Divergent by Veronica Roth | Book Review

Divergent by Veronica Roth is truly for those who love the Hunger Games Trilogy or the Twilight Saga. There's never a dull moment as we see the world through the main character, Tris', eyes as she encounters a variety of 'coming of age' transitions, from discovering who you are, exploring the world independently, making new friends and falling in love. With all the key character development that we live through with Tris it's thrilling when the main storyline of the book develops and Tris is part of a bigger picture. How can anyone stop conflict between different people with different views, behaviours and visions as well as their requirements for power?

"It will be difficult to break the habits of thinking Abnegation instilled in me, like tugging a single thread from a complex work of embroidery. But I will find new habits, new thoughts, new rules. I will become something else."

After reading the Hunger Games Trilogy last year, I had had a bit of a break away from reading fantasy/sci-fi fiction so that the next book within the genre wouldn't have to live up to the thrill of the Hunger Games Trilogy. Divergent seemed a good book to break that fast as it had been constantly brought up in conversations I'd had with others about my love for the Hunger Games. I can tell you, I was not disappointed. This is seriously a great book and I'm already starting Insurgent. That says a lot because I never normally read the sequel to a book straight after reading the first in order to break the story up, but believe me, after the Divergent ending I have to know what happens next.

"I hear my heartbeat. I have been looking at him too long, but then, he has been looking back, and I feel like we are both trying to say something the other can't hear, though I could be imagining it. Too long - and now, even longer, my heart even louder, his tranquil eyes swallowing me whole."

So if you like the Hunger Games, Twilight Saga or anything else within the 'young adult' genre then you'll love Divergent. If you're not a really a reader, don't fret, Divergent is actually being made into a film too with the release date set to be March 2014. I can't wait to see the film and who will be playing the love interest 'Four' (yes it's a weird name but the book explains it all ^-^).

If you've read Divergent I'd love to hear what thought about it and what were you favourite aspects of the storyline. Also I'm also on the hunt for new books to read, especially on my new Kindle Fire HD ^_^ so please leave a comment below if you have any recommendations.

GIMP 2.8 - A blogger's free alternative to photoshop

Are you thinking about getting Photoshop but not looking forward to the dent in your purse afterwards? Look no further than GIMP 2.8., a free program that does everything you need as a blogger without the nasty price tag.

GIMP 2.8. is a free GNU Image Manipulation Program and is available on both Windows and Mac. I really cannot tell you how good this program is for all you image creation needs! I swear by it and use it daily at work and for my blog.

I am in no way an expert at using all the features the program has but over the last year or so I've learnt how to do enough to create the designs I want. Hopefully by the end of this post I'll have shown some of the features of GIMP 2.8. and saved you some money. ^_^

If anyone has every used an Image Manipulation Program before, such as Photoshop, then you'll be aware of many of the common features used in these kinds of programs. If not then you have the ability to crop images, clone aspects of the image to paste onto other areas, apply blends, add text, rotate and select certain aspects of the image

If you ever want to see that kind of images you can create, just look at all the images I use on my blog, all have had some GIMP 2.8. usage applied, from a simple crop or a full image build such as my blog header. You can build from scratch or just simply edit an image you have on your computer, the possibilities are endless. I've even created a tri-fold leaflet within it which was professionally printed for 3,000 copies. They look fantastic if I do say so myself. ^_^

I really cannot praise GIMP 2.8. enough for it's simplicity and easy of us. It really is idle for any blogger who needs this sort of program and who doesn't want to pay the purse breaking price of Photoshop, or worse get in trouble for downloading it free. You'd be surprised how many people do that, and not only do they run the risk of getting in trouble, but they also put their computer at risk of viruses.

So what you waiting for, why not start that blog design you've been wanting to do for a while and start creating it in GIMP 2.8. If anyone has any questions or gets stuck, just drop me tweet or e-mail and I'll certainly help you if I can. I'm also doing some tutorials in the future, so let me know if there's something particular that you'd like to see.