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Feb 08, 2012

Tatiana rated it:

As seen on The Readventurer

We all know why Divergent was written. There is no doubt 99% of dystopias published during the last year or so have been trying to at least partially replicate the success of the trilogy. Public wants to read more dystopian stories, publishers want to sell them, authors want to write them. Everyone is happy.

I have read a few new dystopias recently and liked or disliked them to various degrees. There are dystopias for any taste, dystopias that empha More...

75 comments like (257 people liked it)

Feb 07, 2012

Marg rated it:

Prior to reading Enclave, I had already set the bar of expectations pretty low for dystopian YA fiction. Afterwards, I reset it to about a foot off the ground. Therefore, all Divergent had to do in order to get into my good graces was a little hop right over to the other side. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, right? Obviously not, 'cos Divergent aimlessly stumbled about, tripped over its own feet, and then proceeded to face plant into the ground like a drunken frat boy at a keg party. I was not amused. More...

91 comments like (212 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2012

karen rated it:

i need to make something perfectly clear. i am well aware that i gave 4 stars to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. and i am giving 5 stars to this one.

the world is a tough and inconsistent sphere.

because Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a much much better written book. it's no contest. she is lush and lyrical and there is a gravity to her writing that makes you stop every so often to murmer "well said, laini taylor, well said..."

this book is just fun. More...

51 comments like (141 people liked it)

Oct 02, 2011

Wendy Darling rated it:

3.5 stars Any book that arrives heavily hyped usually has a ton of marketing power behind it. Sure, there are critical reviews to consider, but these days consumers are more aware than ever of the dollars at stake behind book and film negotiations. Which means that there's a lot of pressure riding on any book to live up to its promise, particularly one that comes from a 23-year-old author who has already landed a 3-book deal and signed away the movie rights.

After so many big dollar and More...

76 comments like (120 people liked it)

Jan 20, 2012

Stephen rated it:

This book’s sobriquet should be "the comeback kid" because its final rating of 3 solid stars required it to overcome a seriously frustrating first half that had me ready to do great violence to it.

Before I expound on the redemptive, grace/face/rating saving virtues of second half of the book, I need to ~~rant~~ vent a bit regarding what turned my hackles all red and puffy.

THE SIN:

I am a SF dystopian connoisseur and I love a well-conceptualized “world i More...

36 comments like (79 people liked it)

Dec 06, 2011

Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalker rated it:

12/6/11-
I can't believe this book was Favorite Book of 2011. I must not be part of the in-crowd! Oh well.

Review below...

I have questions. Once my questions are answered, maybe I'll move my overall ratings up from 2.5 stars to 3.5 stars. Here is the thing, If the world doesn't make sense to me, I'm not going to enjoy the book as much as I could enjoy it.

So, here are my questions-

Why, at the beginning, can Beatrice look in the mirror ONLY when More...

139 comments like (86 people liked it)

Jul 29, 2011

Lyndsey rated it:

Everything that rises must Diverge.

Or that seems to be the philosophy of this book. Divergent poses that as a society progresses, it becomes more segregated, as opposed to more integrated. Likely? NO. Fun? HELL YES.

Does it smell like Hunger Games in here to you?

Check out the video for this Hunger Games parody at the end of the article Part Two of The Best YouTube Book Trailers.

Imagine a culture where everyone is separated into groups based on their one key More...

46 comments like (141 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2011

Elle rated it:

There comes a time in every average, misunderstood, flat chested, never-been-kissed, pre-war heroin, sixteen year old girl's life when she must decide between right and wrong.

Yes. RIGHT and WRONG.

Not Harry and Sam. Or Harry and Mike. Or, frak help us, Harry, Sam AND Mike. No no. In Divergent, Good, Evil and Tris are our love triangle. How utterly refreshing.

Now, don’t get me wrong. You will find your standard amount of PG-rated teen romance in this book. More...

6 comments like (71 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2012

Stephanie rated it:

Whoa.

Breathe, Stephanie. Breathe.

This.Was.Good. It seems like every dystopian book that comes out now is being compared to The Hunger Games. Well, if there was ever a book that might come close to that comparison it would be Enclave and now Divergent.

Veronica Roth's debut novel Divergent is getting some major hype and you know what? I think it deserves it. It's no secret that I have a dystopian society book addiction right now, but Divergent More...

13 comments like (41 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2012

Kelly rated it:

Warning: I didn't enjoy this book, so the following are my gripes.

