Divergent (Divergent #1)

I'm still shocked that I actually really enjoyed this book. This book is one of those book that makes me never want to underestimate a book again.

I finally see what all the hype for this book is about! I feel like everybody has already read this but me, and I don't know why I waited so long. Divergent was an amazing novel.

It was so easy to get caught up in Tris's world. The author developed this society perfectly. Yes, it is a Dystopian book and we've seen a lot of those lately, but this city (give it up for Chicago!) is very unique from others. Veronica Roth has clearly set her books apart from any other YA books. But while being different, it also had everything a great novel should: kick-A good guys, conniving bad guys, and conspiracies galore!

I loved both Tris and Four/Tobias (I'm not sure what to call him)! Apart from having a great world and captivating story, it also had great characters. Tris was smart and tough, sometimes to a fault. But I much prefer my MC too tough than wimpy. Four was unlike any other main male character I've ever read about; he's in a whole other category of his own, which is a great thing. The character interactions and complexity of human behavior in this book are almost like those of a contemporary novel, in how in-depth they were. So, yeah, really enjoyed the characters.

The ending was so fast-paced and action-packed, it didn't give me any time to think! I had to just calm down and contemplate what I just read after finishing this. I can't wait to see where the other books take the story!

Overall: An amazing work of fiction! You will not regret diving into this story.

Throughout the book I was uncertain what to think, the kind of dystopia it was confused me greatly for most of the story. Was it the kind that I found in Matched or Giver, where everything was so controlled and any kind of imperfection was either eradicated or unknown by the general populace. Or was it that kind found in 1984 where the government purposefully made an underdog group to keep those who were in the upper groups in line. Eventually I figured it was actually neither, in fact the resemblance was more closely tied to our own world than that of most dystopian's I have read. However, this close resemblance is not a chilling cry to change our ways as 1984. Instead it seemed more like it was grabbed from our time and changed around a bit and plopped into the story to create the political intrigue and corruption in government of today, with a slightly dystopian twist.

If any of that made sense to anyone, I congratulate you. I barely made sense to me and I am still slightly confused as to what I think about it. I think it worked, I enjoyed the book a lot, but it confused me a lot too. As is evident. I guess in the end I just stopped trying to understand the world and just enjoyed the story.

Despite my confusion, I did really enjoy this book a lot. The only thing that kept it from getting a five star was my confusion, and a few other minor things.

Tris was an excellent protagonist; she was flawed and imperfect and every action she took made sense in relation to her character. The author didn't just change the character to fit what she, or the readers might have wanted. I know there were quite a few times that I got really annoyed and mad at Tris, but I loved every minute of it because really, is there anyone you know who you spend a lot of time with that doesn't annoy you at least a little bit from time to time? In that way Tris reminded me of Katniss, which is perhaps why so many who liked Hunger Games liked Divergent, because despite the huge enormous differences between Katniss and Tris they are in a roundabout way written the same.

As for Four(haha for four!) at first I had some trouble getting over the fact that he was her instructor, that seemed kind of underhanded and gross. Also I couldn't get over how mean he was to her, it seemed unlikely that anything would happen. But then I remembered he was not too much older than her, and that he would only instruct her for a couple weeks and then they would be members together. And when he started being sweet to her and going out of his way to explain things to her I began to see that their romance could work and be really sweet and adorable. Which is basically what happens and I adore it! Four....errr Tobias, is awesome. Just so everyone knows. :)

About halfway through the book I stopped liking/caring about Christina, Will, and Al. I found them annoying and not real friends, it was totally realistic and I'm sure that was the author's intention, but I stopped liking them. I loved Uriah and co. the whole way through however, they were epically awesome!

As for Peter and his friends, throughout most of the book I kept thinking how unlikely it was that someone could be so consistently mean with no redeeming qualities. Then I remembered a girl in my sister's class throughout most of her school years. In all the time I knew her she was that consistently mean, and as far as I know she has no qualities that I would consider good. In fact, she reminded me a lot of Peter in how she treated my sister, once I remembered her, I realized that Peter wasn't that far-fetched of a character. Still I think it would have been intriguing to see if he does change his ways or have some good qualities hidden deep inside of him, perhaps that will be explored in the next book?

Plot talk. Despite all the action and awesomeness, it was slow. How does that work?!?!?!? Well, the actual over-arcing plot doesn't get started until the last 100 or so pages. There are hints given throughout the book and slight advancements but overall it happens in the last portion of the book. Did I mind? Not that much, the rest of the book was compelling and interesting and important, but I was confused(again) about the plot. I had no clue what it was and I was almost done, I kept wondering if I was missing something important, or if the plot of the book was just her initiation into Dauntless. Eventually I realized that the plot was happening just in very tiny increments and was probably going to jumpstart after her initiation(hint: I was right). Like I said though, I didn't mind how the plot went, it just confused me. I don't like being confused. :P

I loved the idea behind the factions though! I thought it was incredibly unique and was really interesting to read and learn about. I found that at the end it would have been incredibly interesting to read about a bunch of different characters going through different initiations into the different factions. Except for maybe Abnegation, which sounds incredibly boring. But other than that it would be so interesting! It also made complete sense in the end that they would become corrupt, because obviously humans are flawed and can't maintain the perfect ideal of a character trait forever. I think the way things are going down is intriguing and I can't wait to see what happens in the coming books.

