Author – Veronica Roth
Publisher – Katherine Teggen Books, re-published by HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks
Release Date – 25th April 2011, re-released 11th February 2014
Divergent
Set in a futuristic city, once Chicago, the population has been segregated into factions so that the residents may live in harmony and all contribute to society using their best attributes.
The children of the city live in their parents’ chosen faction until they turn sixteen, then they have to choose their own. They must undergo numerous tests to help them decide which faction they fit in to. The factions are:
- Erudite – Clever
- Candor – Honest
- Dauntless – Brave
- Abnegation – Selfless
- Amity – Peaceful
During her testing, the protagonist Beatrice, who has been brought up in Abnegation, finds out some worrying information. She is something called Divergent, meaning that she doesn’t fit in just one faction, however this information will most certainly get her killed if it is ever discovered.
She is advised by the assessor never to tell another soul. She has a tough decision to make – which Faction is best for her and hide the fact that she is ‘Divergent’.
Beatrice chooses Dauntless and now has to pass Dauntless’s physical and psychological initiation tests. Fail and she will be cast out to become Faction-less, a society that lives in squalor.
During her first trial, Beatrice now known as Tris, is introduced to one of the instructors, Four. Over the course of the next few weeks a chemistry builds between them which is not accepted in Dauntless. Tris then discovers a secret that puts her old faction in danger of being wiped out and her current faction are set to take the blame. Can she help keep her old faction safe and her new one from being blamed, without people finding out what she truly is?
ReviewDivergent is the first in a trilogy of dystopian YA novels by Veronica Roth. The book is written from Beatrice Prior’s, (Tris), point of view and is wrote in short chapters, which make it easy to read.
The story is fast paced and full of action throughout. It contains elements of humour and a forbidden romance, alongside some real brutal scenes, especially during Tris’s initiation into Dauntless and though provoking moments as well.
This wasn’t my normal choice of reading material but I took a gamble and chose a genre I hadn’t read before. I found myself hooked from the first page right through to the very last word.
The way Veronica clearly describes every scene helps you to keep a clear picture of what is happening throughout the book.
The vocabulary and interactions between the main two characters, Tris and Four, Creates an insight in to their lives, as individuals and as a couple, who are clearly in love from the first moment they see each other.
Tris can be a little moody at times and doubts herself too much, but this only adds to her good natured, fun, determined and strong personality which we see blossom the further you read in to the book.
Four is portrayed as this tough, serious young man, but underneath his exterior there is a man with a good heart. He is carrying secrets about himself and his past around with him everyday which he has to keep well hidden from his Dauntless comrades, proving that not everyone is who they seem on the surface.
The ending wasn’t what I expected, thus my need to get the second book, "Insurgent", straight away. I Needed to know what happened next.
I surprisingly found myself enjoying Divergent much more than I first thought I would and thus my love of YA novels began. I have since read the other two books in the trilogy and I am glad that I took a risk with this genre.
Divergent has was made into a movie back in 2014. If you have seen the film but not read the book then you are missing out on vital aspects of the plot, and characters, that didn’t appear in the film. I enjoyed the film, just not as much as the book.
This book is listed in my Top Ten Books.
My rating:
Five Stars
Buy Divergent from Amazon, Here.
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