Divergent

Divergent Book Cover Divergent
Divergent, Book 1
Veronica Roth
Juvenile Fiction
Katherine Tegen Books
2012-02-28
576

Paperback features over fifty pages of bonus materials, including a sneak peek of Insurgent, an author Q&A, a discussion guide, a Divergent playlist, faction manifestos, and more! In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her. Veronica Roth is the New York Times bestselling author of Divergent, the first in a trilogy of dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

 

Review:

I want to put this out there right from the start:  I have an extremely intense love/hate relationship with this book.  It’s like some form of reader sadomasochism, a punishment that just serves to make me want more.

The plot has more holes than swiss cheese, the sentence structure is written as if meant for a four-year-old, and don’t even get me started on the faction system.  Actually, let me take that back.  I want to get started on the faction system.  It makes absolutely no sense.  Why would someone completely think one way and not even vaguely have a characteristic of the others?  I can see the idea of balance, but this is the most far-fetched division system I have ever read in a dystopian novel, and I have read a lot of them.  I feel like I need to eat some Amity bread to accept this.

And yet, against all reason, I do.  I love this story.  The completely cookie-cutter misunderstood bad boy meets the secret bad-ass girl disguised as a shrinking violet makes my heart go all aflutter.  I think the idea of rolling off of moving trains sounds like fun.  I made my poor wife read it.  We have already pre-ordered the steelbook blu-ray of the movie, which is worse than the actual book.  I even forgive the typos!

This, my friends, is the value of a good story.  If you have a good enough plot, people will forgive literally almost everything.  I’m not proud of my Divergent weakness, but there it is, for all of the world to see.

Content Warning:

Language, Violence,  Brief Sexual Situations

Comments are closed.