Divergent by Veronica Roth

BOOK: Divergent                   

AUTHOR: Veronica Roth

SERIES: Divergent #1

PUBLISHER: Katherine Tegen Books

PAGES: 487 (Hardcover

        SYNOPSIS

This book deserves more than 5 stars, in fact, it deserved infinity to the power of pi stars, that’s how awesome it is. Writing a review for it is hard, because so many people have read it and written amazing reviews, so bear with me.

In the beginning  of Divergent, Beatrice was so shy and timid, her life ruled by the notions of her faction, Abnegation (selflessness). But her growth of the course of the novel was amazing to see and very well written, the credit of course all goes to Ms. Roth for that one. Where most dystopians can fail is the whole world building concept, but the author kept the setting in a city many know and love and didn’t over complicate things, meaning that it was easy to sink into the world she created.

In this new world, at the age of sixteen every child has to choose a faction, either Amity – peace, Dauntless – bravery, Abnegation – selflessness, Erudite – knowledge, or Candor – honesty. These five factions have managed to live in peace, creating a place where they can all exist in harmony. However, disloyalties have been building between two of the factions, and whilst it may just seem an annoying factor, this really is an important thing to remember whilst reading the book. It is easy to love Tris, I already do, and Roth enhances these feelings by giving you a set of villains worthy of every single tendril of hate you feel for them. It is nice for once to actually be allowed to hate someone, instead of the protagonist then revealing that they’re secretly troubled and need sympathy and care *le sigh*.

The romance in Divergent is one of the dang cutest and heart melting things I have ever read! At first, I was like, ‘oh come on, he’s your teacher!’ but then I realised he was only two years older than her and actually had a much sweeter and gallant side that I wish he didn’t hide. Four is an interesting character, and his identity was a definite shock, did NOT see that one coming…

What happened to him previously had made him create a shell against the world that most couldn’t see through, his determination to never feel weak again making him one of the strongest members of his faction and his rivalry with Eric even more powerful. His relationships with people were one sided, there seemed to be no real substance until he met Tris, and we began to see chinks in his armour. The breaking down of Four from a cold, talented young man into the heroic, more human version was a great process to witness and allowed me to feel more and connect with him as a character, so he wasn’t just cardboard, shape but no substance.

I will say this again, I LOVED Divergent the underlying plot is a fantastic twist and the characters are real, evoking emotions for and against them. The action is just enough to keep adrenaline junkies on the edge of their seat, and Tris’s journey was fulfilling to read about. So many people have raved about this novel, and I am now contentedly one of them. The themes showed are strong, and Ms. Roth has provided the perfect set up for the rest of the trilogy, which I am now desperately eager to read.

If you’re umming and ahhing  about reading Divergent, don’t be. This book is worth every single minute and dollar spent on it, and if you read only one book this year, make sure this is it.