That time Veronica Roth signed my books! (Blogmas Day #10)

   Welcome to Blogmas day 10!
   Today I'm bringing you a little story, the story of how I went to a Veronica Roth signing, where I not only got two of her books signed but also scored a slightly awkward looking picture with her. This is kind of a big deal, not only because it was an author signing and those are amazing, I mean who wouldn't want to get their books signed by the person who wrote them, but also because book signings by authors whom I like and read never happen where I live since this isn't an English speaking country.
   Anyhow, this is how it all went down:

   It was a grey Tuesday, the date December 8th 2015, when I woke up with the thought: "Hey, you'll meet Veronica Roth today, literally the author of Divergent!" I first heard about this being a thing that will happen about three weeks earlier but, since I have the memory of a dead goldfish, I forgot about it until like three days prior to the actual thing, thank god for twitter reminding you of things.
   The singing was supposed to happen at 5:00 p.m. so I decided that it would be a good idea to be there early, since I was sure quite the number of people would show up, so I decided to leave my house around 3:35 p.m., which was actually later then I had planned on leaving but per usual something had taken more time then I had planned for it.
   Fast forward to 4:20 p.m. and me standing in the underground about to enter my final station and get out. There was a ton of people around me, and by a ton I mean if one more person would have tried to enter the carriage I was sure it would simply explode. Finally we rolled into the station and the masses, including me, poured out of the train, flooding the station and out onto the street.
   The singing was happening inside the most expensive mall of the city, so I was looking forward to peaking into all those expensive shops that no one could afford buying anything from on my way out after the signing. According to the info page it said that the book store is on the fifth floor so I jumped into the elevator, despite having a love/hate relationship with those, and made my way toward said book store.
   Coming early was definitely a wise decision on my side, even though it meant waiting in line even longer. Upon my arrival I noticed quite a line already forming toward the table for the signing. A friendly looking lady handed me a piece of paper with a number on it, 59, and I positioned myself at the end of the line. With my phone in hand I braced myself for the wait in form of 30 long minutes.
   The closer we got to the signing the longer the line grew behind me, stretching across the entire level, counting surely around 100 or more people. Honestly, I couldn't see the end of it from where I was standing.

   With a delay of about 4 minutes the signing finally began as Veronica Roth entered the room and sat down behind a shiny black desk, pens ready for signing while camera's flashed documenting the entire thing. Word quickly traveled through the lines: we would get two books signed and a lady would take our phone/camera to take a couple of pictures. The two books part was kind of weird, seeing as Veronica wrote 4 books, and the Divergent trilogy counts 3 books, logically, but I suppose they feared that the entire thing would otherwise take way too long.
   It took a while until it was finally my turn. I admit, I was pretty nervous, then again, who wouldn't be? I was about to meet a bestselling author, someone I aspire to be one day, too. The entire thing went by pretty quickly, we exchanged a couple of sentences (Veronica is incredibly friendly!) while she signed my books, Divergent and Insurgent (I still hold a grudge against Allegiant but that's a story for another time), and then the lady took a picture of Veronica and I, which you can see below along with the signed books.

   Then the entire thing was over and I was on my way back home. I'm really happy that I went there, that I got my books signed and a picture taken, especially since, as I mentioned before, signings by authors I like don't happen around here, like, ever. So, the next time you see an author holding a signing near you, go, it's worth it.

   And this concludes this way too long story with way too many unimportant details. I hope you enjoyed this post, all the other previous blogmas posts, and I will see you tomorrow with the next christmas themed Cover Lust Friday post!

Review: Die Bestimmung - DIVERGENT (Film, 2014)

Titel: Die Bestimmung - DIVERGENT
Original titel: DIVERGENT 
Erscheinungajahr: 2014
FSK: 12 
Länge: 139 Minuten
Hauptdarsteller: Shainlene Woodley (Beatrice "Tris" Prior) 
Theo James (Four) 
Kate Winslet (Jeanine Matthews) 
Basiert auf dem gleichnamigen Roman von Veronica Roth. 

   Die Zukunft in Divergent sieht alles andere als rosig aus: Die neue Gesellschaftsordnung ist durch eine Trennung in fünf Kasten aufgeteilt. Um die Einhaltung der Zuteilung sicher zu stellen, werden die Kinder von Morgen gemäß ihrer spezifischen Charaktereigenschaften erzogen. Dafür müssen die Probanden einige Tests durchmachen, die sowohl psychisch als auch körperlich höchst anstrengend sind.
   Die 16-jährige Tris Prior gehört zu den Jugendlichen, die sich bald für eine Kaste entscheiden müssen. Doch sie hat ein dunkles Geheimnis: Sie ist ein sogenannter ‘Divergent’, das bedeutet, sie gehört keiner der vorgesehenen Gruppen an. Tris will ihre eigene Identität ergründen und sich den Fesseln dieser einheitlichen Gesellschaft entziehen. Doch eine Verschwörung ist bereits im Gange, die alle Divergents vernichten will, da sie eine Gefahr für den Zusammenhalt eben dieser Gesellschaft darstellen. Tris stürzt sich in ein Abenteuer, um die Verschwörung aufzuhalten. (moviepilot.de) 

   Nein. Einfach nur nein.
 
