Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick Review

Nora Grey's life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn't pleasant, but at least she got a guardian angel out of it. A mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He's more elusive than ever (if that's possible) and what's worse, he seems to be spending time with Nora's archenemy, Marcie Millar.
Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Patch hadn't been acting so distant. Even with Scott's totally infuriating attitude, Nora finds herself drawn to him - despite her lingering feelings that he is hiding something.
If that weren't enough, Nora is haunted by images of her murdered father, and comes to question whether her Nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death. Desperate to figure out what happened, she puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations to get the answer. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything - and everyone - she trusts.

Published: October 2010

Pages: 427

Series: Second book in the Hush, Hush series

Rating: 3 stars

The base idea of this series interests me a lot. And the characters are mysterious and have some interesting secrets and hidden pasts that slowly unfold. However...they can also be a little annoying. Nora was really annoying in this book, she broke up with Patch and then the rest of the book was either jealous, bitter, or trying to make him jealous. Honestly she was a bit of a mess. I like the whole fallen angels and supernatural aspects to the story. Sadly the characters brought things down a little (mainly Nora) and there were also some cliches that had me going Really? 

So overall, this is an okay book and I probably will be picking up the third book to try...but at the same time be forewarned that Nora is very petty and a poor heroine, in this installment of the series at least. Patch can also be a bit eh as well and there are flaws to some of the character building or how unaware Nora's mom is at times. It's an engaging read though and there are several nice turns as Nora finds clues about her father's death. So, read at your own risk depending how much you think Nora will bother you. 

Four by Veronica Roth Review

Two years before Beatrice Prior made her choice, the sixteen-year-old son of Abnegation’s faction leader did the same. Tobias’s transfer to Dauntless is a chance to begin again. Here, he will not be called the name his parents gave him. Here, he will not let fear turn him into a cowering child.
Newly christened “Four,” he discovers during initiation that he will succeed in Dauntless. Initiation is only the beginning, though; Four must claim his place in the Dauntless hierarchy. His decisions will affect future initiates as well as uncover secrets that could threaten his own future—and the future of the entire faction system.
Two years later, Four is poised to take action, but the course is still unclear. The first new initiate who jumps into the net might change all that. With her, the way to righting their world might become clear. With her, it might become possible to be Tobias once again.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth comes a companion volume to the worldwide bestselling DIVERGENT series, told from the per-spective of the immensely popular character Tobias. The four pieces included here—THE TRANSFER, THE INITIATE, THE SON, and THE TRAITOR—plus three additional exclusive scenes, give readers an electrifying glimpse into the history and heart of Tobias, and set the stage for the epic saga of the DIVERGENT trilogy.

Published: July 2014

Page count: 285

Series: Short story collection based off of the Divergent trilogy. 

Rating: 5 stars

I love when author make short stories between books or little extras or rewrite a scene from a different character's perspective. The thing I love even more is when all of those stories are put together in a collection and released as a single, physical copy. It's so much easier for me to get my hands on ;)

But getting down to the contents of the book, we had six short stories, if I remember correctly. They're all from Four's point of view which I loved. He's a character that everyone loves and it's really interesting to get a feel for his inner voice and see some of his scenes with Tris from his perspective. I really liked it. It was a nice chance to gain insight to Four's world and past. I also found his POV quite enjoyable and calming haha, so I finished this book within a single morning. I really loved it.

Overall, this is a great collection of short stories and I think it's a great expansion to the world of Four and Tris and the factions. There are three short stories about Four's past in Abnegation and how he arrives in Dauntless. Then another, shorter three stories as he's meeting Tris. If you loved the Divergent series (or at least the first two because that last one, well I like to forget about it ;-;), I'd definitely recommend picking up this collection because I loved revisiting the characters and world they live in.