Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent  by Veronica Roth
487 Pages
Release Date: February 28th, 2012
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopian
Level: YA
Rating: 5 STARS

Goodreads Summary:

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Divergent by Veronica Roth is daring, adventurous, sexy, and thrilling. I was captivated from the first line, "There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair," Okay so that's more than one line BUT I JUST GET SO EXCITED!!! Truly this book is so nail-bitingly intense, I could not even put it down for a second. Not even while rereading it. There is action during every moment and yet it doesn't feel overwhelming if anything it makes you want even more. I feel my heart pounding faster while reading it and having it soar. XD That didn't make sense but its true.

Now! Lets start with the world. This world is so bloody brilliant, I can't even begin to describe it. I'm going to try, but trust me it wont sound nearly as amazing as it actually is. Basically all five factions have their own idea as to what causes corruption and tries to put a stop to it and create a perfect society. I think this is SO cool and want to learn so much about it. Like: How did it start? Who's idea was it? Is this just one country or all of them? How is it that all the stubborn people somehow agreed to 5 factions? These are just some of my pressing questions and, frankly, I usually have almost none so this is kinda impressive...I really like this book...like, a lot..... a lot, a lot. I like, like this book, so much so I've read it at least a dozen times. It's really good. You should go read it before I move on because what I'm going to say next is a little spoilery (not really, but still).

In the Divergent world, you live with your parents in whatever faction they have chosen until you are 16. Then you take, I guess you could say a compatibility test, to find out which faction would be best for you. You dont have to choose that faction but its recommended. The main character, Beatrice, has lived in Abnegation her whole life and has found that she doesn't fit in well. Then she takes the test and she find out she is divergent. A divergent is someone who isn't compatible with a single faction but 3. Now this is very dangerous...but no one will tell Beatrice why. She is paired with Erudite, Abnegation, and Dauntless. She immediately rules out Erudite but is faced with a choice and it will take a great act of selflessness to choose Abnegation or a great act of courage to choose Dauntless.

Stop reading this if you haven't read the book and go read it. Go. She chooses Dauntless!!!!! YAY!!!!!   Now let me tell you: Dauntless are fucking crazy. Like, insane. Right off the bat of Tris joining them someone dies and Tris jumps down a pitch black hole. Oh, and lets not forget Four.

Mmmm... Four. Four, is amazing. He is everything that Dauntless should be sexy, smart, powerful, and (virtually) fearless. I don't know how I lived before knowing Four. He's just. And then. Yeah...I cant describe Four, he's just Four. He's like, his own adjective. He is just this huge force of nature, like a hurricane or a tsunami, you can describe general what it (he) is but it is nothing close to the scale and magnitude of the actual thing. Tris is much the same way. Actually I love the way Four describes her best. 

“'You think my first instinct is to protect you. Because you're small, or a girl, or a Stiff. But you're wrong.' He leans his face close to mine and wraps his fingers around my chin. His hand smells like metal. When was the last time he held a gun, or a knife? My skin tingles at the point of contact, like he's transmitting electricity through his skin.  "My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press." he says, his fingers squeezing at the word break."  

Mhm. Yeah, thats Tris. I also love the POV of this story. It is obvious to us (and Four) that Tris is fearless and amazing but in her head is filled with self doubt and very relate-able.  It holds traces of her former Abnegation self and shows how she struggles though things no matter how effortless she males them seem from the outside.

      

This book is brilliant. If you haven't read it, you haven't lived. I couldn't live without this book. Its one of the best birthday presents I have ever gotten, second only to my laptop. ITS REALLY GOOD! I want to say I'm dying in a puddle of emotions, but I say that a lot so I'm going to stick with this: BE DAUNTLESS.