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| Divergent by Veronica Roth |
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, 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 alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating 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 unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
So it appears that I never uploaded my Divergent review before I went on Holidays. Ooops. But now it will be fresher in your mind as an awesome book to put on your Christmas wish list. Because you really should read it. Especially if you liked The Hunger Games.
Divergent`s closest parallel is really The Hunger Games so its hard not to compare them. Although I think I liked HG better, Divergent was still a great read. But here is the comparison:
Breatrice or Tris is a great heroine, strong and willful just like Katniss, but somehow I found her more emotionally needy and a bit more annoying.
On the plus side for Divergent there is no silly love triangle which is a bonus because that seems to be done to death in YA fiction already. I`m happy Roth didn`t go there to sell her story.
Another bonus for Divergent is that Four is much more likable to me than Peeta as the main love interest for Tris. He`s downright cool actually, the kind of guy I`m sure I would have been attracted to in high school, but more than a little scared to approach because he`s such a bad boy.
But overall, Hunger Games was a more compelling read for me because it sucked you into a very tragic and frightening situation a lot quicker than Divergent did. Divergent`s world seemed to be fairly stable actually. The only people who really wanted for anything were the factionless, unlike Hunger Games where all of Panem was suffering. The emotional tension was not as believable or as high in Divergent for that reason.
Divergent is a wonderful book, a devour it in a day kind of read. If you read and liked Hunger Games you really should read Divergent as well. I`m really looking forward to Insurgent which came out this past summer. (When I can get to it though my gigantic pile of books to be read).
