can someone explain how/why you gave a 5 star rating

[Rob]

I need someone to expain to me how/why you gave this book 5*. I gave divergent 5* because it struck a cord with me (have a thing for blondes lol). But if you just go off the book itself it was probably close to 4*. Insurgent i gave 4* but really closer to 3*. Allegiant did nothing for me it was like i read it just to be done it didnt hook you like the first 2. Plots were all over the place. SPOILER i really didnt care Tris died by the time i got to it. I was like ok that sucks but by that point i didnt care i just wanted book to be done. So what im asking how did you Allegiant 5* as a stand alone book.

[Memi]

Regardless of my strong dislike and rants about the ending the book as a whole was not a good one. It was all over the place and disjointed. As a stand along book it is very weak, very weak. I wish there was a half star or negative star.

[Annie]

I will proudly stand and defend Allegiant for as long as it's needed. Tris needed to die. I was horribly upset, and of course there were tears (still are if I'm being honest), but a "happily ever after" doesn't fit into this trilogy. All three books are completely wrecked with tragedy, the third couldn't have ended perfectly while staying true to the plot. Tris is both extremely brave and selfless - both dauntless and abnegation. She's struggled with both sides of herself, trying to see how they fit together throughout the three books. When Tris sacrifices herself in order to save her brother and her city, both her abnegation and dauntless tendencies seem to fuse together. In addition, as my friend Emily put it, did you sincerely picture Tris dying quietly of old age? Tris herself is an explosion, affecting everyone and everything she comes in contact with - her death had to represent that.
Lastly, I loved the fast pace of Allegiant, and the critically deeper understanding of Tobias from the perspective switches. I have the upmost respect for Veronica Roth for not taking the easy way out and making Tris survive in order to please readers.

[[deleted user]]

Annie wrote: "I will proudly stand and defend Allegiant for as long as it's needed. Tris needed to die. I was horribly upset, and of course there were tears (still are if I'm being honest), but a "happily ever a..."

I completely agree with this!!!!

[emily]

I agree with Annie as well (we've talked a lot about this). I feel extremely protective of this book and Veronica. The fact that she ended the book the way it needed to end rather then the way readers wanted it to end, even if that meant getting rid of the main characters, makes her very courageous and different from a lot of authors. I admire and respect her after Allegiant more than I did before.

[Ella]

Annie wrote: "I will proudly stand and defend Allegiant for as long as it's needed. Tris needed to die. I was horribly upset, and of course there were tears (still are if I'm being honest), but a "happily ever a..."

YES! I agree with everything you said. I will defend this book until the day I die. Tris could never have died quietly of old age. It's not who she is at all. And I thought the perspective changes were really interesting because the only time we hear about Tobias is through Tris, and she's in love with him so of course it's going to be biased. And I applaud Veronica Roth for standing through all the negativity towards her and for writing the story that she wanted to write, not writing the story that would please the most people.

[ShingetsuMoon]

I gave it 5 stars because Veronica Roth stayed true to her characters even though she must have known that her readers could end up hating her for the way Allegiant was going to end.

Sure it would have been nice for Tris to live but would it really have been realistic? Especially considering how many other characters have died throughout the story? Would it have been in keeping with her character? Sure Tris could have let Caleb sacrifice himself but she never would have been able to live in peace knowing that she let her brother die for the wrong reasons.

One author I very much respect said that his own series was one giant book split up into separate volumes and that's how I feel about the Divergent series as well. You can't look at Allegiant as a stand alone book because it isn't. Its a book that is intended to tie two other book together and finish off the series.

No book is perfect, but I do feel that VR did a good job in trying to finish everything. Sure I had a few issues with the plot and the way things were handled, but it didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the book.

Also Veronica Roth has a section in the Collector's Edition of Insurgent where she talks all about character death in her stories. I very much recommend taking a look at it whenever possible as it was quite interesting, at least to me.

