Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica RothScience Fiction, Dystopian
Form: Paperback
Book Description: Divergent
Divergent by Veronica Roth
One choice can transform you. Beatrice Prior's society is divided into five factions—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice must choose between staying with her Abnegation family and transferring factions. Her choice will shock her community and herself. But the newly christened Tris also has a secret, one she's determined to keep hidden, because in this world, what makes you different makes you dangerous.
Divergent ~ Book Review
*Spoilers*I really like the storyline. It’s a different world, yes, but the writer made it easy for her readers to fully understand what’s happening (that’s a good thing). Divergent is a really good book to read - especially if you like dystopian novels. One of my favorites now! – Ara of My Book and My Coffee
So, here I am at 2:53 am in the morning, writing this book review. Such a good read. FYI – I didn’t watch the movie. Yet. I didn’t want to because I really wanted to read the book first.
Divergent’s story is about a world where society is divided into factions. Five factions, different behaviors. They have a Choosing Ceremony once a year and this is when all 16-year-olds have to select their faction. A huge decision. Even adults, in real life, will have a hard time to choose. Beatrice Prior is a 16-year-old girl from the Abnegation faction. And yes, she has to choose if she wants to stay or transfer to another faction.
“One choice can transform you.” This tagline can be seen from the cover of the book, too. This is one of the things that make Divergent relatable in a way. In real life, one choice can really change you. Right? For Beatrice, however, it will definitely change her life. Before the Choosing Ceremony, these sixteen-year-olds have to take an aptitude test that will show which of the five factions they belong in. Sounds interesting. Beatrice knows this and it’s a big deal. What if the test showed that she belongs to another faction? What if it showed that she’s really for Abnegation? Choosing another faction means leaving your family behind. “Faction before blood”. After reading the first chapter, however, I had a feeling that she will choose another faction. If you’re about to read Divergent after this, I’m sure you’ll see what I mean.
Once you’ve chosen a faction, there will be initiation. The faction she chose has a highly competitive initiation. And if you don’t compete, you’ll be dismissed and will be factionless. And that’s a whole another world you wouldn’t want our main character to be in.
I know there’s a ‘spoilers’ sign on top of the review but I don’t want to tell you everything because I want you to have fun reading this book. As a reader, you deserve to be surprised. And amazed. And stunned. Stunned is exactly how I will describe myself right now. Like I can’t believe that all of those things happened.
Let’s talk about the characters.
Beatrice / Tris: Her character is incredible. She appears weak but as Four (one of the characters you will love for sure) mentioned, fear doesn’t shut her up; it wakes her up. And it’s very apparent once you discover how she takes on all things new to her. She’s ‘human’, you know. In real life, and this is one of the things that made her character relatable, Beatrice could easily be one of us at one point because she can easily adapt, she knows the right from wrong and acts according to what she think is right at the time. She’s courageous, brave, but not ruthless. Not ruthless. Yea, I’ll say that. But she did something that I know will haunt her as long as it can. If you know what it is, let’s tweet about it. LOL I’ll tell you on Twitter, too, if you ask me.
Four: Omg. I have so much to say about this character but I have to stop myself. :) Others may find him scary but if he likes you, you will like him, too. He is not fearless but he’s learned how to control his fear. Or at least, learning how to react towards his fear. For me, he is brave and compassionate. I would love to know more about him.
Christina and Will: Great friends of Tris. One will end up dead and the other one unknown. At least in this book.
Al: Oh, Al. Why, oh, why. I liked him at first but he got messed up. Really messed up.
Caleb: Beatrice’s brother who also took the aptitude test and will choose a faction. Another faction? You’ll find out when you read the book. :)
Beatrice’s Parents: They are great parents. I kind of hoped that what happened to them in the story is all a part of a simulation. That it isn’t real. In fact, at one point, I kinda hoped that the major bad thing that happened in the story is just a huge simulation and that Beatrice can wake up at any minute.
Peter, Molly and Drew: These three. Ugh. I’m surprised that Peter may still be a character in Book 2.
This book has a lot of surprises, twists and turns. The major bad thing that I mentioned earlier? It’s really awful and that’s why while reading that part, I hoped that Beatrice will just wake up and it will be all a dream or a simulation of some sort to test her abilities. Anyway, it’s not. I can tell you that.
All in all, I recommend that you read this book because the rave reviews are true. The story is unforgettable. It is unique in its own way; I really, really liked it. The writing is really easy to understand and follow so as a reader, you will actually know what a certain character must have felt like during a certain scenario (for example).
