Blogmas Day 2: Divergent Book Review

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: YA/Dystopian
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: April 25th, 2011
Sources: Easons  Amazon

In sixteen-year old Beatrice Prior's world, society is divided into five factions - Abnegation (the selfless), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful) and Erudite (the intelligent) - each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue, in the attempt to form a "perfect society". At the age of sixteen, teens must choose the faction to which they will devote their lives.

On her Choosing Day, Beatrice renames herself Tris, rejects her family's group, and chooses another faction. After surviving a brutal initiation, Tris finds romance with a super-hot boy, but also discovers unrest and growing conflict in their seemingly "perfect society". To survive and save those they love, they must use their strengths to uncover the truths about their identities, their families, and the order of their society itself.

Think back to when you were a child, a hyperactive child, and you had just spotted something you love, in a huge toy store and you're told that you're allowed to get that special something. Remember the excitement that rushed through you, and how over the moon you were? Yeah that was me. In all my young adult glory, when I read the blurb of Divergent, reviews, the lot, and I finally found it in my local bookstore, I was the hyperactive child.

We start off on the day of the aptitude test. Engaging already. The concept is what draws readers in first of all. Well that, and the interesting writing style, almost like Tris' literal stream of consciousness. Once you begin reading, your eyes eagerly absorbing all the wonderful descriptions of how houses in the Abnegation sector, are set up, what it's like living and schooling there, and the details of the aptitude test. Yes, the aptitude test was where I knew I'd get hooked on the book.

Then came the Choosing Ceremony, and by this point we know enough about our protagonist, to sympathise with her when she chooses to transfer to Dauntless. Tris' character is so well fleshed out early in the novel that every decision she makes, every happening she experiences, every obstacle she encounters, it almost feels like the readers are there with her, by her side. I can't stress how important that is in a book, good characterisation that is. We readers have to actually care about the characters!

The Dauntless initiation events were probably my favourite part of the book! I being a stereotypical boy, just loved any little bit of action I could get and Dauntless.. well being Dauntless, provided enough of that for me! I absolutely fell for the one on one fights, and the combination of my love for the action and sympathy for Tris when she was getting her ass kicked, made it very difficult for me to stop reading, even at two in the morning! The chapters were so riveting and chalk-full of events, that you just couldn't help but read on. It'd have been a crime to do such a thing! Though the pace of the story was slow in parts, it wasn't slow enough to give you a reason to get bored. Also vice-versa, it was fast enough that you were kept thoroughly entertained throughout the novel, but wasn't too fast that readers were easily lost either!

I'm always in the mood for a good mushy romance, once it doesn't dominate the plot, so I was all for Fourtris! I love that both characters respected each other, and themselves, enough to control themselves and not get too carried away all the time.

Towards the ending, things definitely got very exciting, and I had to read the last few chapter over and over to actually comprehend what had happened! Haha. Once again, we admire Tris' steely determination and rational mind when she realises that her fellow initiates are under the control of the serum, when she's separated from Four and when she finds her Dad and the other stiffs. Loss after loss, Tris keeps herself together and she manages to save not only herself from Four, and Four from the serum, but also all the other initiates too! Well done Tris!

Anyway the ending was fantastic, leaving just enough covered to leave readers itching for more! The characterisation and writing styles were probably the strongest features, and I will say I was hoping to read a little bit on how their society became the society they know it to be, but I understand not everything can be given away in the one book! I'm more than happy to award it 4.5/5!