Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth is the phenomenal journey of Tris; is being different so dangerous? Sixteen-year-old Tris is forced to make a terrible choice. In a divided society where everyone must conform, Tris does not fit. So, she ventures out alone, determined to discover where she truly belongs. Shocked by her brutal new life, Tris is forced to not trust anyone. And yet is drawn to a boy who seems to both threaten and protect her. But the Hardest Choice lies ahead. 

Summary 

Beatrice Prior is the main protagonist who I growing up in the supposed dystopian world of Chicago. In her city, each place is divided into a faction, which each represents a human virtue which they believe will stop society from turning against each other. For example Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice is born in Abnegation, which represents selflessness, meaning they believed that selfishness caused the war. However, Beatrice can’t help but feeling like she doesn’t belong. 

The time comes where she and her brother, Caleb, must take the aptitude test which determines which faction you belong in; however, the final choice is yours to make. However, something goes wrong during Beatrice’s’ testing and her test results are divergent; people who belong in both, Erudite, dauntless and abnegation, smart, brave, and selfless.  

On her final judgment day, she chooses dauntless, however, she had no idea what lie ahead. Once reaching the dauntless headquarters, she must go through three stages of training in order to become a full-fledged member of dauntless. This is where the whole trouble started; she finds the training extremely difficult and comes to her breaking point. But if Beatrice is good at anything, its determination.  

Even when she is asked to go through a simulation on her worst fears, even when Eric, the head leader, despises her, even when he finds herself drawn to her instructor who is two years older than she is. But what is the dauntless’ true motif and what does it have to do with the erudite.  

Even after her world is breaking apart, she knows one thing for certain; 

She is Tris Prior; a divergent. 

Review 

Divergent is such a mind-blowing story, I cannot even begin to describe how I felt when reading this. I like how it is in its own way very similar to The Hunger Games series, but then again it is completely different. I am surprised by the fact that I haven’t read it until now! It is a beautiful romance as well as a war story and post-apocalypse. And I have loved everything about it, to the main plot, storyline, background, characters and their relationships with each other. This is truly a great book which I would recommend everybody to read. 

I love how the story is set from Tris’s point of view and we discover more and more throughout the book, about her character and the world she is living in. It informs you about so much yet at the end of the book, it still leaves you with questions of your own. After I read this book, I found myself itching to read the next one in the series! 

And I couldn’t write this review without discussing the relationships between all the characters, especially the two protagonists Tobias and Tris! I love how this book, is so realistic, in terms of the relationships between the characters. What I mean by this s the fact that they have difficulties and problems and the whole thing is not that smooth. I and I don’t refer to just the typical fight and resolution, but showing fear, happiness, doubt, and other emotional bumps, and that’s what makes it worth reading about. I am now officially a Fourtris shipper and will be till the last word. 

Most of the book is consists of Tris and her trying to fit into the Dauntless compound, trying to work around her feelings and at the same time, finish her initiation. So, when the main climax begins, the book is left on a huge cliff hanger which has me waiting on my toes. I know how frustrating it is to discover a cliff hanger and the end of the book, so I’m giving you a heads-up warning! 

“I am selfish. I am brave.” 

I had a really hard time choosing what quote to write from the book. This is the thing I love about this book, the thing that wants to make me read it all over again, the thing that just adds that sense of life. This book is a bible of quotes that are so unique, unexpected, and yet so true. The above quote describes Tris Prior in a nutshell.  

She has to live in this broken world, where she is divergent, which she has to keep secret, as well as juggling a lot of emotions and responsibilities. Like where she will fit in, believing her parents’ morals or Dauntless; on top of that she needs to worry about passing her initiation which includes her fear landscape and combat; and to add on to that even greater list she needs to get her head around these strange feelings for her instructor who she needs to understand is still a teenager, just like her.  

The way Veronica Roth writes the book is like you can feel her frustration. It’s like you’re living her story, and I feel that is amazing. This is one of the reasons I admire Veronica Roth and her ability to write such an emotionally compelling story that entices so many young readers across the globe. 

Honestly, I could just go on and on about it but I’ll leave that for you to discover. I would recommend this book to readers between the ages of 13 and over. This book can be a little too much for anybody under that age! This book is the following genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Romance, Action, Adventure, and Post-Apocalyptic.  

Overall, I would give Divergent by Veronica Roth a five out of five, this story is unbelievably astounding and is definitely one of the top books on my favorite list! 

About the Author

Veronica Roth is an American Novelist and a New York Times best-selling author of the famous Divergent series (Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, and Four: A Divergent Collection). She has also written many other books including The Carve the Mark Duology (Carve the Mark, the Fates Divide), The End and Other Beginnings collection of short fiction, and many other essays. she is currently living in Chicago.