   Ich muss ja zugeben, am liebsten würde ich es hierbei belassen, denn mehr gibt es über den Film eigentlich nicht zu sagen. Aber, nun gut, dies soll ja eine Review sein, also los geht’s.

   Wie ihr wisst bin ich absoluter DIVERGENT Fan, also Fan des ersten Buches der DIVERGENT Trilogie, nicht aber des Filmes. Seitdem ich den ersten Trailer gesehen habe, oder sogar schon als ich die Schauspieler sah, wusste ich, dass bei dieser Buch zu Film Adaptation nichts Gutes herauskommen wird. Und leider hatte ich Recht. 

   Der Anfang des Films, wenn die aufnahmen das Dystopischen Chicago zeigen, sieht interessant und detailliert aus, jedoch war es das dann auch schon im Großen und Ganzen mit den Details. Die meisten räume wiederholen sich und man hat daher kaum Abwechslung. Die Grube (der mittelpunkt des Ortes an dem die Dauntless wohnen), wie es ja in der deutschen synchro heißt, sieht nicht wirklich so aus wie ich es vom Buch in Erinnerung hatte, aber sagen wir mal das es wohl einfach schwierig gewesen wäre es eins zu eins genau so zu rekonstruieren.
   An vielen stellen ist man, denke ich, recht verloren wenn man das Buch nicht gelesen hat, den oftmals fehlen Erklärungen zu dem was man gerade gesehen hat, wie z.B. während des Tests, den Tris am Anfang des Films macht, der ihr sagen soll zu welcher Fraktion sie am besten passt (ich weiß leider nicht das genaue Wort dafür, ich hab den Film auf English gesehen, genauso wie das Buch). Am ende erfahren wir nur, dass ihre Resultate auf 3 Fraktionen hinweisen, jedoch nicht warum. Ich vermute mal, die Erklärungen wurden aus Zeitgründen weggelassen, da der Film so oder so über 2 Stunden lang ist.

   Kommen wir zu den schauspielern. 
   Shailene Woodley – NEIN. Ich sehe leider nicht was alle anderen in ihr sehen. Ich habe von vielen Leuten gehört das sie ihren auftritt stark und voller Ausdruck fanden, jedoch war alles das ich gesehen habe ein Ausdruck von „ich bin verletzlich und süß“. Oftmals störte es mich das ihr Ausdruck durchgehend genau gleich war, egal ob sie nun erschrocken, traurig oder fröhlich sein sollte. Für die rolle war sie definitiv nicht die richtige denn sie ist viel zu dünn und sieht viel zu zerbrechlich aus.
    Theo James – NEIN. Der Schauspieler ist was, 29? Wer glaubt ihm bitte, dass er 18 ist, also der Charakter den er spielt. Des Weiteren ist er viel zu sehr der typische muskeltyp mit dem „heißen“ Körper und den eher spärlichen schauspielerischen Fähigkeiten.
    Kate Winslet – die wohl einzige Schauspielerin in diesem film die wirklich Schauspielern kann. Sie stellte die fiese Jeannine Matthews perfekt dar, überzeugend und furchteinflößend.
   Jedoch kann man im Großen und Ganzen sagen, dass das Level an schauspielerischem Talent in diesem film doch eher ziemlich niedrig ist, was enttäuschend ist.

   Viele BookTuber, die ich schaue ,meinten, dass sie finden, das DIVERGENT knapp unter Catching Fire liegt. Dem kann und will ich nicht zustimmen. Schauspielerisch und Kinematographisch ist Catching Fire eine grandiose Buch zu Film Adaptation wohingegen DIVERGENT einfach nur peinlich und in die länge gezogen ist. 

   Zum ende des Films hin, hoffte ich einfach nur das es doch bitte endlich vorbei ist. Die Dialoge waren übrigens auch recht flach und langweilig. Da frage ich mich doch wirklich warum sie nicht einfach ein paar der Dialoge aus dem Buch genommen haben, oder wäre dies etwa zu viel Arbeit? 

   Alles in allem, kann man sagen das DIVERGENT zwar besser ist als City of Bones, jedoch dennoch relativ schlecht ist. Ich werde zwar definitiv den zweiten und dritten (Part 1 und 2) sehen, jedoch frage ich mich jetzt schon wie sie aus dem dritten Buch 2 filme machen wollen, besonders da ich finde, dass das dritte Buch absolut schlecht und der Trilogie nicht würdig ist. Naja, wir werden sehen.

   Ich gebe Die Bestimmung – DIVERGENT 2 von 5 Sternen.

Final DIVERGENT Trailer

   Listen up Initiates,
   Today, on BuzzFeed, we've been presented with the new and final trailer for DIVERGENT. I've watched it a couple of minutes ago and well... I don't like it.

  Watch the trailer here.  

