Monday, May 21, 2012

Short & Sweet: Free Four by Veronica Roth


And to the point! Sometimes it is nice to read a short story or a novella, but it is not always fair to compare them to longer stories with more time for plot and character development.
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Genre:  Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Free Online: Facebook 

Author Info: Website | Goodreads
Rating: 3 stars
Novella available for free at link above.  

In A Nutshell:  
I am glad I read this after reading Insurgent because I would not have wanted to have the surprising fact I learned in Insurgent ruined for me.  But I am also very glad that I read this novella because I think it gave me much more insight into Tobias.  The only downside is that it made me crave more written from his perspective!

Review:  
I just learned about this novella--which meant that I read it after reading Insurgent, and I am not sure that I would have wanted to read this first.  There is an important aspect of Tobias revealed in this novella that is also revealed in Insurgent.  And I am not sure I would have wanted to know that aspect of his feelings about Dauntless before I found out about them in Insurgent.  I enjoyed learning the truth at the same time Tris did.

However, I did really enjoy getting inside Tobias.  I would love to see more stories told from his perspective because in many ways I think they compliment each other well.  Tris seems much more naive and sheltered than Tobias does, but I think that is because she is younger and been away from her family for less time.  In comparison, I think Tobias knows more about what is going on around him but is not always as perceptive as Tris.  Together--I think they give unique, and in important ways, different perspectives on the events going on around them.  And with the complex world that Veronica Roth has created, two different perspectives give us so much more insight into the truth.

Recommendations:
I need recommendations!  I want to find more novellas to read.  Do you know of any good ones?  Please share (pretty please with sugar and honey).  :)

2 comments:

  1. I haven't read this but I also love the idea of shorter stories -- and books!!

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    Replies
    1. I love short stories too--particularly after I finish a very long book. And right now I just started a very very long book (Game of Thrones).

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