Divergent

~I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.~

I know that people speak very poorly of YA fiction these days, putting it all into the same class and category as Twilight.. but they're wrong. And not only are they wrong, they're missing out on some great writing as well. Sure, there's a smattering of teen-aged angst here, but frankly, you could take this entire book, slap some adults in it instead, and have the same book. In other words, it's good. It's well written. It's got good pacing. The plot is interesting. The characters are engaging. And most of all, I really, really want to know what is going on!

I think that a lot of today's writers are being quite savvy hitting the YA show more market, especially in the dystopian genre. When you're dealing with the ills of society, whether from the breaking down a supposedly perfect one, or building up a horribly destroyed one, youth are the perfect protagonists for this. In real world terms, youth are the ones who will be taking up any mantle of change that is to be brought about. And in story terms, youth act as a perfect catalyst in the dynamics of the story cycle that science fiction and fantasy use (that is, the enabling of change through the disenfranchised).

Could it be better written? Probably. Have I read worse? Dear gods, yes. Was this worth my time to read and would I recommend it? Oh, hells, yes. And I do. show less

This book often gets compared with Hunger Games but there's really only a hint of that in its style and one or two plot points. It feels more like Uglies mixed with the Giver and a pinch of Harry Potter. there’s even a sci-fi version of the sorting hat and "factions" that loosely align with the Hogwarts houses in the Potterverse: Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, Erudite, and Candor. Then, of course, there are the Divergent. People who fall into this category aren't part of any one faction; they can join them but they don't ever really belong because they "diverge" constantly from their set patterns of thinking.

clearly written with no frills, the story takes us along fairly quickly without taking a breath. i found myself halfway through show more and not caring. largely, i think this has to do with the fact that i just don’t believe it. the author isn’t doing a good job of suspending my disbelief.

the main thing i have trouble with? Among other things, the casual way violence happens. that is, the initiates are expected to fight one another for a position in the faction that they chose. so, really, the initiations for Dauntless are really auditions/try-outs rather than true initiations or job-placement tests.

and when i say fight, i mean fist fight like in Fight Club. i have a hard time believing that teenagers who have lived in a non-violent society like they describe in this book would be ok with it. i remember high school and how gut-wrenchingly stressful the thought of fights were and Roth has the characters barely bat an eye. i’m also pretty sure that she’s trying to be gritty but really has not a clue about actual fights. kicking someone in the face or the stomach can KILL them or disfigure them permanently. Instead, it seems like she's gotten her information from cartoons and old Hollywood westerns. i do NOT believe that the Dauntless faction would allow such wholesale damaging of potential members. i might believe this had she had a throwaway scene or two nearer the beginning that described Dauntless members taking part in violent martial arts and sports contests or something but there was nothing like this. and all the kids are just ok with it. AND it never happens outside of the initiation area- unless it’s to stick a knife in someone’s eye or attempt to throw them over a railing. wow. the impact of that was just NOT enough.

She also seems to lack some understanding of military strategy, tactics, and learning curves in general. Events happen near the end that feel forced and contrived. Within just a few weeks (?) we are supposed to believe that the main character becomes a badass, able to take out more seasoned people just because she's mostly fearless? Things went entirely too smoothly for her. There are also deaths that occur that feel hollow and hackneyed, inserted purely for drama when, in fact, they are pointless and unnecessary.

i really don’t know where she’s going but it’s not feeling believable. it’s missing something vital. i’m not sure i will read the other books. show less

We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.

I first came across Divergent last year (what can I say? I’m always late to the party!) when I heard about the film of it. To tell the truth, it sounded awfully like one of those books which has spawned as a result of The Hunger Games. Now, as I’ve mentioned before, The Hunger Games really wasn’t my bag. I found Katniss incredibly obnoxious at the time and I generally found it pretty predictable. However, I think I brought a lot of prejudice in terms of my expectations of literature and particularly young adult literature at that time. To that end, I’m definitely going to give it another go at some point this year.

But this show more isn’t about the Hunger Games, this is about Divergent.

I absolutely adored it.

To me, this book is the ultimate “suspend your disbelief” book. No, the world-building doesn’t make a lick of sense. It’s not a 1984 kind of dystopian, in the sense that you can pinpoint areas of that society which are relevant and even comparable to ours. Divergent is the sort of book where you either accept the initial premise for what it is, or you don’t. If you can’t, then you’re probably not going to enjoy the book. That’s not a criticism. There are things, such as The Hunger Games, for which have not been able to suspend my disbelief, but many others have. However, Divergent just grabbed me. It was exactly what I needed to start my year off with: easy to read, well-paced, and just plain fun.

What really sold me on it was Tris. I really loved her. One of the great things about her characterisation is that she finds self-belief pretty rapidly over the course of the novel. Even right at the start, when she’s chosing her faction, she makes a decision based on her own inner compass and for no reason other than that. Too often, female protagonists in young adult novels suffer from either a lack of self-esteem (cf. Cath in Fangirl, which I disliked) or are pigeonholed into the strong action-girl emotionless role (which was my original problem with Katniss, though as I said, it will take a reread to discover whether I still feel the same way). To my mind, Tris is much more well rounded than this. I love that she has obviously negative traits - the impulsiveness that gives way to losing her temper, the cruelty that this engenders - and I love that she has strength in abundance, not just physically but mentally. She makes mistakes, but is pretty accepting of the fact that mistakes happen, and they can be forgiven, both by herself and others. At the same time, she has the tenacity not to forgive what should not be forgiven. She shows her strength to Four, but also allows herself to be vulnerable with him. She tells Four she isn’t pretty, but realises that whether she is or isn’t pretty isn’t the be all and end all of who she is anyway. And she never feels like she should have to apologise for what she is - Divergent - even though she has to hide it for her own safety.

