Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

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:
Photobucket

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!

12 comments:

  1. I loved this also! Great review :)

    Happy reading,
    Cory @ Anti-Drug Reads

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great review! I can't wait to read this one!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved Divergent too! One of my favourite things about the book was the romance haha-not too cheesy, very believable and natural (: Tris was struggling with her own problems but she never played damsel in distress, which was great.

    Loved your detailed and spot-on review :D

    Felicia @ A Novel Paradise

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love this review. This is one of my top books so far this year so I am glad you loved it. I have a major book crush on Four. I really liked the not typical romance between Tris and him.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This was one of those books that was so good that I really didn't know what to say about it to do it justice-- I have heard other reviewers say pretty much the same things about it, it was just such a fantastic and addicting read!! And I hear it is going to be made into a MOVIE in the future?! **eeek!** So excited :D

    ~Lea

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great review! To reiterate what everyone's been saying, it really was a truly amazing book. And I totally agree with Kathy - I loved Four! I can't wait for the sequel to this.

    T.C.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really need to read this book. Looks amazing.

    Amy@adumbrations

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree with everything you said there...this was one of my favorite reads of 2011 EVER! I seriously cannot wait for Insurgent

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree, Divergent is an amazing book, and I absolutely can't wait till Insurgent comes out so I can see what happens to Beatrice/Tris and her relationship with Four.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This book is absolutely amazing! I read it last month and I still think about it every day! This book was my very first dystopian book, and I fell in love with the genre. Iloved the caracters and the storyline, this book cept me up at night!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I too loved this book. I also really enjoyed how the author twisted everything together. I wanted to keep reading even when the book was over! Thanks for the great review
    Georgia @ hookedonbooksreview

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love the point you made about the internal character struggle. This book was beautifully written. Love your review!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments make me happy :)

Creative Commons License