Now, yes I would have preferred it if Tris lived, but considering the setting and how much tragedy they had already faced I honestly can't say that it would have felt realistic to me if she had lived. Tris' bravery and struggle wouldn't have felt nearly as real to me without it.

War isn't pretty. People die. Often times those who least deserve it.

The last thing I want to add is that writers should write a story for themselves first and their readers second. Obviously all writers want to please their audience, but they also have to write the story that they themselves want to see and want to read. Even if that means writing something you know a lot of people may not want to see or that they don't feel is fair.

But that is just my opinion on the matter.

[Rob]

Im not sating the book didnt deserve 5* because Tris died. If Tris lived in Allegiant the way its writing i would still give it 1-2*s. My biggest peaves in this book have nothing to do with Tris dieing. Its everything else plots people acting nothing like they did in first to books.

[Cinthya_ch]

Even with a happy ending I would have give the book the same rating (3 stars), the plot twists were all over the place. The whole time they were inside an airport after the craziness of the first 2 books. Peter and Four were out of character. The POVs were confusing, I lost count of the times I thought it was Tris telling the story when it was a Four chapter. Many new characters and some of them were useless. Irrelevant things happening all the time and stupid fights between Four and Tris that were meh!

[ShingetsuMoon]

I agree that the characters were different, but then again I said the same thing to myself when I was reading Insurgent for the first time and I saw how Tris was acting.

However, at the same time these are basically teenagers in the middle of a war. Teenagers who have seen people they loved die or have even murdered others themselves.

It would be impossible for them not to change somewhat. Now whether that change is for better or for worse is up to each individual reader.

And I agree that some of the plot points could have been handled better. But then again this is Veronica Roth's very first published series. She still has plenty of room to grow as an author.

So while I would have liked to see some of the plot issues handled better and some plot holes explained I'm willing to give her some leeway. But a lot of that is because it didn't severely impact my own enjoyment of the book. If it was a big problem for someone else and kept them from enjoying the book or the series when then there's not much else I can really say to that.

[Tahreem]

I gave it 5 because the ending hit me hard. I never get upset when a character dies. I didn't cry when Dumbledore died, or Sirius or Fred. I cant remember the last book that made me this upset before Allegiant showed up. This is the beauty of this book. I have been a mess for three days because of the ending, and the writer deserves a credit for that because she made us fall in love with her characters so much that everyone has lost their minds over Tris' death. I'm sad, of course, but I like this sadness.

Now, about the plot. Everyone is saying that it was predictable, for which I totally agree. But when I look through the writer's eye I find it a one of a few logical explanations of why the world would turn out the way it did in Divergent. I think Veronica made a smart move by not letting her imagination go wild and come up with some crazy laughable explanation. The world out of the fence worked for me.

People are also complaining over Tobias' role in the book, his trust issues with Tris and irrational acts. I dont know why people have forgotten that these signs are also shown in Divergent. And even for a strong guy like him, finding out that you're Genetically Damaged is a huge blow on a person's self-esteem. And whatever actions he took after that were out of desperation. People who understand Harry Potter know that even the most powerfully built characters are flawed and no one is perfect.

I loved Allegiant and wish best of luck for the movies.

[Rob]

Cinthya_ch wrote: "Even with a happy ending I would have give the book the same rating (3 stars), the plot twists were all over the place. The whole time they were inside an airport after the craziness of the first 2..."

Did you get the feeling that she chose to make Four seem weaker to make Tris look stronger?

[Emily]

Actually, I initially gave it four because I was upset about Tris dying, but on further thought, I'm actually giving it a five.

Tris died in away that was frustrating and anticlimactic. She survived impossible odds just to be shot down. That's terrible, but the point of books is that they reflect something that's true about real life. Someone strong dying in a pointless way? That is very real. Think about soldiers who come home from war just to be killed in a car accident. Things like that happen. It's sad and depressing, but it's life. Divergent was never a great book to escape reality. It's a dystopian novel, after all.

