent! Veronica is a phenomenal writer. Great choice!
Thanks, Bailey! Of course, the downside with books like this is that they do nothing for my self confidence. I mean, if the bar is set *this* high…! 😯
Yay! ‘Bout time you drank the koolaid! I love this book so, so much. Great choice 🙂
And this Kool-Aid is tasty!! Addictive too… 🙂
You picked a VERY good book for this month!! I may go as far as saying Divergent maybe has been my all-time favorite book this year (since I have slew of books still yet to read, I’ll hold out on officially saying that – but it’s definitely up there!).
Too bad Insurgent is due out until next May…sorry, Colin – definitely not next week. 🙂
Yeah, I read Veronica’s blog and saw the release date for Insurgent. *sigh* I don’t know about Book of the Year… I guess I’ll have to think about that since I fully expect the YA Highway guys to pull that one on us on Dec 28th. 🙂
bah, I’ll have to get to DIVERGENT soon!! Everyone is talking about it!
I saw you tweet last night that you’ll have to put it on your TBR list. I almost tweeted back that you should push it up to the top of your TBR list. It was late, so I didn’t then… but I will now. You need to push it up to the top of your TBR list, Juliana–trust me on this! 🙂
Great pick, I loved Divergent. I can’t wait until the next book in the series comes out.
Thanks! Eager anticipation sums up the feeling, I think. 🙂
DIVERGENT was so good. Veronica Roth is awesome, not only for the great story, but for all the reasons you pointed out: how she kept the book clean, yet it still felt true to character. So perfect. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
And sadly, INSURGENT doesn’t come out till March, I think. Boo!
Boo indeed. But I suppose we need to give them time to make it as good as possible. Of course, if there are any ARCs going, I’d be glad to do a review… Ms. Roth…? 😀
Divergent is a great choice! I’d been following Veronica for a while before the book came out. (That’s actually how I ened up finding YA Highway, eventually.) I blogged about how nervous I was to read it, because I already admired her so much as a person, and I was glad that it was better than I’d ever hoped. I can’t wait for the next installment!
Well, since everyone else is doing it… I will have to read Divergent sometime! See how easily I give to peer pressure? *laughs*
There is something to be said for popular books. They’re popular for a reason. I loved Hunger Games so I’m thinking I’ll like this too. Thanks!
LOVE this book!
Everywhere I go people are suggesting this book. I may have to read it. It shall join the growing pile.
Great choice. I’ve staked my professional reputation as a book-chooser on this book more than once–with my students and with other educators. It does kind of make me want to institute a policy of waiting to read books until the whole series is out, though. I lucked out with Hunger Games and didn’t read the first two until about a month before Mockingjay came out, but waiting for sequels makes me nutty.