   Where do I start this... Okay, let’s start with the actors.
    No, no and no. Shailene Woodley as Tris, somehow for me that doesn't work. Not at all. Shailene seems much too thin and fragile as to play a kickass character like Tris. Sure, in the book it also is mentioned that she isn't the toughest looking person but seriously? Her arms are about the size of my wrists. But, it's not like I have something against her per se, I really think she fits the role of Hazel Grace in The Fault in Our Stars exactly because she is this sweet and fragile person.

   Also, from what we get to see in this trailer, I just don't think her acting is on the level that I wish the actress who plays Tris would have. I must say, I started to laugh, really laugh, during the split second in which we see her hitting something like a boxing bag. That just looked ridiculous. But hey, that is just my opinion.

   Theo James. I mean, whom are the producers trying to sell the idea that he is 18? Just no. He looks like the age he is, meaning 29 and not 18. Also, from what we see in the trailer, I'm not fond of his acting or him. All I see is him looking like a tough guy and that’s it. Also I somehow don't hear the emotions in his voice that I was looking for in certain sentences that he said during the trailer. I've never seen a movie with him in it, which means that I have no idea how well of an actor he really is or isn't, I'm just basing my opinion on what I see in the trailer.

   Okay, let’s leave the actors alone and talk about the trailer itself. I do like the way they portrayed Chicago and the building from which Tris has to jump, but that’s about it. Something that just made me straight out "angry" was that the trailer almost tells you everything that will happen in the movie. It barely leaves anything out and thus spoils a few things which are more fun to get to know while watching the actual movie then going and while already knowing it. Okay, I'd say that point only works for those who have not read the books but anyways.

   I don't know, so far from just watching the trailers and snippets I can only say that I'm not really looking forward to the movie. I don't think it will be nearly as amazing as the book was. I also know that a lot of people have lost their interest in the series due to the more then disappointing ending for the trilogy that author Veronica Roth has presented us. I personally, I really didn't like the last book. Somewhere halfway through I started to simply force myself to continue reading. And the ending, specifically the last 30-40 pages were just over the top bad. I know she tried to make you feel certain emotions, to feel sadness just like the character but all I felt was "what is this book finally ending?". 
   I love the first book, it had so many great things in it that it certainly belongs to the group of my all-time favorites but unfortunately 2 and 3 did not quite fulfill my hopes. 

   Anyways, I know I will watch the movie but I can say that my level of expectations is quite very low.

   One more thing before I end this post, have a look at the following picture:

   Excuse me but what are these supposed to be? Water guns? Toys? I mean sure it's the future but that is just ridiculous. Okay, maybe these have like some special meaning to them which I forgot but I just find them straight of hilarious. Especially together with the facial expressions. 

   Okay, enough of my ranting. 

   What do you guys think about the trailer(s) and the actors? Are you happy with the choices that the producers have made?

Cheerio! 

Review: The Transfer: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth

The Transfer: A Divergent Story by Veronica Roth
Published: September 3rd 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books Number of Pages: 50 pages (eBook) 
Series: #1 out of 4

   More Four! Fans of the Divergent series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth will be thrilled by "The Transfer," the first of four new short stories told from Four’s perspective. Each brief story explores the world of the Divergent series through the eyes of the mysterious but charismatic Tobias Eaton, revealing previously unknown facets of his personality, backstory, and relationships. (goodreads)

   “My name is Four,” I say. “Call me ‘Stiff’ again and you and I will have a problem.”  

   I started to read The Transfer: A Divergent Story yesterday just around midnight and kept on reading till the very end. As you can see from the specifics above, the story isn't very long, only 50 pages, but still it's packed with emotions and insights into the handsome Four.
     I wasn't quite sure what awaits me as I bought it as I didn't read the small synopsis or anything else because I simply wanted to get surprised. The only thing I knew was that the story will be told from Fours perspective.
   In The Transfer: A Divergent Story we get to know some more about Tobias past, his life before he became Four. We get to know how it's possible that Tris didn't know him before they met in Dauntless, we get to know some more of the horrors he had to face at home and an insight into his process of deciding upon which faction he wants to go to. I really enjoyed reading about that process as I was always asking myself how I would try to decide if I would be him and have a father like Marcus.
   Speaking of which, for all those of you guys out there who hated Marcus due to what we get to know about him in the books, you will hate his guts even more after reading this. 

   “Don’t worry about me handling the pain," I say. "I’ve had a lot of practice.”

   This line made me just feel so much more sorry for the poor Tobias, feel sorry for all the things Marcus has done to him, but happy on the other side that he finally managed to free himself from him.
   And another person that we get to see is Eric as he and Four meet each other for the first time before the fear landscape. It was interesting to see that for them the fear landscape came up much sooner than for Tris and the others. And of course it was interesting to see how Tobias slowly started to become the Four we know and how he got his name. 

   Veronica Roth really managed to keep up her writing style we so enjoyed throughout Divergent and Insurgent. The Transfer: A Divergent Story was very interesting and insightful. I enjoyed it a great deal and I can only recommend it to all the Divergent Fans out there who have not read it yet. It's more than just worth your time and money! 

“You’re the one who has to live with your choice. Everyone else will get over it, move on, no matter what you decide. But you never will.”

             My rating: 5/5 Stars