The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time- Mark Haddon

Christopher is an intelligent youth who lives in the functional hinterland of autism--every day is an investigation for him because of all the aspects of human life that he does not quite get. When the dog next door is killed with a garden fork, Christopher becomes quietly persistent in his desire to find out what has happened and tugs away at the world around him until a lot of secrets unravel messily.

Our main character Christopher Boone is a 15 year old boy who suffers from aspergers syndrome, a form of autism. He knows quite a lot about maths but not so much about human beings. He loves having a timetable to plan the things he has to do everyday and has a pet rat named Toby.

He absolutely hates being touched and the colours yellow and brown. On the way to school on the bus if he passes 4 red cars in a row he knows it'll be a 'good day', however if he passes 4 yellow cars in a row he knows that it will be a 'black day'.

Christopher has never been further than the end of the road to the shops on his own before, but this all changes when he finds a neighbours dog murdered.  He sets out on a journey to find the mystery murderer and encounters things he's not used to on the way.

I really enjoyed the story and the writing style. However, I did find it to be slightly annoying when the characters were having a conversation, It was repetitive as it kept going back and forth 'And I said' 'And he said' 'And she said'. I found this quite irritating at times. I liked the fact that pictures were included on some pages and everything was described really well. 

It isn't one of the best books I've ever read but I did enjoy it. I'd say it was predictable as to what was going to happen regarding the death of Wellington (the dog) and it was pretty obvious who the culprit was. 

At first I wasn't really enjoying it as much as I did towards the middle because I felt it was a little slow starting. I am glad I stuck with it though as the story picked up during the middle when Christopher found the letters from his mother.

3/5 stars

Requiem- Lauren Oliver

Delirium left me on a cliffhanger. Pandemonuim left me on an even bigger cliffhanger. I just had to read Requiem as soon as possible!

Requiem is told by two peoples perspective. One is obviously Lena and her life since the cliffhanger in pandemonium and the other is Hana (her best friend) now she's been cured. Through Hana's chapters we find that she is due to get married to the new mayor Fred, but all doesn't go to plan as she discovers things about him and his past finding herself in even more danger as the procedure may not have cured her after all.  This is the dystopian world so of course it isn't going to be plain sailing.

Whilst all of this is happening in Hana's story, Things between Lena and Alex still remain unsolved. Lena and Alex have the long awaited talk they need about what happened to Alex and how hardened he's become.  Along with the invalids Lena is planning a rebellion against the other side. There's explosions, gunshots, fighting and an unexpected reunion...

 When I first started reading Requiem I wasn't a massive fan of the book being from the two people's perspective it was but I soon overcome this and  enjoyed it. I enjoyed reading about life from the two sides and I loved the twists and turns that eventually bought the two characters together. However there were questions that were not answered and I wasn't a massive fan of this as I felt that the trilogy ended but sort of didn't end.

2.5/5 stars

Divergent- Veronica Roth

She turns to face the future in a world that’s falling apart.

For sixteen-year-old Tris, the world changes in a heartbeat when she is forced to make a terrible choice. Turning her back on her family, Tris ventures out, alone, determined to find out where she truly belongs.

Shocked by the brutality of her new life, Tris can trust no one. And yet she is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. The hardest choices may yet lie ahead….

Divergent is based on a dystopian world and is divided into factions. Each faction and its members are different and are unique. Altogether there are five factions: 

• Abnegation- Selfless
• Amity- Kind
• Candor- Honest
• Erudite- Seekers of knowledge
• Dauntless- Brave

Tris, along with other 16 year olds are tested to determine which faction they belong to/ should choose. Most choose their own faction where in which they have spent their whole life but there are a select few that switch to other factions.

When Tris chooses to leave her family and old life in Abnegation behind she embarks in training sessions before they are chosen to be members of the certain faction. However, if they fail in the initiation sessions they will be made factionless living on the streets. 

She takes a shine to the character 'Four' who seems to protect her but at the same time she feels threatened by him. Two of Tris's friends become more than friends, Little do they know that Tris also has become more than friends with 'Four' who turns out to be someone she knows... 

Wow! What can I say about this book? I can't believe I've had this on my shelf for two years and only just read it! Loved the whole concept of choosing which faction the characters want to live in/live their lives. I really liked the relationship between Beatrice 'Tris' and Tobias 'Four' and can't wait to read Insurgent! 

5/5 stars