Scarlett M. (the-red-dame) reviewed on 6/21/2014 + 31 more book reviews

!! SPOILERS ALERT !!

Better than some other YA books I could name, and better than the movie. My review includes spoilers, especially for explaining what Divergent/divergence is.

Comparing the book to the movie, the book offered much-needed expansion of some key points: Tris decision, divergence, and the faction system. It made Tris decision seem less rash, Divergents less special-snowflake rare, and provides more insight to the faction system. Both the book and movie were focused on Tris training in the Dauntless faction, but it seemed even more prominent in the book, as if it took up 75% or more of the story. While thats good great even, as it helps show essential character building for Tris I wish the conflict at the end had been longer/more-depth.

Backtracking to the faction system for a bit. The factions are the trademark of the book, similar to The Hunger Games in The Hunger Games. Were told that the faction system was created to pursue and maintain peace. To this, my mind says, Huh? Purposefully separating/segregating people does not have a good record of inspiring lasting peace, so why would a city decide to remodel its whole society with that at its core?

Moving past that, you have the problem of divergence, another trademark of the book. Divergents are people that dont fit in one particular faction, and are considered a threat. Again, my mind says Huh? The majority of the population should be divergent. The idea of a human always being brave or selfless or honest is laughable. Most people would have traits from multiple factions, to a greater or lesser degree. Divergents were shown in the book to successfully pick and blend into factions, so why are they a threat? Do they have some biological immunity/quirk the simulation serum doesnt work right on them, which isnt explained - or telepathy or what? As far as I can tell, they just have more rounded personalities, which isnt very threatening.

As with most popular YA books, there is romance. Theres no love triangle, but the love-interest is a tad predictable: strong, masculine guy with a mysterious/haunting past. There are multiple antagonists, and while some may seem a bit shallow, they are at least given motivations of some sort and varying personalities.

Tris is a toss-up. She comes off as a bit more aggressive and badass than Katniss from The Hunger Games because she leans how to use weapons, and do hand-to-hand combat, and actually applies her skills. On the other hand, I get more special snowflake vibes from Tris, which makes me want to not like her and look for faults.

This book requires a lot of suspension of disbelief and not questioning things, which I found difficult. Between and the heavy focus of the initiation, it wasnt a bad book, but it wasnt a great one. I will read the sequel

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