I also found the plot of the experiment fascinating and really, really enjoyed it. I love it when fantasy books draw historical parallels, and Roth is alluding to the eugenics movement, which is something I studied in college and find really interesting (and horrible).

I loved reading from Tobias' POV. I think he's an interesting and very different sort of YA hero, and I like him a lot. I like that Roth didn't shy away from his flaws and insecurities, but that she really delved into them. Tobias has always been unsure of himself and hung up on his childhood (which, honestly, is 100% understandable. Anyone who thinks a person can get over years and years of abuse in a matter of only two years is really delusional). I'm glad that she exposed those aspects of him in more depth and didn't attempt to make him this great, perfect hero. His flaws are exactly why I like him, because otherwise, he might be kind of boring.

Finally, I don't think the ending was just a black hole of sadness. Did I cry? Yes. Did I want a happy ending? Yes, actually, I did, but I knew going into it that I might not get one. Despite that, I think the way that Tobias was able to lead a productive life through his grief and the fact that Tobias, Christina, Zeke, and Cara all chose to support each other despite the fact that it must have been extremely difficult for them was really beautiful. I think that can give people hope knowing that even if you lose the person closest to you, you won't necessarily end up alone. I think that's an important message to send readers, because we're all going to face loss like that at some point if we haven't already.

[Nikki]

The writing was beautiful, and I felt something from this story. I five starred it because she completed the series and tied up lose ends. Im impressed because she wrote the story she felt true to, even if it meant upsetting her fans.

[Cinthya_ch]

Rob wrote: "Cinthya_ch wrote: "Even with a happy ending I would have give the book the same rating (3 stars), the plot twists were all over the place. The whole time they were inside an airport after the crazi..."

Totally but he was so analytical the first 2 books and in Allegiant he trusted that Nita girl without thinking things twice. Also he lived in Dauntless under his own belief system and in this book when they told him he was not Divergent he was a wreck. I still love him but he was another character for me

[Amanda]

I gave it a five because
1. it had me eager to find out what happens next
2. It went to a new location, there was only so much you could do in the factions before it got boring

3. it had me in tears, both when Tris died and when Uriah died. If I felt sad to tears over someone who is not real, the author did her job.

4. it was a nice wrap up

5. The epilogue gave me shivers. it was a perfect way to honor Tris's memory.

[Carlota]

Because it has made me cry

[Carlota]

But it's true, the book is not the best.

[Carlota]

Anyway, the end is shocking in good shape.

[Memi]

Amanda wrote: "I gave it a five because
1. it had me eager to find out what happens next
2. It went to a new location, there was only so much you could do in the factions before it got boring

3. it had me in ..."
I gave 1 star because

1. IT SUCKED!!!!!

Would have given it a half if that were possible.

[Amanda]

I think the 5 starers need to form our own faction ;)

[Memi]

Amanda wrote: "I think the 5 starers need to form our own faction ;)"

Yeah I think you are right.

[Tamara]

Honestly, I think how it ends was the part most in keeping with the series. The pov switches were very confusing to me and I had no idea how she was going to tie up the whole experiment thread, and I'm not sure she did. I gave the book a 4* because I appreciate that she did the hard thing, the thing that truly made the most sense for the character and series. But I think I'm changing it to 3* because the rest of the book was very disjointed and I'm still not sure why David was waiting in there

[Cassie C]

Annie wrote: "I will proudly stand and defend Allegiant for as long as it's needed. Tris needed to die. I was horribly upset, and of course there were tears (still are if I'm being honest), but a "happily ever a..."

I completely agree with you! I honestly was expected more people to die because this is war. This series was never meant to end with a happily ever after, no matter how much people wanted it. Ms. Roth did what she thought was fitting, and honestly, that's good enough for me!

[Ella]

Amber wrote: "I gave it 5 stars because Veronica Roth stayed true to her characters even though she must have known that her readers could end up hating her for the way Allegiant was going to end.

Sure it would..."

Thank you! I completely agree with everything you said, Amber.