The ending? Honestly, I wasn’t able to formulate how the story will end right away, and was quite a bit shocked, stunned, really, at the events that took place before it reached that last paragraph at the end of the book. Bittersweet, I would say. I like that Beatrice is starting to embrace what she really is and what she can become.
So, here I am at 2:53 am in the morning, writing this book review. Such a good read. FYI – I didn’t watch the movie. Yet. I didn’t want to because I really wanted to read the book first.
Divergent’s story is about a world where society is divided into factions. Five factions, different behaviors. They have a Choosing Ceremony once a year and this is when all 16-year-olds have to select their faction. A huge decision. Even adults, in real life, will have a hard time to choose. Beatrice Prior is a 16-year-old girl from the Abnegation faction. And yes, she has to choose if she wants to stay or transfer to another faction.
“One choice can transform you.” This tagline can be seen from the cover of the book, too. This is one of the things that make Divergent relatable in a way. In real life, one choice can really change you. Right? For Beatrice, however, it will definitely change her life. Before the Choosing Ceremony, these sixteen-year-olds have to take an aptitude test that will show which of the five factions they belong in. Sounds interesting. Beatrice knows this and it’s a big deal. What if the test showed that she belongs to another faction? What if it showed that she’s really for Abnegation? Choosing another faction means leaving your family behind. “Faction before blood”. After reading the first chapter, however, I had a feeling that she will choose another faction. If you’re about to read Divergent after this, I’m sure you’ll see what I mean.
Once you’ve chosen a faction, there will be initiation. The faction she chose has a highly competitive initiation. And if you don’t compete, you’ll be dismissed and will be factionless. And that’s a whole another world you wouldn’t want our main character to be in.
I know there’s a ‘spoilers’ sign on top of the review but I don’t want to tell you everything because I want you to have fun reading this book. As a reader, you deserve to be surprised. And amazed. And stunned. Stunned is exactly how I will describe myself right now. Like I can’t believe that all of those things happened.
Let’s talk about the characters.
Beatrice / Tris: Her character is incredible. She appears weak but as Four (one of the characters you will love for sure) mentioned, fear doesn’t shut her up; it wakes her up. And it’s very apparent once you discover how she takes on all things new to her. She’s ‘human’, you know. In real life, and this is one of the things that made her character relatable, Beatrice could easily be one of us at one point because she can easily adapt, she knows the right from wrong and acts according to what she think is right at the time. She’s courageous, brave, but not ruthless. Not ruthless. Yea, I’ll say that. But she did something that I know will haunt her as long as it can. If you know what it is, let’s tweet about it. LOL I’ll tell you on Twitter, too, if you ask me.
Four: Omg. I have so much to say about this character but I have to stop myself. :) Others may find him scary but if he likes you, you will like him, too. He is not fearless but he’s learned how to control his fear. Or at least, learning how to react towards his fear. For me, he is brave and compassionate. I would love to know more about him.
Christina and Will: Great friends of Tris. One will end up dead and the other one unknown. At least in this book.
Al: Oh, Al. Why, oh, why. I liked him at first but he got messed up. Really messed up.
Caleb: Beatrice’s brother who also took the aptitude test and will choose a faction. Another faction? You’ll find out when you read the book. :)
Beatrice’s Parents: They are great parents. I kind of hoped that what happened to them in the story is all a part of a simulation. That it isn’t real. In fact, at one point, I kinda hoped that the major bad thing that happened in the story is just a huge simulation and that Beatrice can wake up at any minute.
Peter, Molly and Drew: These three. Ugh. I’m surprised that Peter may still be a character in Book 2.
This book has a lot of surprises, twists and turns. The major bad thing that I mentioned earlier? It’s really awful and that’s why while reading that part, I hoped that Beatrice will just wake up and it will be all a dream or a simulation of some sort to test her abilities. Anyway, it’s not. I can tell you that.
All in all, I recommend that you read this book because the rave reviews are true. The story is unforgettable. It is unique in its own way; I really, really liked it. The writing is really easy to understand and follow so as a reader, you will actually know what a certain character must have felt like during a certain scenario (for example).
The ending? Honestly, I wasn’t able to formulate how the story will end right away, and was quite a bit shocked, stunned, really, at the events that took place before it reached that last paragraph at the end of the book. Bittersweet, I would say. I like that Beatrice is starting to embrace what she really is and what she can become.
Thank you for reading!
