Divergent
By: Veronica Roth
In the community of teen books, the Divergent Trilogy has been getting a lot of hype and I've had intentions on reading it for a while. So, this time when I went to Barnes and Noble, (RIP Borders *cry cry cry*) I picked it up. Oh my god can I just say Holy Hunger Games Similarities.
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Those of you who know me personally, most likely know how I feel on the Hunger Games Series. For all of you who don't, I'm just going to say this upfront; I don't like it very much. But before you all go pointing arrows at my head, I have my reasons. But we'll save those for another day and another review.
From page 1, I could see insane similarities between the two series' of books and as the novel continued, they became stronger. I'm not saying Veronica Roth in any way copied off Suzanne Collins, because the plot lines and premises are completely different, but even the feeling of the two books just seems similar. The divided people, corrupt government, civil wars, and even the character development of each coincide, but somehow maintain their own identity.
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The novel is set in the city that we all call home in the future, but not the way we all know and love the windy city. When a person is sixteen they take an aptitude test to know for sure which one of the five sectors of the city they would best fit in to develop and take on their values. We have the Amity (peaceful), the Candor (honesty), Dauntless (bravery), Erudite (intelligence), and Abnegation (selfless) to choose from and once you pick your faction, you either stick with it or become factionless (the equivalent of homelessness). Our main character, Beatrice Prior, is born into an Abnegation run family, but doesn't really feel like she fits in. So when her aptitude tests come around and she has an out, she jumps at it.
Overall, I liked the book. I thought it was well written and the plot was well paced, but something about it just didn't click for me. Will I continue with the series? Yes. It's good enough that I want to keep reading it, and I did. But, is it on my list of favorite books? Sadly, no. To throw a curveball out there to all you Girl on Fire followers, I actually even liked it better then The Hunger Games. GASP. I think now is the point when the arrows pointed at me since I first mentioned The Games start firing.
In other news, the movie rights have already been sold and filming starts this year! Let's just hope Hollywood doesn't fail me again. *cough cough The Host cough cough* Also, the last book in the trilogy is set to come out in October! I'm really interested to see when she takes the finally of the series after the huge set up she implied at the end of Insurgent.
Pages: 487
Read In: 3 days
Rating: 7/10
Ages: 13 + up
The Four Categories: death, romance