This book was so good! I couldn't put it down! If I went out to get something, I couldn't stop thinking about it the whole time, and as soon I got back, I would rush to it and pick it up like the book was going to keep going without me!

I finished the book only after one day, but then, a couple of days later, I decided that I had to read it again, certain that I had missed something the first time. Then I read it again. It was so amazing it never got boring, and I was amazed by everything as if I was reading it for the first time.

Beatrice Prior is a girl from Abnegation. There are four factions in the world that she lives in: Abnegation (who value un-selfishness), Candor (who value the truth), Amity (who value peace), Erudite (who value knowledge)and Dauntless (who value courage). But when it comes to the day of testing: the day when she will discover what faction she is best suited to when she is an adult, Beatrice discovers that she is different. She is Divergent, a person suited for more than one faction. And as the day of choosing comes, Beatrice decides to switch to Dauntless and to change her name to Tris.

But being Dauntless is harder than expected. If you are not strong enough, you are kicked out. And this isn't made any easier by the fact that something is happening. Tris wants to find out what it is, because she knows it is not a question of if it will happen, but when.

Divergent is an absolutely brilliant, heart-pounding novel that should not be missed! Everything about it will make the breath go out of you, make you want to scream and laugh at the same time. It will make you question about what might happen in the future.

I'M WARNING YOU, THIS BOOK IS NOT TO BE MISSED!

Honestly, this book was a thrill ride! I couldn't put it down without thinking "oh, man. I'm missing something!" and then picking it back up and, five pages later, staring at it with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. It's not the normal love theme,either, where the guy swears to protect her and goes on and on about how he loves her... No. Tobias/Four is fully aware of the strength that Tris possesses and he respects her. As for Tris... Her personal story is amazing. The sense of belonging that she found as soon as she joined Dauntless and the journey from sweetheart to baddie is just so cool. I can definitely say that if this trilogy ends well then it will be on my All-Time Favorites list!!!

This book had very good action, and I liked how the prose was effective without drawing too much attention to itself.

With that said, I never felt like I was fully invested in the book. I read the first 100 pages online, and only decided to read the rest because I was somewhat curious to see what would happen.

This book required too much suspension of disbelief. The very idea of "factions" is more of a crazy "what if?" than a critique of society as it really exists. Some people claim that this book criticizes society's obsession with labels and categorizing people. In my experience, however, society DOESN'T have an obsession with labels. On the contrary, it's fiction writers who have a tendency to put people into boxes. Take high school cliques: In fiction, you have your jocks, snobby cheerleaders, nerds, goths, burnouts, etc. These easily defined cliques do not actually exist in the real world.


***spoilers below***

A lot of the events of the book felt contrived. For example, I didn't buy Al's sudden transformation. Out of all of the Dauntless initiates, I found him to be the bravest. Take the part where he was cheering on Christina, or the times when he'd purposefully lose a fight so as not to hurt anyone else--he stood by his principles, even though he knew he would risk becoming factionless. I found it impossible to believe that he would team up with Peter and risk hurting Tris just because of a few nightmares.

I also thought that the use of technology destroyed any potential this book could have had. Being able to overcome your fears in what you know is a virtual reality simulation is NOT character development. Nor does it draw the reader in, because we know it's not real. Aside from that, I felt that Beatrice's "divergence" was nothing more than a handy gimmick given to her and a select few other characters. (Yes, I know it's supposed to be because "Abnegation are strong-willed," but honestly, Beatrice's ability to beat simulations and avoid mind control just felt like a cheap trick.)

And seriously, how does having a flexible personality relate to having stronger willpower? That just doesn't make sense.

Also, the villains felt far too one-dimensional. Most of them are either power-hungry maniacs or complete sociopaths.

Absolutely love Four and Tris!

Divergent, though at times a heart-pounding, adrenaline pumping thrill ride, was slightly overwhelmed by poor world-building, lacklustre characters and the inability to persuade me that this future was possible.

Imagine a world where society is divided into five factions, each which represents a particular virtue - Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), Erudite (the intelligent) and Abnegation (the selfless). A little simplistic, but with a slight suspension of disbelief, still plausible. Tris originates from Abnegation, a faction she never truly felt connected to. Having reached the wise age of sixteen (please note the sarcasm), Tris must now decide which faction she would like to commit the rest of her life to. This was the first issue I had with Divergent. How can a sixteen-year-old be expected to understand the implications of a life-changing decision? I still struggle with the question of what I want to be when I grow up, and I know had I been forced to choose at sixteen, I would be regretting that decision now. I did admire that Tris was brave enough to follow her heart and choose Dauntless - knowing that she would be removed from both her parents and the home that she grew up in - but the fact that she deviated from the expected path after watching her brother do the same made her bold statement seem less courageous.

