Synopsis : In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.
When I first got back into reading YA, Divergent was everywhere. When I grabbed it for 6.00 at the used book store, it just sort of sat on my shelf. However, after Divergent won Favorite Book of 2011 at Goodreads and Story Siren’s Best of 2011 DebutI knew I had to check it out.
Divergent has a unique concept. Tris and her family live in a peaceful Utopia where society is dived into factions which represent individual ideals Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peace), Abegnation (selflessness ) and Erudite (intelligence).
Every child is raised in their own faction , but when they turn sixteen they are tested to determine the best faction for them. They can either choose to stay with their faction or leave it all behind to join another faction, never to see their families again.
Faction before family.
Tris soon finds herself on the other side of her quiet faction and in an adrenaline-filled, high altitude, high-risk world where she is forced to push beyond her limitations and finds the fearlessness within her. Through it all Tris also has a secret she has to guard with her life, or it could get her killed.
This story is a lot like a rigorous gym class, Tris and her compatriots go through the wringer of death-defying activities lead by their fearless leader and coach Four. While reading I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.
I found Four to be an excellent YA male protagonist. We get a sense of who he was before and after meeting Tris and he isn’t out to prove anything and he also isn’t perfect. As the novel progressed I could see why a relationship would form between Four and Tris
There are a lot of characters in this story. I sometimes had a hard time keeping up with who all the male characters were, well except for Four because his name is Four. I also felt like the ending was very rushed, it was all a lot to grasp in the last few chapters.
This book had a slight twist or plot reveal that I thought was nicely placed. This novel doesn’t start off as dark as the Hunger Games but it does get progressively darker, which in retrospect I didn’t really see coming. The ending felt a little rushed but it’s a great journey with a lot of surprises along.
Divergent is a great novel for Hunger Games fans, I can’t wait to see how Insurgent delves further into the story and the world of Tris and Four.
1/2 of the blogging duo at Books and Sensibility, I have been blogging about and reviewing books since 2011. I read any and every genre, here on the blog I mostly review Fantasy, Adult Fiction, and Young Adult with a focus on audiobooks.