Review: Divergent

Let me start out with saying that I absolutely LOVED this book! After seeing so many new dystopian books pop up on shelves and after reading the excerpt from this book I was a little worried that it might be a little to much like The Hunger Games or that because it was so well reviewed I might be end up being disappointed. Thankfully I was not disappointed and Divergent was as good as others had stated in their reviews. Divergent, while somewhat like The Hunger Games in the sense that it was a dystopian and that they both had strong female leads was in all other ways completely different from each other. With a strong main character and an enticing dystopian world Divergent had me hooked by page one!

Debut author Veronica Roth has a wonderful writing style that starts the story off at an amazing pace. Readers will not be able to put the book down because they will be dying to know what happens next.  In the compelling world of Divergent, society is divided into five factions each dedicated to something different.  Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Erudite (the intelligent), and Amity (the peaceful).  Certain days, each year, all 16 year-olds must choose the faction in which they would prefer to be in for the rest of there lives.  Once the character chooses they must then pass initiation to remain in the faction. The main character of Divergent, Beatrice, or Tris as we get to know her as, has to make a decision between her family or the faction she thinks she truly belongs in.  Her choice might shock you because Tris is different, Tris is Divergent.

I did not particularly like Tris at first, although I love her name!  I thought she seemed a little shallow and that she seemed to not have self confidence; she did not believe in herself.  The more I read the more I started to realize that Tris was not like that at all and the only reason that she appeared to be that way in the first place was because of her placement in the faction of Abnegation, the selfless. The more I got to know her the more I liked her. She was tough and brave and she didn’t let what others thought of her bring her down. I admired how she made her own choices and that those choices were not based on what everyone else was doing but what she believed was right. It was interesting to watch her grow as a character throughout the book and to see all the things she learned about herself and the world she lived in. Though the world building in this story is amazing, I think its the characters similar to Tris that really make you fall in love with this book.

Four is Tris’ love interest in Divergent, and he is now on my list of favorite fictional guys.  Let me just gush for a minute on how much I loved his and Tris’ relationship!  The relationship that develops between the two of them throughout the book is so realistic and honest.  Four had an amazing, yet conflicted personality.  He was completely closed off from almost everyone and kept a close reign on his emotions, but there were those rare times when he let his vulnerable side show which let the reader and Tris get to know him better.  Four pushed Tris when she almost gave up and he was a great teacher helping Tris train for initiation. The relationship was not overly sappy, but it was still swoon worthy and amazing.

Even though Four was an amazing character, there were others that helped make the story just as great. All the characters somehow contributed to Tris’ success  or downfalls. Some helped make her stronger by trying to make her life harder. During initiation some even tried to kill her, but Tris made friends that helped to protect her.

If there was one thing I that I did not enjoy about this book it would have to be the ending. I felt it was awkward and incomplete. There seemed to be more that could have been added to it. In most books that have sequels the authors leave the readers with a cliffhanger, but in Divergent the ending does not feel like a cliffhanger. The way the book ended did not necessarily make me want to read the next book. I want to know what happens to the characters and that is what is made me excited to read the sequel.

Divergent is such an amazing book and I would recommend it to any reader who loves action and a little bit of romance. Readers will stay up all night reading this book dying to know what happens next. I cannot wait to see what happens in the sequel Insurgent which comes out in May. If you haven’t read Divergent yet go right on to your public library or local bookstore and read this amazing debut novel!  Looking forward to other great works from Veronica Roth.

My rating for Divergent is 5 out of 5 palm trees