Having now pledged her allegiance to Dauntless, Tris quickly learns that the Dauntless have earned their reputation of thrill-seekers - her first task, after jumping on to a moving train, is to jump off of that train on to the roof of a building. Throughout the book we watch Tris perform these "brave" feats, but the more I watched her hurl herself off of something moving or participate in a fight with another Dauntless initiate, the more I felt like the actions of the Dauntless weren't done out of bravery, but out of stupidity. And Tris (along with the majority of the other initiates) just accepted that by performing these stupid acts, she would become brave and thus gain acceptance. This was my second problem with Divergent - the holes in the world building. I just can't fathom a world where this would be seen as a plausible solution to whatever issue we got ourselves in to. How does risking your life in order to be transported from one location to another accomplish anything? (Although I must admit, it would look pretty cool to watch on the big screen!) Maybe if there had been any explanation as to how the world had reached this point, I could have understood the reason behind all of the theatrics. There was also never any explanation as to what existed outside of the walls of Tris' society - had the rest of the world also divided itself into factions? And what was the point in having the factionless? If someone wasn't fit to be a part of any faction, why were resources wasted on their survival - why weren't they outcast into the world beyond? It just didn't make sense to me to label these people as outcast, and then worry about their well-being.

The characters, though enjoyable, also fell a little flat for me. I enjoyed watching Tris progress through the various Dauntless initiations, but I never truly connected with her. Her success seemed to mostly come from her divergence, which limited how much courage I could attribute to her actions. Was she persevering because she was truly brave, or because her divergence made everything easier for her? Her actions throughout the book became more and more self-centred, which I'm attributing to her acceptance of her Dauntless nature and the release of her old Abnegation habits, but it still surprised me. I did enjoy the development of her relationship with Four, as it progressed slowly and didn't feel forced, but because I didn't connect with Tris, I didn't feel the deep connection she told me she shared with him. I loved Four and watching him work at overcoming his fears, which was one of the only moments of true bravery that I saw in Divergent. The other characters were all necessary to move the plot forward, but not particularly memorable.

I do wish the fear behind divergence had been explored more, since the concept being underdeveloped had me wondering what all the fuss was about, and there were times when I felt the level of violence was unnecessary - again, many Dauntless acts seemed more like stupidity then bravery. But, that being said, I really enjoyed reading Divergent. It was a fun, fast read and it kept me fully entertained from start to finish.

I enjoyed Divergent. I really did. The way the author wrote and approached her story was fresh. I loved her take on a futuristic, dystopian society in which everyone lived according to their philosophical views. However, I felt like the author was… well, I felt like she left out on some things, and that the details weren’t fully fleshed out. It’s like building up something, then leaving it with just the structure, and no decoration. It works, but it feels a little empty. Was I the only one who felt a little lost and confused upon finishing this book?

First, the mirror. Maybe this is just me, and I’m just too nit-picky. But I did recall that Trish wasn’t supposed to be vain. Thus she doesn’t look into the mirror unless she’s cutting her hair. But why would she look into the mirror if she wasn’t supposed to be vain? Why would she care about the final look unless she was at least the slightest bit vain, which her faction doesn’t allow?

What do the factions do? We’re told that Abnegation runs the government. Okay. What about the others? Does those of the Amity just sit around all day? Do the Dauntless just… jump off buildings and fight each other all day? Do the Erudite really just sit with their faces glued to the computer for the rest of their lives? What happens? What do they do? Honestly, I have no clue.

Why are the sorted into factions, anyways? What happened that made them all break off into groups based on their philosophical views? The story only slightly brushed this topic, and I still have no clue of the back-story to this. Why is this world the way it is? Why are there factions? What happened? Who decided on it? To this, I don’t have an answer, either.

What about the train? Where does it go? Who runs it? Why is it there? Nothing’s really explained. With the train, it’s just kind of… there. You don’t know why – it’s just there. It’s just this train that happens to conveniently be there for the Dauntless to ride and jump off of, and then it continues to the magical land of ‘It’s Here For The Characters’ Convenience.’ And the girl – the first girl to jump when they’re heading to the Dauntless headquarters. No one’s there to catch her. How does she land?

The overall structure and planning that comes with this story has holes in it. Large, gaping holes that, evidently, the author didn’t bother fixing. Large, gaping holes that are now filled with question marks.

And, of course, a story’s never complete without our heroine falling in love. So that’s where Four comes in. Sexy, bad-ass, but *gasps* he has a totally soft, vulnerable heart with a wall built around it, closing himself off from the rest of the world – a result of childhood abuse. A good-looking, tough guy with a soft heart. And, of course, they’re both infatuated with each other. Here’s where I can bring in the cookie cutters, and show you countless other YA books with the exact. Same. Romance. Story-line.

Needless to say, Divergent was a major disappointment for me. I did enjoy some parts of it, namely the action scenes and how Tris didn’t double back immediately after each punch. You don’t know how many times I’ve seen that sort of thing happen in books – the main character just doubles back after being punched in the gut, as if she/he’s perfectly okay. That sort of thing really hurts though, and I’m glad the author took that into account. It made everything seem all the more intense and real. However, with only a half-built world, cookie-cutter characters and an infatuation between two characters that made me grimace, this really wasn’t the book for me.

What an amazing debut. I love this book, and can't wait for the next installment, INSURGENT.