Divergent (Divergent, #1) in Multiculturalism in YA,Fantasy, Sci FI,Paranormal and fun books ;p

Aug 24, 2011 Karla rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: best-of-the-best

BRUTAL.

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Jul 19, 2012 Ariella rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: summer-reading

Very good. love the action and drama in this book. gets 5 stars

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Nov 09, 2011 Sasha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, dystopia

Divergent is a story about a dystopian world that is separated into factions: Dauntless, the fearless protectors; Abnegation, the selfless leaders; Erudite, the learned thinkers; Candor, the honest politicians; and Amity, the loving harmonizers. Each child of society must choose which faction they wish to commit themselves to for the rest of their lives at the age of sixteen. Beatrice, or “Tris,” Prior is a young teen whose imminent sixteenth birthday means that she will get to choose whether or Divergent is a story about a dystopian world that is separated into factions: Dauntless, the fearless protectors; Abnegation, the selfless leaders; Erudite, the learned thinkers; Candor, the honest politicians; and Amity, the loving harmonizers. Each child of society must choose which faction they wish to commit themselves to for the rest of their lives at the age of sixteen. Beatrice, or “Tris,” Prior is a young teen whose imminent sixteenth birthday means that she will get to choose whether or not she wants to stay within the faction she was raised (Abnegation), or commit to an entirely different one. To her surprise and everyone else’s, she decides to join the Dauntless, the rebellious, danger-loving faction which polices the city bounds. However, it becomes clear that Tris is no ordinary girl, and there are forces at work that wish to wage war between factions.

Let’s start with the book’s plot. Like I’ve said in previous reviews and blog posts, I kind of feel like the dystopian genre in young adult fiction is becoming completely oversaturated. Not to the extent that vampires and supernatural creatures have been over-exposed, but close. However, Divergent manages to take this genre and inject some new life into it. I found myself engrossed in the idea of having a dystopian society where everyone was split up into factions. In fact, throughout the entire book, I kept asking myself which one I would choose. At the beginning of the book I was of one opinion, but by book’s end, I had completely changed my mind! That’s one of the ways I really liked this book—even though it was a dystopian future that you couldn’t identify with, you could still immerse yourself in the world on a personal level.

The main character, Tris, started out as really interesting, but she slowly dissolved before my eyes into a Mary Sue. She finds out that she’s a [spoiler], and initially she’s horrified by it, but then as she comes into it more she starts acting really egotistical about it. Of course, as soon as she begins training to be a Dauntless, she proves herself to be the best recruit there, without trying and without wanting to be. Plus, she repeatedly refers to herself as plain, but she clearly isn’t because she’s the object of affection of at least two characters in the book, and once she puts on makeup and gets a few tattoos suddenly she’s “striking.” I wouldn’t have minded that so much but once Tris starts becoming more confident in herself she kind of loses sight of who she is and becomes arrogant and full of herself, which made her really annoying.

Four, a Dauntless leader and Tris’ love interest, is mysterious and just the right amount of sexy. I actually would have loved to read about the events in the book from his perspective instead of hers… he seemed like he had more depth to his character than Tris, despite the fact that he got a relatively small amount of screentime. The supporting cast was really interesting as well, especially Tris’ fellow recruits, and her arch-enemy and rival Peter. I’ll be keeping an eye on him in future books.

Divergent was a fantastic read. It was one of those books where you were completely immersed in the story from the off, with characters that were fun and engaging and a dystopian theme that just worked. With the war between factions only just beginning, I can’t wait to see how the aftermath of the events in Divergent is dealt with in Insurgent.
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Feb 20, 2011 Crystal rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, science-fiction, dystopian

Another dystopian action/adventure type book has been born. :) It had bits and pieces that reminded me of Hunger Games and Uglies. Very quick read, but had some thought provoking lines. "Mom used to say that politeness is deception in pretty packaging." (p.81) and "We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another." (p. 206) ...more

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