Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Divergent by Veronica Roth




Divergent
By Veronica Roth
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Date Published: May 3, 2011
Pages:
487

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.
    I wasn't so sure it would live up to the months of hype surrounding it, but Divergent greatly surpassed all of my expectations with flying colors. The setting was great, the plot was engaging , the characters were amazing. If you were me, you'd probably be thinking, Another teen dystopian novel? Many of the elements in Divergent are similar to say, The Hunger Games, but Roth managed to create something original that captivated my attention the entire way through. The concept of a society made up of different factions was really intriguing and I found that I only predicted a couple out of a myriad of plot twists. It's been a while since I've been so thoroughly surprised and entertained by a book! I like Tris, the narrator. I think I'm still learning to connect with her, but I really felt for her toward the end of the book. But I'm glad that she was flawed, and that there were moments when she made mistakes without remorse. She felt real. I adored Four, and appreciated that he was different from the usual "hero" we've been seeing a lot in YA nowadays.

   I finished this book earlier today and I'm still at a loss for how I should even begin to fully and coherently express my happiness with it in this review. It's not working, so I'll just leave it at this: if you haven't read Divergent, go now! By far the best debut novel, and novel (period) I have read this year so far. I couldn't put this book down and I suspect my teachers may be a bit cross with me. For once, I'm not that annoyed that this is going to be another trilogy.

2 comments:

  1. Oops. It turns out I skipped over this update in my email so I thought you hadn't updated in a while. Sorry.
    It is so nice when the book you expect to be great turns out great.
    FYI-I love the new layout of the blog. It has a cssual feel the other one lacked.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Spelling error.
    I meant casual.
    My Bad. >//<

    ReplyDelete