Books: Divergent

Divergent 

by 

Veronica Roth

This story takes place in a post-apocalyptic future in the city of Chicago. Survivors in the city have been divided into 5 factions based on their predispositions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Dauntless, for the brave; and Erudite, for the Intelligent. Each year, all sixteen-year-olds take an aptitude test that will tell them for which faction they are best suited. After receiving the results of their test, they must decide whether to remain with their family or transfer to a new faction.

The novel follows the main protagonist, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior, during her induction into a new faction. Born into an Abnegation family, she doesn't feel like she belongs, because she doesn't see herself as naturally selfless like her brother, Caleb. Beatrice's aptitude test also supports this inconclusively showing she has an equal aptitude for three factions: Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. These results make her a "Divergent" and the tester warns her to never share this information with anyone for fear of her life. On her way home from the aptitude test, she worries about risking her normal lifestyle and failing to be initiated into one of the factions, and considers staying in Abnegation to satisfy her parents and maintain her lifestyle.

On Choosing Day, Beatrice decides to leave Abnegation and join Dauntless, while her brother Caleb chooses Erudite. She leaves to join her new faction and begin her initiation into the group. Beatrice renames herself Tris when she reaches the Dauntless compound and becomes good friends with some other transfer initiates Christina, Al, and Will. Another transfer initiate, Peter and his friends try to antagonize her during their initiation. Their Dauntless initiation instructor, Four explains that they must pass an initiation process before they are accepted as full-fledged Dauntless members. They must rank in the top ten at the end of initiation, or else they will be dismissed and become factionless.

What I think:

I have given this novel 4 stars out of 5 on Goodreads. The Dystopian novels are a bit fun to read - because what would be better than a Utopian novel, well, a Dystopian novel. I made a promise I would write a review here and this is what I have after reading the novel for the first time. It was very predictable from beginning to end. Of course, the main protagonist falls in love with the older boy, the teacher. Four. He comes over as extremely sexy and who is to blame with all the fan art and the upcoming movie coming out.

What I did not like:

The fact that it was too predictable. In my personal opinion - the novel could have handled things better. 

Four was too much - The other guy (the leader whose name I'd forgotten while writing this and am too lazy to google -) is to mean. The novel is very much black and white while the message in it is to teach people to be gray. Be Divergent. I just wish the novel was more Divergent.

I also read the second and third installment in this series and seen the movies. After what I know now is that the first novel in the Divergent series is by far the best and the only one worth the 4 stars.