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Insurgent (Divergent, #2)

Veronica Roth

Discussion: Dystopia

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Aug 29, 2012 Katie Kenig rated it liked it

Shelves: apocolyptic, ya, dystopia, chicago

After finishing this novel, I'm left wondering if the author is a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan movies. I suspect she may be.

Insurgent is book two of the Divergent trilogy and picks up the action immediately where Divergent left off. This left me a little bit stumbling and grasping in the first few chapters. It'd been a while since I'd read Divergent and I had to scour my memory for what exactly had been going on in those last pages. While I'm always complaining about serial authors putting too After finishing this novel, I'm left wondering if the author is a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan movies. I suspect she may be.

Insurgent is book two of the Divergent trilogy and picks up the action immediately where Divergent left off. This left me a little bit stumbling and grasping in the first few chapters. It'd been a while since I'd read Divergent and I had to scour my memory for what exactly had been going on in those last pages. While I'm always complaining about serial authors putting too much exposition into books, having none isn't balanced either. You'll never be able to figure this book out if you haven't read Divergent. Don't even try. You'll just pull your hair out. And if you read Divergent more than say, six months ago, you may want to re-skim the last few chapters so you don't feel quite as lost and confused as I did at first.

Insurgent takes a different path than Divergent, which I think is to blame for so many people hating it. Divergent was a rebellious, adventurous romp until the last few chapters. It was pretty standard YA dystopia and while it had it's moments of violence and tragedy, they weren't overwhelming. Insurgent, on the other hand, is extremely violent, extremely tragic, and is a war story more than anything else. Like any war, people are going to be injured, and they are going to die. There's going to be so gratuitous violence that makes you shake your head.

There's also some emotional immaturity that is going to make you shake your head. Not because the teenagers are acting like teenagers, but because they're acting like 20-somethings who act like twelve year olds. We all know those people, who can't hold a relationship together to save their lives and are constantly posting their drama on Facebook and fighting in public and you just roll your eyes. Yeah, those people. I hate dealing with those people, and I had to in order to read this book.

So, I didn't think this was terrible, and I will very likely read the third book in this series. I also didn't think it was amazing or wonderful, though I thought very highly of Divergent. It was pretty good, it kept my attention, and it was very entertaining. A solid kill-some-time read. ...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Gretchen rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2013

I think it must be harder to write book 2 of any series. Unless you are a good planner and plotted out the highs and lows of the entire series, book 2 is where you have to spend a lot of time. What do you have to payoff from book 1? What did you not cover in book 1 that needs to be said here? Is there a book 3 planned?(you probably know, since book 1 was published and you now have a contract). As result, I often spend book 2 noting inconsistencies, and wondering about author choices.

So, here we I think it must be harder to write book 2 of any series. Unless you are a good planner and plotted out the highs and lows of the entire series, book 2 is where you have to spend a lot of time. What do you have to payoff from book 1? What did you not cover in book 1 that needs to be said here? Is there a book 3 planned?(you probably know, since book 1 was published and you now have a contract). As result, I often spend book 2 noting inconsistencies, and wondering about author choices.

So, here we are with Book 2 of the Divergent series. Action picks up immediately after the end of book 1, so there's not a lot of need for exposition. We are plunged right back into the conflict with Tris, Four and the others from their group. From there, we build into the rest of the story.

I was glad to see this book explore the other factions, which didn't get as much attention in book 1. I particularly liked the moments where individuals from different factions were put together. I also enjoyed learning more about Four's family and background.

I was troubled by the treatment of Tris in this novel. Ok, she had a horrible experience at the end of book 1. But she spends most of this book switching from grief, to reckless, to bad-ass, to pining over Four. Is this because it's book 2 and we have plot points to make? Or is this a characterization problem? I'm willing to give a pass for most of this behavior -- the character is 16, and this book is targeted at young adults -- but I would have liked to see an expression of self-awareness or deliberate choice before she makes the changes that lead to the end of the novel. There are bits, but since the primary theme of book 1 was choosing your identity, I would have liked it to be tied more completely.

And then there's the cliffhanger....which puts a very different perspective on the world. It's a great scene, and leaves the reader with a lot to think about when the next novel comes out. Based on that alone, book 2 succeeds - it sets up book 3, and a quite different resolution than I thought we would have.

Overall, a well done book. Looking forward to book 3. ...more

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Nov 29, 2013 Susie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I had to go to this audiobook immediately after finished Divergent (even drove a few miles to get it) I think the second book in a series often suffers a bit in esteem because the first has the advantage of setting up an imaginative premise. Some scenes were so spell-binding, the truth serum and Tris's surprise nemesis as she must navigate across the room in particular. Tris's realization that there are good and bad aspects to each faction can be extended to many different personalities. It woul ...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Shannan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

Another great entry in a fun, interesting series. In general, I don't usually like the second book in a trilogy because it seems like set up for the finale, but I think there was a lot of good plot and character development in this one. The total cliffhanger ending is exasperating, but understandable. Tris is a much more flawed heroine in this book, but she's still a great character. ...more

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Mar 09, 2014 Natasha rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2014-reading-challenge

Blah, blah, blah just to get us to book 3, was not impressed with book.

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Feb 27, 2013 Leisl rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2013_reads

I have read this book and the first book . . . and actually got into them despite the violence (I have burnt out on violence in books, etc . . . let's just have an utopian book already. Maybe I'll write one. I admit, it probably would be boring. Perhaps dystopia without much violence, then . . .) I will be reading the third book. I was glad to get into these books. I never did finish reading The Hunger Games (just did not hook me. Period.)

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Apr 16, 2012 Rachel Polacek rated it it was amazing

I kept avoiding reading this book because I didn't want to finish it. I knew something good was coming, and it did. Wow. I love the complexities of the story, especially how you are reading a character and think that they're being an idiot, and realize that they don't think the same way as you because of their factions. Fantastic. Publish the third one now!!! ...more

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