Snips & Specs & the Multiplex

In which Sam rants about single books being split into two movies, raves about Divergent, and throws in some photos of the new Divergent movie for your viewing pleasure :)

Inspired by next week's Top Ten Tuesday feature on YA film adaptations (check out the original feature here), let's talk about an upcoming film adaptation I'm pretty excited about: Veronica Roth's Divergent. Starring Shailene Woodley of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, this should be a fast-paced thriller, following protagonist Tris as she navigates her dystopian world, comes of age, and joins the Dauntless faction, known for their bravery and fighting prowess.

... vaguely familiar.

Something looks ...

It was a quick, exciting read, and I devoured it overnight. My dad and I both read it, actually, and like everyone else, compared it to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. (We both have a soft spot for dystopian fiction, like The Giver - although can a preference for reading about those hard, unforgiving worlds really be called 'soft'?!?)

Probably not.

Though in Divergent there aren't "games," per se, Tris does face several "trials" in her quest to become Dauntless - one such trial left my dad wincing and me skipping the page and trying not to faint, so it will be interesting to see how some of those violent scenes translate on-screen. 

"I'll just punch this punching bag instead"

It's been interesting to watch mega-violent YA novels attempt to become PG-13 friendly movies, since the standards seem quite different. I've always felt books can get away with more than movies, which is why I thought The Mortal Instruments, with its central romance taking a turn toward the taboo in the second novel (though it all turns out not-taboo in the end?), would never make it to screen. (Obviously, I was wrong.)

But movies also get away with splitting books into two (yeah...as if The Hobbit wasn't bad enough, did you hear they're splitting up Mockingjay into two films?) I have a lot of feelings about this. Perhaps I will reserve them for Tuesday.

For now, I will leave you with this: Shailene Woodley will also apparently be starring in the film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars. Because every YA movie in the next five years will star Shailene Woodley. And also be in two parts.

What film adaptations are you excited about? Will you go see Divergent? What about both Mockingjays?

-Sam

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books I've Read So Far in 2013

This was kind of a tough week for me as I’ve read a string of YA books recently that were just not as good as I wanted them to be. But still! I’ve managed to put together a (rather dark and murdery) list of the top 10 books I’ve read so far this year:

(Original feature courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish)

1.       The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

If you’re a Greek mythology nerd like me, you’ll love this beautiful take on Homer’s Iliad told from the perspective of Achilles’ lifelong companion Patroclus. It’s an intimate look at the boys’ relationship both before and during the Trojan War. Miller’s prose is lush and gorgeous, too. Definitely the best book I have read this year!

Top Ten Tuesday - Books that Feature Travel

I LOVE this week’s category. Travel can be such a rich metaphor, especially in the YA world where protagonists struggle to figure out who they are. Travel is often able to serve as the vehicle for that – pun definitely intended! So without further ado, here are the top ten (mostly YA) books that feature travel in some way:

(Original feature courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish)

    1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone  by Laini Taylor

While I wasn’t 100% thrilled with this book (largely because it seems to become a different novel halfway through), I did adore the notion of portals that Brimstone, the mysterious chimaera who serves as father-figure to main character Karou, is able to conjure. These portals are secret doors that can only be opened from the inside, and from within, they lead to places all over the world: Prague, Paris, and Hong Kong. Brimstone sends Karou on errands through the portals, and between these and the big wish she makes later in the novel to be gifted with a certain mode of transport (think: the feathers on the cover), overall I was left with a taste of the joyful freedom of travel, although for Karou this is tempered by her loneliness.