World building:
Right off the bat, I was left with many questions. I don't understand this world. I don't understand how the factionless - seeing how there's more of them - don't uprise. Um, that would be normal. It's going on now in Libya, happened in Egypt, just to name a few. And if they're factionless, many are probably Divergent, so that in itself should cause them to be stronger. Aside from that minor issue More...

12 comments like (46 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2012

Kira rated it:

So the other night I wake up at like four a.m. with a splitting headache, itchy, weepy eyes and a stuffy nose. I open the window to try to clear it, y'know, as you do, but this is January in Canada and unless you want to give yourself hypothermia just to take your mind off the annoyance of having a cold, it's best not to leave the windows open for any length of time.

I lie back and swear to myself. What the hell? I've a presentation to give that day and screw it, I can't flake out and More...

21 comments like (55 people liked it)

Jun 07, 2011

Arlene rated it:

This book is totally WICKED!! I am, without a doubt, hooked. I want more… NOW!

Divergent by Veronica Roth is one of the more highly anticipated YA dystopic novels set to come out next month, so I’m very fortunate for my Street Corner Booker friend for sharing this great read with me on our ARC tour. Thank you Alexa!

I have to say, I had an absolute blast reading this wild ride of an adventure, and I enjoyed every minute of it. EVERY.SINGLE.MINUTE! I haven’t had this sort More...

21 comments like (93 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

TheDuchess rated it:

This isn't a bad book but it has some serious faults. First, violence for the sake of violence is never interesting to me. What was the point of someone getting stabbed in the eye? It in no way advanced the plot. All the sexual harrasment and groping seemed over the top to me. Now to the fights, basically Tris learns how to fight like a badass in a week? Really? With no prior training or anything? Major side eye to that.
It's hard to write a strong and sympathetic heroine. Tris is cruel, even sh More...

35 comments like (34 people liked it)

Aug 12, 2011

Peep (Pop! Pop!) rated it:

When I was finished this book I could only think of three things: Uwe Boll, Asylum Films, and the Sy-fy Channel. Yes, to me, it was that bad. It has everything that they like: Cold leader who excels at everything, even when she doesn't try. Violence and gore at every turn. Oppressive society. Tattoos. Injuries that come and go as they please. Etc, etc, etc.

Hmmm, where to start?? To start? To start? Haha, ring a bell? It does. It does. It does. I am brave! I am Dauntless!

More...

93 comments like (74 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2011

Hannah rated it:

THE SEVEN STAGES OF READING HELL: When You Realize You're Going to be the Odd Man Out (Once Again) With a Wildly Hyped and Popular Book that Everyone Else Loved

as Presented by:
The Coterie of Emotive Kittehs (courtesy of Google Images)

December 13, 2011

Page 30:

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Page 475:

Final Analysis More...

50 comments like (77 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Joyzi rated it:

Divergent's so good it deserves a white teddy, and that's saying something.

***Review of Divergent***

Note: Without spoiler

I've known a lot of good things about this book, from youtube and goodreads and they were saying that if you liked Hunger Games, definitely you have to read it. Also one of my friends here, Rollie, even mentioned that he liked Divergent more than the Hunger Games. And of course, I trust these people, when they say that a book is amazi More...

71 comments like (34 people liked it)

Mar 26, 2011

~Tina~ rated it:

Said to rival the much devoured Hunger Games series, Divergent is in fantastic company. And while it's not quite there yet, I say give it time. Does it live up to the hype? Hell yeah! Is it well on it's way? Dame straight!

This book is made of pure awesomesauce!
It's action punched, gripping, intense, edgy, captivating and has a very sweet and surprising romance. It's about control and choices, betrayal and love. It's everything I look for an escape and if anything convinces More...

42 comments like (62 people liked it)

Mar 02, 2011

Alexa rated it:

Divergent was my most anticipated book for 2011. I had high expectations and thought it would be a definite favorite of mine, with me giving it 6 stars and forcing everyone to read it. Now that I've actually read it... Did I love it? I liked it. Did it live up to my expectations? No, not quite.

Divergent sounded like it had everything I wanted. Action, romance, and memorable characters. I really liked the romance; it was enough for me. It's great not having to worry about a love-trian More...

15 comments like (33 people liked it)

Jul 03, 2011

Cillian rated it:

This book is made of awesome.
Wow
I still have more to say, and I NEED to catch up with my reviews (something impossible to achieve when hubby wouldn't lend me the comp, not even for a second, grrrr).
On the bright side, Ramona is still reading The Iron Thorn, and since my reviews usually contain spoilers...
I'll wait for that one.
Brodie, Divergent reminded me a little of Hunger Games, and to my surprise, I liked it even BETTER than H.G!

