Book Review: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: Divergent #1
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Pages: 496
Read it in: 3 days

The Hook: "One choice decides your friends. One choice defines your beliefs. One choice determines your loyalties-- forever. One choice can transform you."

Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, 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 to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating 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 a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

LC's Take: 

Whoa. OK, please just give me a minute to let my pulse slow and fully recover from the pure awesomeness of this freaking AMAZING book. **Let's out long sigh** Alright, I'm good.

Divergent was one of the most intensely mesmerizing books I've read in a long time-- from page 1 through to the last page 487, I was completely sucked in. Like, I'm talking edge of my seat, nose buried, devouring the pages, could not put down. This book absolutely blew me away.

What really got me into Divergent is that it is one of those extremely intelligent books that is not only a great story in itself; it also poses fundamental questions about humanity and what it is that makes people who they are. OK, I know that totally just sounded like the beginning of a book report, but let me explain. What Veronica Roth does in this book is pretty much break down the most basic of human values and then asks the question: can we humans function or even survive on one alone? Is it even possible for one person to make the choice of what is their most beloved and sacred value, and then live according to that one value for the rest of their life, letting it completely define who they are and how they live? OMG, my brain is throbbing right now. Intense? Oh yeah, this book is way intense.

Alright, so after that tangent, let me focus a little more on the literary merit of this book. Here is what I loved:

• Even if you don't give a crap about metaphysical questions, this was still a kick-ass story. Every chapter ends on the perfect cliff-hanger so that you will quite literally have to un-glue your eyes from the pages. The action is non-stop and the plot will have your heart racing. 
• Can I say just how much I love the internal character struggles? Beatrice-- or "Tris" as she goes by-- is such an amazingly multidimensional character. She is fiercely strong but still vulnerable, which is such a great combination. The book is told from her perspective, meaning that you completely get into her head and experience what she's going through. You know her thoughts and understand her emotions as she faces transformation into a "Dauntless" faction member. I was able to become totally consumed by this book as I followed Tris through her choices and her struggles with her own identity, and I empathized with her internal conflicts. 
• Tris isn't the only great character-- I totally fell in love with Four, Tris' love interest, because he wasn't the typical guy character, and their relationship isn't the same old cheesy romance that you see in other books. Peter is the sadistic bully who you love to hate because he's just completely evil. And all of the other supporting characters show how Tris can't survive on her own, no matter how "brave" or "dauntless" she becomes.

If you want a book with lifelike characters, thought-provoking questions, incredible writing and an action-packed story line that'll have your adrenaline pumping, this is the book for you! I really encourage you to go get Divergent and start reading it ASAP-- I guarantee you won't be able to put it down.

LC's Rating:

An amazingly intelligent and intense action-packed adventure that will draw you in from page one and not let you go until the very end. Read this book: it was brilliant!