Books

Allegiant (Divergent Series, Band 3) by Veronica Roth: Part 3 of the Divergent series and another YA book. I loved the first book in the series, liked the second one and was now compelled to read the third one as soon as it came out. My first impression was that it was not as strong as the first two in the series. And this feeling increased as I read on. I think it took me two days to read the first book, maybe three days for the second book but with this one I struggled for over a week.

I am not sure what I disliked more: the two way story telling or the world outside the faction city. Also Four lost a lot of sex appeal by having his thoughts with us. He was a man before but by letting us in his head he became a boy to me. Plus there was so much happening left and right that in the end I was glad that Tris died. There is no way she is coming back to haunt me with another book.

World Cup Wishes by Eshkol Nevo: It took me a while to finish it but it didn’t leave me even while I was reading something else. The friendship between these four men runs deep and only in the end do we see just how deep. Although there are some betrayals, arguments and disappointments, the friendship is never completely lost. Sometimes it takes a break for a while, but it always resurfaces. Which is an interesting point since a male friendship is so different from a female friendship.

The aspect the jealousy is not existing between men (or maybe only in this book?) while it is definitely there between women. The characters were well drawn and I grew to like them although they lead such a different life from me. And I loved the bonding over soccer! Wish I can have that with one of my friends!

The last letter from your lover by Jojo Moyes: I started this and the ‘World Cup Wishes’ at the same time but after a couple of days I noticed how I tended to rather grab this one. It is a beautiful love story which has its shares of hurdles to overcome. What I liked best is the setting in the 60’s. The female place in society was so different then and in hindsight quite ridiculous. But exactly this momentous change in society makes the story interesting. In the second part of the book the story moves to the present time with another couple taking center stage. Both couples are likeable, the one from the present time was just more relatable for me.

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty: The story about three women, each told in different chapters, which merges in the end, is a quick and unfortunately predictable read. After a couple of chapters into the book, you know who did what and how it will end. It started with an interesting concept. What to do when you find out a big secret? The inner struggle was there but that we end with something like Hammurabi (an eye for an eye)? No, no need for you to read it even though there is a lot of hype around it now. Save your money and buy something else.

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