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A review by kaiteayu
Divergent by Veronica Roth
3.0
*spoilers*
I definitely understand why Divergent got the popularity that it did. It’s a great read. Fast-paced. And at 19 still has me squealing over the main leads when they have their cute scenes. This being my first time reading divergent and never watching the movies, I was unaware of what to expect. I read the book for my Children's Literature class that I’m taking this semester; the requirement was to read a young adult book. I decided it was time to read the whole series because I’ve been holding off on it for so long.
At first, I was confused with how the society is set up. An individual is so complex. How can they just be put into one category? How is a personality blamed for wars? The setup of the society is incoherent, and I completely forget about Candor and Amity because they aren’t brought up to much in the first book. I look forward to them hopefully being included in the following books. The confusion of society is eventually glossed over by Tris’s initiation into becoming a Dauntless. I’ve seen many people talk about how Tris is a flawed character, and I agree and understand why. She’s a sixteen-year-old girl conflicted over who she wants to be as a person. Society is telling her to put her faction above everything else. When she chooses a new faction to join, it’s looked down on by her original faction. This goes to show the flaws and distrust between the factions and emphasizes their differences rather than being parts of a whole. I read the first chapter of the second book, Insurgent, and Tris was surprised by how knowledgeable Johanna (A representative of Amity) is when greeting other faction members. It’s purposely set up to be an issue, but no one seems to be open to accepting other factions. Going back to Tris being a flawed character, she becomes selfless yet selfish. She protected Al but also, once he passed away, was very cold about it. I know Al portrayed her, but sometimes she seems to be two people, which may have been the whole point. Self-conflict. She thought Al’s s*icide was an act of a coward. And I gasped when I read that. But at the same time, when I was younger, I knew people who had that way of thinking. Also, she’s from a district that believes that s*cide is a selfish act. Most things Tris does or thinks, even though it’s not entirely thought out, I understand. I don’t agree with some things, but I understand. I’ve seen good points about how the book is not detailed enough at times, and I agree to an extent. There were parts during fighting scenes and jumping on/off the train that isn’t super descriptive, and so I’m left with a few details to go off of. Though I still got enough detail in quite a few scenes, I could always imagine the settings. I would love it if it were one of those books with a map to see where the factions are because I’m not sure how to picture them.
My favorite character was Uriah. I liked reading about him. I think he was very open and respected Tris in a way that many of the other initiates didn’t. Four also had that aspect to him. He saw her in a way that didn’t need protecting but the way he sees himself. Being from the same district and being in a ruthless faction at a young age, he wants to help her and eventually catches feelings. I liked the transition from seeing four as a guarded person to being open with Tris, and I realized he’s still a young adult trying to find his way in the world. Some parts had me swoon, and others had me cringe. For reference, Tris and Four kissed for the first time the previous night, and Four has never sat with her in front of people. “I smile at him and lift my hand to wave him over, but he sits down next to Zeke without even glancing in my direction, so I let my hand drop.” I had to put the book down before continuing after that. We had a good thing going. Now I’m just embarrassed.
I read the book extremely fast, and it helped me get out of my reading slump, so I’m grateful. There could be room for improvement that the following books hopefully can bring, and I need to re-read Divergent to look more closely for themes for my class. For now, I give it 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it and look forward to the others.
I definitely understand why Divergent got the popularity that it did. It’s a great read. Fast-paced. And at 19 still has me squealing over the main leads when they have their cute scenes. This being my first time reading divergent and never watching the movies, I was unaware of what to expect. I read the book for my Children's Literature class that I’m taking this semester; the requirement was to read a young adult book. I decided it was time to read the whole series because I’ve been holding off on it for so long.
At first, I was confused with how the society is set up. An individual is so complex. How can they just be put into one category? How is a personality blamed for wars? The setup of the society is incoherent, and I completely forget about Candor and Amity because they aren’t brought up to much in the first book. I look forward to them hopefully being included in the following books. The confusion of society is eventually glossed over by Tris’s initiation into becoming a Dauntless. I’ve seen many people talk about how Tris is a flawed character, and I agree and understand why. She’s a sixteen-year-old girl conflicted over who she wants to be as a person. Society is telling her to put her faction above everything else. When she chooses a new faction to join, it’s looked down on by her original faction. This goes to show the flaws and distrust between the factions and emphasizes their differences rather than being parts of a whole. I read the first chapter of the second book, Insurgent, and Tris was surprised by how knowledgeable Johanna (A representative of Amity) is when greeting other faction members. It’s purposely set up to be an issue, but no one seems to be open to accepting other factions. Going back to Tris being a flawed character, she becomes selfless yet selfish. She protected Al but also, once he passed away, was very cold about it. I know Al portrayed her, but sometimes she seems to be two people, which may have been the whole point. Self-conflict. She thought Al’s s*icide was an act of a coward. And I gasped when I read that. But at the same time, when I was younger, I knew people who had that way of thinking. Also, she’s from a district that believes that s*cide is a selfish act. Most things Tris does or thinks, even though it’s not entirely thought out, I understand. I don’t agree with some things, but I understand. I’ve seen good points about how the book is not detailed enough at times, and I agree to an extent. There were parts during fighting scenes and jumping on/off the train that isn’t super descriptive, and so I’m left with a few details to go off of. Though I still got enough detail in quite a few scenes, I could always imagine the settings. I would love it if it were one of those books with a map to see where the factions are because I’m not sure how to picture them.
My favorite character was Uriah. I liked reading about him. I think he was very open and respected Tris in a way that many of the other initiates didn’t. Four also had that aspect to him. He saw her in a way that didn’t need protecting but the way he sees himself. Being from the same district and being in a ruthless faction at a young age, he wants to help her and eventually catches feelings. I liked the transition from seeing four as a guarded person to being open with Tris, and I realized he’s still a young adult trying to find his way in the world. Some parts had me swoon, and others had me cringe. For reference, Tris and Four kissed for the first time the previous night, and Four has never sat with her in front of people. “I smile at him and lift my hand to wave him over, but he sits down next to Zeke without even glancing in my direction, so I let my hand drop.” I had to put the book down before continuing after that. We had a good thing going. Now I’m just embarrassed.
I read the book extremely fast, and it helped me get out of my reading slump, so I’m grateful. There could be room for improvement that the following books hopefully can bring, and I need to re-read Divergent to look more closely for themes for my class. For now, I give it 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it and look forward to the others.