Divergent by Vernonica Roth
Mood: instantly intrigued
Beatrice “Tris” Prior has grown up in a society split into five factions, each according to a prized value—a value upon which a whole basis for living is set. Children are raised in those individual environments until they reach the age of 16. At that age, they attend a choosing ceremony where they either pledge allegiance to the faction they’ve known their whole lives, or choose to align themselves elsewhere, essentially choosing a new family, a new future. In choosing her place with the Dauntless faction, Tris discovers that there is no simplicity in making friends as it becomes increasingly more difficult to tell the difference between friend and enemy.
This book is exciting and while post-apocalyptic and dystopian literature is becoming more and more commonplace, the experience of adapting to a new faction’s way of life is very enjoyable to read about from Tris’s point of view. There are enough plot twists to keep the pace from lagging and the touch of romance was the clincher that kept me interested. I read the whole book in under a day and a half.
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Mood: expectantly hopeful
Picking up exactly where Divergent left off, Tris has just survived Erudite leader Jeanine’s attempt to mind control the entire faction of Dauntless into eliminating the existence of the Divergent. Tris with her invulnerability to mind manipulation has managed to escape with a few of her friends to alert the other factions, where she discovers there is a much bigger secret being held that predates the very formation of the factions and there is a gathering of factionless rebels that may be planning an even bigger revolution than the Erudite.
I think Insurgent suffers from "Second Book Syndrome" and the infamous "Hype Train," may it die in a fire (the Hype Train, not the book). But ultimately, I was interested in how Roth will explain away everything left wholly unexplained in Insurgent in the next book. Let me just say that I was left wondering why Roth wrote Tris’s character a new personality, one that calls to mind endless angst and tedious introspection (although I do admit, having to kill some people will definitely change you). The pace of the book was slower and methodical, but in an unappealing sort of way. However, I will also say that there were enough cliffhangers present at the end to ensure I would be trekking on until the end of the trilogy.
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Mood: betrayed and hungry
The truth about the faction system has been revealed and Tris, along with her closest friends (and enemies) are ensconced in the territory of the factionless, intent on sneaking away and pursuing the outside world previously unknown to them. There they discover the Bureau, a headquarters that has been orchestrating social experiments for years, trying to discern the best way to control human behavior based on genetics. When it seems like the Bureau wants to inject Tris’s former home with a serum that will wipe away their collective memories, she decides to stop at nothing to prevent it.
Allegiant is different from the first two in that previously we were treated to Tris’s point of view only—now we are getting the perspective of both Tris and Four, who are now a locked-in-love item. Four’s inner monologue does not come across as realistic and interrupts the flow of the plot in such a way that I was eager for the conclusion of the novel as I was tiring of the “great reveal” that there was yet again, ANOTHER world outside the fishbowl. I’ll just say it: I hated the ending and I don’t believe the outcome was necessary to the plot in the slightest.
Girls and boys, if you want to read a great dystopian trilogy, look elsewhere. We can find it together!
