Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Hardcover, 487 pages

Released: May 3, 2011

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

ISBN13: 9780062024022

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.

My Rating: 4 / 5

My Thoughts:

Beatrice has a huge decision to make...stay in the faction that she grew up in, the one she tries so hard to fit into, or select another. The inconclusive test results aren't much a help and only add more confusion as she is told not to say anything...what does being Divergent mean though?

Beatrice, or Tris as she later calls herself, see's a world completely different then what she's used to and wants to prove that she belongs (she's short and a girl, let me tell you the faction takes no pity on that!). Along the way she discovers more about herself, how love can change you and and a plot that puts her old faction in danger. It is an extreme view of society, than again it is a dystopian after all. Although well meaning originally, you can see how harmful it is to focus one one aspect as the five factions do. Life is all about balance and this shows you why. As I love character driven stories, the one thing I found weak here was any emotion for Tris. With all the action overpowering her transformation through extreme choices, I didn't feel much for her on a personal level.

Full of non-stop, adrenaline pumping action, Divergent will suck you in and take you for the ride of your life. I read outside my comfort zone of cutesy stories and now am hoping some of Tris' braveness will rub off. I must admit, I doubt I would have even made it onto the train to even begin the initiation LOL.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my write up from The Dystopian Tour stop last night in Toronto with Veronica Roth and Lauren Oliver!