Divergent by Veronica Roth
31 January, 2012
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: May 3rd 2011
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Pages: 487
Goodreads: Add It
Summary: (Goodreads)
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.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS *****
There is a lot of hype surrounding this book, and as usual, this is completely and utterly justified. One thing to know about me is that I am generally a slow reader. Well, okay, no, I’m an average reader but I usually read every single word, I hate skipping when I’m reading so longer books generally take me longer to read. Divergent was not like this. I finished this book in just over twenty-four hours. It captivated me so much that I simply could not put it down or think about doing anything else until I had reached the very end.
Just for this reason, because I adored it so much, knowing where to start on this review and how to express my thoughts has turned into an extremely difficult task as I want to do this book justice, I want others to pick it up and become enthralled by the words on the page but I also don’t want to over-hype it. Therefore I am apologising now that this review took so long to publish but I’m also going to apologise if this review doesn’t do the book justice in your own opinion. I will try my hardest to get a decent view out there for you all though.
So, to start, I will focus on the characters. And my, what characters! Within the first few pages of this book, I was already in love with the main protagonist. I found such a strong bond with Beatrice and I could not wait to listen to where the story would go and where it would take me. She was a character that I was able to sympathise with, someone that I could understand and just wanted to cheer on whenever she did something. I think I loved her so much just because I saw so much of myself in her and therefore I saw all of her struggles too. Then we have Four, who just captured my soul. I was in tune with him right from the first time we see him and I just loved how he treated Tris. It was just… so beautiful. I loved that they felt like real people. They had their good qualities along with their bad ones, they had their struggles and their fears and worries and they just felt so… normal and this is one of the hardest things to accomplish when writing and Roth just managed to grasp it. Other great characters include Christina and Will, Tris’ mum, Eric and Peter. Everyone was just written so well, with such depth and background that it helped to create a realistic illusion of this world.
And what a world! Dystopian novels usually have quite a heavy task on their hands when it comes to world-building because the whole idea is that it is a world completely void of our own. One that is full of destruction and despair and yet, at the same time, there is just that inkling of hope. And boy did Roth do a good job of this! It is certainly not an easy feat and I think that this is one of the reasons that I simply loved Divergent so much. I was so intrigued to hear about the different factions and what each of them stand for and why they’re all in separate factions in the first place. And it’s just so powerful how well she made the idea of being factionless scary and undesirable. Her descriptions were just so well written that I could imagine everything in my mind, could see how the different people would mingle, or not mingle as the case may be, and I just loved the world that was being brought forward to my mind from the page. I was inspired because I am certain that I could never imagine such a place on my own.
Not only did Roth create a wonderful world, however, the plot that unravelled throughout the story’s process was just… mind-boggling. I don’t want to give too much away but I will say that she simply has a way with words that managed to grab at my heartstrings. There were twists and turns that were unexpected, twists that were forseen yet still were awesome to read and discover along with Tris and it was really the moments of shock that really captured this book for me. It was slow to begin with, a lot of world building had to happen though, so this was expected, but then it sped up in the middle, with exciting tasks shown and then it was a fast-paced race towards the end and the ending left you just wanting more. I finished the book and simply couldn’t think straight because I wanted to read Insurgent straight away. I want to know what happens next. No. I need to know what will happen now.
Divergent is not a book that you can pick up and read just for pure entertainment. It is not a light, easy read where you can escape for a few hours in pure bliss. It is a magical story that truly pulls you into a different world, one that lets you escape your own life to live the life of Tris and her faction-filled world. It grabs you by your ankles and it doesn’t let you go until you were fully submersed in another reality. (Yes, reality). Divergent is one of the best books that I have read in an extremely long time and, dare I say it, rivals The Hunger Games in my affections.
It is not a book for the light-hearted, or someone who just wants an easy escapist read, it is for the nitty-gritty book lovers who crave something more than most books give them. It is simply amazing and one that I am just so glad I owned and even feel a little guilty at how cheaply I managed to buy it. This book deserves to be paid full price for. And with all of that said, it is easy to understand why I am waiting on tether hooks for Insurgent, which is due to be released 363 days after the first on May 1st 2012.