That’s not to say I didn’t have any feelings for the supporting characters either. Four is a pretty decent character. I’d like to see more of what he’s like away from the construct of the Dauntless faction. I sometimes found it a little hard to get a sense of him as a fully realised person but I guess that reflects Tris’s perceptions of him as well. Christina is fantastic - again, she’s another female character who is entirely herself. And Al - the changes in his character were something I could have not predicted. Roth did a very good job of making you feel conflicted over his part in proceedings. If I had one criticism of the characterisation it’s that some of the villains - Eric, Janine, and Marcus in particular - are a bit one-dimensional. Obviously it’s hard to say at this stage whether that will continue to be the case.

Otherwise, the plot was a touch predictable, but I wasn’t really too bothered by that. The breakneck pacing was so good that any of the more straightforward plot points were easily overlooked. Like I said, the world-building is something that will probably be a problem for some people. If you think too hard about the Factions and how this came about and how this world lasted - the whole thing comes a bit unstuck. However, if you can accept that these are the rules and this is how this world is - then it’s a pretty exciting read. It helped me to think of it as a world completely divorced from our Earth, if that helps anyone else at all.

None of these little niggles managed to overcome my enjoyment of this story though. Rarely have I read something that was so unabashedly fun as this. I give Divergent nine out of ten. show less

From the first chapter, I was intrigued by this fast-paced, well written "first" in a series. Tris (Beatrice)Prior, the main character, introduces us to a future (dystopian) Chicago setting, a world where people belong to one of several "factions": Dauntless, Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Eurudite, or if not chosen, to the luckless "Factionless". Author Veronica Roth weaves important details into the narrative, without slowing the pace, and allows us to live the challenges faced by Tris and her friends as she attempts to join the Dauntless faction. There's fear therapy, grueling physical and mental "tests", "future" psychology science, and thoughtful examinations of what qualities make for the best human existence: friendliness and show more kindness? courage and physical agility? intelligence? selflessness? Best of all, just when you think it's a coming of age/endurance story about Tris, it evolves into a larger landscape, with a corrupt political plot and horrifying consequences for the Abnegation, Tris' former faction and the home of all her family. Lots of Y.A. fiction provide stereotypical secondary characters, but I was impressed by Roth's character development of more than just Tris. I am actually looking forward to reading the sequel, Insurgent! show less

Barring the first couple of pages I read this from start to finish in one session. It was that compelling. There were a few short pauses when I was worried about slushy romantic moments but I needn't have worried.

The heroine was strong, brave and despite what she first thought, selfless. She is by no means perfect, she grows and struggles with her nature and identity throughout as she learns to face both her own and other people's fears.

Ultimately this book can be summed up by the following quote by Tris's mother:

"Human beings as a whole cannot be good for long before the bad creeps back in and poisons us."

This is a truth that is expertly portrayed by the author. We're a flawed race. We will always want something more. Greed, jealousy, show more ambition, power -we always want what we don't have, or as Tris muses at one point, those in power and value it above all else will, in order to keep it, hand power to those that don't want it, to protect their own positions and aspirations.

Great book. I highly recommend it.

P.S. I'm an Erudite but not a power-hungry one so don't panic. show less

Veronica Roth’s first installment of her new dystopian series Divergent simply blew me away. I was not expecting this novel to contain such intensity and emotionality. I usually enjoy dystopian stories, but this one, although much more violent than what I was anticipating, was above and beyond my expectations both with the depth of the characters and the unique plot. The storyline was thrilling, definitely not for the faint of heart. In this society, each citizen is classified into 5 separate factions based on the virtues that their personality is most suited to. The factions are Candor (honesty), Erudite (intelligence), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful). This seemed a bit strange at first, I was show more worried that a society of people adhering to such one dimensional views would fall understandably flat. This was not the case however. Veronica has created a fascinatingly terrifying world where nothing and nobody are quite what they seem. Divergent contained a bit more violence than what I am used to in a YA novel. This was not a negative aspect however. Roth did not shy away from the unexpected character deaths either which I always enjoy in a book as it is conceivable that when there is a war, many people are killed, and highly unlikely that the main characters make it out unscathed. The main character, Beatrice or Tris as she comes to be known, certainly does not make it through this book unscathed, physically or emotionally. I was fully caught up in her struggles to fit into her new faction and reconcile her feelings about the family she left behind. I loved how she grew as a character, realizing her inner strength while still acknowledging what she is physically incapable of doing. I think that the romance was fairly well written, building slowly as they got to understand one another. I really can’t think of anything that I did not like about Divergent. I can’t wait to read the next in this action packed thrilling dystopian series. show less

I really liked Roth's debut novel and am hungry for the next one (good thing I picked up both from the library at the same time!) While dystopian futures have been done before, and somewhat similarly to this one (ahem, Hunger Games, ahem), I think Roth adds something fresh to the genre. I like the idea of dividing the population by personality or virtue. It feels representative of how humans try to make themselves more like one virtue than another, try to turn off some parts of their personalities they think are less virtuous. Another difference Roth brings is that her heroine, Tris, is not naturally heroic. She doesn't really fit into any one of the factions but she commits herself to doing her best. Haven't we all been there? (Yes, show more Katniss doesn't really fit anywhere either, but she comes to the table with a lot more skill and independence than Tris). I also love the relationship between Tris and Four. It feels so much more natural, human, and genuine than most others I've read.
While some of the plot twists were pretty predictable, overall this was a very compelling read. I finished it in one night. I would recommend this trilogy (the third book comes out Fall 2013) to any fans, young or old, of YA Lit, as well as sci-fi fans. This is definitely a book I will reread. show less