[Memi]

Ella wrote: "Amber wrote: "I gave it 5 stars because Veronica Roth stayed true to her characters even though she must have known that her readers could end up hating her for the way Allegiant was going to end.
..."

Yeah she stayed true to herself and her vision knowing her readers would hate her but she has lost A LOT of fans. I ask Veronica Roth this, was it worth it? staying true to this convoluted idea that your fans would blindly go along with you killing off Tris? I think the hate and backlash loosing a large part of your fan base was more than what you and Harper Collins thought. You grossly underestimated your core fan base. Though her answer may be yes the project sales in the long run will suffer. The movie franchise may suffer and her ability for readers to want to read anything else she writes may suffer. Risky move that doesn't seem to have an upside but she can be happy with her with her staying true to herself.

[Victoria]

Cinthya_ch wrote: "Even with a happy ending I would have give the book the same rating (3 stars), the plot twists were all over the place. The whole time they were inside an airport after the craziness of the first 2..."

I couldn't agree more. The alternating POVs were irritating and the overall plot development was weak... On reflection I've even lowered my rating to 2. I totally understand Roth's logic in killing Tris, but to leave Tobias to a normal reality thereafter just doesn't fit. At 89% I read about Tris and gasped and shouted 'NO' but waited for that last 11% to deliver the mother of all plot twists. But no, Roth let the opportunity pass her by and ended what could have been an amazing trilogy in a very beige place.

[Lynne]

People rate books for many different reasons. I don't think it's right to call someone out if they have a rating that's different from our own. So many things go into rating a book. It's each individual's choice.

[Cassie C]

Lynne wrote: "People rate books for many different reasons. I don't think it's right to call someone out if they have a rating that's different from our own. So many things go into rating a book. It's each indiv..."

Very well said Lynne. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and for readers who enjoyed the book, let's just leave it at that, you know? This is definitely a book a lot of fans will hate, but a lot will also enjoy.

[Rob]

Amanda wrote: "I think the 5 starers need to form our own faction ;)"

ROTFLMAO

[Haley]

honestly, i didn't like the book, but I REALLY enjoyed reading it. I loved reading it until the very end, and I don't want the ending to be the only reason i give the book a low rating.

[Madi]

I gave it a five star rating because I liked how we got to see tris;s point of view and tobias. I was also crying during the whole book. But besides the parts where I wanted to through it at the wall I really liked it. I agree that some parts were boring but, I really liked it not as much as the others but I still liked it. I hated how tris died I was reading it at school and almost started crying in english class. Even after she died Icouldn't pick up the book without crying.

[Swathika]

I gave 5 stars as at tribute to Tris! (weeps)

[Mirkat]

I gave it five stars. My review is here.

[Marc]

I pretty much agree with all the people who defended their 5 stars above. I really loved the existentialist questions the book created. I don't think Tobias suddenly grew whiny, it was just that all the bad stuff that happened, all the tragedies, suddenly felt inconsequential when they realized they were just guinea pigs, carefully observed without getting any help. Especially when Tobias realized that his struggle to be strong, to be good - would be pointless if his genes never allowed him to actually be more than what they determined. It was like the struggle in Chicago was all they new. It was their whole world and they drew strength from deep within, because they though that their actions mattered in the big scheme. That they mattered. I didn't think the struggle of the city was simply left undone, it was more that it was put into perspective and it nearly broke the characters we fell in love with. I wondered how they would up the stakes and actually loved the way it was done - never saw it coming!

And the thing with Tris - it may be the most critiqued event of the book and I've read so many times how pointless her death was. I completely disagree, because Tris was completely right! She was able to fight the death serum. Let's just assume she let Caleb do it. Sure - he was a traitor and his true feelings are yet a mystery. But even if by a miracle he would have managed what Tris couldn't - namely get that suit on, as he would have dropped dead otherwise before being able to do damage, there still would have been David. Who among you really believes that Caleb would have been able to restart the reset? 'Cause so many have been unsatisfied that the struggle in Chicago came into the background - but if Tris wouldn't have sacrificed herself, which btw actually made me smile with tear-filled eyes, because it was brutally perfect for the series, everyone in the city would have lost their memories and become an empty shell for a restart. As would the other four experiments. Her sacrifice changed everything!!!

