Insurgent (Divergent, #2) in Buddy Read Zone

May 01, 2012 Terri ♥ (aka Mrs. Christian Grey) rated it it was amazing

Quick review

Cover: I like it!
Rating PG
Thumbs Up 5
Overall: An amazing imaginative story
Characters: Very Well Written
Plot: Although the plot is somber, there is so much going on to keep your attention/
Page Turner: Yes.
Series Cont.? Absolutely.
Recommend Yes
Book Boyfriend: Four/Tobias

SUMMARY (50 words or less)

Refresh your minds before reading because it dives right in without much recap. Which most of the time I love if you are reading back to back. But even still all my refresh questions we ...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Keertana rated it it was amazing

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Veronica Roth has done it again! The moment I got my hands on Insurgent, I locked myself in my room for six hours, frantically flipping the pages and straining my eyes to read in the dying light of my bedroom, refusing to waste valuable time by turning on the light. When I emerged, I must have looked like a cave man to my family. I had skipped dinner, refused to study for any of my exams, had not touched the large pile of work I had, and I wore one of the silliest grins ever. D Rating: 4.5 Stars

Veronica Roth has done it again! The moment I got my hands on Insurgent, I locked myself in my room for six hours, frantically flipping the pages and straining my eyes to read in the dying light of my bedroom, refusing to waste valuable time by turning on the light. When I emerged, I must have looked like a cave man to my family. I had skipped dinner, refused to study for any of my exams, had not touched the large pile of work I had, and I wore one of the silliest grins ever. Divergent was a book that made me remember why I loved dystopia so much, making me fall in love with the genre and heart-pounding adventure it contained all over again. Insurgent on the other hand, was a book that made me fall in love with Veronica Roth’s talent, appreciate her writing abilities, and be so utterly thankful that authors who had the capability to write brilliant sequels still existed.

The second novel in a series is always famously known for being THAT book. The one in the series that is the most hated, that tends to drag the plot on, and generally just seems to be filler. Insurgent, I’m glad to say, defied every single one of these stereotypes. The novel picks up exactly where Divergent left off. Veronica Roth made a calculated decision to do as little re-capping as possible and although it took me awhile to re-call the large cast of characters, I appreciated this maneuver and definitely felt that it added to the excellence of the novel. Insurgent’s plot is heart-pounding, mysterious, and will most definitely keep you on your toes. We, as the reader, are able to experience so much more of the remarkable world Roth has created. Her world-building skills are fantastic and through Tris, we not only learn more about the other factions, but get to experience them firsthand. I absolutely loved this aspect of Insurgent – the part where we get to see beyond Abnegation and Dauntless and are able to experience Amity, Candor, Erudite, and even the faction-less. Nevertheless, the best quality about Insurgent is its complex characters.

Tris has always been a likeable, brave, and inspirational character, but she truly comes alive in Insurgent. Roth uses her first person perspective very effectively, realistically conveying Tris’s conflicted feelings, emotions, and thoughts. Unlike most dystopian novels, like The Hunger Games for example where we are barely allowed to see the emotional impact that ruthless murder has on Katniss, we are given a very clear picture of the impact that the deaths of Will and Tris’s parents have on her. The manner in which Roth wrote about Tris’s grief was not only palpable, but it was especially believable in relation to Tris and her personality. I found myself in awe of the manner in which Roth dealt with this complex situation and its effect on Tris’s evolving and intriguing personality. Furthermore, Roth continually reminds Tris – and the reader – that Tris is not perfect. Tris makes mistakes, she commits ruthless acts of violence, and she is confused about her place in the world. Yet, it is through these imperfections that we can see the true beauty of Tris and her personality and Roth never allows us to forget that.

Okay, now for the part of this review you’ve all been waiting four. (Ha! See what I did there?) Four! Tobias! What can I even begin to say about him? In Divergent, I have to admit that I mostly appreciated Four for his swoon-worthiness. I admired his deep personality, his various fears, and his evolving romance with Tris, but I never felt as if I truly knew him. For me, he was just Four – mysterious, handsome, and forbidden. However, in Insurgent, we no longer see Four; we see Tobias. I am generally not a huge fan of mid-novel name changes, but Roth’s name change actually had a very significant impact and meaning to the story. Tobias is, in many ways, a completely different person from Four. Where Four is strong, powerful, and utterly Dauntless, Tobias is vulnerable, conflicted, and all the more tangible. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I loved Tobias’ character growth even more than I loved that of Tris.

In Insurgent, we are given a remarkable amount of insight into Tobias’ past and just how deeply that affects him, his decisions, and his overall personality. His relationship with his father takes on a new and important role not only in his life, but in now people see Tobias in their life as well. While Tris was coping with issues of loss, Tobias is left dealing with his broken family – one that abandoned him at a young age. His journey to find his inner strength and overcome everything he has ever known and learned is remarkable. I find myself loving him even more now after seeing his vulnerabilities, deepest fears, and hidden brutalities. I am constantly blown away by how deep the characters in Roth’s series are, and Tobias is no exception.