Ok. this is not a rev More...

34 comments like (24 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Nicole rated it:

You can find this review and many others on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

If I could give this more than 5 stars I would. It was simply amazing. I had a lot of thinking to do for this one. So much thinking that I decided I needed to read it again to give you a proper review. It was much better than I expected (I was unaware of the hype it was receiving) and I felt like I raced through it the first time. The truth is, I just couldn't get enough of Four... [sigh]... or maybe it's More...

10 comments like (15 people liked it)

May 26, 2011

oliviasbooks rated it:

"Hunger Games meets Matrix?" This should be interesting!

16 comments like (18 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2011

Dija rated it:

I am not Abnegation. I am not Dauntless.
I am Divergent.
And I can’t be controlled.

It's not often that a book manages to be original and enjoyable and popular simultaneously. Divergent pulls it off and it's definitely one of my most favorite reads of 2011.

The beginning is extremely slow, but not entirely uninteresting and certainly not unnecessary. Tris lives in Chicago where five factions - Abnegation (Selflessness), Erudite (Intelligence), Dauntless (Bravery More...

38 comments like (13 people liked it)

Oct 30, 2011

Tina rated it:

Original post at One More Page

It's been a while since I read some dystopia, and to be perfectly honest, I think I may have lost some of my taste in them. Oh, don't worry, I still like it a lot, but I guess I have this feeling that I've run out of really good and credible ones that make my heart race, or make me rave like the way The Hunger Games or The Knife of Never Letting Go did (I do have the rest of the Chaos Walking trilogy on my TBR, but I need to be emotionally ready to read More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2011

Alana rated it:

First of all, must everything be compared to the Hunger Games? Some people act like Collins created the genre and it's really starting to annoy me. Guess what, she didn't. Just because the Hunger Games was widely popular doesn't mean it's the be-all end-all of dystopia. In fact, Collin's books borrow heavily from others. Has the popularity of her books led to influx of YA dystopia novels lately? Most likely, but this doesn't mean anything about individual books. Some of the books that have come More...

0 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2011

Lissa rated it:

What did I think? WHAT DID I THINK? I'll tell you what I thought. A lot of it.

I’m not sure I can call Divergent A-MAZING. I read it in 12 hours – AND I was at a BBQ so I wasn’t exactly being anti-social. But maybe because I devoured it so quickly, perhaps I missed something? I wasn’t disappointed, not by a long stretch. It’s really very, very good and I think it will appeal to both girls and boys, even though it’s a YA dystopia. I mean, it was very, very good, all 487 pages of it. Ma More...

31 comments like (20 people liked it)

Mar 30, 2011

Brodie rated it:

Honestly, I don't know where to begin. I am speechless. And trust me when I say, that doesn't happen very often.

Divergent is officially one of the best books I have ever had the fortune of reading. IT IS SO FREAKING GOOD!!!! I can understand why there are a lot of comparisons with The Hunger Games in many reviews for this book. If you've read The Hunger Games, you'll know that it's a mind-blowing dystopian trilogy. And I can say the EXACT same thing for Divergent! A thoughtful, compe More...

14 comments like (29 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2012

Cara rated it:

I have been avoiding writing a review of this book like the plague. And then of course it got voted as the favorite book on goodreads this year, well I can't not review it now can I? Even though I feel very inadequate of articulating how I feel about it I'm going to try. So to explain how I feel I'm going to use an analogy of sorts. I'm standing in the middle between two fairly large groups. On one side we have the bandwagon where people are laughing, in deep discussion, slappin' each other’s b More...

9 comments like (8 people liked it)

May 14, 2011

Lauren rated it:

Nothing short of spectacular, Divergent is simply one of the best of the year, if not ever. Heart-racing, unique, extremely well-written, and spellbinding, there wasn't a time when I wasn't racing to get through this, eager to see what would occur next, and in the rare occasion I wasn't able to read it for a time, I was constantly thinking about it and dying to find a way to read more.

Divergent tells the story of a Dystopian Chicago where people are put into five different groups- A More...

8 comments like (18 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2011

Judith rated it:

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0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Originally posted at Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me

Divergent is most definitely one of my favourite books. I don't think I can sing enough praise for it because it is just pure brilliance. From start to finish, the characters are solid and the plot is perfectly planned and paced. There is never a dull moment which lets the novel fall into the "must read in one sitting" category. Say...you've seen 32945 positive reviews? Rest assured, you'll be feeling the same. The concept of More...

23 comments like (7 people liked it)