[Lynne]

I agree that I didn't have too much trouble with Tobias's internal voice, apart from the fact that it sounded too much like Tris. There needed to be more difference in the style between the two, which is hard to do, but necessary if you're writing in first person between two different points of view. However, considering all he was going through, I didn't think he was weak.

However, I disagree over Tris. While taking Caleb's place was in character, other things, like suddenly all her Dauntless training going straight out the window (forgetting her gun. I mean, really? That was a bit too coincidental for me). No, VR seemed to be doing whatever it took to make sure she died, even if it meant bending things she'd already established, whereas her death should have felt like a natural extension to the story. It did not, to me, anyway.

[Marc]

There were definitively some plot holes - the thing that bothered me most was the solution to the factionless domination. It did seem out of character for 4's mom to suddenly decide that being a mother is more important than the cause she spent her whole life on. Though I loved that 4 went to kill her and gave her a choice, though stupid it may have been had his mom not suddenly have a complete and total change of heart. Truely, though, there were so many great ideas and moments in the story and I loved it so much that anything other than 5 stars was out of question for me. Without the emotional response, the plot holes would have perhaps dragged it down to 3.75-4 stars. I really, really loved it though.

[Majo]

Annie wrote: "I will proudly stand and defend Allegiant for as long as it's needed. Tris needed to die. I was horribly upset, and of course there were tears (still are if I'm being honest), but a "happily ever a..."

someone finally gets it.... i thought was the only one that really liked Allegiant and that truly understand why everything had to be that way

[Diane]

Ella wrote: "Amber wrote: "I gave it 5 stars because Veronica Roth stayed true to her characters even though she must have known that her readers could end up hating her for the way Allegiant was going to end.
..."

Certainly she has the right to end it anyway she wants. I read it simply as a continuation of the trilogy, and did not think the book stands up to the others. Overall, I'd probably rank them 4, 3, and 1, and wish I would have skipped Allegiant.

[anthea]

Allegiant book giveaway ends tomorrow! So if you haven't yet entered, jump on over to my blog and do so right now!

http://originalbooker.blogspot.co.uk/...

As for my rating, check out my allegiant book review!
http://originalbooker.blogspot.co.uk/...

[Shantal]

Annie wrote: "I will proudly stand and defend Allegiant for as long as it's needed. Tris needed to die. I was horribly upset, and of course there were tears (still are if I'm being honest), but a "happily ever a..."

I do agree with you that Tris needed to die but if we're being honest, that's because I hated her character. She was horribly weak(emotionally and mentally) and annoying. However,if I learned anything from my BEGINNING creative writing class, it's bad writing to kill the main character(or any characters)unless it adds to plot. Tris's death did nothing except make Tobias into a whiny character. I get it, he was mourning, but Tris's death did not contribute anything and was virtually useless. It didn't Roth did take the easy way out. She did not care enough about her characters and yet expected us to. Tris could have easily saved others without dying, but Roth obviously was just being lazy in my opinion.
As for the switching perspectives, Tobias was horribly out of character ever since Insurgent. I have no idea what the author was trying to do with him.
Plus with all the plot holes, unnecessary romance and eye-rolling angst, I had to rate it a 1 star.

[[deleted user]]

Annie wrote: "I will proudly stand and defend Allegiant for as long as it's needed. Tris needed to die. I was horribly upset, and of course there were tears (still are if I'm being honest), but a "happily ever a..."

To be honest I think that Veronica Roth did the right thing. It was upsetting and sad, but the author didn't take the easy way out like most authors do with happy ending. I agree with Annie and will stand up and defend Allegiant.