Divergent
Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth
5 stars out of 5
Beatrice Prior at the age of sixteen just like every other sixteen-year-old living in her dystopian future Chicago, must choose a faction. Each of the five factions seeks to eliminate what they believe is humanities worst failure, by becoming the opposite of that trait. Each person is seen to be fit to cultivate one of these virtues: honesty (Candor), bravery (Dauntless), selflessness (Abnegation), kindness (Amity), or intelligence (Erudite). Beatrice's decision seems impossible and building a new life in the wake of her decision is so much harder, especially since life in the city is not all that it seems.
I had several reasons for wanting to read this book, it was highly recommended in the bookstores and by several other sources I trusted. Also despite being kind of over dystopian teen fiction as a genre I like reading whats popular in YA-fic.
In a lot of ways Beatrice (Tris) Prior is the same female protagonist we seem to keep getting over and over again. She is clumsy, physically weak, and and sees herself as unattractive. Despite this she is special, excels at parts of her training, and people are drawn to her making her a almost natural leader. For me this is almost a more general complaint about the genre then the actual book. Tris is complex and mostly likable and we can understand why she is liked by her friends and she likes them back. Even as the whole story is told from her perspective she is much less important then events around her. You root for her to win and mostly that's enough.
The supporting cast including the male lead all shine in this book. They are complex and invoke a wide range of responses and emotions from the reader just as they need to. No character suffers for being one sided and the motivations of the villains are just as relatable as those of the heroes. This is a major strength of the book and contributes to its ability to hook you and play with your emotions.
This book is very engaging and I blasted though it. While it did not make me cry this book was able to run me though the emotional ringer. Aside from her ability to manipulate your emotions, Veronica Roth's real strength seems to be her ability to world build. Unlike others writing dystopian or fantasy novels world building doesn't slow her down and she is able to quickly set the ground work for the society without it feeling like work. Some complain that too many questions about the world are left unanswered in Divergent but they are the kinds of questions people within a society wouldn't ask and get answered later on in the series. I believe this works in favor of the narration and feel of the book.
I would and have highly recommended this book. If you are a fan of dystopian fiction, young adult or are interested in it based on the movie I recommend you give it a go. Maybe give the other two a skip though...














