Insurgent (Divergent) (edition 2012)

I loved Divergent. Insurgent was good, but not nearly as good.

First, I think a sequel should be able to stand alone and Insurgent could not. Second, I hated, HATED the ending. It felt terribly incomplete. Leaving it open for another? Maybe, but you still need some sense of resolution and I didn't get it here.

The rest of the story was good, if somewhat chaotic. Tons of action, and maybe a little too much.

I liked it. I didn't love it. ( )

While I'm not quite fond of Divergent's way-too-cliffhanger ending, it definitely succeed in making me want to read the sequel. So, when I finally had my hand on this book, it took me only a few hours and I've done reading it already.

Insurgent took us into Tris's escape from Abnegation District, along with Four, Caleb, and Matias. With Dauntless people being brainwashed with the serum and Erudite backing up the cruel plan. Tris and Four was planning to get help from the factionless, as well as the rebelling Dauntless. And when they infiltrated the Erudite headquarter, they both find that what seemingly good might not be true in the end, and what they used to believe could change their life forever.

The character developing was greatly improved in this second installment , with Tris being stronger and more “Dauntless”, and Four continue showing more and more feeling, as well as tenderness and anger. I personally love how Four-who seemed flat in the previous book-becoming more human in this book. The twist that Veronica Roth made with Four’s parents, Christina, and Caleb also made things way more interesting.

The plot was fast paced without being too fast, and the ending was more satisfying eventhough it still left us with a cliffhanger. The story was sagging in some parts, like when Tris was in Amity, and when she came back to Dauntless’s headquater. But on average, it was quite good, with some unexpected turnout that left reader wanting for more.

One thing that this book lacked was surprise. What I mean is not a surprising plot, or surprising character development, etc, but rather surprise by adding new thing. There aren’t many notable new thing that was added to this book, and that could be kind of boring

Overall, I found Insurgent a lot better in many aspect that its previous book, and if you love Divergent as well as dystopian genre, you might not regret trying out this book.

There were a couple things that bothered me in this one but I'm not even going to go into them because they passed and I still had no need for contemplation before sticking with 5 stars. I still like The Hunger Games better but this forced itself into a comparison. I will be there when the doors open on release day for the next book. ( )

I didn't know what she was going to do to carry on from where Divergent left us, but she did by telling a completely different story this time. I felt like some of the relationships weren't drawn as deeply as they were in Divergent, which left me feeling a bit more emotionally distant this time, but the characters were still complicated and the book had a quick pace and I was left feeling very satisfied. Or at least, as satisfied as one can be with a cliffhanger ending like that. When does the next book come out again...?

After the attack initiated by Erudite, Tris, Tobias and the refugees from Dauntless and Abnegation must now hide from the Erudite as they come up with a plan to prevent any further acts of manipulation and mind control. Tobias feels it is necessary to join forces with the Factionless and launch a counterattack on the Erudite while Tris is more concerned about uncovering the motivation behind the attack on the Abnegation. In the end, the truth that Tris discovers turns the society upside-down. "Insurgent" was another suspenseful read that kept me turning the pages well into the night. I can't wait to see how this trilogy will end. ( )