Fanfiction

   Not too long ago, there was a Divergent Fanfiction competition on Movellas. I love Divergent but I've never tried fanfiction before, so this competition was a good way for me to try something new. I didn't win but nonetheless I had fun writing it (though I'll probably avoid fanfiction from now on - trying to do Roth's world justice was so hard!).

   Have you had a go at fanfiction? I know a lot of people who started writing fanfiction and then moved on to original fiction as well as quite a few who haven't tried it at all before. I'd say give it a go! As long as you're stretching yourself and enjoying it (fanfiction should not be used for financial gain or publication so you must state that the original ideas are from the original author and not your own.) then it's a great thing to try. It can push you through writer's block or just a fun exercise. Your fanfiction might even poke you in the right direction for your own original work!

   Here's the first part of my own fanfiction for the competition. I had to cut it down a lot for the 5,000 word limit of the competition so in that way I felt perhaps I would have liked to have developed the storyline a lot more but take a look and tell me what you think :)
  

   The Truth is Deadly

   This fanfiction is based on the Divergent series written solely for entertainment and is not part of the original storyline. All the original ideas and rights belong to Veronica Roth.

***

     “Andrew!” I hissed as a headlight trundled past our hiding place. As usual, he had a death wish. I tried to slow my heart as the engine died out.
     “This is so...” I spat out some words.
     “Dauntless?” He smirked, wiggling his eyebrow piercing.
     “Reckless.” I rolled my eyes, stopping as his gaze met mine. Even after all these months, I still can’t suppress a blush.
     The wind knocked a pine cone from a tree, landing on my foot, making me jump. I clutched Andrew’s hand, which had slithered through my fingers moments ago.
     “You’re not normally this jumpy...” his tone was strong like his grasp.
     “Well, we don’t normally go this far.” I sighed back. Hastily glancing over to the rails, all I could see was darkness. My breathing was still rather fast, increasing the more I thought about the dark. “Do we have to do this? It’s dangerous and it’s against the rules...”
     “Aren’t we against the rules?”
     “Frowned upon.” I pouted. He mimicked my expression.
     “It’s just to spice things up around here for us.”
     “What? Meeting up in secret isn’t enough for you?” I teased him by loosening my own grip and pulling back slightly. He pounced back, his face so close to mine I could lose myself in his chestnut eyes. Being so full of surety they scared me sometimes.
     “Come on, for me?” His gaze turned to match a puppy’s, “It’ll be fun.” He began pulling me back.
     I sighed, “Fine.”
     His lips quickly pecked my cheek, “That’s my Stiff.” And, before I had a chance to smack him, we began running again.

    My eyes were locked on the ground. You’d think with the amount of adrenaline in my veins at this point I’d turn into some sort of speedy super human, but still I was as slow as the minutes were ticking by today.
     I was desperate to ask where we were heading to, but the night was so still that my ragged breaths were disturbing it enough.
     Every dying bush seemed to lurk over our path. Every crack in the pavement seemed to be a hole into oblivion. My hands were tingling like they were on fire and my feet were howling.
     Andrew stopped. I slapped into the back of him before freezing my steps too. Pushing me backwards, we dropped down to the ground, hidden behind a broken wall as long as we remained flat.
     A man was on his knees, hands on top of his head in front of us. Someone with a gun in their hand was holding the victim in place whilst someone else stood back, observing the scene as a shadow. That’s all I saw, and all I wanted to see, before plunging down.
     Andrew dared a peek, his black clothing aiding his camouflage. This that kind of thing didn’t occur in the factions. Our way of life brings peace.
     This man must have disturbed that peace, but we were told that those who do this become factionless, not-
    My thoughts were interrupted by the dreaded shot shaking through the air.




The rest can be read by clicking here: http://www.movellas.com/book/read/201312292130085331-the-truth-is-deadly-divergent-fanfiction


~White Ravens~
http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10321725/white-ravens-writing

Top Three Books of 2013!

   These are my top three books I have read this year. These are purely my opinions and I'd also love to hear your own in the comments below :) Enjoy!

 

1. Private Peaceful

   This is my all time favourite book and I know it's quite a few others' favourites too. Michael Morpurgo has been one of my favourite authors since I was a kid and the first story I read by him was The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips. Since then, I've always wanted to read Private Peaceful from the reviews and opinions I've heard from others who have already read it. However, because I had heard it's a tear jerker too, I'm not too big a fan of a story that makes you cry just because I don't like crying! This story did make me cry but it was a good cry because it was such a good book as to make me feel so much for the characters. It's amazingly written, accurate and though-provoking so that is why this was my top book read in 2013.

