Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

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.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Ohhh I don’t think there’s enough time for me to explain how much I love this book.

So, in order to best tell you how much this rocked, I’m going to use dot points. I think these are working quite well for the reviews of late!!

(And by dot points I actually mean number points )

1) I must admit, when I first started reading it, I stuck to the press release like glue. See, it has written on it all the different Factions and what they mean (just like above in the synopsis has). Then, one day, I took the book on the train with me and forgot the release: freak out!! The moral of this point is, at times, especially in the beginning, it was difficult to distinguish between the Factions and what they meant. But I picked it up as I kept reading!

2) I loved the pace of the action: something was always happening and it was always very exciting and never boring nor cliche/old.

3) I loved the layers of the story. The layers of the tension within tension within tension, within the different groups and levels and Factions, the layers of friendship and family, the layers of the story: the initiation, the larger-scale problems.

4) Reading about how Tris and the other initiates (after you pick a Faction you’ve got to go through the required training in order to enter) first entered the world of the Dauntless

5) I grew to really love Tris. I found her slightly annoying at the beginning but likable enough, but the development was spot-on.

6) Some of the best getting together/kissing scenes I’ve read in a long time.

7) Although the book is pretty huge (especially by general-YA standards), it never felt like a drag. I just wanted to keep reading. More, more, more. Simple as that, really.

8) After not ever hearing the words ‘Candor’ ‘Abnegation’ ‘Dauntless’ or ‘Erudite’ before, (I had heard of Amity), I was delighted to come home tonight and discover they are actually defined as their proper stance of the Factions: ie honest/Candor, brave/Dauntless etc.

9)I really liked how everything was not how they appeared. Roth managed to make you forget about something that seemed irrelevant at the time, only to bring it back later with full gusto. Brilliant!

10) I’m really, really, really glad this is the first in a trilogy. As I was driving home after I’d finished it tonight, I was considering whether it was or wasn’t, and thinking about how many more stories there were to tell. It was a self-contained book in its own right, but since I’m greedy, I want more, dammit!! Was very happy to read on Roth’s website there shall be two more!!

There was much to love about this. So, so much to love.

Dystopian at its very best.

Two last things:

One, I just did the Faction quiz on Facebook and got Candor: The Honest.

Two, Veronica Roth is only twenty-two. And this is being made into a movie. Again: twenty-two years old.

I can’t wait for the second one. Cannot. Wait.

Read it!

It’s out now.

For more information,
HarperCollins
Veroinca Roth’s website
Divergent on Facebook (where you can do the quiz)