by Veronica Roth, 487 pagesIn 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*
I felt the same way about there being more hope and optimism in these. And it's killing me, too, that we've got to wait for the next book :(
ReplyDeleteYep- I'm ready for the next book too! I told my mom she had to read this book, and she called me yesterday to ask if there was going to be a sequel. When I told her it wasn't coming out until next year, she wasn't very happy! Although I have to say, this ending was much more satisfying than some of the cliffhangers currently out there in YA lit!
ReplyDeleteYeah, there's a lot of that now, especially with the current everything-must-be-a-series trend. Sometimes a good cliffhanger works, but too often they're just gimmicky manipulation and make me cranky. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that this one's more optimistic vibe carries over into the rest of the series...when we get to read it. *sigh* :)
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing to figure out in this book. The 'twists' are so laughable Roth might as well be giving the reader four squares and a circle and hope no one can tell the difference until the end. The romance is one more predictable than that of Twilight, and the writing strays from simple to repetitive.
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