Review: Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Published by Katherine Tegan Books

Genre: YA

$17.99 (US Hardback)

487 pages

What it's about:

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.

My thoughts:
When I saw that every person in the blogging world get all excited about this book, I decided to go check out what all the fuss was about. I completely understand now.

In Beatrice's world, your personality either is mostly based on honesty, bravery, intelligence, selflessness, or wanting peace. Beatrice grew up with the selfless. While I understand Beatrice's character and I liked her, I never fully connected to her. It's kind of the same way I feel about Katniss. I like her and root for her, but I will never fully understand her. She was always surprising me, always going beyond what I would expect someone to do. All the characters surprised me. I loved them all in very different ways. Roth does a great job of getting the reader to have a love/hate relationship with the world she has created and for the people in it. I really felt the connection and friendship between the people competing against each other and I felt and understood the anger, danger, and the need to be best. I just couldn't believe the characters had to do what they were put through. Holy crap!

That being said, I'm not saying much more in fear of giving away spoilers. I know it's annoying how everyone now compares dystopian books to Hunger Games, but I honestly felt like they were similar. If you like one, most likely you will like the other. I can not wait till the Veronica Roth signing next month and for the second book in this series to be released, whenever that will be. I have now added a new favorite author to my list.

My rating: 10/10
This is a book that I'm going to be pushing my family and friends into reading.