Insurgent

by Veronica Roth, 525 pages, Sequel to Divergent

While this is a very long book, you are drawn into the story right away. The action is almost non-stop, so you don't have much of the characters sitting around and discussing their predicament. They are always on the move and facing danger.

You definitely need to read Divergent first, or none of this will make sense. I can't give plot details away because there would be too many spoilers. Tris, Tobias and others from the Dauntless faction are being hunted down by the Erudite faction. 

<Mini Spoiler: skip the rest>

Time is running out for the free Dauntless and other factions, because the Erudite might gain access to a simulation which will affect everyone, including Divergents. And trust me, this would definitely be a bad thing. Its fast pace, a ruined futuristic Chicago and intriguing characters make this a book worth reading for all ages, not just teens. How soon before the next one comes out?

Divergent

by Veronica Roth, 487 pages

In an alternate near-future Chicago, Beatrice Prior is preparing for the day she must choose in which of society's five strictly delineated factions she wishes to live the rest of her life. Growing up in Abnegation, the faction of selflessness, she has long fought with the concept of what she wants versus what her family or society wants or needs her to be. What does she value above all else? If not selflessness, then Candor's honesty, Erudite's intelligence, Amity's peacefulness, or Dauntless's courage? It doesn't help that the psychological test meant to help her decide her fate only reveals her to be more intrinsically conflicted and uncategorizable...and also more likely to end up dead if anyone finds out. As she moves forward, Beatrice's choices, and her secrets, will affect much more than just her own moral compass as the artificially rigid fabric of society is tested by the inevitable anomaly that is true human nature.

Divergent is a surprisingly satisfying teen dystopian novel. The characters are sympathetic, the action fast-paced, the world-building imaginative and well-defined, and the drama dark but not weighed down by excessive angst. It's everything I liked about Hunger Games before it became so soul-crushingly heavy. Granted, this one could go that direction, too, but I sense a little more hope and optimism here. Also, Beatrice--or Tris, as she comes to call herself--seems less likely to huddle in a closet, trying to hide from her own mind than HG's Katniss. My only complaint so far is that having a character named "Four" has caused me to have to go back and reread a good many lines in order to make that read as a proper noun and not just the first word of a sentence. :P

I would like the next book now, please. *sigh*