Faye
9 Comments
Sarah (saz101)
Eeeee! Sammie! YES YES YES!
Seriously, This book was MASSIVELY hyped, but that didn’t ruin it for me. I went into it EXPECTING it to be overhyped, just a little… uh… it exceeded the hype. Overhyping? Not possible.
YES! Tris feels so REAL. SO Sympathietic. Even the characters I loathed felt real, but the characters I LOVED? Wow. All of them were layered, 3D, and so SO real. FOUR! And Christina and Will… and oh my goodness, Christina and Will? What Tris said at the end about seeing Christina again? That tore at my heart.
And being factionless! *shudders* she makes it terrifying. The threat of not passing the initations was horrifying!
I LOVE your review! Those laste two paragraphs? You’ve summed it up PERFECTLY. Perfection! It’s not light and fluffy, but unlike Hunger Games, and despite the shocking ending, I finished the book feeling elated, high, and excited! <333
Daydreaming_Star
RIGHT??? It deserves everything it’s been given and more! But still, you wouldn’t want people to be too put off… but what AM I saying? Most people didn’t even know what the Twilight books WERE until the hype, and they weren’t even well-written books. (will stop slandering them soon, I promise… or I will try and promise, lol).
OMG I KNOW! I was like *tears* and just, gaaah! I’m sooo… scared to know how that goes. What will Christina do? They were so PERFECT for each other and then… AHHHH. But Tris and Four… forever <33
-nods- powerful, powerful words.
YES! Exactly that! Awwwh, thankies! I’m glad that you liked it!! <333
Sarah (saz101)
Thank YOU for reading it with me! Had SOOOO much fun! <3
You’re so right about Twilight. I mean, within the little micro-world of book-bloggers, it’s been seriously hyped, but to ppl who DON’T blog and DON’T read constantly, they might not know about it, and that’d be SAD. So hype away! Seriously, it’s an incredible book. I didn’t really know what to expect going in, but just WOW.
Brodie
HELL TO THE YES! AMAZING review!!! Like Sarah said, you summed it up perfectly, especially the last part of your review. Oh man, I could not turn the pages fast enough as we kicked into the last 1/4 of the book. Just BAM BAM BAM, you can’t put it down, you can’t breathe, you can only will your eyes to move faster and faster to see what the heck is going to happen next.
If this is what she delivers in the first book, can you imagine what Insurgent is going to be like? And the third book? HEART. CANNOT. TAKE. THE. EXCITEMENT! *kaplonk*
I AM SO HAPPY YOU LOVED THIS! Four and Tris <3
Daydreaming_Star
Hehe, thanks Brodie! That is like… an amazing compliment! *cough*
But yes! I know what you mean! I was telling Sarah that I wouldn’t finish it before I slept and would finish it in the morning but then I couldn’t PUT. IT. DOWN. I was just like… NOOO. HAVE. TO. FIND. OUT. REST!
Oh my. I don’t know if my heart will be able to take it. I just really hope it isn’t a flop of a serial! But I’m starting to realise this isn’t a natural occurance in the bookworld, just the film one! Ahhh, I can only imagine that Insurgent is better than this. Where has she been HIDING??
Yeeeee! Four and Tris indeed <3 His last few words to her? OH. EM. GEEE.
Diana
Love your review! I felt the exact same way :-) Oh, and Four is totally my book boyfriend.
Daydreaming_Star
Thanks Diana! And pfffft. Nope. He is mine. Get in line. :P :P
Snnnk.
A. Knight
I was purely amazed Roth’s writing ability and storytelling. This book blew me away and I’m happy to see it did the same for you!
– Asher (from Paranormal Indulgence)
Belgie
I honestly couldnt put this book down. However It is not the best written book and is a bit unirganized at times, though that was easy to overlook because of the fantastic storylines. I hope that there will be a sequel or that this book series will become a trilogy. I cant wait to read more and find out what happens!