Now, you should know that there is not even one single, tiny, itsy-bitsy hint of a love triangle! If that doesn’t make your day, I don’t know what will (: Throughout the novel, Tobias and Tris are forced to acknowledge that although they love each other, they may not know or trust each other as much as they think. The relationship between them is perfectly depicted and plays out extremely realistically. They do have their issues and their resolutions take time, effort, and understanding on both sides, but it is evident that they always care for one another. Yet, despite their romantic issues (or lack of in the beginning of the novel), they still remain to be incredibly three-dimensional and kick-ass characters on their own. Still, there is a quality about the two of them that make them so much stronger and more formidable as a joint force. Separately, they may be a challenge, but together, they are unstoppable. Their sharing of strength and lending of courage to each other is perhaps one of the most endearing and dearly loved aspects of their wonderful relationship.

Overall, Insurgent was marvelous. The ending, although not being a major shocker for me, would definitely have surprised readers and had them reeling. Personally, I could see it coming a few chapters ahead because of the subtle clues and because I’ve read so many dystopian novels in the past. It has been noted before and should probably be noted again that Veronica Roth’s debut series is by no means original. It is a typical YA dystopian setting with a scattering of unique elements. The ending to Insurgent is similar to that. Yet, what makes Roth’s series so loveable isn’t its plot, it’s the characters. The setting of Insurgent, despite being similar to a few other novels, still manages to amaze me with its brilliance. Nonetheless, it is the characters and their original and realistic development that truly make this series tick.

I loved Insurgent. It was a fast-paced, heart-pounding thriller with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader hooked. However, it was also a serious appraisal of grief and murder in a ruthless, destructive society and its impact on the individuals within. Insurgent was funny, adventurous, and incredibly deep. It was perhaps one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it certainly did not disappoint in any way. Insurgent is a remarkable read – one that will live up to and exceed every single one of your crazy expectations. So, be Dauntless – read it now!
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Apr 25, 2013 Estelle (E) rated it really liked it

4 stars... it was a good sequel, as in: it was very much following the story from the start.
However, I didn't find it as gripping this time

The end left me wodnering:

(view spoiler)

Great...

I got personnally confused with all the characters' names.. Couldn't remember who was who AND the major down point for me was
(view spoiler) ...more

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Jul 05, 2013 Aman rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-need-to-get-rid-of

Reviewed @ Enticed by Books

     This is going to be a tough one to review because I really don't know how I feel about it. I certainly didn't love Insurgent as much as Divergent , but I don't hate it either. I wouldn't classify it as a meh read because I did care about the story and the characters. When I look at the Divergent series as a whole, I LOVE where the story is heading, Veronica Roth did an amazing job with the plotting, but overall I wasn't invested in this particular sequel an Reviewed @ Enticed by Books

     This is going to be a tough one to review because I really don't know how I feel about it. I certainly didn't love Insurgent as much as Divergent , but I don't hate it either. I wouldn't classify it as a meh read because I did care about the story and the characters. When I look at the Divergent series as a whole, I LOVE where the story is heading, Veronica Roth did an amazing job with the plotting, but overall I wasn't invested in this particular sequel and it was specially hard for me to get back in the story after taking few intervals. So the only conclusion I can come up with is that Insurgent being a well written book on one hand is a poorly executed one on the other.

     Insurgent starts off at the exact moment where Divergent ended, the survivors of the Dauntless attack on Abnegation through stimulation are on a train for Amity where they hope to find shelter. Tris, Four, Marcus, Peter and Caleb were the only one on the train as far as I can remember. The purpose in Insurgent for Tris and Four was to find the reason why Erudite and Dauntless attacked Abnegation in the first place and what that means for the future of all the factions. What I loved the most in Insurgent was the diversity in the world. We heard about all the factions in the previous books, but in this one, we actually visited every single one of them and saw how they operated as a society. What surprised me the most about Candor and Amity was the strength they had, instead of me-me-me nature like the Dauntless and Erudite, both the former factions were together and united throughout the ordeal as individuals. I loved that!

     One of the major reason I didn't enjoy Insurgent that much was TRIS! I don't know what the hell happened with her, but she fucking changed. For the worst. Tris was stupid, dumb and careless! I get that she is going through tough times: her parents died, she killed Will, the world is dying, but COME ON! Every person in that world was going through shitty times, she's wasn't the only one and I can safely say that everyone else was handled their issues much better than Tris did. There were so many life or death moments where Tris just gave up and Four had to save her ass every fucking time. Why? Because she can't handle violence anymore! You've got to be kidding me! Where is that fucking awesome Divergent girl I loved? Where is she? Tris made me so mad, you can clearly tell by the number of times I used fuck in this paragraph alone. I mean there's no other expression that can describe my feeling so accurately.

     Overall, I'm not very happy with Insurgent , though I loved that it ended with a BANG! That definitely made me feel better about this series and it's direction. I'm really hoping that Tris gets her act together in Allegiant and stop being depressed all the time. Plus, I really wish she opens up more with Four, all the secrecy is not really helping their relationship. I'm not expecting anything from Allegiant but I'm still crossing my finger that it ends up blowing my mind and makes me fall in love with this series all over again. ...more

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