Allegiant (Divergent, #3)

by Veronica Roth

I used to think that when people fell in love, they just landed where they landed, and they had no choice in the matter afterward. And maybe that’s true of beginnings, but it’s not true of this, now. I fell in love with him. But I don’t just stay with him by default as if there’s no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.

This is basically what I think about relationships. When people say commitment isn’t easy, they don’t just mean fighting over one person leaving all the drawers and cabinets open (that would be me, in my marriage)—they mean it really isn’t easy. But I didn’t really have an interest in making Tris and Four’s relationship the central conflict of any book. They make plenty of trouble for themselves, but it’s not usually with each other, at least not long-term. I like the contrast between their relative stability (not without conflict, but still: stability) and the instability of their worlds.