2. More Than This

   Patrick Ness became one of my favourite authors last year when I read A Monster Calls by him when it was up for, and consequently won, the Carnegie Medal for my English group. Ever since then I can't get enough of him. I was given More Than This to review by Movellas and loved every moment of it. The website also ran a competition based around this book's new release, which my short story was shortlisted for and I won a signed copy of it. The Knife of Never Letting Go, the first in his Chaos Walking Trilogy is next on my list to be read. More Than This was fast paced but, like Private Peaceful despite being on the complete opposite end of the genre spectrum, very thought-provoking. I loved the characters and the plotline and almost everything about this book was perfect and made me want to read on. It's a close second next to Private Peaceful.

3. Divergent

   This book got me hooked. I brought it with my book vouchers from last Christmas at the beginning of the year and began reading it around Easter time I think. It was fast-paced, original, full of action and suspense and twists and turns and, gosh, it was just amazing! Although I wasn't as impressed with the sequel, Divergent is a must-read to me for every teenage fan of dystopian and science fiction. The film comes out next year and the final instalment of the trilogy, Allegiant, is available to buy now. With its intriguing plotline, world and characters, Veronica Roth is an author to look out for and Divergent just had to nab the last place on my top three.

   And that's my top three books of 2013 in a nutshell :) What were your favourites read this year? Do you share any of my own opinions? Please let me know in the comments below and I look forward to more awesome reads in 2014 too!


   All reviews can be read on blog and you can be directed to them by clicking the links below:

Private Peaceful Review

More Than This Review

Divergent Review


~White Ravens~
http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10321725/white-ravens-writing

Divergent by Veronica Roth Review

   My second review is of the book Divergent by Veronica Roth, a YA dystopian fiction :)
   I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post again. Thankfully exams are all over (FREEDOM!!!) and now I will probably have more time to myself to read, write and post :)

Rating: 

 

   4/5

  This book really keeps you on the edge and I love female leads kicking butt ;) I read it every day to try and finish it, but I've only given it four out of five because I didn't want to read it every second of everyday.Yes, I did finish it quite quickly but it didn't captivate me so much that I wanted to get to the end within an hour. I'm very picky with my 5/5s :)
   

Who I think it's for:

 

   Although it can get rather bloody and contains a few kissing scenes, there's no adult themes so I would say it's for 13+. It is a young adult book so, obviously, that is the main target market but I'm sure many adults would love it too, with it's strong and fresh characters, interesting plot and important themes. If you love sci-fi and dystopian fiction that this is for you. I'd say girl's would be drawn to it more but it has enough action to appeal to both genders.

"We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.” 

Plot Summary:  

 

   In a dystopian future where Chicago is split into five factions representing specific qualities important to their citizens: Amity for the peaceful; Abnegation for the selfless; Candor for the honest; Erudite for knowledge; Dauntless for bravery.

   It is sixteen year old Beatrice 'Tris' Prior's turn to choose. Torn between staying with her family or changing for her own future, she decides upon her faction, shocking all, and is hurtled into their grueling initiation trials. Juggling friends, love, having her life on the line as well as coming to terms with being 'Divergent', a secret underlying her city could change everything they ever knew.

The Character that stood out most:

 

   Caleb Prior, 'Tris Prior's brother, stood out a lot to me. He, too, makes a shock decision at the Choosing Ceremony, which he took at the same time as 'Tris, but appeared as a very determined character. However, what really made him stand out was how much he changed throughout the book.

   In the sequel, 'Insurgent', he is obviously easily manipulated by the 'Faction over Blood' message that every child has had drilled into them from birth. Under this manipulation, he does something completely unexpected, which really disappointed me about the book. I knew that the society had misled him, but I have my own sister so I don't understand why he would do what he did. (I don't want to give anything away so that is all I will say about the matter)

   We'll have to wait for the final book, 'Allegiant', to find out why Caleb took this abrupt turn.

Why I read it:

 

   Dystopian fiction for young adults are all the rage now so naturally I was drawn to the book. I remember one of my friends recommending Veronica Roth as a good author a while back, so when I saw the name in a book shop, I thought I'd give it a go :) It had gained good reviews and I also saw that it would become a film next year, so I wanted to read it before I saw it.
  

Why you should read it:

   

   It had me hooked from the beginning. It has something for everyone, with action, love, friendship and trying to find yourself in a difficult world, which everyone can relate to. It's great for teenagers and I would recommend it to anyone. If you want to see the film, I think you should read the book first because I like to know what's going on and how it differs :) It's a very popular book amongst YA readers too :)


   Well, that's my second review done :) I will get to writing the remainder of the character questions soon. Leave your thoughts in the comments :)


~White Ravens~


  The final installment of Veronica Roth's best-selling series, 'Allegiant', is out October 22nd, 2013 and the 'Divergent' film release is in 2014 - 21st March 2014 in the USA.