Divergent Review

I became immediately interested in Goodreads winner of 2011’s YA book of the year…”Divergent”, by first time author Veronica Roth . The fact that a first time author would get that honor, as well as the excellent feedback, I decided to read book. So here is my review.

“Divergent” takes place in Chicago in the future. There are five factions, which each person is born into. Abnegation: being selfless. Amity: peace and love. Candor: honesty. Dauntless: courage. Erudite: knowledge. Each of these factions consists of different professions, different clothes, and different lifestyles. Abnegation is the political arm of all the factions, as they are considered selfless, and less likely to be corrupted by power. Dauntless protects the borders of the city. Erudite, being intelligent, wants the power of Abnegation and this will be a major focus of this story later in the book.

When all the children reach the age of 16, they must make a choice to stay in their faction or go to another. Beatrice Prior, born into Abnegation, finds herself torn with staying in a faction, which is strict, and no fun. She has watched from afar the children from Dauntless, who are always laughing, playing, shouting amongst themselves. Beatrice must make the decision….does she stay, as she feels she doesn’t quite fit, or transfer to another faction. Prior to the choosing day, she has to take an aptitude test, which was inconclusive. The tester quietly tells her she is a Divergent, but can never tell anyone, as it would be dangerous to her. On Choosing day Beatrice follows her heart and chooses to be brave, as she abandons her family (her brother also transfers, but to another faction) and chooses Dauntless.

As she and other 16 year olds, who also chose Dauntless, enter their new faction, they are immediately faced with the initiations that will follow. Being the first to be brave and jump off a roof, not knowing there was net below, they asked her name, and she decides to change her name to Tris. She finds herself some friends, also initiates from other factions, but she is also a target from other prejudiced initiates. They ridicule her by calling her ‘Stiff’, and is constantly harassed. With the help of her friends, Tris changes her appearance somewhat, from her dull gray clothes, adds a little makeup and likes herself better.

They soon learn, that with only ten spots available to stay in Dauntless, they have to win the ruthless initiation tests, which include fighting each other, simulations of battles and fears. Tris struggles to find her way through the tests, and must hide that she is divergent, which helps her during the simulations. As in any story, there are bad villains, and this is no different. There are bad 16 year olds, who will stop at nothing to ensure they are the top 10. Tris is beaten, and nearly killed by those bad initiates, but this makes her stronger, and more determined to finish on top. There are also the bad villains who run some of the factions, which will become a big part of the storyline closer to the end of the book.

As each day passes, with brutal initiations, Tris finds herself falling for one of her instructors. A young man named Four, whom has always been kind to her, but did not acknowledge any kind of friendship. Tris senses he is hiding his true feelings, and feels there is something different about him…in time she begins to fall in love with him. She helps with his own private fear simulation, and he protects her simulation results, by erasing some of it, not allowing the powers that be know she is a divergent. Together they eventually become allies in the forthcoming battle.
The initiation training missions become more difficult, as Tris becomes more savage to defend herself and to ensure her winning. She discovers the plot to destroy Abnegation and her family by the Erudites. Together with Four, they must stop the plan, which somehow has involved the Dauntless faction. They must find how, and stop the massacre, as well as protect the Divergents, who are also being targeted. Their lives are in danger, as well as some of her friends, and you do not know until the very end if either of them will survive.
This was an excellent book, and I am impressed by Veronica Roth’s writing. She certainly has a great future, this being her first book. From what I understand, this is a trilogy. It has been compared to the Hunger Games, though other then the young heroine/hero, it is not the same. You will get hooked pretty early on in this book, with the last third of the book very exciting, as I couldn’t put the book down.