Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You forget so much through the course of the year, but when Insurgent came out, my sleeper Divergent alter ego kicked in and it was three, four, five mind-blowing hours from there on.

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.-GoodReads

The GoodReads synopsis pretty much sums it up; not only was it much-anticipated, but it was also intoxicating, rich, twisty, heartbreak-y, romance-y, and had powerful insights about human nature. I read through it so fast that I'm pretty sure that I'll have to reread it sometime in the future to fully understand such a compelling novel. All my favorite characters were back again in full combat mode, and *SPOILER* Veronica Roth was not afraid to slaughter half of them off. *END OF SPOILER*The end was a definite cliff-hanger (you know when you're watching something 3-D, and you forget that it's fake so you actually look around things to see what's behind them?) That's basically how it was with Insurgent's ending, and I was disappointed to find out that the only thing after the last sentence was the Author's Acknowledgement Thing-y, which I then actually found quite entertaining.

Veering back on topic, I think the only thing I had trouble grappling with was the pace. It went so fast, I was afraid I had missed something, but nope, Tris had somehow escaped from Amity and into Candor in like, 10 pages or something (but it didn't feel that way.) Some places, the dialogue was stiff, Tris' decisions made me cringe, and Tobias wasn't romantic enough. But that's okay. Veronica Roth's beautiful writing makes up for it in the nuances that makes you feel like you can be brave enough, smart enough, honest enough, selfless enough, peaceful enough, for the world.