Yet another book in the YA-dystopia-with-female-protagonist genre. In this one, the main character is Beatrice "Tris" Prior, a 16-year-old girl who joins a cult of horrible pseudo-goth/punk extreme sports fan bullies who do "awesome" things like jump off moving trains ... every day ... really, that's how they get dropped off at school. Well, there's a bit more to it than that: in this particular dystopian future, humanity has decided that the way to avoid conflict is for each person to focus on one of five character traits that they believe represent the ideal state of mankind -- selflessness, fearlessness, intelligence, kindness, or honesty -- and they've divided society into five "factions" representing these qualities -- Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite, Amity, and Candor, respectively. Each faction has a different role to play: Abnegation is in charge of government, on the theory that selfless people will do what's best for the community rather than trying to hoard power for themselves; Dauntless is in charge of defending the community. Beatrice was raised in Abnegation, but on her choosing day she decides to leave her family and join the Dauntless. The focus of this novel is thus on Beatrice's two homes, Abnegation and Dauntless, and the contrast between them. The other factions are represented on a much smaller scale, with a couple of supporting characters coming from each of Candor and Amity, and Erudite playing the role of villain. A further twist: there is an aptitude test each sixteen-year-old takes, consisting of a simulation; the subject's reactions within the simulation are supposed to indicate in which faction that person belongs. Beatrice's test, however, is inconclusive, which means she's "Divergent," and technically could fit in several of the factions. She is told not to tell anyone about her test results, but no one tells her what being Divergent means or why it's so important for her to keep her status a secret.

At any rate, having joined the Dauntless, Beatrice, who changes her name to Tris upon arrival at the Dauntless compound, is forced to go through a gruelling inititation process meant to cull the weakest recruits. Joining a faction, then, is part Hogwarts sorting and part Hunger Games; essentially, it's like if you were sorted into Gryffindor and then Percy and Professor McGonagall spent all their time trying to kill you for a few months afterwards just to make sure you really belonged there. Adding to the fun is the fact that half of Tris' fellow Dauntless recruits and some of the instructors are sadistic Slytherin-type bullies. They mock Tris because she came from Abnegation, they prey on the smallest and the weakest, and they even try to eliminate (in the real Hunger Games sense) the top recruits to advance their own positions. They are truly horrible people. I hate bullies, so I found myself getting very angry at some of the stuff that was going on. All this made it hard for me to understand what possible appeal Tris could have seen in joining Dauntless, a point the novel also raises as Tris gradually learns that the leadership of her new faction has become corrupted. People who once believed "in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another" have now become obsessed with bruality and "hurting people for no reason," as one of the other recruits puts it. As the story progresses, Tris discovers that it isn't just the Dauntless who've been corrupted, and that the Erudite, who have started a feud with Abnegation, may pose a significant threat to the safety of the community. Along the way, she also meets and falls for a cute boy -- the kind Dauntless instructor known as Four.

Part of the message of Divergent is that there's not much of a difference between the ideals (though not the practice) of Dauntless and Abnegation, as selflessness -- the willingness to place the well-being of others ahead of the self -- can be the ultimate act of true bravery. Maybe it's that focus on self-sacrifice, or maybe it's the fact that God is the first person thanked in the acknowledgements and he's thanked for sending Jesus to the world, but I have the impression that Veronica Roth is writing from a very Christian perspective. I have no problem with this as such, and I agree with her message about self-sacrifice; however, I also find her portrayal of the Erudite a bit troubling in the current political climate that sees rabidly anti-intellectual conservatives like Rick Perry praying for rain while denying the existence of climate change. In other words, I really don't think smart people are our main problem right now, so I can't quite get on board with Divergent as social commentary. As a story, though, it's pretty good. Roth's writing style is simple, making this large book quite a fast read.