Format: Hardcover, First Edition Pages: 526 Release Date: October 22, 2013 Setting: Chicago, Illinois, USA Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia
Rating: ★★★☆☆ Read from: March 10 to 13, 2015
Goodreads Summary:
The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered--fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.
But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature--and of herself--while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.
Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Timesbest-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.
My Review: This review contains some spoilers.
I can't decide between a three stars or four. We'll call this three and a half stars.
I wanted so much to like this book, I really did. I was hoping that I could be one of the people that could see past all of the terrible things that went on in the world of Tris Prior, but I just couldn't. The struggle for her and Four to maintain their relationships properly is devastating. She needed him in order to get through the first novel, and in the second, they were practically enemies. Here, she was deceived by him and she spent nearly a third of the book at odds with him, frustrated and unable to forgive, and it broke my heart.
Additionally, poor Tris still suffered with her horrid PTSD, and it only worsened by the terrible things that continued happening around her. This poor girl found herself in the middle of every possible conflict in both her own world and the new one she dove into. Just days after venturing to start her new life she was shoved into another awful situation and it just ended up... Well, we don't talk about the end of this novel.
On top of all of the conflict and character building (which I did rather enjoy, it was nice to see some development but I really would have liked to see more of the side characters, like Peter post-memory serum) I had a difficult time maintaining my own head while reading through this. The alternating points of view were so incredibly frustrating and hard to keep track off--every time I read Four's chapters, I found myself reverting back to Tris's viewpoint. There was hardly a difference between the way the two characters spoke and processed information and surroundings... It was literally like they were the same person. Of course, when the end of the book came around, it was much, much easier to tell that Four was Four and Tris was... Well. You know.
I really don't know how I feel about this book. I feel like Veronica Roth could have taken the "outside of the fence" world in multiple different ways... And I wasn't sold with this one. The US government shoving "genetically damaged" people into experiments so that they can fix the world and give everyone pure genes again? What about the Purity War? What happened there? What about all the things the government was hiding? What about that other war they buried? Where was any of the plot building outside of the struggling romance between Tris and Four?
I wanted more from this novel, I think that's what it is. I expected more things to come together, more information about the side characters, more plot development. I grew tired of the spats between Four and Tris after the third one in Insurgent. I want to know what happened to Peter. I want to know how Zeke dealt with his brother's death. I want to know why Four decided to move back into the city. I want to know how the US government was going to deal with the fact that the Genetic Welfare base was completely wiped clean. They wouldn't just let something like that happen and leave the compound to peacefully "rule" over the city of Chicago.
Ugh, the more I rant about this book the more I want to give it less stars. But I'm not going to take away from the fact that Veronica Roth is an incredible writer, and although this conclusion to her trilogy was not very informative or... Imaginative? I don't know the proper word, really, I just feel like it could have gone in a better direction. Regardless, she's amazing and the trilogy as a whole is rather interesting. I absolutely love the world Tris and Four lived in, the idea of factions was amazing and intriguing, but there was so much missing from here, so many things I'm left wondering... I have so many more questions and so little left to read.
This review is also available on Goodreads.
