Thursday, September 8, 2011

Review:Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

Veronica Roth has created an interesting world in Divergent where everyone is divided into five distinct factions based on five personality traits (brave, selfless, intelligent, honest and peaceful). When Beatrice is put through the standard test to identify which faction she must "choose", she discovers that she's a Divergent. She is one person that has the ability to choose from a number of factions, she also is told that if anyone were to learn her life could be in danger. When it comes time to choose her faction, she has to decide between her Abnegation family (selfless) and that of Dauntless (brave). What she chooses suprises everyone. She chooses Dauntless.

As the initiation starts, Beatrice (who decides to change her name to Tris) has to prove that she is as brave and strong as the others who only sees her as a Abnegation stiff. She soon learns that being a Divergent helps her succeed in the trials, but she has to learn why being a Divergent is so dangerous and who, if they found out what she was, will stop at nothing to kill her.

Divergent is a compelling debut that shows a structured dystopian world and the power struggle that could play out if one group would be given all the power. Tris and all the other characters all come alive. Just like the different factions, she is strong, brave and selfless (even though she doesn't think she is). Four is also a strong character who, even though he does things to pick on and make Tris stand out, really cares for her, and their rollercoaster relationship is  compelling.

The faction of Dauntless, there's no other word but, wow... the scenery Roth has painted inside the mountain and the actions, mostly which include jumping on and off speeding trains and jumping off cliffsides, really provided a thrilling read. Put that with the dangerous mystery of what Divergent really means, and why those who have been named it often are found dead, makes Veronica Roth's Divergent a page turning thriller. Anyone who loves Dystopian novels will definately love the atmosphere that Roth creates. I look forward to the next in this new trillogy.

Source: Audible
2011 YA Reading Challenge: #26 of 50
2011 Debut Author Challenge: #12 of 20

9 comments:

Jenn said...

Yay, I'm glad you liked this book too. I loved it and can't wait for the sequel! Thanks for posting your review. :)

Unknown said...

I have heard such good things about this book (including from my husband!) I can't wait to read it. Thanks for the review!

Sash and Em said...

We LOVED this one! :)

Em is TOTALLY Dauntless and Sash is Amity all the way!

Sash and Em

Unknown said...

Loved this book! Just recently reviewed it here post.

Enjoyed your review and I too am looking forward to Insurgent :D

Anonymous said...

Hi Cheree,

Super sorry, but you appear to be someone i missed on my initial round of the Write Campaign. (So sorry)
I left the Aussie writers till last as i knew most of them from last time.

I can't wait to read divergent. It is on the 'hit list' i really can't wait.

anyway you have a fab time with the campaign and good luck with the writing, am i right in thinking you are querying a book? (Just seen your side bar with Shadow Embraced.)

Good luck and happy writing

Sarah (Brisbane)
http://www.sarahketleyauthor.com/

Charmaine Clancy said...

I really loved a lot of this book, there were a couple of things that didn't quite gel with me though (like the pointlessness of jumping on and off trains and what they were all guarding the city from in the first place).

There were a lot of fun Facebook quizzes going around with this novel.

Wagging Tales - Blog for Writers

Anonymous said...

I loved Divergent but wasn't that satisfied with the ending.

Kerri Cuev said...

This has been on my to read list!
I'm leaving an award for you at my blog :)

Anonymous said...

I'm interested now. Nice post! Following!

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