Can you tell I’m excited?! If you haven’t heard of the Divergent Series by Veronica Roth by now, you’ve been living under a rock! About two years ago I stumbled across book one of this amazing series because of an Amazon recommendation. I read the synopsis and the free sample and I was hooked. I loved it! So in honor of the movie coming out today, I thought I’d share my review. If you enjoy YA dystopian novels, this is a must-read!
Divergent by Veronica Roth Published by Katherine Tegen Books on April 25, 2011
Length: 487 pages
Reviewing eBook from Amazon
Rating:
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In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
Wow! I’m not even sure where to begin….I liked, NO LOVED, this book so much!!!
Divergent by Veronica Roth is the first in her Divergent series and truly sets up this amazing story. This book starts with our main character and heroine Beatrice Prior and the Aptitude Test. This test is a sort of simulation test that all sixteen-year-olds must take and then decide during a Choosing Ceremony which faction they will join. This choice decides who there family is, what type of jobs they will have in their society, and ultimately the type of life they will lead the rest of their lives. There are five factions: Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity, and Dauntless. Beatrice has been raised as an Abnegation, yet she struggles with their selfless lifestyle. When her Aptitude Test (which should tell her which faction she belongs to) gives her three results, the administrator calls her a “Divergent.” Being Divergent is dangerous, and according to the administrator there are people who would kill Beatrice for this. Now it is up to Beatrice to make her decision which faction she will live in and truthfully it is going to be where she can hide her divergence the best.
Again, I loved this story! I fell in love with not only the characters, but the dystopian world they live in, the factions, and the plot! Beatrice Prior or Tris as she renames herself once she chooses her faction, is a strong-willed, self-reliant, young heroine. She pushes herself to meet the demands of her new faction, all the while keeping what she loved about her old faction. There is tremendous character growth for her throughout this book as she learns what Divergence is and what it means for her. Four is her surly instructor, also a faction-transfer two years before herself. He intrigues her and pushes her more than anyone she has ever met. I love him! He is the perfect love interest!! Tris’s friend and fellow faction-transfer from Candor is Christina. I love her! She is the polar-opposite of Tris and brings out good qualities in her.
This was a book that I couldn’t predict even if I tried! There were more surprises than I expected and at the same time when I reread it (which I’ve done multiple times) the author drops subtle hints along the way that builds the suspense and leaves you shocked yet satisfied with the conclusion.
If you liked The Hunger Games and Under the Neversky, you should really give this book series a go (if you haven’t already!). This series is the penultimate of Young Adult dystopias that are popular today.
About Veronica Roth
Veronica Roth is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT (Katherine Tegen Books, May 2011) and INSURGENT (May 2012). The third and final book in The Divergent Trilogy, ALLEGIANT, will come out on October 22, 2013. In the meantime she will spend endless hours browsing Wikipedia in her pajamas as she eats corn flakes. (Or some other kind of bland breakfast cereal.)
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