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Divergent (Divergent, #1)

Veronica Roth

Start date: March 1, 2013

Finish date: March 31, 2013

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What Members Thought

Jul 19, 2012 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2012, young-adult

Sometimes on-line buzz and accolades can set expectations so high that no novel could ever hope to live up to them. That may be the case with Veronica Roth's Divergent, a novel that I think if I'd read it when it first came out, I might love a bit more than I did.

Reading the novel now as the second installment hits shelves and the third one is on the horizon, I couldn't stop myself wondering just what all the hype was about. It's not that Divergent is a terrible novel.

In a near future dystopia Sometimes on-line buzz and accolades can set expectations so high that no novel could ever hope to live up to them. That may be the case with Veronica Roth's Divergent, a novel that I think if I'd read it when it first came out, I might love a bit more than I did.

Reading the novel now as the second installment hits shelves and the third one is on the horizon, I couldn't stop myself wondering just what all the hype was about. It's not that Divergent is a terrible novel.

In a near future dystopia, society is divided up into five factions--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). When young people turn sixteen, they are given the choice of remaining with the current faction or choosing a new one. Each person is given a test to help determine which faction is the best "fit" for each one. However, should you choose a faction and wash-out, then you are sent to be one of the faction-less, performing the most menial tasks and having little or no room for growth within the society Roth creates.

Our heroine, Beatrice, undergoes the tests and finds that she's considered divergent. It's never really explained what this means exactly, but the reaction by her tester indicates this may not be a good thing. Born into the Abnegation faction, Beatrice (who renames herself Tris), chooses to be part of the Dauntless faction. While she makes an early first impression by being the first to leap from a moving train onto a rooftop in the Dauntless area, Tris is soon in a physical and mental battle to prove she should become part of the Duantless faction.

Along the way, Tris makes some enemies and becomes part of a trio of friends. She also comes across her mentor, a boy known as Four. Tris and Four share a unique connection, which if you're paying attention to the novel, it's fairly obvious what the connection will be long before Roth gets around to revealing it.

My biggest issue with Divergent is how incredibly familiar all of it feels. There are bits and pieces from a lot of other successful young adult series sprinkled throughout the story. And while parts of Tris' story are engaging enough, there are still long segments where it feels like the plot isn't developing in any significant way nor is there enough character growth either. It's not helped by the fact that I figured out most of the major revelations that take place in the novel's final third based on the minor clues in the early going and being familiar with this corner of the young adult genre world.

A lot of this falls at the feet of Tris, who never really feels all the engaging as a character. I'm intrigued enough by her status as Divergent to consider picking up the second installment and seeing what develops next for her, but it's not a novel that will be high on my TBR list. I'm hoping the next installment may pick up the pace a bit and find Roth toying a bit more with the familiar conventions of the genre. ...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Trisha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I finished this last night (after not being able to put it down all afternoon) and thought "Hmm, it was okay. i won't be reading the 2nd one". but, just as soon as I decide it was meh.....

it's been in my head all day.

I liked it more than I thought I did, although I still don't know if I'm compelled enough to keep reading. we'll see I guess. ...more

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Jan 21, 2014 Jennifer rated it liked it

I read a sample of this ages ago and didn't think I wanted to read it. But then i saw a poster for the movie, thought it is something I'm likely to want to see, so decided to read the book first :-)

I really enjoyed it. I like that Tris is a tough, powerful girl and that Four likes that in her. The dystopian world in Divergent is interesting, and I am intrigued by the world created in the book. I was left wanting more, and to find out what is next once the accepted social order has fallen apart. ...more

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Dec 02, 2013 Trisha rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, dystopian

Fabulous novel! Similar to The Hunger Games with a dystopian future and divided factions, but it goes in a different direction where you are tested at a certain age to see which faction you most relate to, then you can choose which faction you will belong to. But there is also the risk of being factionless, an outcast from society. There's really not much more I can say without giving away spoilers, but it's one of those novels that you just can't put down. Loved it! ...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Elizabeth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was a good book. Easy to read and it was different. It broke from the cookiecutter mold that mostdystopian books have been fit into. The only thing I didnt like was I felt that the ending was rushed a bit. Too Much too soon.

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