Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Release Date: May 3rd, 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 487
My rating: 5/5 stars
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One choice. One choice decides your friends. One choice defines your beliefs. One choice determines your loyalties-forever. One choice can transform you. In this futuristic city order is everywhere. Five factions have divided people based on what people have blamed for the cause of previous wars. Those who blamed aggression formed Amity. Those who blamed ignorance formed Erudite. Those who blamed duplicity created Candor. Those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation. And those who blamed cowardice were the Dauntless. Now Beatrice Prior must choose to either leave the selfless life in Abnegation and her family, or choose to continue the impossible life as a true Abnegation along side her parents. She would never choose Erudite, with all of those false articles being published for the world to see? Forget it. Never Candor, she isn't that desperate. Amity? Is she happy enough? Dauntless. Her parents would hate her for eternity and they would most likely beat her to a pulp on the first day. Abnegation? Home? For how much longer? Her parents would love for her to choose a selfless life, but is she selfless enough? It only takes one choice to change the course of your life. One choice to transform you-forever.
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Divergent has definitely made my top five list for favorite books. The twisting plot and mystery will absolutely keep you reading. My favorite part of this whole book was the mystery intertwined with the deep hidden love.


The personalities of the characters really pulled together the whole book. With Beatrice's rebellious attitude contrasting with her "Stiff" (Abnegation) attitude, it keeps everybody in the book so interested in this strange girl who seems to be part of every faction.

I loved this book and highly recommend it for all people because I believe you can find a little bit of yourself in Beatrice/ Tris.

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.

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

Release Date: May 3rd, 2011
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 487
Buy This Book: Amazon
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Set in a dystopian Chicago, Beatrice acts and talks like an Abnegation, one of the five factions that split up the one glorious city. Each faction represents one value that that faction admires and honors. Abnegation is for selflessness, Dauntless for bravery, Erudite for smartness, Candor for honesty, and Amity for peacefulness. But Beatrice isn't satisfied with staying an Abnegation forever. Selflessness comes with its own price-plain food, gray clothes, and the inability to express oneself are some of the things Abnegation requires for their members so that they never think of themselves, but of others. But a chance does come for Beatrice on her sixteenth birthday, when all sixteen year olds gather together to choose their new factions, either to stay in their old faction or go on, and pass initiation to become a part of that new faction. But what Beatrice is about to learn is that each choice has crucial consequences-and this one choice might be the most important of all in this seemingly perfect society that might not be what they all think it is. 
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First of all, I loved the world of Divergent. Though the premise seems similar to other dystopian novels, like Matched or Delirium, or even the older novel of The Giver, the people in this world don't walk around like their zombies, being controlled by other people telling them what to say and do. In fact, every faction is fleshed out, the characters and culture fresh and original. I also very much enjoyed the voice of Beatrice, later renamed Tris, who comes with her own spunk and isn't monotonous like some futuristic heroines. She is also indeed a very realistic character, and though most of the time she is a very normal teenager, some situations allow her to conform into a different person, which adds even more texture to her personality. 

The romance was fun as well, though the similar set-up compared to many other novels I've read was bearable but equally frustrating at points.

The thing that really set this book apart for me was the balanced action scenes; they not only gave me space to think but they weren't all just kicking and fighting, as Tris seems to develop a lot of her character during these sequences. Though this might sound tranquil, it was also very violent; if you fans of the Hunger Games thought that that book was brutal, be prepared for Divergent, because Veronica Roth is not afraid to describe blood and guts here. 

Overall, I would suggest you buckle in your seatbelts for Divergent, because you will be forced to jump down not a couple of high buildings. Roth's storytelling is definitely a recent winner of young adult crowds, and the amazing debut author should be ready for an onslaught of fans (me!) when the next installment of the Divergent trilogy is released.